Learning points unit 2
(bold words are learning points)
Ola Macau!
Text 1
Last month, Film Club held a film show of famous spy film series. The main character, code-named "007" , is a British secret agent named James Bond. We were so intrigued by the scenes set in Macau in The Man with the Golden Gun., a 1974 production, that we decided to follow up with an actual trip to this ex-Portuguese colony. We even code-named the two-day outing "operation 007 ", and all of us got Bond nicknames.Mine was "00snack".
Interested in film-making, we planned to visit popular film locations in Macau, as well as its UNESCO world heritage sites. Our plan originally included a visit to the 70-year-old Chinese in (SanVa hotel) that appears in Isabella and 2046 - two award-winning films by Hong Kong directors (Mum's favourite actor Takuya Kimura is one of the male leads in 2046!) However, it was dropped because of the tight schedule.
Text 2 - Day 1
Kicking off our full day of sightseeing with a visit to the Grand Prix Museum was a great idea! Although all of us had got up really early for the hydrofoil ferry trip to Macau, we felt energised after track-racing there in computer-simulated race cars. We then headed to Senado Square, where we enjoyed a classic Macau treat - pork chop buns (Yummy!).The square (a UNESCO site) was paved with cobblestones and surrounded by colourful European-style buildings, looking amazing with a charming fountain in the centre. The Square looked strangely familiar too, even though I'd never been to Macau before. Then I remembered - it has appeared in many films and TV shows!
Not far away, hidden in a maze of narrow streets was another UNESCO site, Ruins of St. Paul's. Our tour guide told us that the Ruins was once a church. A big fire in 1835 destroyed the whole building, except for the front wall now left free-standing on top of some paved steps. It's customary for visitors to leave a coin for luck on the top window. Since we were all afraid of heights, no one dared climb the stairs to get to the top! Our last stop before dinner was Macau Tower. Famous for bungee jumping and other death-defying sports, it looked ideal for daredevils, which nobody in our group was!
Text 2 - Day 2
Listed as a UNESCO site and located by the sea. A-Ma Temple is regarded by many as the place where Macau got its name. We visited it first this morning before moving on to another UNESCO site - Guia Fortress. Arriving by cable car, we saw several couples filming wedding videos and taking photos inside the fortress, against the backdrop of its gleaming white lighthouse and chapel. It was a very romantic spot!
Crossing the bridge to Taipa, we explored one of the old green European houses at Taipa Houses-Museum, and learned about the lives of well-to-do Macanese families in the early 20th century. We also learned that it was a film location for "Isabella"! Returning to Taipa's city centre, we lunched on Portuguese salad, rice with bacalhau, grilled Portuguese sausages and potato soup. Then we went souvenir shopping along Taipa's pedestrian-only main street. The shops there were amazing - they had everything on my wish list.
Text 3
Looking Back
My family loved all the snacks I brought back. Hey, I wasn't nicknamed "00snack" for nothing! I'm a bit disappointed that we were unable to visit Lou Lim Ioc Garden, whose famous lotus pond is featured in a favourite classic film of mine , "Song of the Exile". When I become a famous director, I definitely want to shoot a film in Macau featuring all the sites I visited on this trip, except perhaps for the 223-metre high view from Macau Tower!