Day Twenty-Nine

This morning I got to sleep in until 10:30am. When I woke up Fiona had left to a doctor's appointment so I was home alone. When she got back I had breakfast and we both did a load of laundry. Once we got our clothes hanged up to dry we went out for my first day of adventuring in Macau.

The first stop on our adventure was the tourist center in Senado Square. Before I tell you about the other places I visited let me give you a little history on Macau. Macau was up until recently a Portuguese Colony. Since, the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid 1500's the Macanese culture has evolved into a fusion of Portuguese and Chinese tradition. The food, architecture, ethnicities, and religion make Macau a unique Chinese region.

The aforementioned Senado Square is lined with stores and restaurants that fill in the historical buildings, (which are protected by the government and actually illegal to demolish). Many of the buildings have been restored to their Spanish Colonial look and unique Macanese pedestrian walkways pave the promenade. Before leaving the square Fiona and I took a quick look in St. Dominic's church, one of many Christian churches on the peninsula, ( many of the Macanese are roman catholic while others still belong to different Asian religions).

Once we left the square we walked to St. Paul's Ruin's. The Ruins of St. Paul's Church are what's left of the Church/Jesuit academy that was built by the Portuguese missionaries in the late 1500's. The facade still stands but the remainder of the church was destroyed in a fire about a century ago. We also viewed the St. Paul's crypt which displays the remains of head figures in the church.

After visiting the ruins we went to the Portuguese arsenal and barracks which has been converted into the Museum of Macau. The museum was awesome! I really never thought I'd say that but I learned a lot about Macau, Chinese, and even Western history. The displays, dioramas, and demonstrations were educative and fun.

Our next mission was to the Chinese consulate office to take care of some visa stuff so that I can get back into mainland China to meet up with my friend in Shanghai. Everything is working out fine and a lot smoother than I thought it would. Anyways, we just finished dinner and bought a couple dvd's to watch tonight. Night everyone!