The Sleepy Head Doodles

Summer 2006 in Taipa, Coloane, and Macao

This one's nabbed from my Macao travel diary. Hehe!

Saturday, April 22nd.

We were blessed of a sunny weather for a walking tour of the Macau center. It was a bit hotter than usual, but at least it didn’t rain then. The initial plan was to go to Chinoy Express, a sort of Filipino-managed travel agency located at an old building near the Senado Square, to arrange our visa for our trip to China on Sunday afternoon. Processing was completed before 12.30, after which we started our tour of the Largo do Leal Senado (or the Loyal Senate Square).

It’s a grand spot for tourists to get a glimpse of the Old Europe. It is bordered by the Leal Senado Building, the Macau Business Tourism Center, and other restored Renaissance-inspired edifices transformed into historical museums and business centers.

Oi brought us right away to that place famous for homemade gelato. I don’t exactly remember the name of this alley, but if I may vaguely remember, it bisects the plaza fronting another antiquated baroque and Filipino-inspired church, Santo Domingo Church. Oi said the place is quite popular among locals so one can simply ask people to show directions to this ice cream parlor called Lemon Cello Gelato. All are homemade and one may find such “queer” flavors like Guava, Grapefruit, Kahlua, Yakult, Green Tea, and even Ginger! I tried guava, which tasted astonishingly good! =) Kuya, Oi, and Angel settled for the safer flavors Tiramisu and Mango, and they said it was good, too.

We walked past the Largo do São Domingos, Rua de São Domingos, and Travessa do Soriano on our way to the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is another Macanese heritage site.

The place was full-packed with tourists, majority of which according to Oi came from the Mainland. I also saw quite a number of other tourists who hail from Europe. It was amazing to see different races converged in a single location. I think I heard nearly 7 different languages as we walked past the food and souvenir stalls and archaic structures.

Only the façade of the St. Paul’s Cathedral remain after it was devastated by fire in 1835. Still it serves as a great historical and cultural reminder to the people of Macau about the beginnings and ultimately the strong influence of Roman Catholicism in the peninsula.

At the basement of the cathedral, an inner sanctum once stood. Now it houses a museum that displays very old religious icons, paintings, and other articles. On the other side is the chapel-crypt where the relics of Jesuit martyrs and the religious from the previous centuries lay. Though a hallowed ground for Catholics, I could still see Chinese tourists throwing money over the crypt.

Around 2pm, we had our lunch at a Japanese restaurant back at the Senado Square. After which, we stopped by the Leal Senado Building to take more pictures.

Sidenote: One embarassing encounter was that I tripped over a flower bed in my attempt to take pictures of my sister at the fountain area. I was so engaged that I didn't notice that slab of concrete. Hehe! I was lucky that only Angel, Kuya, and Oi saw my acrobatics. Haha!

We ended our tour around 4pm and headed for the wet market to buy seafood and veggies for dinner. It was interesting to see how live fish was taken out of a water basin, then pounded and sliced right before your eyes. I suddenly realized the pain that these sea creatures go through just so we could have something scrumptious to share over dinner. But then, it was a momentary thought. Dinner was good and apparently, I didn't turn into a vegan. =)

Anyhoo, I'll just let the photos narrate the rest of this great getaway.