Hello Loves,
Before last night, I was completely in the dark about Macao. I had no idea where it was, what it had to offer or even what it was if I’m being completely honest. About a week ago, I got an email inviting me to an influencer event to celebrate Art Macao right here in the heart of Chicago. Upon further research, I discovered that Art Macao is a five-month international arts and cultural event in which visual arts and works are presented across various exhibition venues in Macao. It is currently taking place now through October of this year. This all sounded wonderful. I was so honored to be invited to such an event and was excited to learn more, but I could have never imagined the wonderfulness that I was going to be exposed to. If you have seen my Instagram Stories, you can probably tell I am OBSESSED!
For those of you who are unfamiliar, Macao is a part of China actually just a quick road trip away from Hong Kong. Until 1999, Macao was under Portugal’s rule. That is why Macao is so heavily imbued with Portuguese style architecture, and it’s also where the first fusion food was created. Macao is the perfect blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures and offers many amazing opportunities to experience the combination of both. It is the second richest territory in the world, the fastest growing travel destination in the world with over 200,000 Americans traveling there annually AND has over 12 Michelin-starred restaurants and 19 Michelin-recommended street food options. If that isn’t enough to pique your interest, Macao is also home to the world’s highest commercial bungee jump and the world’s longest lazy river. I mean this place literally has everything!! After learning all of this incredibly appealing information, Macao has quickly worked its way up to the top of my travel bucket list.
Last night’s event only intensified this wanting to travel there. It was the perfect opportunity to network with like-minded people, my kind of people, and be completely immersed in Macanese culture. We were offered authentic Macanese bites and sipped on bubbles while touring the Zhou B Foundation and Life Garden space. After an insightful and inspiring walk through Macanese culture by our amazing hosts, Mina Hsing, a famous artist, guided us through our own Art Macao painting of the famous A-Ma Temple. Painting may not be my forte, but it was so fun to sit together and hear stories of our host’s own travels to this hot spot. We all even got to take home hand painted fans with our names on them.
As traveling has been such a priority of mine in 2019, the travel bug inside of me was dancing and jumping around the entire evening. Not only did I get to add a new travel destination to my ever-growing bucket list, but I also got to meet a ton of boss babes in the process. If you are narrowing down options for your next trip, I highly recommend doing some research and putting Macao on that list! They have quite the list of exciting activities happening through the rest of 2019 and into 2020, including the opening of the Palazzo Versace and Karl Lagerfeld hotels, the annual Fireworks Display Contest takes place in September and Grand Prix in November. This is a place that is always celebrating, and that is something I can definitely get on board with!
Sincerely,
