Macau

I went to Macau two weeks ago this Thursday. Macau is the former Portuguese colony 65 km by boat from Hong Kong. I always imagined Macau as a Portuguese-speaking Chinese backwater, and maybe it was at one point, but the Macau I saw was much more urbanized and bustling than I expected.

Although the street signs were in Cantonese and Portuguese, almost no one spoke Portuguese and responded in English when I opened my boca to falar some português. Macau, with its winding cobblestone streets in the older areas and plazas, felt more European than Hong Kong.

Downtown Macau

Also, there are quite a few Portuguese forts, churches, and public squares. The coolest were the ruins of St. Paul, whose original 17th century structure burned down in the mid 1800's.

Macau's economy is based on tourism, and a gigantic portion of that comes from casinos that are increasingly styled after those in Las Vegas. There are direct flights between Macau and many mainland cities, and ferries to Hong Kong run every 15 minutes.

Fake volcano casino, Fake Arab palace casino

Macau had some of the best food I had on the trip. My first day I had potato-onion soup and oxtail curry with rice for lunch. Even though I wasn't hungry for dinner, I still downed a half chicken cooked in the galinha africana style, which is a sauce made from coconut, peanut, and peppers. Super delicious.