Further Afield: Macau

Any Hong Kong person will know that long-weekend trips don't involve checking into a nearby hotel for drinks and relaxation, you must at least leave your own backyard and venture over to another city or country. Many will flock to the airport for flights to other Asian localities in Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, or Japan. But if you are a student on a student budget (hello there, brethren), Macau is the more viable option. Only an hour away by ferry from Hong Kong, without requiring any fuss over currency conversion, it is close enough to dispel the hassle of getting to the airport at 6am to make the most of your time, and far enough to earn you nods of approval from other long-weekend travellers at the next social gathering. 

The last time I was in Macau was back in 2003, for an art class back in high school. It was astounding to see how much Macau has changed in the last nine years (especially after comparing the 2003 maps with the Macau we see today), though my thoughts on these changes are divided. 

 

The marshy land used to dominate the landscape here, though there are only fragments of this left. The reclaimed area is what is now known as Cotai. This is the view from our room; we can see the PLA driving tanks and marching around in their complex, and beyond that is Taipa Village (just before the high-rises in the background.) Charming, if a bit unnerving.  

Increases to the city's wealth (to the point where the Macau government has been able to give thousands of dollars to each of its card-carrying residents) can have its benefits, potentially leading to better standards of living, and improvements to healthcare and educational facilities. That is something we have been told in our GCSE classes about urban change. But this development has been spurred by the manifestation of giant shopping malls, hotels, and casinos; which makes Macau feel less like a city for its long-term inhabitants, and more of a giant entertainment centre for transient out-of-towners. 

This doesn't mean that the old sights of Macau are gone. There are old-fashioned shops in the less-trodden paths of the city; historical structures are well preserved and integrated into the urban landscape; and there is also a synthesis of the old and new (old buildings housing new shops) in places such as Senado Square. But as Taipa village demonstrates, older areas tend to exist in enclaves within the shiny new residential and commercial buildings. Which is a shame, considering how much of a draw these old areas are for some tourists and all hipsters. Check it: 

Taipa village, near Cunha street. The structure seen in the foreground is what remains of the Old Taipa Market, which was built in the 1800s to bolster trade in the area. As the years progressed, the market fell into disuse until it was emptied in the 1980s. 

Pak Tai temple, located near a beer garden...the whiff of alcohol and tourists is never far away.

Old houses that remain inhabited. Always had the urge to peek inside to see what things are like, but there would always be a resident at the ready to peek back at me. Master of stealth, I am not. On another note, these little pathways are great for evening strolls. 

A little about Taipa village: one of the main attractions would be Cunha Street (官也街), a busy little road with a lot of small eateries. If you are in Macau, you definitely must try the fried pork buns. One of the shops on Cunha produces a nice variation of the traditional pork bun, by using crunchy small baguettes and lightly frying the porkchop after seasoning it with chilli and a bit of curry. There are also plenty of bakeries hawking the locally-made almond biscuits; the great thing about these bakeries is that they allow sampling without making one feel obliged to buy anything. Have a meal out of the pork buns, then go for dessert by snacking through the biscuit samples. 

One end of Cunha Street. This building sold almond cookies by Choi Heong Yuen on the ground floor, and cute 'Soda Panda' character items on the upper three levels.

Say hello to Soda Panda! 

The rustic and charming the streets of Taipa village cannot fend off the feeling of an encroaching 'urban modernity' surrounding it. The lights from The Venetian hotel, The Galaxy hotel, Hard Rock hotel, and The City of Dreams shopping boulevard can be seen in the distance. You'll be walking along a small alleyway and suddenly encounter a thoroughfare for buses and cars. Not to mention that we were led from our hotel to Taipa village on a series of escalators and conveyor belts. It is almost as though the tourism board in Macau realized that some visitors want to explore the older districts of Taipa*; and thus decided to splurge a little by building infrastructure that literally 'walks' these visitors over to such an attraction. Had a 'Disneyland' feel to it. 

Not kidding about the encroaching buildings around Taipa village

Like space-age tourism! No walking required.  Unless it is to get from one conveyor belt to the other.

In retrospect, my reservations about the current developments in Macau aren't completely fair; because ultimately Macau was, is, and always will be somebody's home. The sprawl of shopping malls in cities, and other structures catering to the tastes of tourists, is not strictly a Macau feature. Hong Kong is struggling through the same transformation of mall-mania, but I still find the city habitable; so making such commentary about Macau is a bit rich from me. Who am I to say that the home of another person feels 'empty'? And some tourists do derive delight from  browsing the giants hotels and staying in the casinos...


No matter what the urban environ of Macau becomes like, the city remains a worthwhile place to visit for a short period of time. 

----------------------------------------------

*The tourism board may realize the value of old districts for tourists, but this view isn't always shared by those who interact with tourists on a daily basis. Here is a funny little incident during our stay at the Venetian, which may highlight what some hotels and their staffers now perceived as a tourist draw: 

We wanted to head to Senado Square in Macau, but there was no hotel shuttle bus heading towards that destination. All of the shuttles were for the piers, shopping malls, casinos, or other hotels. Lacking in maps and directions, we sought help from three different staff members. Why three members of staff? Because the first two (or the last one, for that matter) couldn't give us a proper answer. They all looked confused as to why we even wanted to go to these older areas in the first place. The first staff told us to take the Venetian shuttle to the Sands hotel, where they would have a direct shuttle to Senado Square. The second staff told us to take the shuttle to the Yuet Tung Pier and look for signposts there. The third staff was even more worrying (they thought my map of Macau was the map of Taipa) and told us to take the shuttle to the northern immigration checkpoint and walk from that point onwards. Out of these three options, we followed the advice of staff no.1 and decided to head to the Sands hotel first. But upon getting to the Sands, the Sands staff said there was no shuttle heading to Senado Square; such a shuttle didn't exist. They then waved us away after essentially saying 'take the taxi, or take public transport. Check the info at the bus stop'...without telling us where the bus stop actually is. 

We gave up and just took the taxi in the end. Thankfully it wasn't an expensive journey (costed about 25 HKD) and the ride was comfortable. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Ferry tips: 

-Tip 1: buy those darn ferry tickets in advance, especially if you plan on taking the cheaper option of economy class. These ferries can get fairly busy even during the weekdays. 

-Tip 2: Tickets arriving to/leaving from the Kowloon piers in Tsim Sha Tsui is cheaper than those for the Hong Kong Sheung Wan pier. 

-Tip 3: get to the pier early, since you can't reserve seats in advance. If you want to sit next to your chums, you'll have to queue up and wait your turn to talk to the staff in charge for seat allocation just before boarding.