The Macau Museum
Monday, 19 July 2021 00:21![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elusivekI had a busy weekend planned out but then, real life happened and I had to swap things around, and here we are! Half the things not done, but at least, the other half was done.
I saw on Facebook that a friend had posted an exhibition of the school that I had never heard of before, but it was the school building of my Secondary school before it was rebuilt. So, I found out that my Secondary School (High School) Santa Rosa de Lima was previously Escola Stella Matutina. I haven't been to The Macau Museum since forever, so I figured I'd go there and have a look. Bear with me with the upcoming 60 photos!
So after lunch with the family, I walked from our restaurant location (somewhere near my office) to The Macau Museum. It's situated at the Fortaleza do Monte (Mount Fortress) just next to the Ruins of Saint Paul. Look, you can see the stone steps! This is a far cry from the times where tourism was at its peak... there were so many people you wouldn't be able to see the stone steps.
Just to the right of the Ruins as you see on the photo above, the exhibition starts already, despite not having entered the museum proper yet. This is the excavation site of the old... I don't know, Jesuits order home or headquarters (I didn't read the plaque). A sign said this was the atrium though. And walking through this, we reach the escalator entrance.
I had always considered The Macau Museum a very good and well arranged museum, and indeed I've read somewhere that this is considered one of the better museums out there. So, as it's Sunday, I thought I would get free entry, as I remembered that was the policy: Sundays, the 1st of the month and 15th of the month would be free admission days. But apparently they've changed. Macau ID card holder is free. Anyway, even if it's paid, it's just MOP$15 (USD$2 tops), it won't break your bank.
Going in, the museum details the connection of how the Portuguese came to settle in Macau.
In the same area, they also have a little background of what life was like before the Portuguese arrived. Here, the display on the left below this, is the first meeting of the Chinese and the Portuguese. Not detailed in this museum, but it is widely joked about, was how the name "Macau" came to be. The Portuguese asked the Chinese what is this place? But of course, with the language barriers, the Chinese replied 你噏乜鳩? 你噏 Being a very colloquial "you are talking" and 乜鳩 a very colloquial and rude way to say "what". And what does 乜鳩 Sound like? Macau! For the record, the proper Chinese name for Macau is 澳門 "Ou Mun" (Cantonese) or very recently "Ao Men" (Mandarin). The map on the bottom right is simply how lean and slim Macau was originally. With all the reclamation, Macau doesn't look like this anymore. Heck, the S. Francisco point as I know now, used to be SEASIDE!!!!!!! That's crazy!
Then it's very generic exhibits of the Silk Road, and blah blah, the Portuguese wanted an easier way, so they sent ships, and the interior of a ship and how you have to pack your wares.
More background stuff such as the money used.
And then I start walking around out of order LOL and that's the extent of my trying to explain how the museum looks hahaha sorry. Enjoy this pretty... partition? Divider? Folding screen? And this obvious Chinese vase but somehow having the emblem of the Portuguese or Macau government.
The St. Lawrence Cannon. I don't remember the exact wording but the cannons in Macau are all named after saints. Again, with Chinese motifs and that Portuguese emblem.
Left is Portuguese, right is Chinese.
St. Lawrence Church. Because the churches were built on high ground, so they served like a Fort, and thus, had cannons in them. Also a random confessional LOL. Going a little off tangent, there is an area in Macau called the 荷蘭園 (something like "Holland Park" or some similar meaning). Apparently there was a time when the Holland envoy wanted to takeover Macau, and a Jesuit priest or some guy fired a cannon ball... and hit the firearms ship, and there was huge explosion, so the Holland fleet had to retreat. That area is now all land and no sea too, and now has this nickname. (Heck, I don't know the real name of that place LOL).
There is no "one direct route" in The Macau Museum as you start in a mid level, then you can either go down half a level or up half a level, and then, well. Anyway, this weaving machine thing should go with the Silk Road exhibit I showed before.
I forgot to read the description was this bell and its inscription.
Here here, you can see how we start in the idle and it's either go down half a level or go up half a level.
Right, the half-lower level was all relics and exhibits of religious items, like church pieces and such (that's where that random confessional came from), but everything must have been authentic, coz they are all behind a glass so, photo-taking wasn't optimal. Up half that level is showcasing the facades and outside of buildings. There are Chinese ones.
