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Macau
Day 2 - 27th February - Coloane (Part 3)
After lunch I took a bus to the island of Coloane, the further island from Macau; Taipa (the nearer island) sounded more urban and less interesting.
The bus dropped me off at the very sleepy Coloane Village
Coloane was cooler than the city, but I wasn't up to hiking (mostly because I'd injured my foot in January and hadn't completely recovered yet).
My attention was drawn by this queue outside Lord Stow's Garden Café. Lord Stow, of course, is famous for having popularised egg tarts and having the finest examples of that culinary form Macau.
Lord Stow's Menu. Oddly, the only Portuguese/Macanese desserts were Egg Tarts and Serradura (milk, cream and biscuit crumbs), and the only Macanese food was Capella (Macanese-style Pork Loaf). The Macanese don't seem to love their cuisine all that much.
As the cafe was full, I got for takeaway:
2 egg tarts. I was still quite full so I didn't get anything else.
These were better (flakier and richer) than the ones I had for breakfast.
Incidentally the KFC ones in Singapore are not bad where the crust is concerned, but the filling is lousy as it has the consistency of badly-made kaya (i.e. lumpy).
"Flying Eagle Training Center. Macau's Only Army Training Camp" - I suspect this is run by the People's Liberation Army to indoctrinate Macanese kids.
Largo do Presidente Antonio Ramalho Eanes. An ex-Portuguese President who supposedly was stationed in Macau.
I love "Sam Seng Temple"
"Lord Stow's Bakery. Estd. Macau 1989".
They claim to be the "Creator of the Egg Tart now famous throughout Asia", but it's more accurate to say (as the website admits) that the late Englishman modified the traditional recipe and popularised it.
Purple Dog. It wasn't as cute as:
Samurai Dog (Kyoto)
A pier in the dump that is Coloane Beach
The Dump that is Coloane Beach. The shouts you hear come from old people playign cards. You can see Zhuhai (China) in the distance.
Largo do Balzar
Largo Eduardo Marques. The monument commemorates the 1910 victory over the last pirates in Coloane. At the end you see St Francis Xavier Church, which used to house St Francis Xavier's humerus (now in a seminary on the mainland) and the Japanese and Vietnamese martyrs' remains that are now in the crypt of the Ruins of St Paul's (Timeout 2006 incorrectly claims that they are still there).
Interior of the very modest St Francis Xavier Church (1928). Notice what is probably a dove, representing the Holy Spirit (the shape that looks like a KKK member) above the portrait of Christ.
Although the church was very simple and could not compare to European ones, I greatly enjoyed my visit - because of the air-conditioning.
There were also some interesting pieces inside St Francis Xavier Church.
Madonna and Child represented as Chinese gods
Something from Vietnam and Korea, and I love that hat!
At first I thought these were about Christianity in Japan, but it doesn't look like the Japanese style. Perhaps it's Korean.
The Shroud of Turin makes an appearance
Exiting the church, I wandered the alleys. It was no Cinque Terre, but the humidity aside, it was a semi-pleasant walk.
Travessa da Igreja
European street lamp, Chinese house
I never associated the [Sub-]Tropics with ivy, but there you are.
Next was the Kum Iam Temple (Guan Yin), dating from the mid-1800s.
Kum Iam Temple Altar
Doorway
Weapons rack
Entrance to Kum Iam Temple
I wondered if this was a joke - outside the Guan Yin Temple was (among others) a mini-Altar with Guan Yu
Rua do Caetano. More juxtaposition.
