Picture of the Day: Where Am I?

This was the view from my hotel room last night... does it remind you of somewhere?

Macau's Gigantic White Elephant

The enormous (and empty) new Taipa Ferry Terminal

If you go to Macau from Hong Kong, don't take the ferry that goes to the new terminal in Taipa.

Although it's a relatively new building (construction was postponed for several years) that finally opened in June last year, it's a giant white elephant that is hardly passenger friendly.

Wear comfortable shoes to walk the very long terminal

First of all it's so massive -- the size of 25 football fields -- that people need to walk forever just to get to the immigration counter; the people movers along the way are turned off and barricaded. For elderly travelers, it's their worst nightmare to have to walk for ages. And if you're carrying luggage or heavy bags, it's a marathon to test how strong your biceps are. Believe me I just tried it.

Once you get through immigration, then it's another long walk to get out of the terminal and to the free hotel shuttle buses that seems like another kilometre away. And these buses aren't in an area that is sheltered from the elements, so if there is heavy rain, good luck trying to stay dry waiting for the next shuttle.

The immigration area is absolutely cavernous

And then when you are leaving Macau, the ferry terminal puts the food court right at the entrance -- but they aren't even busy -- not even McDonald's. You have to decide then if you're going to get sustenance or not, because after that, the options are dire.

Again there is the epic walk to the gate -- if your ferry is at gate 16, good luck. It's far, far away.

The gates themselves have a small food stall, but it's pathetic to say the least. There's tea eggs and soy braised chicken feet, and sandwiches with one slice each of orange-looking cheese and pink ham. How delicious.

The hotel shuttles aren't sheltered from the elements

It cost 3.8 billion MOP to build this Taipa Ferry Terminal that is capable of handling 30 million passengers a year, but a year and a half later it's practically empty...

 

Portuguese Cuisine in Taipa Village

One side of the wall of O Santos has a naval theme; the other is football!

For lunch yesterday in Macau, we wandered along Food Street in Taipa Village and saw a mob of people wandering around eating snack foods like egg tarts and pork chop buns.

To avoid the crowds, we soon found a Portuguese restaurant called O Santos Comida Portuguesa and walked in.

There were tables of Macanese tucking into their favourite dishes with red wine, some Portuguese tourists, and a few locals.

Delicious bacalhau that were a bit small, but very good

On one wall were decorations that had a naval theme, while the other was all football -- red towels with players' numbers and names, and giant red banners with "Portugal" on it. There was even a small picture of the owner, chef Santos with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

The menu is full of pictures to point to and we soon made our decision -- a garden salad, bacalhau or deep-fried codfish balls, and a curious dish -- clams in a lamb stew.

As we waited for the food to arrive, we munched on a small plate of olives, and then the salad arrived -- a basic one of chopped cabbage, slices of tomato and onion that we dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

Next came a small plate -- the same size as the one holding the olives, but this one had the three pieces of bacalhau. I didn't remember them being this small...

Our intriguing clam and lamb stew was the highlight

Nevertheless, they were delicious, hardly oily with a crunchy crust while inside the filling had a ratio of more codfish than potato. We could have each eaten at least two, but we weren't ravenously hungry.

Finally our intriguing dish of clams in a lamb stew arrived. There were chunks of braised lamb that had its pungent natural flavour, and the meat was very tender, falling off the bone. The clams, garnished with coriander and some minced garlic were fantastic, with hardly any sand in them.

We were soon using our bread to soak up the sauce inside the small ceramic pot. Oh and we also ordered a plate of fries too that were also good dipped in the sauce.

Including soft drinks and a coffee the bill came to under HK$400. Delish.

O Santos Comida Portuguesa
Rua do Cunhu, no. 20
Taipa, Macau

Macau's Boom (Again)

Paris of the East? Eiffel Tower in front of The Parisian

We made a day trip out to Macau today and it was overwhelming to see a few new resorts opened in Taipa, such as Studio City, Wynn Palace, and The Parisian which officially opens next week.

Across from The Parisian is Studio City

Media who have visited Wynn Palace have posted pictures on social media of its magnificent water fountain out front that's reminiscent of Bellagio, but no where near the same scale. There's also a kitsch floral horse merry-go-round, a cable car ride, and a bizarre show featuring King Kong.

Studio City has a Gotham-esque look from a distance, but up close it's pretty much like any other large-scale casino complex in Macau, complete with a shopping mall, restaurants, and food court for plebeians with a 1920s Hollywood theme. Oh and if you need cash, ICBC or Industrial and Commerce Bank of China has a branch right in the resort.

On the outside The Parisian features a copy of the Eiffel Tower out in front, complete with a French chateau-style building behind it. Workers were still adding finishing touches, and it seemed ironic to see the red, blue and white plastic awning covering the base of the Eiffel Tower.

There are people dining in La Chine in the middle of the tower, serving what I've been told is Chinese food with French influences... But the view must be pretty neat...

A glittering chandelier in Studio City

A few months ago business in Macau was quite dire, but we were told July and August were very busy -- thanks to the very competitive hotel packages focused on families. Some rates were almost half off.

But now that kids are back in school, how will hotels sustain themselves? And there is still yet another resort to open, The 13, as in Louis XIII, the over-the-top complex that has 200 "villas", six fine dining restaurants, a fleet of 30 Rolls-Royce Phantoms, the largest ever single order for the luxury car, and the drivers -- oops chauffeurs -- were even trained by the car manufacturer.

Meanwhile, the Macau government is still building its ferry terminal in Taipa -- 10 years behind schedule. With the Hong Kong-Macau, Zhuhai bridge opening in about a year's time, is a new ferry terminal warranted?

See the reclamation works in the background?

And the roads... Macau used to be a small village and so roundabouts were fine to keep the traffic flowing. But now it's so congested with massive casino buses ferrying people around. The government is building a rapid transit system, but will that alleviate the situation significantly?

Towards the Macau Hong Kong ferry pier, we could see lots of land reclamation works going on and wondered what would be built there.

We'll just have to watch and see...