Macau Museum

Continuing my full day at Senado Square Area, I visited Macau Museum next. This place is located right next to Ruins of St. Paul so quite convenient to access it.

Entry fee is just MOP 15 (PHP 90) so affordable too. Operating hours are from Tuesday - Sunday (10AM - 6PM).

This is a three-storey building built on Mount Fortress and shows exhibits on history, culture and art of Macau.

Some interesting pieces in the museum include:

The bells from St. Paul's church

"The Last Supper" carved from a Mother of Pearl and part of the Religious Artifacts section of museum.

Cruxifix made from Ivory and metal.

Very creepy puppet show. Part of Chinese culture, where they had their own TV shows.

SA-DA-KO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sample of Portuguese colonial houses

The most interesting culture/ hobby of the people here was the Cricket Fight. These insects were bred (from champion cricket family line???), fed good food (at least good food in the six-legged world) and even given beds to increase their odds of winning fights against another crickets .

Below are preserved bodies of all-time Champion Cricket Fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Cricket Championship. And a Cricket Casket for those worthy enough to deserve them. Being an insect has never looked this good before!

Once I exited the Museum on the third floor, I found out that I was on top of Mount Fortress and got a good view of the surrounding area.

This fortress was built in the 1600's and used as primary defense centre against the coastline. In contrast to this, Macau Museum was just built in 1998.

Even with the Casinoes, the wealthy Chinese businessmen and the international five star hotels, Macau still needs development in some of its locations.

From the Fortress, you can see Ruins of St. Paul ...


and also some cannons, which all seem to be pointing towards Grand Lisboa Hotel in the city center...

Macau's Fisherman's Wharf

Macau's Fisherman's Wharf is a tourist spot, where each area has its own special theme. From ancient Roman times to the Chinese Tang Dynasty, this place is like a walk into the past.

They also have an amusement park here but when I got here, it was closed except for a small area located in the basement filled up with arcade games. Restaurants and shops are also scattered inside the Wharf.

Map of entire complex. Went to only a few spots as it was really really hot that day.

Found inside a jewellery store (where most items are 40% off - most does not include this excellent car)

Interesting that they even put what looks like the Potala Palace from Tibet here..

Portuguese colonial houses

Sands Hotel right at the back of it.

Roman Coliseum

Hotel?

You can see the ferry nearby. This is access point to Hong Kong.

Details:

From Venetian Hotel, you can just take the free shuttle bus to Sands Hotel. And just walk for 5 minutes. Nearby also is the Formula 1 Museum and Wine Museum. Entrance to Macau's Fisherman's Wharf is free.

A Visit to Senado Square Area, Macau

Before Macau was known for being the Gambling Capital of Asia, it was known for its Tourist Spots and for its good food (Chinese and Portuguese cuisine).

The best place to still go to in Macau (if you aren't into casinoes), is in the Senado Square. Part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, place is the perfect venue for those photo opps. with its old churches, post offices and museums, this is good for half a day to a whole day exploration in Macau.

Aside from Venetian Shopping Arcade, this also seems to be the only interesting shopping area in Macau with its Giordano, Bossini, ESPRIT, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Crocs stores and its Starbucks and McDonalds, it feels like being in Hong Kong for just a little while.

Some sights to see around here are:

General Post Office. Place where they sell a lot of interesting Stamp Issues at affordable prices. Among those that I got were a stamped envelope of Mt. Everest, some Beijing Olympic stamps, stamp of Macau Tower and Chinese Zodiac stamps. Good place for souvenirs and to give to your Stamp Collecting friends.

St. Dominic's Church, Catholic Church built in 1587 by Spanish Dominican priests and now part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of most photographed churches in Macau but it doesn't beat...

Ruins of St. Paul. This isn't really part of Senado Square but since it is a mere 5 minutes walk from it, I decided to include it here as well. Probably the most photographed church in Asia as quite unique in that only its facade is up for viewing, as fire ravaged rest of the building.

Church grounds

Its seldomly seen (and photographed) back part.

There is a steel stairway located here so you may climb it and get a view of the area from any of church's three windows.

Crypt found at back part of St. Paul's. You have to go down a flight of stairs to reach it. On its sides are shelves filled with human bones. I initially thought of taking a picture of it but changed my mind as didn't want something supernatural coming out in the picture (very frightened Fatboy).

Right next to the Crypt is Museum of Sacred Art, which contains some church relics and artifacts. Best thing about this is that entrance is FREE!

Some things found in Museum:

Statue of Saint (Paul I assume?) at the Church I can understand. What I don't understand is why it is holding a skull in its hand? Very weird and creepy...

Crucifix of Jesus Christ (made of Ivory)

Another Saint Statue holding Church in its hand. (First thought that it might be the Church of St. Paul but structure different when comparing it).

Some paintings found at the Museum:

Painting showing cruxifixion event of Japanese Christians

More details: In 1597, twenty-six Christians were nailed to crosses at Nagasaki, Japan. Among those executed were Paul Miki and Pedro Bautista, a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines. The executions marked the beginning of a long history of persecution of Christianity in Japan, which continued until the United States of America and other Allies defeated Japan at war in 1945, ending World War II. (Source: Wikipedia)

Some other Interesting sights around this area are Museum of Macau and Mount Fortress (details to follow)...

LEGO Macau Tower

A very cool structure of Macau Tower found at entrance of Toys "R" Us Store there. If you zoom up the picture, you can see some Lego figures on top of tower doing the sky walk. Too bad they didn't have any screaming LEGO bungy figures dangling nearby, but still very cool.

