Most people do it in three seconds. It’s taken me four and a half minutes, and a Chinese tour group is laughing at me on a big screen.
I’m doing the AJ Hackett bungee jump from the Macau Tower. At 233m high, it’s the highest in the world and my first ever jump. Thank god the word ‘ARRRRGHHH’ is understood in all languages. I’ve suddenly developed vertigo, my legs won’t stop shaking and I’ve told the GoPro strapped to my wrist that I want my family to know I love them.
It’s as easy to develop a taste for superlatives in Macau (highest bungee, best fusion food, fatter gambling profits than Las Vegas) as it is to acquire a taste for its signature dish, African chicken. Like most journalists, I would tell you there’s more to this tiny city on the Pearl River Delta than gambling. (There is, but gambling – especially given the recent celebrity-swarmed opening of mega-resort Studio City – is, and will remain, the most important driver of inbound traffic.) I don’t need to, but I will anyway.
I’m doing the AJ Hackett bungee jump from the Macau Tower... Thank god the word ‘ARRRRGHHH’ is understood in all languages
Macau has more illustrious history than most. At the mouth of the Pearl River Delta just across from neighbour and rival Hong Kong, the city was settled by Portuguese soldiers in the mid 16th century. They brought with them their cuisine (some of the best fusion food you’ll find all over Asia – there’s those superlatives again), signature architecture and breezy European squares.
Hell, we can probably blame Macau’s casinos on European colonisers too – and they’re not to be ignored. They make more money than Las Vegas, but they’re far more maudlin affairs than you’ll find across the Pacific. No, what makes this stopover city, only an hour from Hong Kong, worth talking about is that it feels absolutely nothing like Asia.
See: Old town architecture
Owing to its European settlers, old town Macau is studded with historical monuments and old Portuguese architecture. The best of this is St Paul’s Church – although the southern stone facade is all that’s left of the ruins – up a long set of stairs, typically sandwiched between a canopy of pigeons and a guaranteed swarm of Chinese tourists. Find bright, birthday cake-coloured buildings in old Macau backstreets or in piazzas such as yellow St Lazarus Square or in the crumbling, grand buildings of Senado Square.
Eat: Restaurant Litoral
Macanese food is one of the world’s oldest fusion cuisines, and the best snacks in town are in traditional Portuguese restaurants such as Restaurant Litoral or Henri’s Galley. Over on Ruo do Almirante Sergio, you’ll find Saturday lunchtime at Restaurant Litoral a hectic affair. Locals and well-heeled tourists heave around the old Macau pictures hanging from the walls and tiled floors. Every dish ordered is washed down with a bottle of white from the Douro valley. Macau’s specialty dish, African chicken, is one of the signatures – a fat half chicken, swathed in tomato and peanut sauce, best mopped up with a thick piece of bread, restaurante-litoral.com.
Over in Taipa – a separate island within Macau – there’s Antonio’s. Walking into the eponymous chef’s place is a bit like having a surprise party with all your friends, deep in a Lisbon backalley. Food here is theatrical as well as some of the best traditional Portuguese you’ll find in the territory. Alongside the soft cod a bacalhau and riz a la tomate, you’ll find Antonio diligently carving scraps off a pork leg, whipping out a tall sword to dramatically de-cork a bottle of sparkling wine or pouring Hennessey onto a flambéed pancake with a wink, antoniomacau.com.
Owing to its European settlers, old town Macau is studded with historical monuments and old Portuguese architecture
Stay: The MGM Grand
Most luxury hotels in Macau look exactly the same. Outdoor pool? Check. Upscale casino? Yep. Perfume pumped out of the air conditioning units? Check, check, check. Helpfully MGM has all of the above – but with a more European spin. In an effort to pry visitors’ eyes away from the gloss of the vast casino, it’s diversified in a direction no others thought to take: art. At the heart of the MGM is a European-like piazza: a light-filled conservatory with cafes serving pricy coffee and croissants as well as huge installation art. It’s a rotating schedule, but most recently it showcased Portuguese artist Joanne Vasconcelos’ bulbous, multi-coloured fabric Valkyrie Octopus in a patchwork of patterns and textures. A convenient downtown location doesn’t hurt, either.
Wander: Coloane
Past the Cotai strip and its sprawl of casinos (including the colossal Venetian Hotel complex, complete with indoor canal system, gondolas and a perspective-bending Sistine Chapel-esque roof) is Coloane, a village community fringed by beaches, old European-style squares and tall green hills. It’s here that Macau’s laidback beach community resides – mainly on Hac-Sa beach, one of the best in the territory, with fun Portuguese beach bar Fernando’s.
Need to know: Rooms at the MGM Grand start from £150pp, Mgmgrand.com; the AJ Hackett Bungee Jump costs 3,088 MOP (£250), macautower.com; for more information about planning a trip to Macau, visit macau.com
