Pearl of the Orient

FOOTLOOSE Hiren Kumar Bose
DANGLING from the Chinese mainland, Macau is an odd hybrid, a mix of old world Portuguese colonial charm and Las Vegas glitz

FOR several years now I have had this recurring dream: It is late in theafternoon and I am on my way home walking through a jungle when I chance upon gold coins strewn around- under the trees, hidden in the tall grass or on the dirt track. I pick up the coins, one by one and later handfuls thrusting them in my already bulgingpockets. Tired of the routine thedream soon comes to an end.I have never been able to read the reason behind this dream. But as Istepped into the lobby of Macau’sGrand Emperor Hotel, I encountered a similar sight: the lobby’s floor was littered with gold bars - 88 of them, each weighing one kilo, protected behind thick glass. I did not get the opportunity to lay my hands on goldbars but surely got high walking on gold! Like many others my eyes popped up like Richie Rich but I coulddo nothing but shoot a picture of yellow metal. Macau’s streets may not be paved in gold but with casinos all around theplace you have the opportunity of a lifetime to hit the jackpot. Every hotel here - there are scores of themin this 28.6 sq km island - has a casino where tourists, housewives, school­teachers, college kids, office workers, chambermaids and others from main­land China arrive in buses as early asnine in the morning to try their luck.
The casinos offer the widest rangeof games in the world including baccarat, blackjack, roulette, boule and, ofcourse, scores of the most glitteringarray of slot machines with bets begin­ning at HK$5. The big hotels have an added attraction - chalk-white EastEuropean girls performing cabarets tillthe wee hours of the morning.Dangling from the Chinese main­land, Macau is an odd hybrid, a mix ofold world Portuguese colonial charmand Las Vegas glitz. The colonial architecture with Mediterraneanflavour is unable to hide the fact that itis a typical Chinese city depending onthe mainland for basic things such asdrinking water.
In fact the joke doing the rounds is that if the Peoples’Republic of China one day decides to close the tap, Macau will go dry. Macau is an import-dependent economy - fresh food and tea from China, frozen food from the US and chicken from Holland and Belgium.The metamorphosis of Macau hasbeen complete after the Portuguese left in 1997. Like the Chinese, the peo­ple here are a superstitious lot - youare unlikely to come across any high-rise that has a 13th and 14th floor!Macau has the look of a boomingAsian city brimming with relentlessconstruction, hellish traffic, high-rise apartments, and showbiz happenings.Over the years it has been growing in landmass. Just two decades back it was mere 19 sq km; but with international hotel chains wanting to put up hotels, the reclamation of land is an ongoing activity.
TODAY Macau is in the news for the US$2.4 billion Venetian Macao, the largest single-structure hotel in Asia and the second largest building in the world activity here. An additional six hotels
and the second largest building in theworld. With 3000 suite guest rooms, one million square feet of retail spaceand 15,000-seat Venetian Arena, it hasdwarfed all other properties here. One has to visit it to believe the vastness ofthe resort which has come up on the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel . In the next few weeks the Venetian Arena will host a series of NBA exhibi­tion games and a match between tennis greats Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Two days after it opened in the last week of August, around 1,70,000 peo­ple including residents of Hong Kong
trooped in with their families to have a dekko of their lifetime.Once you are in Macau you are likelyto visit places like Fishermen’s Wharf which has a theme park with structureslike the Potala Palace, a Roman amphitheatre, the 40m high man-made volcano, Alladin’s Fort, a Tang Dynastypalace besides structures from theItalian Riviera, Trinidad, Havana,Amsterdam, Lisbon, Mississippi andNew Orleans. At Alladin’s Fort wherethe distances of major world cities areinscribed on the stone floor, you willcome across the name of an Indiancity, Mumbai 4244kms as the crow flies.Do visit the Wine Museum to savour and even buy a bottle ofPortuguese wine; vroom to the GrandPrix Museum which has a valuable col­lection of machines that have compet­ed and won on the Guia Circuit; takethe escalator to Macau Museum, locat­ed in the Mount Fortress that was builtby the Jesuits in the early 17th century,are waiting in the queue to put up their skyscrapers while the South China Sea gets pushed inch by inch.Today Macau is in the news for the US$2.4 billion Venetian Macao, the largest single-structure hotel in Asia light a joss stick at Ma Temple, themost revered goddess of Macau, lookat the façade and ruins of St PaulCathedral, and gamble at the grey­hound races held in the evenings. All these sounds tame as you rise 61floors to do a sky walk on the MacauTower. Once there, walk on the tower’souter rim at an altitude of 233 metreshinged to an overhead safety system. If you are the daring and adventurous dothe world’s highest bungee and returnhome with pictures and a certificate. Itis like being in the Guinness Book (ask those who have not attempted it)!For food lovers Macau is a paradiseof sorts; indeed a gastronome’s Mecca.
