Hong Kong & Macau 2008 Day 8

Had breakfast at a different cha can ting, before going to Rio and losing more money to the damn jackpot machine (it must have been rigged!).

'Four treasures' rice

Tempura prawn ramen

Time to go for some sightseeing! Took a cab (Taxi fares are cheap in Macau) to A-ma Temple, a historic Chinese temple built in 1488 to commemorate Ma-zu, a sea goddess who blesses sailors and fishermen.

A-ma Temple, aka 妈阁庙

Scenes in A-ma Temple

A huge model of a Chinese junk boat

A toilet-bowl-like basin filled with 'lucky' water

Huat ah!

An engraving of a ship on a rock

After climbing all those little steps to tour around the temple and praying for some luck, we took a rest at a bench nearby to enjoy some very expensive single-scoop 'local' ice-cream (HKD6!).

We intended to walk to Senado Square along the main road (starting from Calcada da Barra) and explore the historic landmarks and colonial architecture along the way, but we started on the wrong main road (Rua do S. Tiago da Barra) and ended up at some hidden streets. But it was at these streets that we got a realistic glimpse of the simple life of the Macanese residents, a stark contrast to the glitz and luxury at the Cotai Strip just a few kilometres away.

Buildings by the main road

Venturing into Rua da Praia do Manduco, a small street lined with vehicles

It was an amazing insight as these streets embody a fusion of the traditional trade - roast meats shops, vegetables shops, toys shops, and the modern enterprise - jewellery shops, comic book cafes etc. We came across a supermarket, which I must say, was bigger than those back home, and had a wider variety of products. Prices were actually cheaper than those in Hong Kong too. We bought some pastries, Ajisen ramen and canned drinks (where in Singapore can you find canned 川贝枇杷膏?). We wished we could have bought more, but not only were our funds running dry, our bags were also running out of space.

Stuck at the arcade (cheap! at only HKD1 per game!)

Our legs were getting tired, so we took a cab to Senado Square. Other than looking at the neoclassical architecture of the buildings and the cute cobblestone pavements, there was not anything much. Seriously, the architecture in Senado Square is beautiful and exudes strong colonial vibes, but commercialization has to spoil its nostalgic charm. It should really do away with the Starbucks, Haagen Dazs, Body Shop and the likes, which are an eyesore.

Senado Square

Santa Casa da Misericórdia

Post Office Building

St Dominic Church

A pretty little alley at Senado Square

Next, we walked on to the Ruins of St Paul's. There was a particular street along the way that had many stores selling Macau's local produce. These shops really had no hesitations in handing out samples of bak kwa, peanut candy, almond cookies, black sesame biscuits etc to curious passers-by, and competition was fierce because these shops were practically selling the same stuff. We stopped at the largest shop, watched how the shi fu made soft peanut candy, sampled some, and were instantly hooked. Then we were ushered into the shop by a warm attendant who generously urged us to try all the samples. We need not have her to tell us that, because we already could not keep our hands off the bak kwa sample containers. Black pepper bak kwa, bak kwa with XO sauce, and even crocodile bak kwa! Their bak kwa was cheap, selling at HKD35 per square metre. However, I remembered some restrictions about bringing meat into Singapore, so just to be safe, we got only the peanut candy. Damn, the bak kwa was nice.

Small crowded streets that lead to St Paul's Ruins

The street with the many local produce shops

The shop where we bought the peanut candy (and with the shi fu making the candy on the spot)

We finally came to St Paul's Ruins. It was known as St Paul College Cathedral when it was built from 1582 to 1602, and it was an university and a church at the same time. A fire that broke out in 1835 destroyed much of the complex, leaving behind the stone facade that we see today. Other than scaling the 66 steps and touching the stone wall, there was not anything much to do there.

St Paul's Ruins

At the base of St Paul's Ruins

View from the top (the sight of Lisboa is inescapable)

Ne Zha Temple (we were curious as to why it would be located just beside St Paul's Ruins)

It was soon evening and we returned to our hotel to wash up, before heading to the lobby to claim our welcome drinks at their Oskar's Bar. We picked red wine, which tasted weak but still packed an alcoholic punch.

On the large comfortable bed

At Oskar's Bar

Feeling slightly groggy, we headed to Rio again to try our luck. Maybe the alcohol was impairing our judgement, as we decided with sudden bravado that since it was our last night, we were going to withdraw HKD3,000 to fight the final battle. We were addicted and we seriously needed professional help.

The jackpot machine no longer proved to be a kick for us, as now we were aiming for something higher - Sic Bo. After we had our fill of the free Coke at the jackpot machine section, we went to the Sic Bo table, which was filled with gamblers. Slug revealed that he was going to bet on 'Big' for every round, and I scolded him for having such a stupid idea because it was safer to spot the trends based on the electronic display board of the statistics for the previous 15 rounds at the table. As could be seen from the board, the outcomes were mainly 'Small', which could appear for 6 consecutive matches, while 'Big' was quite random in appearing. Slug argued that the board was misleading, and nevertheless, went his own way.

Now we were starting to suspect that even the Sic Bo table had been rigged. As Slug went for the usual 'Big', the other players followed suit, knowing that his choice seemed to give the winning outcome (such sneaky rats). As everyone placed their chips on 'Big' and none on 'Small', just then Slug whispered to me that he hated it that the other players copied him, because on seeing such a situation, the dealer would secretly tweak the die to make the outcome 'Small' so as to prevent giving huge payouts to everyone who had betted on 'Big'. Indeed, the outcome was 'Small' and there went our (and everyone elses') chips.

Our chips lasted us till 2.30am, and throughout the night, gambling had become synonymous with stress, first-hand smoke, second-hand smoke, jittery nerves and "You shouldn't have" blamings. We still lost the HKD3,000 cleanly in the end, and we left Rio in ultimate dejectedness. My appetite was totally ruined, but Slug still made cup noodles for us.

Cup noodles and ba ding

At this point of time, I was actually relieved that we were going home tomorrow, because at the rate we were losing, we would soon be borrowing from Macanese loansharks and being their slaves forever was the last thing I ever want.