MACAU

What is the currency of Macau? Many visitors to this former Portuguese colony probably have the faintest of ideas. And perhaps this is the least of their concern. After all, one can transact in Hong Kong dollars in Macau but not vice versa.

Besides, most of them are just making a day trip to Macau and will be taking the night ferry back to Hong Kong.

For the longest time, Macau has languished as the poorer less glamorous cousin of Hong Kong. But this underdog does not wallow in self-pity and will not be vanquished.

Indeed, there exists a palpable quality of tenacity in her people – hawkers pester passers-by to sample their barbecued sliced meat, not to mention feisty female reporters who may not let you terminate an interview unless you placate them with an imaginary list of places you plan to visit in Macau.

And sitting on the dirtied floor of a vacated shop in the city’s Senado Square is a wizened woman, perpetually staring down at her box filled with tiny tubes of bubble gum. You walked past the lonesome figure and turned back, deciding to patronise her poor business. She smiled, handed you the merchandise, before adding your Hong Kong dollars to her plump wad of patacas notes.

05 LEAL SENADO__In a city painted with saccharine pastel Portuguese-influenced buildings (the Dom Pedro V Theatre and the Church of St Dominic quickly come to mind), the whitewashed Leal Senado may come across as bland and almost uninviting.

There are two reasons then to step into this two-storey structure – to avoid the madding crowd of Senado Square just across the road and to fathom why it is considered Macau’s most important historical building.

Dating back to the 18 th Century, the building owes its namesake of “Loyal Senate” to the city’s allegiance to its colonial master even when Portugal was occupied by Spain for some 60 years during the 17 th Century. Today, it houses the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, the mayor’s office, a gallery and library.

There’s even room for a tiny courtyard inside the Leal Senado and what a pleasant hideout it is. Water trickles down the mouths of two stone mythical creatures and flowers bloom all-year-round on the mosaic floors but the most spellbinding of all are the blue tiles embellishing the building’s walls with ferocious-looking fishes and drifting junks – the clearest allusions to the city’s Portuguese roots.

04 MANDARIN HOUSE__ Given the city’s predominantly European streetscape of churches, forts, barracks, squares and of course ostentatious casinos, the Mandarin’s House makes for a welcome change of cultural narratives.

Built around 1869, this ancestral home of wealthy merchant and government official Zheng Guanying contains 60 rooms and spans 4,000 square metres, a rarity in contemporary Macau. However, the numerous halls inside the two-storey residential complex are awkwardly minimalist, decorated with only wooden furniture and porcelain vases that are probably procured from the city’s antique shops.

Moreover, there are little hints of the opulent lives of the mansion’s previous owners, save for a replication of the book Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity, penned by Zheng who took a keen interest in his country’s political affairs.

Still, the rooms’ emptiness helps to direct one’s attention to the architectural details around such as the wooden carvings on the beam structures, folding screens, doors and windows. Equally splendid are the plasterwork on the exterior walls below the roof eaves, including a pair of Mandarin ducks swimming in a lotus pond and white cranes perching on a tree.

Besides the customary moon gates, plastered couplets and an Earth God shrine, the charcoal grey mansion also boasts a “sedan way”: in the past, visitors had to alight from the sedans and amble down the long passageway to enter the hall, while the sedan carriers and attendants waited outside.

And interestingly, outside the Mandarin’s House is the unmistakably European-styled Lilau Square.

03 COLOANE ISLAND __ Despite its proximity to the sea, the breeze that permeates Coloane Village tastes anything but salty. Instead it is a concocted aroma that is sweet, fresh and slightly burnt, thanks to its famous resident, the Lord Stow’s Bakery and its signature baked egg tarts.

A stone’s throw away from the bakery is its sister café which serves up hearty Western grub such as sandwiches with bacon, lettuce and tomatoes best downed with carrot juice. The décor is modern and the crowd mostly professionals but what takes place behind the counter is a microcosm of Macanese society – some of the crew are of Portuguese descent but engage in effortless and impeccable Cantonese banter.

