April 12, 2023
My boss: "We're going to Macao, including you."
Me: 😯 (speechless)
Of course, it's free, so I didn't say no.
Who wouldn't be glad if you learned that you'll be visiting a location on your travel bucket list? I probably made this travel goal in the year 2020: to visit Disneyland, Ocean Park, ride a 360° Cable Car, and finally, visit Macau. The first three were achieved, except for the last due to pandemic restrictions. Last December, the restrictions were lifted so I desired to visit Macao for a day or two. My initial goal was to include it in the itinerary for September, which is my vacation (hopefully), but it was unexpectedly completed early.
Before anything else, happy humpday #WednesdayWalk community and to its founder
. I hope you'll have a positive day.
We rode the express bus instead of a ferry because there were no available seats for our desired schedule. It was another new goal achieved, to traverse the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world - Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge.
It only took us an hour to travel from Hong Kong to Macao through the HZM bridge. We arrived in Macao at 8:21 and immediately went in search of a place to eat breakfast. My boss's family is familiar with the routes in Macao, so they knew exactly where to travel that day.
We proceeded straight to this street, the name of which I didn't know until I checked Google Maps.
From the arrival hall to the streets of Macao, the first thing I noticed was the Portuguese signs. It was when I realized that Portuguese and Spanish have a lot of words in common. And that our Filipino language and dialects are mixtures of different languages. As a result, I found it simple to comprehend the signals and other information.
Meanwhile, old buildings and Portuguese architecture can be found in this area. From the settlement in 1557 until the end of colonial rule in 1999, Macao was a Portuguese colony.. Street names, store names, restaurant names, building names, signposts, boards, and information, even menu books, are all written in Portuguese. However, English and Chinese are also available.
It was still too early when we arrived in Macao, so shops and even many restaurants were still closed. We visited Rua da Felicidade Street to look for open restaurants and shops but all were still closed.
This restaurant is one of the oldest and most famous restaurants in Macao, the Fat Siu Lau Restaurant which means Smiling Buddha in Cantonese.
Based on its signboard, this restaurant was founded in 1903 and has been running for over 100 years passed from generation to generation. My boss tried eating in this place before and she said that the cuisines served here are Portuguese-styled Western cuisine, as well as their own style of Macanese (Macao-Cantonese) cuisine. Prices are definitely not cheap, but would certainly be worth every penny.
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Besides its cuisine, its architecture is just one of the attractions. The original facades were retained and restored.
Since restaurants in this area were still closed, we just kept walking until we came across Nam Peng Cafe. It was just one of the few opened restaurants serving morning breakfast.
This restaurant is one of the famous ones to taste the best local foods that have been served for quite a long years in Macao.
One of the popular breakfast food in Macao is the porkchop bun and that's what I ordered with a cup of black hot coffee as I felt cold and sleepy. It didn't taste any special, to be honest, but they also serve other sandwiches and Macao noodles set.
Its menu book has Chinese, English, and Portuguese translation made for both locals and tourists.
Another popular recipe in this restaurant is this doughnut. I must admit that it tasted different from ordinary doughnuts, and I liked its flavor.
After eating, we resumed our walk, and one thing I noticed while walking the streets of Macao was the Portuguese-styled pavements. According to my boss, the government wished to keep the original facade of the old buildings as well as the pavements. So this pathway's design is typical in Macao, which was built during the Portuguese colonial era. There are also old mailboxes on every block.
We visited several places that day and in the afternoon before dinner, we went back to the same streets along Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. We came across this long queue which I thought was at a famous restaurant. Do you know what they are queueing for?
They were lining up for this Macao street food. It consists of pork blood, intestines, and other pig internal organs screwed with vegetables. I wasn't sure why people were lining up for it, but it doesn't look enticing to me. Probably due to curiosity?
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We dined in at one of the Chinese restaurants serving local Macao cuisine and ordered these foods. These orders were followed by a plate of crabs and steamed fish freshly harvested from the aquarium which I failed to take photos of since my boss's family immediately dived in.
After eating dinner, we walked along the Rua da Felicidade street which was known as Red-Light Street back in the day.
Rua da Felicidade: The Former Red-Light Street In Macao
I felt nostalgic as I walked along this street, as if I was walking back in time. The place was preserved with some restorations. Along with this was an interesting story told by my boss. We even laughed while listening to it.
Back in the day, there were a lot of brothels on this street. As funnily narrated by my boss, those prostitutes will look out of the windows and wave to men passing by. Any men who'll be hooked will then descend to the second floor of the house for some pleasure.
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This made me search more about this Red-Light Street. According to the Macau Lifestyle article, this street was all painted grey and the doors of brothels were painted red. Not just brothels were here but also some shops selling opium and gambling stalls. There were also tea shops and restaurants.
When prostitution became illegal after WWII, brothels were banned and this street was revamped by the government. It became a better site to see afterward. In later years, this street becomes a popular tourist attraction and a-must-to-see place in Macao! The building's windows and doors are now painted green, but some red doors are still visible. I haven't seen one though, or I probably didn't notice.
No more brothels, gambling stalls, and opium shops, but rather an array of different restaurants serving Chinese and Portuguese cuisines, shops selling Macao souvenirs and local delicacies, tea shops, Chinese food herbs and ingredients shops, cafes, dessert shops, and I also spotted some Guest Houses and hotel in the area.
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This is one of the most visited places to buy the famous Macao Almond Cake. The aroma of almonds and other ingredients lingers in the air as we walked passes this small almond cake factory. They are truly enticing!
Another shop selling Macao delicacies and snack foods.
Foods are everywhere in Macao. Peanut brittle, and almond-black sesame brittle is part of them freshly cooked and packed before your eyes.
It seemed that no street wasn't crowded in Macao, especially from lunchtime to nighttime. People were like food hunting and this area was full of different restaurants and food stalls.
From Rua da Felicidad, we walked to Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and nearby streets.
I was amazed by the number of food shops on both sides of the street. I must quote, "Where there is a long queue, there is yummy food." That is your basis if you happen to visit Macao someday 😊. And I must say that I enjoyed reading and learning Portuguese words.
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At the end of the day, before going back to the terminal, we visited a dessert shop and ate a traditional dessert that I didn't know the name of. There was a medicinal flavor as I tasted it. I didn't ask my boss either as they were busy eating their desserts while chatting.
So if you are looking for a place to do food hunting, Macao is a great place to visit!
I also noticed that this small region is more like separated into two - the old and modern Macao. These places I shared here were just part of the old part of Macao. We visited the modern part and I might gonna share it one of these days.
And do you know that Macao has Food Festival in November? Expect a lot of food stalls flooding the streets. That'll be fun to experience!
That's all for now, and happy humpday!
Obrigado por ler!
(All photos are mine)
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