Macao
It is nice to go ‘out’ of China and into Macao and Hong Kong. I notice immediately that people speak better English here. That is a relief. It is still difficult. It is kind of exhausting to translate a whole conversation with Google Translate. I totally forgot how difficult it is to travel in China where the communication barrier is just too big. Ir is actually really exhausting.
We see nice Portuguese azulejos and buildings, and all streets have a Portuguese and a Chinese name. For lunch we have an interesting mix of food. Japanese and a Portuguese coconut curry with rice. I never saw this curry in Portugal. Is it Portuguese? I cannot even buy (high quality) coconut milk in a store.
We buy the Asian Pastel de nata, and then the big question rises again: Where does the Pastel the nata come from? You will say Portugal of course. But who says the Portuguese didn’t bring this delicacy home from their travels in Asia back then? Like the Pao de Lo, the sponge cake which is popular here in Asia, the ingredients in this cake are: only eggs, flower and sugar, no butter like the cakes in Europe. We learn that an Englishmen tried to copy the Portuguese Pastel de nata. He didn’t have a receipt so he just tried something. Finally he got something which could go as something similar. He didn;t use flour and water but cream, so the ones you taste here in Macao are a bit creamier.
It is raining but the temperature is high. And what a surprise, In the hotel the airconditioning works! In all the Chinese hotels, no matter how luxourious they were, it didn’t work.
Of course I need to see the casinos in the grand hotels starting with Grand Lisboa, The Venetian, The Londoner and The Parisienne. Tomorrow…