Such marrying of cultures is also evident in the stretch of historical places of worship guarding the rocky coastline. The Chapel of St Francis Xavier – built in 1928 – and its neighbouring Chinese temples add to the village’s bucolic charm, as a rooster crows in a derelict house down the road.

Dilapidation or at least neglect may be the secret to Coloane’s likeability. A weathered maritime check point juxtaposed with a rundown shop that does a seemingly thriving trade in dried salted fish present a slice of Macau on a standstill – also a snapshot that is increasingly elusive on mainland Macau.

02 RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF ST PAUL __ Familiarity can breed disappointment, if not contempt. The first sighting of the landmark of Macau can turn out to be an anti-climax – in real-life, the Ruins of the Church of St Paul is rather diminutive, a far cry from its imposing stature as immortalised in countless photographs and postcards.

It is overrun too by armies of tourists, charging up its well-trodden steps and peering out of its hollowed windows for views of Senado Square and beyond. The Ruins of the Church of St Paul is undeniably touristy which makes it difficult at times to find a resting spot among the steps so as to admire the artistry of this miraculous masterpiece.

The Church’s symmetrical façade stems from its rows of plain Roman columns which complement the more intricate statues of angels and saints, dragons and doves, fountains and vessels. Next to the carving of a skeleton are some Chinese inscriptions, a testament to the Chinese craftsmen and Japanese Christian exiles who completed the building in 1602, based on the blueprint of an Italian Jesuit. Alas, a huge fire in 1835 gutted much of the Church, save for its façade and stone steps.

Perhaps then, the beauty of the Ruins of the Church of St Paul is more than skin-deep; it is a fitting metaphor of Macau: a pint-size enclave with the survival instinct to fend off threats – be they foreign marauders or local triads.

01 GUIA FORT AND LIGHTHOUSE __The Guia Fort and Lighthouse remain the best places to take in the vistas of Macau, not to mention its rapid transformation. Construction cranes looming over yet-to-be-completed skyscrapers have become as permanent a fixture as the Macau Tower, Grand Lisbon and anonymous European-style villas.

After all, the fortress sits on Guia Hill, the highest peak of Macau. And not surprisingly, tourists and couples shooting their wedding portraits have found their way there but the numbers are still manageable (thank goodness for the knee-jerking uphill climb).

The star attractions of the fort are of course the 15 m tall lighthouse, built in 1865 and said to be oldest on the China coast, as well as the Chapel of Our Lady of Guia which dates back to 1622. With most people either preoccupied with the views or striking poses beside the fort’s canons, the small chapel beckons to the lone visitor for some solitary moments. The faint frescoes on its walls and ceiling are enchanting in a child-like manner, that is, if you can gloss over the chapel’s automatic sliding glass doors.

The Guia Fort and Lighthouse may not share the cult status of the Ruins of the Church of St Paul (no harrowing story of narrowly escaping catastrophes here) but it does display an admirable work ethic. Some 140 years since its inception, this grand dame continues to send signals to ships at night, its beacon doubling as a hospitable reminder to return to Macau soon…

Guia Fort and Lighthouse | Located in the northern part of Macau, Guia Hill is quite close to the Lou Lim Ioc Garden and the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. It takes however almost an hour on foot from Senado Square so it is best reached by taking a cab.

Ruins of the Church of St Paul | Cut through Senado Square and its labyrinth of shops and you will come face-to-face with this famous landmark.

Coloane Island | Take Bus 26 from the Senado Square area and enjoy the views of Taipa Island before alighting at Coloane Village, all for just 5 patacas.

Mandarin's House | To get to the Mandarin’s House, look out for the alley to the left of Leal Senado and follow the directional signs pointing to places of interest like the Dom Pedro V Theatre and the Church of St Augustine.

Leal Senado | This historical building faces Senado Square and is located at 163 Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro.