From old streets to extravagance: The charm of Macau

I visited Macau in December of 2014 with my mum and dad. It was a pleasantly quaint little city with narrow old streets, winding up and down, packed with little apartments. Artsy craft shops and delicious local snacks were tucked in every corner among the places where people lived. It was perfect for great photo opportunities!

What's interesting is that while their streets display humble simplicity, Macau is known for its marvellously grand hotels. And that's where we started exploring - here is what we saw: In the middle of the lobby of the enormous Galaxy Macau stands a water fountain. But at night, it comes to life in a display of movements, its entire structure rising and falling. And beautiful peacock dancers twirl and strut majestically in golden dresses. Talk about extravagance!

But what I really enjoyed on this trip was exploring the lesser known streets. The roads tightly packed with apartments so small they looked like a bunch of pigeon holes. It was a mix of idle and abuzz when bright rainbow streamers were hung up to prepare for its Latin City parade.

A cheerful mural on one of the buildings depicting the market and its colourful food and people.

Boutique fashion stores, leather crafters, all kind of little artisanal shops fit into the streets cosily and added artsy surprises to our walks.

The Mandarin's House gave a nostalgic visual of traditional Chinese architecture for the properties of wealthy families.

On the village island of Coloane, there were markets of fresh fruits, art and trinkets. But it was these sweet looking canines that caught my attention. I couldn't resist a shot like this when he turned to face me. Or like the next one when the two pals looked like they were proudly guarding their master's washing!