Wednesday, May 19, 2010

19 May 10 – Day 4 (Macau)

Woke up earlier than the previous two days at 6+am and were out about 8am. We decided to walk to Guia Fortress and looked for breakfast along the way. Unfortunately we couldn't find any. We passed by a hospital, found Hotel Guia and followed the path up to Guia Hill. Followed the map directory, chose the path on the right of the map and walked 1.2km before finding the ball court and the cable car stop on Guia Hill. Asked around and was told to cut across the court, climbed the stairs to the right to reach the Fortress. Finally reached the lighthouse and the chapel but the chapel wasn’t opened yet. So hung around to take some photos and rest. We joked that it was a healthy day coz we walked nearly one round the hill to exercise away the sinful dinner from the previous night.

Bell of Our Lady of Guia Chapel

Guia Lighthouse & Chapel

Guia Lighthouse

Anchor

Cannon

The view from the top of Guia Fort was great but the weather was a little foggy. Soon the chapel opened and we went in to see. It was very different from the other churches that we saw two days ago. The interior of the chapel was very run down and some hand drawn paintings on the wall had fallen off. The paintings were very basic and towards the Chinese style with eagles and lions. Came out and saw a cute Peskiness dog that was talking a walk with his owner. SWT asked if we could take photo with the dog and play with him. The owner gave his permission and struck up a conversation with us or rather it was mainly SWT who did the talking. We spent about half an hour with the dog before leaving the area. Checked out the Air Raid Shelter along the way down and then took a bus to Fisherman’s Wharf. However, we were there early around 11am and almost all the shops were not opened yet. Therefore, we decided to visit the Grand Prix Museum and Wine Museum first. Passed by the Lotus Flower in Full Bloom but didn’t go near to take photo.

Some pictures of Macau taken from top of Guia Fort:





Ah Di The Dog at Guia Fort






There were many nice racing cars in the Grand Prix Museum and we learnt a lot about Port Wine from the Wine Museum. We didn’t do the wine tasting though coz we didn’t have breakfast. Took the bus towards 新马路 to look for Nam Peng Café and it rained half way. We walked quickly and finally found it. KC was very happy coz she was determined to eat in that café. We ordered a Sweet Meal and a Salty Meal to share. The Sweet Meal consisted of Oatmeal, Ham Omelet and Creamy Butter Sandwich with tea or coffee. The Salty Meal consisted of Ham & Egg Sandwich and Ham Macaroni with tea or coffee. The food may look simple but they tasted great.

Some pictures of the race cars in Grand Prix Museum:













Nam Peng Cafe

Consists of Ham & Egg Sandwich, Ham Macaroni and Tea

Oatmeal

Consists of Ham Omelet and Creamy Butter Sandwich

After eating, we braved the rain, walked along Avenida Almeida Ribeiro and we passed by Culture Club but we didn’t go in. Continued our way to Senado Square’s MacDonald to escape from the rain and to decide what to do next. Wanted to go to Lou Kao Mansion but the rain was getting heavy hence abandoned the idea but we saw LemonCello. I wanted to eat the gelato and KC said she doesn’t mind but SWT was against the idea saying we were crazy to eat gelato on a cold day. Well, majority wins so we all agreed to go there for gelato later the day. SWT put on her poncho, KC used my umbrella and I wore my windbreaker before heading to shops like The Body Shop, SaSa, etc and finally crossed over to Espirit where KC wanted to get a dress. However, she ended up with a pair of pants instead coz after discount, it was really cheap. After that, we walked back to LemonCello and while KC and I were discussing how many flavours we should get, SWT asked the staff there for taste test so we made a dig at her for eating her words. We bought a three flavours cup and each of us chose a flavour – SWT chose Mint, KC chose LemonCello and I chose American Nuts to compliment the other two.

3 Scoops in a cup costing MOP$30. Green - Mint; White - LemonCello; Brown - American Nut



SWT said it would be wonderful to eat hot 咖哩鱼蛋on rainy day and hence after the gelato, we crossed over to Kam Wai Beef Offal for that. We picked an item each with SWT choosing veg, KC chose the normal 鱼蛋 and I chose the 鱼蛋 with roe. Chatted with the lady and she said that her stall was featured in a dining guide and she even gave us a copy asking us to help promote her stall. Stood at the foot of the stairs of an apartment next door to eat. The 咖哩鱼蛋 was very nice coz it was really spicy and the 鱼蛋 very tasty especially the one with roe. Done eating and we walked to a branch of Koi Kei to buy pastries like all good tourists do. By the time we were done buying, the rain was smaller and we walked back to the guesthouse. Did a bit of packing before going out again for dinner. We wanted to wait for the pushcart stall to get congee for supper around 9+pm so we walked around our area to kill time.

Consists of Vegetables, Fishballs and Roe Fishballs in Extra Spicy Curry

Headed to Café Free nearby to get bread as breakfast for next day since we need to catch the early flight back home. We also bought extra such as Low Fat Cheesecake for KC, Chocolate Cake for SWT and Tiramisu for myself coz they looked so good as after dinner desserts. Done with our purchase, headed to SaSa in The Macau Square for a walk and when we came out, it was pouring. Checked out the Foodcourt in The Macau Square but not many stalls were opened. So in the end decided to eat dinner at the 食神茶餐厅, which was around the corner of the building. KC and I had the spicy diced pork noodle soup while SWT had pork chop noodle soup and we shared a plate of vegetables in oyster sauce. The noodle was tasty and filling coz the portion was big. When we finished, the rain just stopped so we paid up and hurried back to the guesthouse to do packing. The pushcart stall didn’t open for the night and hence we didn’t get to taste the congee after all. After packing, shower and then ate our desserts while watching the tv which was showing Fringe.

Spicy Diced Pork Noodle

Pork Chop Noodle

Veg with Oyster Sauce

Pastries from Cafe Free

Thoughts: Please remember to eat good breakfast before going to Guia Fortress and to choose the path on the left of the directional map to reach the lighthouse fast within circling the Hill too much. No need to go too early since the chapel only opens at 10am unless you want to do some morning walk and get some fresh air.

Nam Peng Café is worth going for the food, pastries and buns. Long Wa Restaurant (龙华茶楼) and Fat Siu Lau (佛笑楼) are the other two that I wanted to try but didn’t get the chance. LemonCello Gelato has many different flavour gelato and they were very smooth. Kam Wai Beef Offal 咖哩鱼蛋 is a must try. As SWT doesn’t eat Beef Offal, we didn’t get to try that.

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