I was dreading the
thought of my Paulo Coelho shopping spree going kaput. The Livraria Portuguesa
sign board said that it was closed on Sundays but no! They are open, but still,
no Portuguese language book shopping was done. Why? Expensive! A copy of
Veronika Decide Morrer costs more than MOP200, and only a few of his books were
there. The Portuguese language course books that I’ve been eying for almost a
year now cost MOP300. I didn’t come prepared. Never mind. I am not taking the
DAPLE until late next year anyway. Paulo Coelho would have to wait. And so
after an hour at the bookstore, I decided to see the famous Ruins of St. Paul.
The attractions of
the Macau Peninsula are almost always clustered in one area, with each group
just a few blocks away from each other. If you are a devout Catholic and you
really love churches because they are “so pastel-colored you’re gonna die!”
then this is the Macau district right for you. Of course the tourists would
flock at St. Paul’s. Typical tourists go with the flow. How to get there? Just
go to Senado Square. This is not hard to miss especially on a Sunday. Aside
from the ruins, Senado probably gets the most tourists in this area. It is a
long a main road and has a lot of those pastel colored buildings that you just
want to eat. What? They do look like fondant cakes!
The Santa Casa da
Misericordia is the white photogenic building to the right of the fountain. The
Tourism Center is also a looker and is the one on the left. Go straight past
Starbucks and McDonalds to see the oldest Dominican Church in Asia. I forgot
the name. There are about half a dozen igrejas in this area and I am agnostic.
What do you expect? But they almost look the same: pastel-colored and small.
Just follow the road signs to get to the ruins of St. Paul, which is not
pastel-colored. Non-conformist, huh? The Igreja da Sé is at the end of the
alley to the right of the Livraria Portuguesa. An interesting to note is that
the area also has quite a number of clothing lines which were on sale when I
was there. The prices were dropping up to 70% off. Good bargain. If you hate
praying, you could go shopping. Everybody happy!
Actually, I had
already gone to Senado the day before. Oops, correction, the MIDNIGHT before.
Want to see a not so crowded Largo do Senado? Go there at midnight after
grabbing some late snacks at McDonalds (closes at 12). The place is
well-illuminated in the evening and I think the view is more striking,
especially the Sta. Casa da Misericordia. There are less people except for the
occasional tambays, most of which I bet are Pinoys because I was hearing a lot
of Tagalog. And we Filipinos like making tambay anywhere anyway. It’s like a collective
hobby of ours, so I think my assertion is true.
The Penha, I
think, is the most inaccessible and consequently, the least popular. You have
to go uphill to get there. If you have walked all the way to the Macau Tower
from the Grand Lisboa, the church on high ground that you see from afar is the
Penha. Just consult one of the maps in the streets to see how to get there. You
pass by two or three more Fondant cake churches before reaching this one. It is
a must see, in my opinion, because it commands a good view of the city. More
than one view. You could see the area of the Macau Tower in front, and then
there is a statue of the Virgin Mary looking over the gamblers of the Grand
Lisboa and other casinos nearby. Aside from the impressive view of the city
from the Macau Tower, I think this is just one of the few others that offer an
outstanding panoramic view of the peninsula.
It was a long walk
again after that. I was catching the whiff of good pastries as I paused to gulp
water and rest. I don’t know why I never tasted a Portuguese egg tart or one of
Macau’s mouth-watering pastries. Perhaps I was just too preoccupied
sightseeing. Besides, eating always takes the backseat when I travel. It’s
never a priority for me. Moving on, it was a long walk to the Livraria
Portuguese, and then to the Ruins of St. Paul, which wasn’t really that far
away but seemed so because you had to swim in a crowd of tourists to get there.
Do not ever go there on a Sunday, your evil camwhoring plans would be foiled...
by other camwhores. They were everywhere, from the steps, to the windows of the
ruins, to the stores selling the delicious pastries.
I think I already
mentioned that it was really hot in Macau when I was there? As in the sun was
really high up, and then there were all those people. The area looked and
smelled like an evacuation center, although the enticing aroma of the pastries
overpowered the smell somehow. I just snapped a picture of the ruins’ façade
and fled. I didn’t even dare go up the steps anymore. With all those people
you’d probably just fall on one of them from all the pushing. Dying from a
stampede is not really a dream of mine. I went back just in time at the guest
house to find the other three Filipino guests there ready to leave for the
airport. We all went together after resting in front of the fans. Heatstroke!!!
There are more
temples to visit within the peninsula. There is also a fort just next to the
ruins of St. Paul’s Evacuation Center. I just chose to no longer go there since
I was already bathing in my own sweat, which is not really the most amazing
feeling in the world. I felt like I’d been dipped in a large Orocan of cooking
oil. Eeew. You could see all of the peninsula’s sights in one day, better if
you have wheels so you could minimize the sweating and the walking.
MACAU: 03 - The Ruins of St. Paul’s Evacuation Center
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