Lunch at the Macau Military Club

The dining room looks the same, with ceiling fans

We did a quick side trip to Macau with the intention of having lunch there and then hanging out, but then my uncle suggested we go to Zhongshan after.

Our lunch was booked at Clube Militar de Macau or the Macau Military Club, an old colonial building adjacent to the Grand Lisboa, a giant shiny bulbous tower with lotus petals sprouting up from it. 

The foyer looks elegant with antique furniture

In the morning we took TurboJet from Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the aging building FINALLY got a refresh and looks so much better now.

For decades it was so tired-looking and considering so many people commute to Macau from here, one would think they would budget some money to renovating it, which they did a few years ago.

Taking the ferry during the week was not too bad, and we even caught an earlier boat and it's a good thing we did. By the way, gone are the stickers with seat numbers -- all seats are printed on separate tickets, which seems counter-intuitive in terms of using more paper...

After an hour we arrived in Macau (the old part), we swiftly went through immigration and then I thought we would go through the underpass to get on a hotel shuttle bus to Grand Lisboa, but none were to be found.

An old photo of the club from decades past

Instead we had to follow a series of arrows taking us on a very long walkway to get to the hotel shuttle buses. This was new! It took us a good 15 minutes to walk to the Jai Alai Oceanus station, apparently a temporary measure until December 15.

When we finally got to the shuttle stop, there was a long line of people already waiting. 

And there aren't numerous shuttles ready to whisk people off to the casino resort -- instead we had to wait for the next shuttle, which took passengers to several different stops before finally arriving at Grand Lisboa (stop number four).

From there we crossed the street to the Clube Militar and arrived just on time at 12.30pm.

The last time I was here was in the early 2000s, and its old school atmosphere is like seeing an old friend again.

The downstairs hallway to restrooms

The European-style building was originally built in 1870 as a private military club for Portuguese military and their guests. Some notable ones include Dr Sun Yat-sen, who lived in Macau for a period of time. Another was poet Camilo Pessanha, who gave a presentation on the pleasures of learning Chinese language and culture in 1915.

In 1953, Clube Militar was opened to civilians, and then in 1995 the building was restored and reopened as a restaurant to the public and still retains its club. This year Clube Militar celebrates its 155th anniversary.

The club has over 700 members, most of them non-Portuguese, after the handover of Macau back to China in 1999. 

It seems the dining room is very popular for lunch, and soon after we arrived, the tables filled up quickly with Chinese and Portuguese guests alike. We opted for for the buffet spread, which included salads, soup, braised eel, beef, seafood salad and fried rice.

The desserts were impressive, in particular the flan that was a smooth egg custard, poached pear, traditional rice pudding, and chocolate cake. 

One of the large paintings in the foyer

If you order a la carte, signature dishes include bacalhau or codfish, African chicken, and arroz de marisco (seafood rice)

975 Avenida da Praia Grande, Macau

+853 2871 4004

 

Long Walk Along the Harbourfront

Gorgeous day for a walk and admire the Hong Kong skyline

This morning my friend and I did the 11.5km walk from North Point to Kennedy Town in just over two hours. It was a great way to walk off an accumulation of calories and see the city the way I used to see it when I lived in Hong Kong.

It was already sunny and hot at just after 8.30am when we set off, and luckily we had slathered on sunscreen and wore a hat. We walked past North Point, seeing people make use of seating areas to eat a snack, look at their phones or read the newspaper, and Fortress Hill before going to Tin Hau and Causeway Bay, walking around the Police Officers' Club.

Construction for the route in Sai Ying Pun

In Wan Chai there was a running race going on -- the My Boy 3K Family Run, based off of a comic strip character. We saw many people dressed in blue T-shirts with medals around their necks and then the actual race route along the Wan Chai waterfront. 

When we got to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre it was great to see the familiar sight of Victoria Harbour and both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. I was not able to spot any cats by the rocks though. 

Meanwhile there is construction extending from the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong so that people can walk from the hotel across an overpass to reach the walking path which will be fantastic once it's done; guests won't be confused as to how to get there and be able to enjoy the skyline by the harbourfront.

Pretty soon we arrived in Central, and spotted a military ship docked; I was surprised there were no People's Liberation Army soldiers out in front of the gates guarding the ship...

Military ship docked in Central

At the Ferry Piers there were the usual crowds hanging around waiting for friends or family before boarding together to go to the outlying islands and it wasn't as packed as it used to be pre-pandemic.

Shun Tak in Sheung Wan was basically the same, though with more pollution from the Turbocat ferries. I don't miss the noise pollution and the gasoline smell.

Soon after we arrived in Sai Ying Pun, and at Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Park there were people exercising, children playing, and walking like us. But after passing the sports centre the route was diverted with lots of construction along what used to be the boardwalk.

My friend noted that not much seemed to have been completed since the last time he walked by this area. Alas will have to see how it looks the next time.

Finally we reached Shek Tong Tsui where we saw the former Instagram Pier that has been blocked off for years from public access, and soon enough we arrived at Kennedy Town.

The coffee shop Arabica is still very popular with mainland tourists thanks to Xiaohongshu, and across the street, many were trying to get a shot of themselves with Victoria Harbour in the background. There were more people taking pictures with the line of Banyan trees on Forbes Street. It is quite the miracle how the seeds for these trees landed in between the rocks of the stone wall and managed to cling on and grow into trees. 

Banyan trees are a tourist attraction in K-Town

It was heartening to see most of the restaurants and shops are still around.