The RC of Macau hosted us today and accompanied by PP Stella (GSE chair) and PP Fatima (District Conference Chair, together with Rotarian David Shelton-Smith andd his wife, we arrived at Pou Tai Temple just before lunch. We started with a vegetarian lunch at the Temple dining room. I couldn’t believe what a delicious vegetarian Chinese meal they served. Nivashni, the vegetarian in our group was thrilled not to have to wait for a special meal to be brought to her.Tucking in
The Temple is run by Buddhist monks who are complete vegetarians. They believe that life exists in every living thing so they do not kill anything to eat it. There was a very friendly and calm atmosphere throughout the place with lots of beautiful little gardening corners including the most amazing bonsai plants.
A collection of devotional points and a lot of temple rooms are found here. At the top of the structure we found a larger prayer room with a large statue of what looked like the same Buddha we saw at Tian Tan on Hong Kong Island. It is all very beautifully maintained. 
The gardens are really lovely and this quaint bridge was a good setting for a group pic
After lunch we were taken to a rehabilitation centre for mentally handicapped people run by the Fu Hong Association of which PP Fatima is the president. It is well-supported by the government and what happens is that people with mental disorders who are able to perform simple functions (or service-users as they are called) are brought here every day by their families. The cost of looking after them is set-off against the works they do.
Santosh with a 'Rainbow Flower' wedding decoration. Getting ideas, boet??
They looked very happy to see us and it was a really inspiring visit. The centre also has occupational therapists and some of the team tried out their dexterity on some of the equipment. Judging by some of the efforts, one or two of us would have to spend a bit of time in OT before we could handle some of the tasks the service users were set.
It was great to see the border post between Macau and China. It has become very difficult for foreigners who want to visit China to get visas. In the old days one could apply for a day-visit visa at the border but that has changed now and visas have to be arranged in advance at one’s own embassy. Still it was amazing to see people streaming through the border in both directions. The old border gate is still there although a new and very modern structure houses the border post used nowadays.
One border we're not crossing - the original Macau - China border post dating back to 1849. Here's the modern structure behind it.
Thursday evening was a dinner at a joint meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Macau and Taipa. It was held at the grand Venetian Hotel and we had an absolutely scrumptious western style dinner. The team was asked to do a simple presentation and banner exchange which went very well. We met up with a lot of Rotarians we had met a District Conference. There was a speaker however, an English lady named Jill Lander who is a Feng Shui expert. It was fascinating listening to her talk about Feng Shui and give her predictions for 2009. She also touched on what our Chinese Zodiac signs were and told us that the animals in the Zodiac (Ox, Rat, Snake, Dragon etc) are very important in determining our marriage partner. She also said that 2009 is a good year for marriage which gave a few Rotarians and team members cold shivers! Just joking. Incidentally, you can have a Feng Shui audit of your home for the paltry sum of about R4,000.00 for the first 90-odd square meters plus another R400 per square meter after that. It was an interesting talk and closed off a lovely day. To President Florence of the RC Club of Taipa and President David of the RC of Macau, a very big thanks for a lovely evening.
Friday morning was a free morning for the team and was spent just chilling and enjoying the ambience of Macau. We were dropped off by PP Stella at the Macau Museum next to the St. Paul's Cathedral façade.
There is a waterfront in Macau which we went to after lunch. Although the place is very quiet with a lot of empty shops. The music which wafts over the place through speakers on each lamp pole is a Portuguese guitar instrumental which we heard so many times that it stuck in my head for the rest of the day. We came across a “African Restaurant” which advertises “barbecues as you sit and listen to jungle music” but it was closed until the evening.
Not a very busy place, very nice, but according to our hosts one of the very few places in Macau that is not run very well, hence the lack of support.
President Tiffany and the team were joined by IPP Christina at the waterfront – she is also a young lady whose family spent a lot of time in Vietnam. She had arranged for us to have dinner at a restaurant she co-owns. It is an Italian Restaurant in Macau – what a feast we had! RC of Macau Islands is a small club with only 13 members but their hospitality was great. It wasn’t a Rotary meeting as they actually meet on Thursdays but they had put the dinner together for us. We were joined at dinner by Rotarians Cecilia and Roberto. The great surprise was South African wine from Rietvallei Estate. We really enjoyed that very much and it closed off another great day in relaxed, laid-back Macau.
