A-ma and the Maritime Museum

Entrance to the temple

When I was leaving my faculty meeting yesterday, Janice, a veteran teacher and Macau resident asked what we'd been doing so far.  I mentioned a couple of things and then she asked if we'd seen the A-ma Temple.  I said "not yet" and she replied "Well you'd better go see it!"  So today we did.  Beth and I hopped a bus and were there in no time.  "I've finally got the bus system down", I thought.  (Again, this is foreshadowing.) 

Anyway, A-ma is the Goddess of sailors and fishermen.  Macau survived on the fishing industry before the Portuguese came and made them a major trade center.  Legend has it that from girlhood A-ma had special powers and her spirit could leave her body while she slept.  She would go out and help those at sea in times of peril.  As a result this temple was built to her on one of the southernmost points of the island.  It is believed by some that when the Portuguese came and asked where they were, they were told it was "A-ma gao" - gao means bay in Cantonese.  They heard Ma-cao, and so it was named.

These are elaborate incense sticks

The temple was cool to see, but like many famous churches in the Western world, it was so overrun with tourists that it was hard to get a very spiritual feel there.  Many pilgrims were burning incense, but it was pretty chaotic.  I've seen a number of temples since I arrived but never wanted to offend anyone by taking pictures inside.  Everyone was doing it here, so I snapped a few.

After the slightly disappointing and short temple visit, we decided to check out the Maritime Museum next door.  It sounded a little boring, to be honest, but it was really great!  Four floors of really cool and informative exhibits about the history of the area and all things sea-related.  That's actually where I learned the stuff about A-ma.  (The temple had zip for information.  At least nothing in English.)  Two enthusiastic thumbs up, as they say. 

One of many little alcoves

In addition to the exhibits they had nice sitting areas with lovely views, contemporary art about the sea, and a nice little cafe with outside seating.  Beth and I each had a ham-n-cheese sandwich and watched the boats go by.  It's totally on the list for any visitors that come out.

So after the museum Beth went home and I wandered about to kill some time.  I was planning to go to a wine tasting event at 6 in Taipa that Janice had invited me to.  Around 4:30 I decided to head in that direction so I could grab some dinner beforehand and went to the bus stop.  As I said, up until today I'd thought I had the buses figured out, but the information provided at this particular stop did not conform to my understanding of the system.  So, as with all problems, I called Carol.  (God, it's nice to have an Admin.  So new and weird, but I love it!)

It was too difficult a conversation to have over the phone, so in the end she just told me which direction to go and suggested a bus that would take me there with minimal extra stops.  Sounded good.  Only problem was, I didn't recognize the names of the stops on this new line and so I didn't know when to get out.  I tried to look ahead for a building I recognized, but with all the skyscrapers it was a challenge.  By the time I realized I had probably missed my stop, I was quite far away and didn't really feel like walking all the way back or trying to find yet another bus to take me back, given my new confusion.  Looking at the schedule I saw that the bus was, in fact, going near my apartment - but it was way down the line.  I decided to just stay put and enjoyed my scenic tour of Tapia and Coloane.  I hadn't been to the southernmost island yet and so that was kind of exciting.  At one point the driver made me and the other remaining passengers get out and pay again.  Guess it was the end of the line.  So about an hour later I finally arrived back at home.  Made some dinner and watched Pirates off my movie drive with my housemates.  A pretty decent day overall, despite the change in plans.

For some reason, the photo captions sometimes mess up the formatting.  Above is the main worship area in the temple.  Note the elaborate lotus candles in the foreground.  The guy in the red pants is in line to buy incense.  Below are: the front of the Maritime Museum, Adamastor - a sea giant figurehead, an exhibit showing the early settlements in Macau, and one of the contemporary paintings. 

The lovely view outside