We woke up and ordered room service for breakfast (the true royal treatment!). After making the most of our suite, we had to pack up our things and check out. We were headed to the main side of Macau, the "older" side which has a wider selection of hotels and also is home to the historic city center.
After checking into the Grand Lapa, also known as the "old" Mandarin Oriental hotel, we went to the city center to do all of the touristy sight-seeing. Since it was only a couple of weeks until Chinese New Year, the entire plaza was decorated all over with bright orange and red hanging lanterns, garlands, flowers, and of course horses. It is the year of the horse, after all. Beginning in the mid-16th century, Macau functioned as a Portuguese trading port until it became an official Portuguese colony in 1887. Macau was the last remaining European colony in Asia until late 1999, when it was handed back over to China. These centuries of Portuguese and European influence still resonate in Macau, and nowhere is this more evident than in the city center.
We walked around the cobble stone streets of the city center, admiring the elegance and detail of the Portuguese architecture. The fronts of the buildings radiated bright colors, and it almost felt as though we had been transported to Portugal itself. We stopped inside St. Paul's cathedral, Lou Kau mansion, and then found our way to the ruins of St. Paul's cathedral and the old city walls which was about a 5 minute walk away.
St. Paul's cathedral is perhaps the most famous of Macau's landmarks. Originally built in the 17th-century, this Portuguese cathedral was dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle. Unfortunately, most of the cathedral burnt down in 1835, but what is left stands as a UNESCO World Heritage site. I tried some Turkish ice cream from a street vendor (the best part is the show he puts on!) and the famous Portuguese egg tart. If you go to Macau, you must try the egg tart- it's not what you think.
Julian took me to see the inside of the Casino Lisboa, one of the most famous casinos in Macau popularized by the gangsters that have been known to frequent its halls. It is old-school, like Vegas in its heyday. We also stopped by the Wynn for a couple of cocktails, and walked through some other hotels. Unlike Vegas, on this side of Macau there is not much to do inside the hotels except gamble, eat, and drink. Besides the high end shopping, there is not much to see and no shows that are worth watching.
After a long day of walking, we retired to the hotel and played a round of mini golf before dinner. I won! We decided to go to the authentic Thai restaurant at our hotel, NAAM, which overlooks the pool and gardens and has delicious, fresh Thai food. After, we made a stop by the Cake Shop at our hotel which is famous for its homemade pastries and cakes. We wanted to try our luck at gambling again, so we headed to the Sands casino next door. Unfortunately, they did not have a craps table, so we played the popular Chinese game Big vs. Small and I did some rounds at the slot machines. After I had my fill of gambling, we turned in for the night. Until next time Macau!