What146;s Your Flavour?

IT8217;S funny the things one associates with salvation at different points in life. A couple of weeks ago, on a balmy Sunday evening, stan...

IT8217;S funny the things one associates with salvation at different points in life. A couple of weeks ago, on a balmy Sunday evening, standing by the side of a racetrack, all my hopes for redemption were pegged on a thin spotted greyhound called Mad Dash. I had bet some

Rs 2,000 on his ability to beat the pack and win me a windfall. It was racing night at the Macau Canidrome a dedicated dog racing track in Macau, China, and I was among a few hundred viewing the odd spectacle of a pack of dogs running after a stuffed rabbit.

I was on a day trip from Hong Kong, and this was the end of a day spent shopping and eating. So I was hoping that my four-legged friend would help me recover some of that cash. But Mad Dash suffered a humiliating loss, having suddenly decided midway, that he had had enough of chasing a dummy rabbit. Still, going through the highs and lows of gambling is an essential part of the Macau experience.

Known as the 8216;Monte Carlo of the Orient8217;, this tiny principality on the southern tip of China is crisscrossed with casinos. Though commercially outmuscled by neighbouring Hong Kong, Macau is way ahead when it comes to gambling. From Asia8217;s only dog racing track to its largest casino at the Hotel Lisboa, there8217;s every betting temptation possible.

Formerly a Portuguese colony, Macau went from one Big Brother to the next in 1999, when it was handed over to China. That unique mixture of Catholic Portugal and Red China has lent itself to almost every aspect of Macanese life.

If a majority of the population is Chinese, there8217;s also a Christian flavour across the peninsula; while the architecture is Portuguese, every street corner is dotted with Chinese furniture and antique shops, and Portuguese egg tart bakeries are often flanked by quaint Chinese tea shops.


	Languages spoken Portuguese, Cantonese When to visit Macau8217;s climate is sub-tropical. The early months of the year are its temperate best How to get there Regular ferries from Hong Kong Did you know? Gambling, legalised in 1847, now makes up 40 per cent of Macau8217;s GDP

This city of indulgence gives you some fantastic options to be happy. On a warm afternoon8212;as most Macanese afternoons tend to be8212;take a walk through Macau8217;s main square, the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. North of the main square is an uphill road peppered with Chinese knick-knacks and traditional furniture stores. While the bargains are fantastic, their antiquity is extremely doubtful. At one outlet I was offered a supposedly 19th century Chinese rice basket in four different colours. At the head of this street are the Ruinas de Sao Paulo or the ruins of Saint Paul8217;s8212;Macau8217;s oldest church and its most important sight. The church, built in 1602, caught fire three times thereafter and was rebuilt each time, but the last fire in 1853 destroyed everything except its stone facade.

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FINISHING SCHOOL

For first-time punters, a few tips to get you started in
the dog-beat-dog world of greyhound racing

Do your homework Find out the age of the dog8212;a running dog will peak at two, and a bitch at three. Make the safest bet you can. Choose a contestant with a few decent prior wins

Always pick a hound that8217;s run recently There8217;s usually a pretty good reason why a dog hasn8217;t run for several weeks

Pick the one that8217;s most spirited If it8217;s not looking good, then it8217;s probably not feeling good. And chances are that its performance won8217;t look very good either. Come to think of it, Mad Dash didn8217;t look very happy

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Macanese food, the peninsula8217;s next best indulgence, deserves a whole chapter but let8217;s try a graph. As a confirmed non-vegetarian with an almost vulgar love of garlic, I was in food heaven. Macanese cuisine worships meat8212;of all persuasions8212;and contains truckloads of garlic, onion and tomato.

A Lorcha, located on Rua do Almirante Sergio, is in the best of Portuguese dining tradition8212;portions worthy of the WWF8212;and the taste, good enough to make you slobber like Wimpy on a bad day. I still sigh over my stuffed mackerel, chirozo, and rabbit stew dinner of that evening best downed with some icy sangria. For dessert, or even over a cup of coffee, try Macau8217;s famous egg tarts. Available at any of the bakeries around the main square, they go best with a cup of strong Macanese coffee.

But what8217;s a caffeine high compared with the adrenalin rush of watching man8217;s best friend hotfoot after a phoney rabbit?