Saturday was a free day for the team with their hosts, and Jonathan’s host PP Catherine Choi hosted us to a lunch at a Macanese (a blend of Macau/Portuguese and Chinese cuisine) restarant that has been in the same family for over 40 years. Once again the food and company were superb and we watched someone doing a bungee-jump off the highest bungee-jump in the world – the Macau Tower. It is 338 meters high and costs about R2000 per jump so none of us jumped at the chance if you’ll excuse the pun.
The team split up in the afternoon, going off with hosts. I decided to visit the protestant cemetery in the afternoon to have a look around. A peculiar thing about this cemetery is that with the exception of the really old graves, you are only allowed to be buried there for 6 years, After that, you have to be exhumed and your bones placed elsewhere. As with a lot of Roman Catholic cemeteries in Portuguese colonies, the graves are very elaborate and pictures of the dear departed are on almost all the headstones.
The Temple is run by Buddhist monks who are complete vegetarians. They believe that life exists in every living thing so they do not kill anything to eat it. There was a very friendly and calm atmosphere throughout the place with lots of beautiful little gardening corners including the most amazing bonsai plants.
How's this little bonsai garden?
A collection of devotional points and a lot of temple rooms are found here. At the top of the structure we found a larger prayer room with a large statue of what looked like the same Buddha we saw at Tian Tan on Hong Kong Island. It is all very beautifully maintained.
The Buddha at Pou Tai
The gardens are really lovely and this quaint bridge was a good setting for a group picAfter lunch we were taken to a rehabilitation centre for mentally handicapped people run by the Fu Hong Association of which PP Fatima is the president. It is well-supported by the government and what happens is that people with mental disorders who are able to perform simple functions (or service-users as they are called) are brought here every day by their families. The cost of looking after them is set-off against the works they do.
Getting stuck in to the stickers
The group that we observed were sticking correction stickers into brochures for a local bank and also making “Rainbow Flowers” for wedding decorations.
The group that we observed were sticking correction stickers into brochures for a local bank and also making “Rainbow Flowers” for wedding decorations. Santosh with a 'Rainbow Flower' wedding decoration. Getting ideas, boet??They looked very happy to see us and it was a really inspiring visit. The centre also has occupational therapists and some of the team tried out their dexterity on some of the equipment. Judging by some of the efforts, one or two of us would have to spend a bit of time in OT before we could handle some of the tasks the service users were set. The Team with Fu Hong Rehabilitation Centre staff and PP Stella (2nd left front row) PP Fatima (middle front row) and Rotarian David Shelton-Smith (back row next to Brendan)
It was great to see the border post between Macau and China. It has become very difficult for foreigners who want to visit China to get visas. In the old days one could apply for a day-visit visa at the border but that has changed now and visas have to be arranged in advance at one’s own embassy. Still it was amazing to see people streaming through the border in both directions. The old border gate is still there although a new and very modern structure houses the border post used nowadays.
One border we're not crossing - the original Macau - China border post dating back to 1849. Here's the modern structure behind it.Thursday evening was a dinner at a joint meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Macau and Taipa. It was held at the grand Venetian Hotel and we had an absolutely scrumptious western style dinner. The team was asked to do a simple presentation and banner exchange which went very well. We met up with a lot of Rotarians we had met a District Conference. There was a speaker however, an English lady named Jill Lander who is a Feng Shui expert. It was fascinating listening to her talk about Feng Shui and give her predictions for 2009. She also touched on what our Chinese Zodiac signs were and told us that the animals in the Zodiac (Ox, Rat, Snake, Dragon etc) are very important in determining our marriage partner. She also said that 2009 is a good year for marriage which gave a few Rotarians and team members cold shivers! Just joking. Incidentally, you can have a Feng Shui audit of your home for the paltry sum of about R4,000.00 for the first 90-odd square meters plus another R400 per square meter after that. It was an interesting talk and closed off a lovely day. To President Florence of the RC Club of Taipa and President David of the RC of Macau, a very big thanks for a lovely evening.
Friday morning was a free morning for the team and was spent just chilling and enjoying the ambience of Macau. We were dropped off by PP Stella at the Macau Museum next to the St. Paul's Cathedral façade.
Wanna ride in Nivs' peditaxi?
Having fun on top of the Macau Museum which is in the old Mount Fortress
We were being hosted for the day by RC of Macau Islands and were soon joined by Club President Tiffany. She is a really lovely lady and just re-inforced the youthfulness of the Macau Rotarians. She is in her early thirties and already Club President. The average age of Rotarians in Macau must be very young.
