A piece I wrote for Travel2Next, exploring the history and stories behind Macanese desserts and Portuguese ones that are mainstays on the menu.
I’ve been up to the Guia Fortress and lighthouse several times in the 4.5+ years I lived in Macao and I couldn’t believe I didn’t have a photo of the UNESCO site landmark! Image above courtesy of MGTO. It’s a pretty easy trek if you plan to walk up, and make a nice walk in […]
Camoes Garden is also known as the “white pigeon nest” garden in Mandarin, because at one point, it was home to hundreds of white pigeons who nested there. One of Macau’s oldest garden parks, Camoes garden spans close to 20,000 square meters. Built in the 1770, it was the house of a wealthy Portuguese merchant […]
St Paul’s Ruins is possibly one of the most recognisable monuments from Macao that adorn many postcards and where first time visitors to Macao go for their “been there, done that” shot for social media. The façade has seen many iterations since the 17th century – it was first a college, then a church and […]
Image courtesy of MGTO This festival is not to be confused with the annual A-Ma Festival in April/May celebrated on the 23rd day of the third Lunar month, a grand birthday celebration of Mazu 妈祖, Goddess of the sea, and the Chinese patron saint equivalent of fishermen and sailors. This coincides with the Chong Yeung Festival on […]
I have a love-hate relationship with Macau. While this socially shallow place leaves a gaping hole in my soul for the lack of intellectual stimulation in the community, there’s so much rich and deep cultural history in this country shadowed by the glitzy casinos and what’s brighter, bigger and better that’s making the news headlines. Most […]
I haven’t quite made sense of the erratic line up of the Macau Arts Festival Programme 2014. Some shows like Wild Rice’s all male cast performance of The importance of being Ernest was brilliant as was Japanese artist Hiroaki umeda’s detailed precision (but people in front row seats left before interval and the rest slept […]
Just like in the postcards, the Yungang grottoes And the hanging monastery on Heng Shan I got on a train spontaneously to Datong in Shanxi province on Friday night to see the fabled hanging monastery and grottoes with amazing Buddha carvings. It’s possibly one of the dustiest cities I’ve been to and while the city […]