Macau has been getting a lot of press lately, as its recent glut of casinos helped it bankroll more than Vegas this year for the first time. There’s more to Macau, though, than the splashy new Wynn and Sands that have ended Stanley Ho’s decades-long lock on the casino business. Only a ferry or jetfoil ride from Hong Kong, Macau has a distinctly different culture–because it was a Portuguese, not a British colony–with unique architecture and cuisine. So, I was really pleased to see a new clip from Indietrekker, all about Macanese street food that can be found in the back alleys of the old city.



Indietrekker is Diana Kuan, a NY-based journalist who’s written for The Boston Globe, Food & Wine, TimeOut New York, and Metro newspapers. Before moving to New York for culinary school, she had collected some serious traveling points, living in China, Hong Kong, Puerto Rico and Boston, and, after working for awhile in catering, she decided to hit the road again as a writer and documentarian. You can check out Diana’s other clips here on Travelistic, or on Indietrekker.com.

– Tagged: Street Food
– Lonely Planet: Macau
– Macau Government Tourist Office
– “Gambling in Macau: Betting on growth” (The Economist)

This image of Manila comes from a Forbes special on the most densely populated, congested cities on earth. With a total population of 10 million in the metropolitan area, Manila may not be the largest city on earth, but its city center squeezes a staggering 41,000 people into each square kilometer. In comparison, Mumbai, which has become virtually synonymous with urban density, has just under 30,000 people per km squared by Forbes’ reckoning, and doesn’t make the list of the most congested cities. They are, in descending order: Cairo, Lagos, Macau, Seoul, Dhaka, Buenos Aires, Jakarta, Kaohsiung and Santo Domingo. Attempt driving in any of them at your own risk.

LA Times Asia Special:
Macao’s Casinos
- “A new type of treasure island rises”
Nikko, Japan
- “Serenity amid the shoguns”
North Korean Mountains
- “One tiny crack in the border”
South Korean Monasteries
- “A peek at the monastic life”

Barcelona on the Cheap
- “Footloose in Spain’s Capital of Style, Barcelona” (NYT)

European Love Nests
- “Continental hotels for stylish dirty weekends” (Times of London)

Georgia (the country, not the state)
- “In Georgia, a Pilgrimage to the Cradle of Wine” (NYT)

Greenland
- “Magnetic north” (Guardian)

Mexico City
- “Grabbed by the Mariachis” (Times of London)

World Wonders: Tourist Traps, or Trips of a Lifetime?
- “Still got the magic?” (Times of London)