Ah, there are no more such post boxes! The pink building on the bottom right is the then-Government Palace.
And up one level it's all the shops and trades. This was a creepy-ish level. Chinese medicine shop and, I dont' know what those dolls are for.
This exhibit, the Hawker-cries of Macau, is also pretty creepy and freaky LOL. You go inside these partitioned... booths? And you press a button and it will playback the hollers or cries of the hawkers. There are no more "proper" hawkers in Macau, so you don't get to hear these in normal daily lives. Kids these days would never understand, but I was still from a time that knew of this. For example, the scrap metal man is called the 叮叮佬 because he would walk around town with a contraption not unlike a "metal drum" or "metal percussion" thing and he would hit it "Ding Ding!" As he walks, pushing his trolley, hollering 收買爛銅爛鐵 (I will buy any scrap metal and copper)
The match and firecracker industry, I'm not so familiar as I think this was before my time already.
The Macanese Chá Gordo (Fat Tea)! I suppose it's actually an afternoon tea.
Nostalgic floor tiles.
My grandpa's old home looked like this.
Generic Chinese room look.
Creepy! Puppet arts. But. C.R.E.E.P.Y!!!!!!!!!
This was actually just a generic video but they played it inside this mirror thing so it turned out like a kaleidoscope.
Not sure if you remember my post with some Papershoot photos the other day. The "Octagon" library is actually located on this S. Francisco strip. The very last building (greenish I think) in the far end of this photo? That's the military club (the photo of the Red Building I have in my papershoot photo post linked above). That was all waterfront? Nowadays no, it's all land.
Chinese weddings too!
There's this interactive thing where it shows something like a hologram or 3D of sorts on the screen and you can click on an item and the description will come up.
And the wedding bed. Look at the intricate craftsmanship!
Macau was lucky to be neutral in the Second World War and Sino-Japanese war as well. This led to many people fleeing to Macau for refuge. Apparently many of the charity organizations today were started since those times.
And next, is the real reason that I went to the museum! The Stella Matutina exhibits! I didn't really read much into my Secondary School's history when I was a student there. I was just, "it's my school. I go to school there." And that's it. I didn't know it started out as another school, then got merged. We had a similar uniform, but not quite like that. I think it went through a few changes before it go to what I had as my uniform at that time.
I guess back then they focused on both Chinese and English studies. In my time, it was strictly an English school, so everything was taught in English, except for the Chinese classes.
Embroidery, home economics, cooking, were not part of the curriculum in my years.
Even the school logo remained the same. I have no idea what a Sets and Logic subject is about. Maybe that's maths?
I had 3 years in this school building. In my 4th Form, the school had to be re-built and so we got relocated to a temporary school location. Then in my 5th Form we went back into the new and ugly building LOL.
I remember drawing this in either third, fourth, or fifth form. The hands were the most difficult part. But I dont' remember why I tried to copy this... was it for a religion class?
Some more random exhibits.
Report cards! Songbooks!
Class photo, I suppose, or maybe school photo. The Student ID looked more like a passport.
Oh, this brings back memories, using the paper from "The Little Bookshop" to wrap your school book. "The Little Bookshop" was a bookshop that sold school books. So every year, in the summer holidays, I would hold my "next year book list" and go to either this (The Little Bookshop) or another one (Universal Bookshop) and they will just provide all the books. I liked The Little Bookshop more because it was nearer home, and they actually closed for lunch LOL. They would just hang a sign and then place a table in the middle of the shop and eat lunch (family-run business). So if you arrived in the wrong time, you see the people in the shop but you can't make them work haha. Nostalgia. Now this makes me feel old.
Alright, 3 places in the world are called Macau! One in Asia, one in France and one in Brazil!
When Macau was "returned" to China, there was a competition of sorts to create the emblem/logo/flag/image of Macau. These were the entries, and the green lotus flower over the bridge with 5 stars won. Not sure about the green. The lotus is because, the lotus is Macau's flower. The bridge is actually an image of the first bridge of Macau connecting Macau and Taipa. The lines below the bridge signify water. The 5 stars, obviously, China.
That concludes my walk in the Macau Museum. Here's a panoramic shot of a view on the rooftop. If you actually manage to see the water (river? Estuary? estuary maybe), then everything further after the water is China.
