I couldn't believe my eyes! How was it even possible?! It was Michael Schumacher standing next to me and cheering up the leading participant of Macau Grand Prix at the top of his voice.
I was wondering how come I didn't notice him until then. When I was about to think that it was the luckiest day of my life, it just got luckier. Mr Schumacher himself came forward and said hi to me! I was in cloud nine!
"How come you are here?", I asked.
"Don't you know Macau Grand Prix is considered one of the most demanding circuits in the world. How can I be not here?!", he replied with a question.
After the initial ice breaking, we became very good friends, at least I believed so. Once the Grand Prix came to an end, he casually asked me if I wanted to hang around with him and meet his friends. In the blink of an eye, I said Yes!
"So where are we going next?", I asked.
"The Venetian Macao!", he replied.
"What? The biggg hotel?", I exclaimed.
"Haha, Yes. The big hotel. It is actually the largest single structure hotel building in Asia. I'm staying at the Paiza suites. Have you heard about it? It's got more space that you can possibly imagine. If you want to experience it, tag along. I hope you don't have any other plans for the evening. "
"Well I have other plans. But I can definitely change them for this! Thank you for inviting me there", I was excited to go and see this beautiful architectural marvel.
"No worries. Let me know your other plans, we can find a way to do that also. But now lets go and explore the Cotai Strip with all its lights. At night, its charm is completely different. You can't say you have seen Macao if you haven't seen Cotai strip at night!! It is better to take a stroll, but now let's drive around."
It was a mesmerizing experience for me to see the glittering side of Macao city at night. Once we finished with Cotai strip, I was slightly getting hungry.
As if understanding my feeling, my new friend suggested that we should go eat something. He started talking about food all of a sudden. He must also be as hungry as I was.
His description of Chinese and Portuguese food that Macao offers made me more hungry!
"Have you heard of bamboo noodles with shrimp roe? If not , maybe tonight we will have it!". He had already made a decision.
After finishing the Braised noodles with shrimp roe without leaving a tiny bit and washing away the last drop of Wonton noodles in soup, I was in love with the traditional Chinese and Cantonese cuisine.
"Lets go see the The House of Dancing Water now", after the food Michael suggested.
"It’s the world’s largest water show", he continued.
It was a mind blowing show for 90 minutes. I was almost speechless after watching it. But Michael still seemed to have more plans.
"The night is still young. Do you want to go chill at a club for a while. Maybe you get to meet some of my friends. Want to join or go back to your hotel?"
"Oh no. I am ready to tag along wherever you are going, if it is alright with you." I said
"Cool, then lets head to Club Cubic. Its a cool place to spend your night. Heard that Marshmello is coming to play there one of these days. I don't know who will be there tonight, but I can tell you that it is gonna be fun. If you don't like it by any chance, there is a pool party that one of my friends is organizing. You can go join that. Well there are a plenty of cool things to do at night in Macao. So I can tell you that you will definitely have a great time in Macao. "
"Hey, meet my friend Peter", Michael introduced.
"Hi, I am Peter, Peter Hickman. Nice to meet you."
"Oh yes, I heard your name during the Grand Prix!", I exclaimed.
"Well Peter is already three time winner of Macao Grand Prix Motorcycle event, if you didn't know that yet. Probably he can also help you with the rest of your plans for tomorrow. What do you say Peter?", Michael asked.
"Yea, sure. It will be cool. Lucky you, my plan for tomorrow got cancelled at the last minute and now I'm free for tomorrow. What plans do you have?"
My lucky streak hasn't ended, I thought!
"So I was thinking of going and seeing the main sightseeing spots of this city. Got any suggestions?"
"Alright. In that case meet me tomorrow morning in front of the Ruins of St. Paul. It is one of the most famous landmark of Macao and you don't want to miss it. So I'll meet you there tomorrow."
The night continued till it met the first light of the day. I thanked Michael profusely for his generosity and with a promise to meet again, we parted our ways.
By the time I finished exploring the ruins of St. Paul, one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World; Peter was already present at the entrance.
