O RLY
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While preparing my France travelogue, I realised I still had 2 parts left for my Macau one. It'd kind of fallen by the side in the last 5 months.
Oops.
For reference,
Day 3, Part 2
Macau
Day 3 - 28th February - More wandering, Macau Museum (Part 3)
Dragon Dance in the streets: Qiang. Dong Qiang. Dong Qiang Qiang Dong Qiang. Qiang Dong Qiang Qiang Qiang Qiang.
Takoyaki place with stuff more exciting than the usual Japanese takoyaki
"The Grill House Portuguese Churrascaria Portuguesa"
I wondered how it differed from Brazilian ones
Squashed snowmen, Pikachu, a Pig and a Chamber Pot
Mao Zedong! A true symbol of Macau's adherence to the principle of "One Country, Two Systems"
I then happened upon the Capitol Theatre, which looked quite rundown.
Capitol Theatre
Capitol Theatre
Stream of shoppers. You'd have imagined that the street would've been wider, but that's Macau for you.
I then reached the Cathedral of Macau.
You can see why neither Guidebook mentioned it, despite its supposedly 1622 building.
Cathedral Nave
Cathedral Altar
Labeled candles - at the other place they were anonymous. For some reason I am amused by votive candles with dedications in Chinese.
Outside the cathedral, I saw this ang moh woman eating "Ireland Potato" (which had previously caught my eye). I went up to her and asked her if it was good. She said "oh my god" (apparently my talent for traumatising people extends overseas too) and then said the cheese sticks were good, but the normal potato products were not.
Some sights which I'd previously snapped at night:
Square outside cathedral
Fountain below square
And the road to that fountain
For lunch I went to a Portuguese place in the alley with many Portuguese restaurants (where I'd eaten the first night). I asked the Filipina waitress what the difference was between the fried prawns with tomato rice and the shrimp cake with tomato rice (both from the dinner menu - the lunch menu looked boring despite coming with a drink and soup for the same price as what I had), and she recommended the fried prawns. Maybe because they cost MOP 9 more, hah.
Sweating on a cool day and humid means it's damn cold when you go into airconditioned areas, which is why I ordered warm water (a very rare occurence for me). Hah.
Unfortunately, they had run out of tomato rice, so I settled for "Portuguese rice" (not very different from white). Fried with olive oil and spices this was not bad (98 MOP).
History taken over by neo-colonialism (SK-II)
Ad for almond cookies: "中國内地沒有分店" ("No branches on Mainland China")
A bakery was giving out free samples of the almond cookies Macau is so famous for
I also had a sample piece of bakkwa, which was thicker and tederer than in Singapore.
"The flower-pots are public property, please do not take it."
This is damn sad
I then headed to the Macau Museum, in the Monte Fort, where I basked in the aircon for a while before entering.
How to economically translate Portuguese names into Chinese.
Contestable tract on religious harmony in China claiming that Christianity and Islam are "important component[s] of the national culture"
Map of China, 18th century
I didn't know CHina customised goods for the West despite its insularity.
"Kraak" porcelain with bird and floral designs, Ming Dynasty, Wan Li
This is the crappiest China I've ever seen. They had better, but still.
Sancai horse, Tang Dynasty
Chinese Occidentalism: "After the VIII Century, the increased traffic along the Silk Route, led to the popular representation of the bizarre features of the Central Asian tradesmen in Chinese art beginning from the Tang Dynasty on - with a protruding nose and thick beard"
Plate - Judgement of Paris. Qianglong period.
Always look on the Bright Side of Life
Painting representing astronomical observation in Beijing, 1996
Underglaze Copper-red Pear-shaped Vase, Yuhuchunping
Yuan/Ming Underglaze Copper Red is rare and valuable because it's hard to make, and has a high failure rate. But to me it's still not as pretty as other types of porcelain
St John the Baptist, 15th century
Imperial Award, Qing Dynasty (1829). I'm not sure what the other language is.
Coats of Arms
Image of Goddess A-Ma (the one for whom the city is named)
Banner of our Lady of Immaculate Conception
Guan Yin representations
Shrine for Local God of Land, Qing Dynasty
The museum screened a film which essentially portrayed traditional fisherman as noble savages. There was a lot of archival footage of junks from the 40s and 50s, when fishing in Macau was at its peak.
Dough Models
Firecracker brands
Macanese food that would've been served in homes (for a function, IIRC)
The museum said har cheong (prawn paste) had brandy in it. Haram!
Blurb on Macanese cooking
Fu Kien (Hokkien) puppets
More puppets
More about puppets
Puppets from Canton
Crickets and cricket coffins
Champion Flag of Cricket Fight
I didn't know women celebrated their major (i.e. old) birthdays at 61, 71, 81 and 91. It's a Yin vs Yang thing.
When love dies:
"Tree of Love
It is said that a long time ago, in the village of Mong-Ha, a young man and a young woman fell in love with each other. Since their families were strongly against their marriage, both of them were in despair and committed suicide. At the place where they were buried a tree with two trunks linked together grew slowly.
Such a tree was seen in the backyard of the Kun Iam Temple before, but unfortunately the tree is already dead now.""
The museum said that the 3 big events in life were birth, marriage and death. Nothing about children, but still: good luck to all the extra guys in China.
I was bemused to see this, since I used to play this in Primary School.
Candle stand for wedding, 20th century.
If you look hard you can see people with Portuguese blood, but you can't tell by listening, since Cantonese is the lingua franca after all.
Strangely, it seemed easier to find Portuguese than Macanese food in Macau, but in Singapore the latter seems less uncommon.
They translated Rambo: First Blood into "第一滴血". Looks like I'm not the only one who does literal translations!