hong kong & macau - day 2

i visited macau on day 2 and it was a good and refreshing trip. the ferry lasted an hour and after checking around with the locals, i boarded a public bus and made my way to the city center. walked around the place and along the old meandering lanes that were lined with shops selling local fare and souvenirs. the lanes led me to the ruins of the st paul’s cathedral. this is the icon of macau and as to be expected, it was really crowded. as usual, there were lots of loud mainlanders. the thing about mainlanders are that you can spot them from far - by their fashion sense as well as from the volume of their conversation.

i’ve often wondered what’s behind the famous facade of the cathedral and how it could still stand after so many decades. i got my answers when i surveyed the back of it. it was supported by an elaborate structure of steel beams. and beyond that, on what would have been the interior of the cathedral, what the locals did was to developed the space into a small tourist visit site where tourists could walk around and view whatever remains of the cribs (tombs). and at the basement, there was a small exhibition area that showed a small number of artefacts of the old cathedral.

after visiting the cathedral, i decided to walk back to the harbour instead. i wanted to experience and witness how the locals live their lives. my walk took me through lanes and lanes of tightly stacked houses and shops. it reminded me of hong kong but it was a lot cleaner and certainly a lot less crowded. but what struck me was the fact that all the street signs and public signages of buildings were written in chinese, portugese and english. such signages are reminders of the days of portugese rule. it’s special to macau and gave it it’s distinctive feel.

i had the pleasure to interact with a visitor from england and she too had taken a day trip to macau. had a good chat with her through the journey back to hong kong. it was a short but a good and meaningful trip. macau is smaller than hong kong and in many ways, not as famous as hong kong. but it is a really charming place to visit. i enjoyed the trip and ended the day with a quick catch up with howard, a hong kong friend that i got to know some time back. good to reconnect with old friends.