But despite the fanfare, Shanghai is hardly an international city (anyone who has been to Kuala Lumpur will immediately spot the difference) and a curious absence of creative energy can make this fast-changing city seem oddly parochial and inward-looking.
from the lonely planet guidebook on china (which is banned around here).
The name Macau is thought to be derived from the temple. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the natives replied “A-Ma-Gao” (Bay of A-Ma). The Portuguese then named the peninsula Macau.
from wikipedia
macau, the most densely populated territory in the world, is a little city that used to be portuguese – until the portuguese gave it to china in 1999 or so. it’s a short boat ride from hong kong, so we decided to hop on the ferry and spend a day there last week… and well, what a difference a boat ride makes.
macau is a million years from hong kong. it thrives on casinos (and pawn houses) – i believe it is the only place in “china” where gambling is legal (1 country, 2 systems policy). our companions on the ferry? loads of old chinese people, eager to hop on the first bus that drove them to a casino. which is a bit sad… but then again, the overwhelming feeling i got in macau was precisely sadness. macau looked old and depressed, with the same chaotic urban planning reminiscent of a neglected mid-sized portuguese city.
the fun part though, was checking all the double translations in portuguese/chinese that give macau a very peculiar feeling (even though only 0.6% of the population speaks portuguese), counting our patacas, and walking in a portuguese “calçada” again, surrounded by semi-familiar facades.
closing our eyes and pretending, just for a second, that we were in portugal.
and
:)
lonely planet (aka, the tourists bible) said we should taste the ice cream sandwich in the streets of singapore, and of course, as prompt and faithful tourists, we were eager to try it.
it’s basically a big block of wall’s icecream (or olá for the portuguese readers) between two thin waffles or slices of pink bread. mango and coffee were pretty good, and they even had it in durian flavor… we were not brave enough to try it out but i wonder if the ice cream smells as bad as the fruit (which is actually forbidden in singapore’s metro).
really missing the visual stimulation of islamic architecture. walking down the streets and noticing all the colors and geometric details in the facades.
(by comparison, shanghai is so bland and grey…)