March 15, 2008

Despite the pain that my body endured during my last workout in the gym, I still found a way to take my pet for a walk at A-ma Statue atop Coloane Hill. Damn taxi! It costs me around 200 pesos for a couple of kilometers just to get me on top of the hill. You ask, why take a cab instead of walk? Well.... I thought if I walked, i wouldn't be able to catch the sun sets. Now that's a bummer. As a serious phtographer, you have to be at that window time where the light fades into dark. And that happens for just for a few minutes. It would be a waste if you can't catch it, especially in this place where people do not spend a lot of time wondering around because of the limits of public trnanspo. Thanks to the cab driver, he zoomed his way up the steep slope and zigzagging road that leads up to wonderland, I was able to catch the most beautiful time of the day.

This colossal 20m statue of the goddess atop Alto de Coloane, was hewn from a form of white jade quarried near Beijing and was erected in 1998. Below it is enormous Tian Hou Temple (; 08:00 - 19:30 ), which, together with the statue, form the core of A-Ma Cultural Village, a religious complex containing a museum, retreat and medical centres, a vegetarian restaurant and handicraft shops.

It's rather commercial and you'll probably see more traders than prayers. Still, it's a good spot to get a birds-eye view of Hác Sá beach on a clear day. A free bus runs from the A-Ma ornamental entrance gate on Estrada de Seac Pai Van every half-hour from 08:00 to 18:00 . Otherwise you can reach both by following the Coloane Trail (Trilho de Coloane) from Seac Pai Van Park.