If you are looking to try combinations of food that you will not find anywhere else in the world, Macau is the place togo. Name the cuisine and you are likelyto get it here. Most Indians prefer tohave their dal-chawal or Mughlai mut atfour Indian restaurants. The enterpris­ing ones prefer Macanese cuisine - the world’s oldest fusion cuisine. Some sayit is 400 years old. Macanese cuisine is basicallyPortuguese but with local ingredients and embellishments. Imagine a cuisine in which the zingy flavours ofPortuguese cuisine emerge in each morsel. Add to that the influences ofChinese food which by itself is anabsolute explosion of exotic spices and taste.Macanese cuisine dates back to thedays when Chinese wives tried toreproduce Portuguese dishes for their husbands but often lacked the rightingredients. So they began to impro­vise: cloves from the spice islands, saf­fron from India, Chinese sausageinstead of Portuguese, crabs andprawns from the local market and, ofcourse, rice. With smidgen of Thai,Vietnamese or Philippine food added to it, Macanese food is seasoned with various spices including turmeric,coconut milk, cinnamon and bacalhau,giving it a special aroma and taste.
Do not forget to savour on delicacies like Macanese Minced Meat (Minchi),Green Vegetable Soup (Caldo Verde),Grilled King Prawn Macanese Style(Gambas à Macau) and Baked CrabMeat in Shell (Casquinha deCaranguejo). Famous dishes includeGalinha à Portuguesa, Galinha àAfricana (African chicken), Bacalhau,Macanese Chili Shrimps and Stir-FryCurry Crab and wash it down with vinoverde, an excellent green wine fromPortugal. I recommend African Chickenand Serradora for dessert at Restaurante Litoral, the bacalhau (codfish) at Porto Interior, the callo verde and roasted suckling pig (like lechon) at the Capital.
If you thought that the highlight ofmy trip was food (yes, I did add couple of inches on my love handle) you must be joking. Let me tell you, it was the thrill of stepping on Mainland China for a short period of five hours which I spent on shopping at a mall at Zhuhai.We entered Zhuhai on a group visapaying HK$25 each. An individual visa can cost around HK $150. Getting a group visa makes sense and can be hadfrom a travel agent in an hour. The only catch is that your passport doesnot get stamped and you are unable toboast to friends that you have been to Chairman Mao’s land.
Zhuhai is a place where you can shop-till-you-drop for leather bags,cameras, mobiles, shoes, travel gear,clothes, and watches from worlds’ best known names. Here you cannot distin­guish fake from real but you need tobargain like you are shopping in a chorbazaar. Calculators in hand, the shop­keepers haggle with you in Cantonese.The trick is if you are offered anything for 350 begin the bargain with 50 and it is likely you end up owing a Langhe &Sohne watch for HK$180 (More so because the brand has yet to arrive in India and is priced at Rs 4 lakh). Is not that a deal? 1 October 2007 btw 29