Monte Fort and Macau Museum

Located next to the Ruins of St Paul, Monte Fort is probably the highest point in Macau, and provides some amazing views of the city. The fort was a defensive installation by the portuguese, and canons are jotted around the fort. The top has an amazing garden also - and given the time of the year, lots of flowers!

In a recent renovation, the Macau Musuem was added to the fort - a a great exploration on the combined history of the West and China - starting with a short history summary, trade, construction, science developments and some cultural fusion. It's a great primer on the shared history.

Ruins of St Paul's

It's possibly Macau's most famous tourist attraction - the remains of the facade for a Jesuit church, on a hill overlooking the ocean. The facade is remarkably well preserved, and highly decorated when compared to other churches, including the cathedral, in the area. After archeological excavations, the crypt and a small gallery exhibiting Christian art and artifacts from the era are also accessible from the church grounds.

Macau Lights

Macau is well known as a gambling destination - the Las Vegas of the East. There are two clusters - a cluster of outlandish reports on the island of Cotai, and a cluster near the harbour on the "mainland". We landed on Cotai, and took the bus to the centre, so we saw the resorts during the day. The older cluster came alive at night, on our way back.

St Dominic's Church

Just after the Senado Square, St Dominic's is a large Jesuit church with the stand out feature being the altar - showing the Virgin Mary and Jesus carrying his cross below the altar. As with many Jesuit churches, the decor itself is rather ordinary, but the strange altar is interesting ...

Macau Tarts

There are a lot of stalls selling Macau Egg Tarts; but this stall near the St Dominic's Church (on way to the steps) has it for a gat price and great service. Efficient process also - order with the lady, and pick up at the other window.

Ferries to Macau

There is a surprising volume of ferries to Macau - approximately 7 an hour for most of the day (the ferries effectively run a 24 hour operation). Given that each ferry can take about 250 passengers, it's a lot of people! The route itself is about an hour long (on the slower ferry), fairly cheap (approx HKD 350 return) and quite hassle free. There are higher classes of tickets promising more luxury, but I can't work out the value beyond more privacy.