Ready to be surprised in Macau

I was invited by the Macau Government Tourism Office-Philippines (MGTO) together with other travel writers and bloggers for a familiarization tour to this interesting place last May and it was a beautiful experience with its cuisine, glitz and old world charm. I wasn’t really prepared. I know nothing about Macau except for a few things or what I think I knew of this place:

• first and foremost, it is one big gambling den where high rollers win and lose big stakes. Money, it seems is free flowing
• It was a Portuguese colony for a few centuries until it was returned to China in 1999, and thus there is a catholic community there
• The ruins of St. Paul Cathedral is one of the top destinations

Other than that, none. Zero. I think this is a good thing. With only these things in mind, I am open to what Macau has to offer, good or bad. I am always receptive to something new: food, places, structures and probably culture and people.

From a late evening flight from Manila, we arrived at the small international airport in Macau. Kind of tired and hungry that we are ready to munch whatever is placed before us. Outside the van that transported the group, the lights were already aglow. The night was foggy and kind of cold.

It was all a blur. The Venetian loomed over us at the left, bright and massive. It was kind of detached and gloomy. Maybe it was the hunger or the tiredness that influenced the overall atmosphere. Macau unfolded as we went from the airport to having dinner and finally reaching our hotel, the Sofitel Ponte 16.

I am ready to be surprised in Macau.