Monday, April 23, 2007
Macau SAR
Trilingual Macau. Chinese, English, and Portuguese.
The Ruins of St. Paul's Church. The mainstay of tourist attractions in Macau. By day, you have to negotiate the steps with hordes of day trippers, but by night ....
Many Macau locals and inhabitants from Hong Kong head into the city to gamble. A one-hour ferry ride takes you from Hong Kong Central to Macau.
Meat in Macau. These square provisions are what Macau is known for. I tried one. Beef. It didn't have a distinct taste, bland.
The Grand Emperor Hotel (where I did not stay). 
The winding back roads that twist their way to the Ruins of St. Paul's direct you by St. Dominic's Church.
I spent around $4 USD on slot machines in the Casino Lisboa. Lost all four. Would have spent more on card games (i.e. Texas Hold 'em) if only I could speak Chinese, and if only they were playing Texas Hold 'em. 
Headquarters of Macau SAR.
Smog or fog? You tell me. Macau Tower.
The inner streets of Macau's center conjure up memories of Europe ... and for good reason. The Portuguese owned and ran Macau as a trading post for hundreds of years. Holdovers from Portugal's reign over the city still linger, and Portuguese architecture abounds.
Religious iconography was visible at every turn.
Mount Fortress where the Museum of Macau is located. The castle is situated next to the Ruins of St. Paul's.
An evocation of Prague. Cobbled mosaics.
The ruins of St. Paul's Catholic Church built by the Jesuits in 1602. After a fire gutted the building in 1835, all that remains is the front facade.
The highest point in Macau: the Guia Fortress and and Lighthouse built in 1637.
Senado Square (Largo de Senado) off of Avenida Almeida Ribeiro (San Ma Lo). 
Heading off to Macau, China.