Macau

Last weekend I decided to take a weekend trip out of Nanning to visit my buddy Will, who was in Macau for the weekend before going on to Hong Kong and Taiwan for a 3 week "non-PRC China" trip. We had talked about where he was going a few months ago, and I said that if he did the non PRC China idea I'd try to meet him in HK or Macau. Well it turns out that HK is about 5.5 hours away on the train or a surprisingly expensive flight, but Macau is a VERY cheap flight and direct from Nanning. Leave Fri at 7, get home Sunday at 8. Perfect. Will and I met back in Daegu and hung out on his last night in Korea as a teacher. We've always stayed in touch, actually catching up on his return visit to Daegu in 2015 and again when I was in Vietnam doing my CELTA and spent NYE together with Yen and a few other friends.

We do skype, but it is always good to actually hang out in person, so I decided to head to Macau and hang out. Will had booked a place on airbnb with an extra bed, so that was perfect. I had previously been to Macau in 2013 but was only there for the day and only got a glimpse of it. So it was great to spend more time there.

I got the airport shuttle bus from Nanning train station and got to WuXu airport..... very early. After killing some time I checked in to air Macau and was on my way. I told Will to meet in front of the Hotel Lisboa, so we met there around 930 pm and quickly went to go eat.

meet me under this thing.

across from this thing.

Being that it was relatively late, we opted to head in to the Hotel Lisboa, which looks like something out of an old Roger Moore James Bond film, to grab a Macau beer and catch up. We then went to a Cantonese place for some of the best Sweet and sour pork I've ever had. Then it was off to bed.

The next day we got up early and headed out for coffee and breakfast across from the ruins of St. Paul.

view with morning coffee

The area around it has retained a lot of the old Portuguese buildings and even the cobblestone streets. It is like a bit of the Mediterranean in southeast Asia. After a look at the ruins we headed to the lighthouse park in the central part of the peninsula. It was a hot day despite it supposedly being winter, so we stopped to enjoy the view and breeze. After a full day of walking we managed to cover most of the peninsula and the old Portuguese sights and decided to head to Macau Tower for sunset, and have a couple of Asahi's. I had been up the Macau tower before, but forgot that the best views were on the second floor, so we wasted a bit too much time on the first one, but it was still fun. 

late in the day

after the sun goes down

We then headed out near the peninsula casinos for Chinese food, including the spiciest dish I have ever had, and a few Macau beers.

The next day we decided to head south to the Venetian and the Coloane area. I had never actually been to this area, and if certainly had more of a Las Vegas feel than the area around the Lisboa did. Inside we found an Irish pub owned and operated entirely by Filipinos who were showing the Pacquiao fight. We had burgers and ciders there before I had to run to get my flight back to Nanning.

It was great to learn that Macau is just a short hop from Nanning, and a cheap one too. It is a very cool city, and being so small it is easy to explore.