I saw on Facebook that a friend had posted an exhibition of the school that I had never heard of before, but it was the school building of my Secondary school before it was rebuilt. So, I found out that my Secondary School (High School) Santa Rosa de Lima was previously Escola Stella Matutina. I haven't been to The Macau Museum since forever, so I figured I'd go there and have a look. Bear with me with the upcoming 60 photos!
So after lunch with the family, I walked from our restaurant location (somewhere near my office) to The Macau Museum. It's situated at the Fortaleza do Monte (Mount Fortress) just next to the Ruins of Saint Paul. Look, you can see the stone steps! This is a far cry from the times where tourism was at its peak... there were so many people you wouldn't be able to see the stone steps.
Just to the right of the Ruins as you see on the photo above, the exhibition starts already, despite not having entered the museum proper yet. This is the excavation site of the old... I don't know, Jesuits order home or headquarters (I didn't read the plaque). A sign said this was the atrium though. And walking through this, we reach the escalator entrance.
I had always considered The Macau Museum a very good and well arranged museum, and indeed I've read somewhere that this is considered one of the better museums out there. So, as it's Sunday, I thought I would get free entry, as I remembered that was the policy: Sundays, the 1st of the month and 15th of the month would be free admission days. But apparently they've changed. Macau ID card holder is free. Anyway, even if it's paid, it's just MOP$15 (USD$2 tops), it won't break your bank.
Going in, the museum details the connection of how the Portuguese came to settle in Macau.
In the same area, they also have a little background of what life was like before the Portuguese arrived. Here, the display on the left below this, is the first meeting of the Chinese and the Portuguese. Not detailed in this museum, but it is widely joked about, was how the name "Macau" came to be. The Portuguese asked the Chinese what is this place? But of course, with the language barriers, the Chinese replied 你噏乜鳩? 你噏 Being a very colloquial "you are talking" and 乜鳩 a very colloquial and rude way to say "what". And what does 乜鳩 Sound like? Macau! For the record, the proper Chinese name for Macau is 澳門 "Ou Mun" (Cantonese) or very recently "Ao Men" (Mandarin). The map on the bottom right is simply how lean and slim Macau was originally. With all the reclamation, Macau doesn't look like this anymore. Heck, the S. Francisco point as I know now, used to be SEASIDE!!!!!!! That's crazy!
Then it's very generic exhibits of the Silk Road, and blah blah, the Portuguese wanted an easier way, so they sent ships, and the interior of a ship and how you have to pack your wares.
More background stuff such as the money used.
And then I start walking around out of order LOL and that's the extent of my trying to explain how the museum looks hahaha sorry. Enjoy this pretty... partition? Divider? Folding screen? And this obvious Chinese vase but somehow having the emblem of the Portuguese or Macau government.
The St. Lawrence Cannon. I don't remember the exact wording but the cannons in Macau are all named after saints. Again, with Chinese motifs and that Portuguese emblem.
Left is Portuguese, right is Chinese.
St. Lawrence Church. Because the churches were built on high ground, so they served like a Fort, and thus, had cannons in them. Also a random confessional LOL. Going a little off tangent, there is an area in Macau called the 荷蘭園 (something like "Holland Park" or some similar meaning). Apparently there was a time when the Holland envoy wanted to takeover Macau, and a Jesuit priest or some guy fired a cannon ball... and hit the firearms ship, and there was huge explosion, so the Holland fleet had to retreat. That area is now all land and no sea too, and now has this nickname. (Heck, I don't know the real name of that place LOL).
There is no "one direct route" in The Macau Museum as you start in a mid level, then you can either go down half a level or up half a level, and then, well. Anyway, this weaving machine thing should go with the Silk Road exhibit I showed before.
I forgot to read the description was this bell and its inscription.
Here here, you can see how we start in the idle and it's either go down half a level or go up half a level.
Right, the half-lower level was all relics and exhibits of religious items, like church pieces and such (that's where that random confessional came from), but everything must have been authentic, coz they are all behind a glass so, photo-taking wasn't optimal. Up half that level is showcasing the facades and outside of buildings. There are Chinese ones.
Ah, there are no more such post boxes! The pink building on the bottom right is the then-Government Palace.
