A Half-Day Adventure in Macau

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At 12:30 today, we boarded for Macau at the the TurboJet pier at Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan. Upon arriving in this charming special administrative region, we fumbled with a few casino buses before taking a cab to Senado Square, a paved town square that was a meeting place for the Portuguese and Chinese in the 16th century, and comprises part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The brilliantly colored St. Dominic's church lies at its north side, while the main road is to the south.

Mama and I only had about 4 hours in town until our 7:00pm ferry, so we used this super handy article to prioritize our sightseeing. We walked about 5 minutes north to the Paço Episcopal da Diocese de Macau, situated in a very pleasant square next to the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady.


Next, I was too keen to see the mint green Dom Pedro V Theatre, the inside of which we perused as I perched on an ancient chair and re-juiced my phone battery.


Around the back of the theater lies St. Augustine Square, a serene oasis in the middle of Macau island with the cheery Biblioteca Sir Robert Ho Tung providing a beautiful backdrop.


After an appropriate number of photographs and a stroll through the back garden, we picked up coffees at the Alley Cafe and were back on our way to check out Mandarin's House when we stumbled upon St. Lawrence's Cathedral, quite simply one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen.


When we arrived at Casa do Mandarim, a Chinese-style compound with Portuguese influences that housed the famous Chinese intellect Zheng Guanying, we were awed by the architecture, furniture, and upkeep and practically had to be ushered out as the property closed for the evening.


Around 6, we scrambled back to the ferry pier and made it by the skin of our teeth, these Portugal enthusiasts thoroughly tickled by the striking resemblance.

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