Macau Tower - Bungy Jump

A visit to Macau will not be complete without visiting Macau Tower and Convention Centre. With a height of 338 meters, it is the 10th tallest free standing tower in the world and 8th tallest in Asia. As high places go, this tourist spot offers great views of the entire Macau area from its Observation Deck, which can easily be accessed by a high-speed elevator and paying the entry fee of MOP 80 (PHP 480.00). There is a coffee shop on the Observation Deck, some pay per view binoculars, and some strong fiberglass on the floor that you can step on (just so you can see how high you are from the ground).

At the base of the tower, there is one theatre, a Toys "R" Us store (one and only branch in Macau), Warner Bros. Store, a coffee shop and some souvenir stores.

Highlight for me wasn't visiting the highest tower in Macau but JUMPING OFF it! Shit, what was I thinking??? It was just something I had to do just because it's there, and it is the highest Bungy in the whole wide world at a scary height of 233 meters (765 feet). Phew! Cold sweats the entire time but I try to play it cool and easy. Haha! (nervous laughter)

Figured I would be the only one fool enough to do this task but when I went there the first time, it was already filled up for the day so I had no choice but to make a reservation the next day (which was also the day I head back to Manila) and just come back again.

So came back at 2PM right after lunch, when Bungy had just opened and there were already some 10 -15 people right in front of me! Wow, demand for this thing is high and it isn't even cheap (price list below).

I had to pay the Observation Deck entrance fee (good thing I didn't go up there the day before) because the owner of the Observation Deck is different from the owner of the Bungy/ Skyjump and only way to access jump off point is through...yup, the Observation Deck (very sneaky tactic guys). Good thing I found a 20% discount for Bungy at one of the hotels in Macau so that kind of lessened the financial pains.

Jump off point is another 5 floors up from Observation Deck so I had to ride the elevator again, but once I got off the 61st floor, process was very smooth. There were already some staff members waiting there, so all I needed to do was pay the fee, get the free shirt, change into that shirt (they need it to distinguish as to who is doing the jump and who is just watching the jump), put things in the locker and come back again where they make me sign the waiver and have me weighed (maximum weight limit is 240 pounds so good thing I wasn't a Running Obeseboy...yet). They would then write on my hand my weight in kilos and put on me the safety harness and had me weighed again. Then comes the waiting...

And the watching, as people in front of you fall off the tower one by one. It takes about 10 minutes for them to prepare the entire thing for the next person. Amid all this, there were nervous smiles among ourselves as we were all probably thinking "don't let me die don't let me die please don't let me die".

Finally, they called out my name and lead me outside where they made me sit again as they wrapped some thick towels around my legs and tied it around me a couple of times. A camera man and video camera guy took my shots and video, which they will sell to me later on at an expensive price.

Then, it was time to stand up and hop to the ledge. And on a count of 5, I have to "fall off" the ledge.

"Fall off?", I asked.

"Yes, because if you jumped, you might hit the tower."

"Fuck! Fall off it is then!"

"Ok, so ready, 1...2...3...4... wait...say hi first to the camera".

"Hi" but thinking fuck fuck fuck!

"Ok now we are ready. Arms open. Ready. 1...2....3...4....5"

I FALL OFF

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My arms flap widely for open space (I suddenly remembered all those Looney Tunes cartoon especially that of Wile E. Coyote).

Ground comes up with what looks like a Bulls' Eye Target on it.

"SHIIIITTTT!!!!"

But then I come up again, only to fall again.

"SHIIIITTTTT!!!"

And then I just hang there. Literally. Upside-down with my feet tied so tightly that I can't feel my legs anymore but still getting the feeling that it would just come off and I will just fall to my death. Blood rushes to my head. And still I hang there.

I get lowered but only a little bit. Blood rushes further to my head. I tried to move my head up. That didn't work so then tried my body. That worked for a few seconds before the rope started turning and turning. Just gave up and let all blood rush to my head.

Got lowered again but still so far away. This is agonizing pain! Arrghh, this is taking way too long! Lowered again. Really really long. But finally it was over. I was on the ground after being helped by a staff. My shirt was drenched with sweat and I had to take elevator up again to get my things and get the priceless photos.

At the locker room, I met some of my fellow jump mates, strangers an hour ago, but then we got talking, gave each other high fives and said how great the jump was. Then we became strangers again.

I got the entire loot package as figured this is something I won't do again so at least will have these things for my memory, then headed for the bus station to go back to the hotel.

"Ain't no tower high enough. Ain't no....la la la "

Pre-jump picture.

Picture picture first!

And ... I'm off!

This was probably the point where I was screaming!

Probably this point too...

Yes. Even this one.

The "target" is the square thing found at bottom right of photo.

Yeah baby yeah!

Tips:

1) To go to Macau tower I just took Bus NO. 32 from Fisherman's Wharf area. Bus fare about MOP 3.50 only. From Venetian Hotel, I took the free shuttle bus to Sands Hotel and from there, just crossed street to Fisherman's Wharf and to bus station. Same way if heading back from Tower. Bus No. 9A, 21, 23 also go to Macau Tower but from different bus stop areas.

2) Bungy jump is only from 2PM- 6PM and usually very crowded. Better to reserve at least a day ahead. Contact details and reservation can be found at this website:

www.ajhackett.com/macau

3) For Bungy jump, go there early just so you can finish early. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to finish the entire thing so leave schedule free for that day.