And up one level it's all the shops and trades. This was a creepy-ish level. Chinese medicine shop and, I dont' know what those dolls are for.
This exhibit, the Hawker-cries of Macau, is also pretty creepy and freaky LOL. You go inside these partitioned... booths? And you press a button and it will playback the hollers or cries of the hawkers. There are no more "proper" hawkers in Macau, so you don't get to hear these in normal daily lives. Kids these days would never understand, but I was still from a time that knew of this. For example, the scrap metal man is called the 叮叮佬 because he would walk around town with a contraption not unlike a "metal drum" or "metal percussion" thing and he would hit it "Ding Ding!" As he walks, pushing his trolley, hollering 收買爛銅爛鐵 (I will buy any scrap metal and copper)
The match and firecracker industry, I'm not so familiar as I think this was before my time already.
The Macanese Chá Gordo (Fat Tea)! I suppose it's actually an afternoon tea.
Nostalgic floor tiles.
My grandpa's old home looked like this.
Generic Chinese room look.
Creepy! Puppet arts. But. C.R.E.E.P.Y!!!!!!!!!
This was actually just a generic video but they played it inside this mirror thing so it turned out like a kaleidoscope.
Not sure if you remember my post with some Papershoot photos the other day. The "Octagon" library is actually located on this S. Francisco strip. The very last building (greenish I think) in the far end of this photo? That's the military club (the photo of the Red Building I have in my papershoot photo post linked above). That was all waterfront? Nowadays no, it's all land.
Chinese weddings too!
There's this interactive thing where it shows something like a hologram or 3D of sorts on the screen and you can click on an item and the description will come up.
And the wedding bed. Look at the intricate craftsmanship!
Macau was lucky to be neutral in the Second World War and Sino-Japanese war as well. This led to many people fleeing to Macau for refuge. Apparently many of the charity organizations today were started since those times.
And next, is the real reason that I went to the museum! The Stella Matutina exhibits! I didn't really read much into my Secondary School's history when I was a student there. I was just, "it's my school. I go to school there." And that's it. I didn't know it started out as another school, then got merged. We had a similar uniform, but not quite like that. I think it went through a few changes before it go to what I had as my uniform at that time.
I guess back then they focused on both Chinese and English studies. In my time, it was strictly an English school, so everything was taught in English, except for the Chinese classes.
Embroidery, home economics, cooking, were not part of the curriculum in my years.
Even the school logo remained the same. I have no idea what a Sets and Logic subject is about. Maybe that's maths?
I had 3 years in this school building. In my 4th Form, the school had to be re-built and so we got relocated to a temporary school location. Then in my 5th Form we went back into the new and ugly building LOL.
I remember drawing this in either third, fourth, or fifth form. The hands were the most difficult part. But I dont' remember why I tried to copy this... was it for a religion class?
Some more random exhibits.
Report cards! Songbooks!
Class photo, I suppose, or maybe school photo. The Student ID looked more like a passport.
Oh, this brings back memories, using the paper from "The Little Bookshop" to wrap your school book. "The Little Bookshop" was a bookshop that sold school books. So every year, in the summer holidays, I would hold my "next year book list" and go to either this (The Little Bookshop) or another one (Universal Bookshop) and they will just provide all the books. I liked The Little Bookshop more because it was nearer home, and they actually closed for lunch LOL. They would just hang a sign and then place a table in the middle of the shop and eat lunch (family-run business). So if you arrived in the wrong time, you see the people in the shop but you can't make them work haha. Nostalgia. Now this makes me feel old.
Alright, 3 places in the world are called Macau! One in Asia, one in France and one in Brazil!
When Macau was "returned" to China, there was a competition of sorts to create the emblem/logo/flag/image of Macau. These were the entries, and the green lotus flower over the bridge with 5 stars won. Not sure about the green. The lotus is because, the lotus is Macau's flower. The bridge is actually an image of the first bridge of Macau connecting Macau and Taipa. The lines below the bridge signify water. The 5 stars, obviously, China.
That concludes my walk in the Macau Museum. Here's a panoramic shot of a view on the rooftop. If you actually manage to see the water (river? Estuary? estuary maybe), then everything further after the water is China.
There. This was long. Hope you enjoyed!
