I’m not one to turn down a cross-border mission. One of my favourite things about Switzerland was being able to travel overland to another country. That was when I first realised that in NZ going ‘overseas’ is synonymous with going to another country, cos they’re ALL over the sea. But referring to other parts of Europe as overseas tended to confuse the Swiss, which is fair, it isn’t exactly over the sea to jump on a train to Paris. Anyway, a friend needed to re-enter HK to extend her visa, to re-enter you have to leave, so our day’s mission to Macau was set. We actually did travel by sea in this case … a one-hour fast ferry from downtown Hong Kong and we were stepping off into a hot sunny Macau day.

The only thing I had ever associated Macau with was Casinos but recently I learnt it had some interesting history to it as well, with years of Portuguese influence giving it a unique cultural mix. Slightly cocky from 6 weeks navigating HK public transport we backed ourselves to catch a local bus into town rather than a touristy one or a taxi. With a couple of false starts we found our way downtown in the historical part of Macau. It was quite surreal as it felt a lot like Europe, buildings were generally more like 3 or 4 stories high, cobbled lanes and some European architecture sprinkled throughout. Signage was all in both Portuguese and Chinese characters, and there was a clear influence of both places throughout. We made our way through the skinny streets, enjoying the lack of skyscrapers as a chance and checking out some little markets along the way. We also managed to have two deserts within the first hour or so … starting with the classic Portuguese Egg Tart, as delicious as any I have had even in Lisbon. Following that I couldn’t resist these strange looking tubes which the women told me were cookie dough with ice cream in them. Turns out that one was lost in translation as they were more like pastry with cream in them and nowhere near as yummy as they looked.

The historical highlight of Macau is the ruins of an old church, where only the facade remains. Its prominent spot at the top of a hill makes it very photogenic and a popular tourist attraction. It was actually quite cool with really interesting carvings, I particularly liked the pirate ship with skeletons. After a short wander around there, we then walked up even higher to another old ruin, with 360-degree city views which helped to get some perspective on Macau. Most of the city is actually quite low rise but off in the distance (and a few sneaky ones close by) were the casinos clustered together and forming a much more traditional city skyline.

Tired off walking up hills and in need of a beer, we stopped for lunch where the highlight was a chorizo type sausage served sizzling on a terracotta pig, in case you forgot what sausages were made of. Sticking with my “meat is weird” theory I had a great Caprese and way too much bread, just like I would have in Europe.

Our afternoon mission was to check out just one Casino before getting on the ferry home. I had heard that the Venetian in Macau was “bigger and better” than the one in Las Vegas. I’ve never been, so have no comparison but it was definitely big! I was kind of overawed, to be honest, the place was insanely huge, totally extravagant and pumped full of people and money to a scale that I am not sure I have seen before. The ceilings belonged in an Italian church, the waterways and tiny bridges were as charming as the flowers in window boxes looking down on them, and the building facades glowed in pink and orange. It was really confusing to admire it so greatly on one level but then find it so strange on another knowing it is all fake. The absolute crowds of people constantly taking photos everywhere and the glitzy brand names filling the stores helped with remembering it was fake. But you could just as easily look up at the pretend clouds and wrought iron balconies and feel like you really were in Venice. We wandered so far I couldn’t believe it was still the Casino, this thing is stupidly huge. Then we tried to leave. Ha.

They really don’t want you to do that, as long as you are inside with no concept of day or night they can hope you’ll keep spending I guess. It is not easy to find your way out, we would follow 2 or 3 exit signs then the trail would go cold, or pursue a sign for buses only to find ourselves in a lobby somewhere. We eventually made it out alive, and having spent not a cent in the casino itself scored a free bus ride to the ferry terminal on the casino bus… that’s what I call beating the house.