Nivs with Tiffany Tong, President of the Rotary Club of Macau Island
After a look through the fascinating museum she took us for lunch at a real street market. The place looked very dodgy to us and after realising that the menu was totally in Chinese, we escaped from there and much to Brendan’s relief we went to a different restaurant in town.
After a look through the fascinating museum she took us for lunch at a real street market. The place looked very dodgy to us and after realising that the menu was totally in Chinese, we escaped from there and much to Brendan’s relief we went to a different restaurant in town. Entrance to dodgy eating spot - this is the neat and tidy part
At the THS Honolulu restaurant we couldn’t understand why one of the coffees on the menu was so expensive, and on enquiring we discovered that this particular coffee is produced by rats who are fed the coffee beans and then 'produce' their own processed version of the coffee bean which is used to brew this coffee. We declined an offer to taste it. Are you surprised?
At the THS Honolulu restaurant we couldn’t understand why one of the coffees on the menu was so expensive, and on enquiring we discovered that this particular coffee is produced by rats who are fed the coffee beans and then 'produce' their own processed version of the coffee bean which is used to brew this coffee. We declined an offer to taste it. Are you surprised?Check out the advertising poster!
There is a waterfront in Macau which we went to after lunch. Although the place is very quiet with a lot of empty shops. The music which wafts over the place through speakers on each lamp pole is a Portuguese guitar instrumental which we heard so many times that it stuck in my head for the rest of the day. We came across a “African Restaurant” which advertises “barbecues as you sit and listen to jungle music” but it was closed until the evening.
Not a very busy place, very nice, but according to our hosts one of the very few places in Macau that is not run very well, hence the lack of support.President Tiffany and the team were joined by IPP Christina at the waterfront – she is also a young lady whose family spent a lot of time in Vietnam. She had arranged for us to have dinner at a restaurant she co-owns. It is an Italian Restaurant in Macau – what a feast we had! RC of Macau Islands is a small club with only 13 members but their hospitality was great. It wasn’t a Rotary meeting as they actually meet on Thursdays but they had put the dinner together for us. We were joined at dinner by Rotarians Cecilia and Roberto. The great surprise was South African wine from Rietvallei Estate. We really enjoyed that very much and it closed off another great day in relaxed, laid-back Macau.
Saturday was a free day for the team with their hosts, and Jonathan’s host PP Catherine Choi hosted us to a lunch at a Macanese (a blend of Macau/Portuguese and Chinese cuisine) restarant that has been in the same family for over 40 years. Once again the food and company were superb and we watched someone doing a bungee-jump off the highest bungee-jump in the world – the Macau Tower. It is 338 meters high and costs about R2000 per jump so none of us jumped at the chance if you’ll excuse the pun.
The team split up in the afternoon, going off with hosts. I decided to visit the protestant cemetery in the afternoon to have a look around. A peculiar thing about this cemetery is that with the exception of the really old graves, you are only allowed to be buried there for 6 years, After that, you have to be exhumed and your bones placed elsewhere. As with a lot of Roman Catholic cemeteries in Portuguese colonies, the graves are very elaborate and pictures of the dear departed are on almost all the headstones.
St. Michael's Church with a cemetery surrounding it
Youth Orchestra
A bit of shopping and then off home to relax with our hosts.
Tomorrow we will have a farewell lunch with the Macau Rotarians and then go back to Hong Kong for our last week before we head home on Saturday.
This trip to Macau has been great and has renewed our vigour for the trip. The Rotarians, one and all, have been super-friendly and accommodating. We have learned a lot from them.
We are looking forward to seeing our friend PP Joseph when we land at HK Ferry Terminal.
Youth OrchestraSantosh, Brendan and I then stumbled upon a music festival in with beautiful colonial buildings in the old town. Beautiful orchestral music by schoolkids followed by a rock band of schoolkids - sounded great. There is obviously proud heritage in this lovely city. We need more of it in the world.
And here are the rockers!
A bit of shopping and then off home to relax with our hosts.
Tomorrow we will have a farewell lunch with the Macau Rotarians and then go back to Hong Kong for our last week before we head home on Saturday.
This trip to Macau has been great and has renewed our vigour for the trip. The Rotarians, one and all, have been super-friendly and accommodating. We have learned a lot from them.
We are looking forward to seeing our friend PP Joseph when we land at HK Ferry Terminal.
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