Visa run

Before I came to Taiwan, I was refused a tourist visa; which caused me lots of hassle and stress. So I ended up getting a landing permit which entitled me to stay in Taiwan for 30 days (no extension), after that I would have to leave.
When I was in Shenzhen (China) last year, all that was needed to get a visa extension was to cross the border over to Hong Kong, which took next to no time and was kind of uneventfull.
However, as Taiwan is an island, the only way I could get a new landing permit was to fly to a different country and then return to Taiwan. Thankfully, the school agreed to pay for my flight to and from Macau.
Initially, I was going to land in Macau, spend a couple of hours at the airport, and then return to Taiwan. However, this seemed too good a chance to waste a paid flight to Macau, so I asked the school if they could book the flights so that I could leave on Saturnday morning and come back on Sunday night; they agreed.

It took me some time to get my bearings as the whole of the waterfront was being developed (thus I could not recognise any landmark), the map I had was useless and nobody seemed to know where the hotel I was looking for was located.
Still, it was great being in Macau, it brought lots of good memories back, saw lots of great sights (some revisited, some new), ate fantastic food and just enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of the place.


*Adi & Patti, do these places look familiar* Hotel San Va on the left, and the great Nata coffe shop on the right.


























The old streets around Macau (above & below)
















Crumbling Portuguese buildings
















A-ma temple




















Entrance to the Fort









































Senado square and around (above and below)
































Four shots of Macau's most famous landmark; the ruins of St Pauls
































Macau's biggest Casino, but not for long. Right next door to it they are building the huge Grand Lisboa.