"Lets go and check out Fortaleza do Monte. It is the historical military centre of Macau and quite nearby. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site."
I nodded to Peter's suggestion.
"And before we head to the next stop we will go have Portuguese egg tarts at Lord Stow’s Bakery. If you haven't tried some Portuguese food items from Macao, you can't say you have ever visited Macao!", Peter continued.
"Then I will take you to the Macau Grand Prix Museum. Formula car driven by our friend Michael is there on display. I'm sure you will love that place."
"Sounds good. But I want to visit the Pandas! You know how much I love the movie Kungfu Panda. Do you think you have time to go to the Macau Giant Panda pavilion?"
"Oh sure. I've been wanting to revisit that place. Someone told me that there are two new baby pandas have arrived! We should totally go there!", Peter replied.
"Well since we are quite close to Museum of Macau, lets go check it out before we go anywhere else. This is the biggest museum in the city." We walked towards the museum from ruins of St. Paul.
The museum explained a lot about the city's history, how Portuguese and Chinese influenced it and so on.
That made me curious and decided to go to the place where the Portuguese first landed. It was at Barra Pagoda. At that spot now they have a museum, Macau Maritime museum which is shaped like a ship. An online search revealed me those information.
After knowing my interest in going to the Maritime museum, Peter suggested that I should also go and visit A-Ma Temple as well. It is the oldest Chinese temple in the city and is believed to be the place where Macau’s name was derived from. I agreed to that suggestion.
After going through various parts of the city Peter suggested that we should go and explore the Taipa village during day time. The village was like a melting pot of various cultural heritages and historical facts. One could see both Chinese and Portuguese architectural details in this village.
"We should eat something. Lets go to Broadway Food Street and try some of the local food items", after half a day of roaming around Peter suggested.
I was more than happy to go try some street food. I knew from my experience that without trying street food, visit to any place is incomplete!
While having food, Peter asked, "What do you think about spending some time at the beach? Do you like that idea? There is this Hac Sa Beach. They say it used to have this coal black sand. Wanna visit?"
"Wouldn't it be hot at this time of the day. Apart from that, being an Indian guy, I think I have more than enough tan now! Do you know any place with some pool. Maybe a pool is a better idea", I suggested.
"Okay then, lets go to Grand Resort Deck. Its got the world’s largest Skytop Wave Pool, the kind of place you feel like going now!", Peter commented looking at me. I was happy at that suggestion.
"This place is like magic!", while enjoying the clear waters at one of the many pools in Grand Resort Deck, I commented.
Upon hearing this Peter said, "Oh, do you like magic too?"
"Who doesn't?!", I shouted while taking a back-flip into the pool.
"Then I think after we finish the river ride here, we will go to The House of Magic in Studio city. They have a show where one of the top magicians in the world come and perform. By the way that was a nice back-flip. Quite adventurous soul, huh?", Peter didn't conceal his surprise seeing my hidden talent.
"haha.. thank you", I brushed it aside,
"Oh wait, have you tried the Macao's famous bungee jumping yet?! " Peter asked all of a sudden.
"No", I replied.
"No?! What kind of adventurous soul are you?! We are going there right away", Peter dragged me out of the pool and off we went.
Some time later I was standing at the highest Skypark on the planet ready to take a 233-meter plunge on the world’s highest commercial Bungy Jump! I was all hooked up to the safety equipment. The final moment has arrived and I have to fight my fears and make that jump.
I could see Peter shouting and encouraging me. I closed my eyes and took that first step. I felt the air rushing past me, I felt the weightlessness, I felt a bolt of shiver going through my body, I could hear myself screaming.
I couldn't take it more. I opened my eyes and here I am on my bed at my home with an open laptop in front of me.
I was looking at the Macao tourism website to find #20ThingsILoveAboutMacao and fell asleep. But now I know what are the 20 things I love about Macao. All I need now is information on the visa.
After a couple of clicks later, I found that Indians do have a Visa" and "Entry Permit" Exemption.
Well that makes it 21 reasons to visit Macao!
Here I come Macao!
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