Lately, before I travel anywhere, I google “xx with kids”
and find all sorts of helpful advice for traveling to these destinations with
school-aged kids. Especially here in China, it’s helpful to get a readout
before going. I really want to instill in my kids a
love of travel, so I do this research to make sure we hit the best spots. We all get excited about cool
transportation options and they are starting to read the guide books and tell
me where they want to go. Anyway, I’m going to entitle my travel posts “xx with
kids” going forward, so maybe my posts will help someone else.
One thing that appeals to any age, of course, is food. I look up
mid-range/budget restaurants that are highly recommended, and I take note of
special desserts/treats a place is known for (in Macau, it's the Portuguese egg tart, yum). If that’s not happening,
there is usually ice cream or McDonalds somewhere, and it’s amazing how a
little treat can turn around an attitude. I want my kids to associate travel with
fun, treats, exploration, challenge, and some indulgence. So far, it’s working!
So anyway, Macau with kids. To be honest, during my first
year, I wasn’t that excited about visiting Macau, though it’s literally next
door. But my husband was, and my brothers couldn’t sit still, so we decided to
go for about 36 hours. I am SO glad we did- what a fascinating place!
According to Wikipedia, there are some 600,000 people living
in a 11.6 square mile region – plus hundreds of thousands of tourists. It is
incredibly densely populated, and we could feel it. It was a bit overwhelming.
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| Ginormous train station! |
To get to Macau from Guangzhou, there are a few methods, but
we took a cab to the Guangzhou South train station, a 60 minute train ride to
Zhuhai, and then a walk across the border. It’s not well marked, but we just
followed the crowds. Even though Macau is a “special administrative region” of
China, you have to go through immigration. We waited in long lines on both the
China side and the Macau side. It was a long and complicated ordeal for such a
nearby destination, and I would recommend spending more than one night for that
reason. The next day was too soon to go through such hassle. I did appreciate understanding everything as soon as we arrived, since written Portuguese is so close to Spanish!
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| Our hotel |
Anyway…we made it through and found our way to our hotel,
Ole Tai Sam Un Hotel. We stayed downtown in a budget/mid-range hotel – we wanted to be near the colonial area and it was a great little hotel in a bustling and really convenient neighborhood. It had a decent breakfast, a great map showing bus routes, and comfortable beds. We couldn’t find a hotel with 2 double/queen beds in the room but this place was willing to add 1 small bed to each room for a small charge.
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| neighborhood around the hotel |
We arrived around lunchtime, and headed immediately out to
Senado Square for lunch. I had done my food research and so we ate at a popular place called
Wong Chi Kei, famous for its shrimp roe and wonton noodles. The wait around 2:30pm wasn't too bad and we all enjoyed it, though I wasn't crazy about my shrimp roe noodles (I probably don't know what to look for but they were a little too dry/hard for me). We got to look around the beautiful square while waiting.
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| Charming Senado Square (Largo do Senado) |
We then set off to find the
Ruins of St. Paul's Church. We thought it was just a busy Saturday afternoon, and then realized we and thousands of other people were all heading to the same destination. I have to admit, it was pretty cool. But did I mention crowded?
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| Following the throngs through a narrow passageway of shops, restaurants, and bakeries! So many bakeries! |
We stopped to sample egg tarts, cool off with milkshakes, and take photos. It's such a lively, interesting place!
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| oh, egg tarts, how i love thee |
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