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Welcome to the fabulous Macau... What now?

Dorothy So and Winnie Yeung check up on our dear ol’ neighbor to see what’s cooking.

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Welcome to the fabulous Macau... What now?

We all visit Macau for different reasons. Some go there to catch a concert, some for the food, and some just to stroll along the old neighborhoods on a lazy weekend. And of course, there are also the gamblers.

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Once a year we dedicate an issue of our magazine to Macau, bringing you the latest and the best from the city. This year we look at the newest hotels on offer, the events leading up to the 10th anniversary of Macau’s handover, and hot new additions such as the City of Dreams. Before that, however, just below we’ve selected some of our favorite hidden gems that are often overlooked in the former Portuguese enclave.

Hidden Gems

We skip the cliché and visit Macau’s best-kept secrets

Rotunda de Carlos da Maia
For an alternative to the usual Macanese-Portuguese food, head to Rotunda de Carlos da Maia. Known in Chinese as “Three Lamp Square” (because of the lamppost with three lamps in the middle of the area), the Rotunda is also commonly referred to as the “Burmese Corner,” as it’s home to a number of Burmese immigrants who have opened up restaurants. Our favorite among them is Restaurante Birmanes Nga Heong, which does an excellent version of Burma’s most well known comfort food, fish noodles. The noodles here are rice vermicelli in a thick fish broth flavored with lemongrass. Tumeric gives it a bright yellow color, and it’s topped with crispy pieces of deep-fried fish skin and heaps of cilantro. Alternatively, try their noodles in creamy Burmese chicken curry. They also serve a delightful homemade black soymilk.
Restaurante Birmanes Nga Heong, 27-F R/C, Rua De Fernao Mendes Pinto, San Kiu, (853) 2852 8129.

Macao Museum of Art
Right beside the Macau ferry terminal is the Macao Museum of Art, a sleek and modern five-storey building that houses the island’s largest collection of art and relics in its 10,000 square meter space. You won’t find such a fine exhibition space in Hong Kong. Currently showing there is an excellent exhibition of local photographer Chan Hin-io’s work. For the past five years, Chan has been capturing what’s left of traditional life and business in Macau’s old neighborhoods. The exhibition runs until Oct 4.
Macao Culture Centre, Av. Xian Xing Hai, Nape, (853) 8791-9814, www.artmseum.gov.mo.

Tap Seac Gallery
This small, government-funded art gallery is often sadly overlooked. Before it became a gallery, the historic building used to be a mansion home to an upper crust family. The building has a neo-classical European flair reminiscent of the 1920s, with its Portuguese façade of wooden shutters, red brick walls and its Moorish arched doors. With its yearly range of contemporary and avant garde exhibitions, Tap Seac Gallery has become a hotspot for the art crowd of both Macau and Hong Kong.
Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, 95, (853) 2836-6866, www.macauart.net/TS.

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Ox Warehouse
The last stop for a taste of Macanese art is the Ox Warehouse, which is Macau’s version of our Cattle Depot. And that’s literally what it is—a cattle depot turned into a contemporary art space for classes and large-scale art installations. And yes, some of the original stink even remains.
Avenida do Coronel Mequita, (853) 2853-0026, oxwarehouse.blogspot.com

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