00:00I love the ambience of the city and what it stands for. The history of Macau is
00:08very great as well, so there's a lot of significance behind that with the
00:12Portuguese culinary, especially because I'm a chef. So yeah, it's quite an amazing
00:17city to live and be in.
00:23My name is Vanessa, so I was born and raised here. Originally my parents were
00:29from Philippines, so I am Filipino. I'm Denver. I'm from South Africa and I've
00:36ended up in Macau because of her. So yeah, I blame her. We met in the US.
00:43After the internship, of course, I came back here. I finished my, I had to finish my
00:47studies. He went back to South Africa and then he decided to, he wanted to stay, be
00:55with me, so he decided to come here, look for a job and lucky enough, he did
00:59find a job. And yeah, that's it. He's been here for the past ten years now.
01:07I'm trapped but no choice. Happily, happily.
01:18There has been people always telling me to do it. I didn't have the courage to do what, to take the step.
01:25But when Aria was born, I decided, yeah, this is the time.
01:29I always believe to find the best quality ingredients is one of the most important.
01:34I think everyone can agree on that. Ingredients is something I never slack on.
01:38It's the best or nothing. I go to the local, we call it wet markets here.
01:43So all the seafood that I do use is always fresh. Number one, for sustainability.
01:47Number two is you can see what you buy. It makes all the difference. Our local markets are very good,
01:54to be honest. Of course, of course, they were hesitant because we are technically the first
02:00South African restaurant in Macau, especially people who tried my food when I worked at local
02:04restaurants. But the Portuguese as well as the Chinese local community, they have accepted us very well now.
02:11It took some time. You know, we've been open for two years now. And yeah, I think for any person to open
02:16up a business, it's not easy in the beginning. But Denver also says consistency is very important.
02:21So we always use high quality and I think our customers know that. And that's one of the reasons why they come back.
02:26I guess one of the most important thing for our daily life is, of course, take Aria out to play. So
02:37we like taking her to Kunyam Waterfront Park. So it's a really huge park. It's right by the waterfront.
02:43There's a science center there as well.
02:45I have a rule because of Aria. I want to take her to every park in Macau. I think I've almost achieved it.
02:55Because Macau is one of the things that I really like, the outdoor area is very good for kids,
02:59especially for development, for sun radiation and everything. I really appreciate it.
03:06My favorite place to take her is at the bottom of the Ghia Hill. So at the bottom of the Ghia Hill
03:11there is also a small animal park. There's some fish and birds.
03:18I'm very sports orientated. I like to, I've always been playing sports.
03:23Now I'm a runner. I've done a few Macau marathons. I've done a few trail runs in Hong Kong.
03:31There are a few running tracks in Macau. And I also like to climb all the mountains.
03:36Ghia Hill is one of them.
03:38We also like going to Hafsa, the beach area here in Macau. And we enjoy doing braai. Just right there
03:50on the spot, we just decide, let's go. Because we have this whole bag where everything is, you know,
03:55set up and we just bring the bag and go to Hafsa beach and have a braai. We invite our friends.
04:00A lot of my friends as well are from Chinese background and Portuguese. So yeah, cultural
04:08diversity is very good. I think the Macau spirit, what makes it unique is I think definitely the
04:15influence from the Portuguese. You will see a really interesting statue in the ruins of St. Paul.
04:21They call it the friendship statue. I think this is very interesting because it shows the friendship or the
04:27acceptance between two cultures. So you'll see a Chinese woman giving a lotus to a Portuguese man.
04:34So this one, I guess, symbolizes the unity or acceptance between both cultures. So I think
04:39that's what makes Macau unique. I would say it's the people because the people shape the food and the
04:46food, with food comes culture. I like the human connection and I think that's what makes a place,
04:51a city or anything feel like home and great.
Comments