Medical Maladies in Macau

My husband is excellent at birthdays, wedding anniversaries, Christmases, Valentines Days. He always has been. He will get up in the night and leave secret trails to hidden presents, or write a set of cryptic clues to work out what a present is and where it is hidden. Often his presents include weekends away or trips to the theatre or other treats. This year as part of my birthday treat he took me to Macau for two nights. It should have been wonderful except that I got more and more ill as the trip progressed and ultimately had to return home early.

Our trip started out well. We took the high speed ferry from Hong Kong to Macau and after a fairly smooth journey arrived at the Macau ferry terminal from where we boarded a shuttle to the Grand Coloane Hotel. At check in we were given a free upgrade to a sea view room. We have only ever had garden view rooms here before. The difference is simply that sea view rooms are on higher floors from which is a lovely view over Hac Sa Bay. Hac Sa is Chinese for black sands and the sand colour comes from previous volcanic activity in the area.

Our room was very comfortable with two queen size beds and a large balcony where we could sip drinks while gazing out over the sea. Coloane is the one remaining peaceful part of Macau, away from all the bright lights and casino madness.

Our room.

Peter in our room.

Our balcony.

After relaxing for a while we decided to go for a swim in the outdoor pool. This hotel has two pools: an outdoor one and an indoor one. The water was quite cold, colder than in the pool we swim in in Hong Kong, but we did not let that put us off. The outdoor pool here is not very deep. It is in two sections divided by bridges which it is possible to swim under. On our previous visit there was a crazed swimmer here swimming manically up and down, knocking everyone including small children out of his way. Fortunately, there was no sign of him on this visit. When we had swum so long we were starting to turn to blocks of ice, we headed for the indoor pool with its delightfully heated Jacuzzi - a most welcome sight.

A view of the pool from our hotel room.

Night swim.

Swimming next morning.

Me in the jacuzzi.

The indoor pool.

Before going for our swim, we took the lift up to the roof of the hotel. There is a private restaurant for members of the Macau Golf Club up here. We are not members, so could not go in, but we could enjoy some excellent views over Hac Sa as the sun began to set.

Sunset over Hac Sa Beach.

Up on the roof.

A day time view from the roof.

After swimming we decided to have dinner in the Cafe Panorama. It most definitely does not have the best food in Macau, but it is a pleasant place to eat. For a couple of weeks before the trip I had been having severe pains down one side of my face more, or less following the lines of my sinuses. I had foolishly just tried to ignore them. We ordered our meal. My husband had club sandwich and I had African chicken, a spicy coconut chicken dish, that was actually invented in Macau in the 1940's. I soon discovered I was struggling to eat it with severe facial pains and an inability to chew on my left side. It was much easier just to drink the refreshingly cold beer!! After dinner I was searching our luggage for pain killers, something I very rarely use.

My African chicken.

Peter's club sandwich.

Next day after another swim, we set off for our second hotel, one we had never stayed in before - the Sofitel at Ponte 16. My facial pains were worse and I was starting to swell up on one side.

We took the hotel shuttle back to the Macau Ferry pier. It was too early to go to the next hotel, as check in was not until 3pm, so we walked along the waterfront to Fisherman's Wharf and had lunch in the Talay Thai - our favourite Thai restaurant in Macau and one of the few places where it is still possible to get Portuguese beer. We shared a green curry with pork, chicken cashew nuts, steam rice and superbock beers, on offer at two for the price of one. I did my best to eat, but my face and mouth were still causing me huge amounts of pain.

Fake remains at Fisherman's Wharf.

Me at Fisherman's Wharf.

Peter at Fisherman's Wharf.

Talay Thai.

Trying to smile through the pain.

Peter with our very delicious meal.

After the meal we walked back to the ferry pier and took the free hotel shuttle to the Sofitel. This hotel is set right in the old part of Macau on the Pearl River Delta overlooking mainland China. I was looking forward to re-exploring the old town, but sadly that was not to be. Again we were given a free upgrade, guess we lucked out in some ways on this trip. Our beautiful, comfortable room had fantastic views over the Pearl River with its fascinating constant chaos of river traffic. We went swimming in an even colder pool than the Grand Coloane's. Brrrrrr!!!

The Sofitel at Ponte 16.

Our room.

Our room.

The pool from our room.

A passing boat.

Me in the pool.

On our way to the pool we discovered the hotel had good views over inland Macau as well. After swimming, we watched the sun go down over the Pearl River - a beautiful and soothing sight.

Looking over Macau towards the Macau Tower.

View over Macau.

Sunset over the Pearl River.

Sunset over the Pearl River.

Gazing into China.

Over the water into China.

That evening we went for drinks and some delicious Macau cod cakes in the Rendezvouz Bar. My face was even more swollen than before and I was starting to find it hard to speak. After a night of tossing and turning in agony, I awoke to find my face and gums so swollen I could scarcely open my eye on one side. I had had enough. I gave in and called a dentist. I was given an appointment for later that day in Hong Kong. We had to abandon plans to walk the old town; we just took a very rushed stroll to a nearby Chinese temple. I believe it was Hong Kung Temple, a 200-year-old temple dedicated to Li Lie, a Han-dynasty general. Then we headed to the ferry back home, purchasing a couple of bottles of Portuguese wine on route. One painful tooth extraction later I am finally getting back to normal.

The Rendezvous Bar.

Chinese temple.

Chinese temple.

Chinese temple.

Typical old town Macau street.