Today’s Highlight :
- Senado Square
- Ruin of St. Paul’s Church
We have at
least 12 more hours to explore Macau, since we have
to go back to Hong Kong and stay at
Kowloon Island this night. After studying Macau tourism places from
TripAdvisor, we decided to visit Senado Square. It was a very crowded place
that day. Along the road, we found many branded stores and goodies stores. One
of my favorite places to visit
there is definitely Koi Kei Bakery. You can find Koi Kei Bakery (鉅記手信) at many places in Macau. It seems
quite commercialized with tourists flocking to the chain stores and leaving
with big bags of goodies! The chain stores are packed with an extensive
selection of snacks, cookies, pastries and other products which you can sample for free. My mom constantly
went “wild” when she saw those stores and went directly to one of them. She was
so busy picking a bunch of cookies packages and put them all in a basket while
I was so busy free-testing every single cookie flavor in that store. We didn’t
have our lunch that day because our stomach were
full already with those free-testing cookies.
Hmm, another way to save the money.
 |
| Bakery and Side-street market at Senado Square |
Actually,
our real destination that day was the Ruin of St. Paul’s Church. It’s located
near Senado Square. All you have to do is to find the right road information
and arrows which lead to the church, but most importantly, not being disturbed
by those tempting branded stores and bakeries, or else, you might forgot about
your first destination :P It was such a hot day, but it didn’t stop us from
exploring one of the coolest old church in the world. It’s not exactly a
building, because this church had no “inside building”, just like its name.
 |
| Ruin of St. Paul's Church |
First
constructed in 1580, St. Paul's Church caught fires in 1595 and 1601. However,
reconstruction started in 1602 soon after the church was burnt down. Completed
in 1637, the church became the biggest Catholic Church in East Asia at that
time. Unfortunately, a violent typhoon hit Macau in 1835 and the church caught
fire for the third time leaving its glory a history. According to historical
materials, St Paul's Church, built with white stones, had a grand vaulted roof.
It had three magnificently decorated halls. The Ruins of St. Paul's has been
restored during 1990 and 1995. The Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt was also
built at that time. It has exhibitions of religions artworks including
paintings, sculptures and statues.
 |
| Monte Fort |
Besides the church, there are also
some interesting historical places you can visit. One of them is Monte Fort.
Of all the forts in Macau, the Monte Fort
is the oldest, lying to the east of the Ruins of St. Paul's. Built in 1616, it
originally belonged to St. Paul's Church and was used to defend the church from
the pirates. It later became solely a military fort. In 1838, a fire destroyed
the fort buildings as well as the Jesuit College and St. Paul's Church. Only
see the fore wall of the church now remains and is known as the Ruins of St.
Paul's. In 1965, a single-story barrack in South European style was transformed
into the Macau Meteorological Bureau. To its right hangs an ancient bell made
by an expert in casting cannons. In 1998, the Macau Museum was established here, detailing the development and the customs of
Macau. The landscape surrounding the fort is quite charming. Standing on the
platform, visitors will have an
excellent view across Macau, making the Monte Fort a very popular attraction for
both tourists and natives alike.
Source :
travelchinaguide.com
It’s our
last day in Macau before we headed back to Hong Kong Island and stayed at
Kowloon for the last two nights. We took the ferry at noon and arrived at
Novotel Hotel, Kowloon by night. We booked two rooms for four people, and to be
honest, they were the most luxurious rooms I’ve ever slept in. Usually we only
book one room for four people to save money and space, but my mom first thought
that one room won’t be enough for the four of us, just like our first three
nights at Kingston Building. But she’s wrong this time, it was such a huge room
for the whole family. It’s a little bit of a waste, but I didn’t regret it at
all. Tonight, I got one bed all for myself. Sleep tight!
(to be continued)
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