During my stay in Hong Kong with Ivan, his dad and the two of us decided to venture out of the city for a bit and visit the island of Macau. We ended up traveling in a group of 5 as Ivan’s badminton-friend Edith and her cousin came along to add to the fun. Shame on my knowledge of geography, but I never knew that Macau was a Chinese province, or that it was a 1 hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong! I got pretty excited about the impromptu plan to go there.
A bit of history:
Known to the locals as 澳門 or ‘a-mon’ it used to be a Portuguese trading colony under a decade ago. With time the “colonial” fad faded and Macau was returned to China in 1999 just 2 years after Hong Kong was reclaimed from the British Empire. However, The mix of Portuguese culture and tradition still remains in much of the city.
Our first stop on the tour was the Macau tower. Although it was a very foggy day, we managed to enjoy the view of the island and its many beautifully long bridges. The tower itself is the world’s tallest bungee-jump attraction – it looked exhilaratingly awesome. At first glance I got an inkling to take the plunge, but the group atmosphere did not seem right. I would look like the crazy “gwai-lo” (common term for whiteguy) outcast, so I decided to save the thrill adventures for another day. Instead we had a buffet in the rotating restaurant on the tower, which was delicious. The food was a refreshing meld of European pastry and meats with lots of Asian-influenced cooking. Good times were had by all.
It was pretty interesting seeing such a mix of Eastern and Western culture and architecture on this little island. Seeing Chinese temples and Portuguese churches side-by-side definitely gave it a unique character. After some sightseeing, Ivan’s dad suggested that we visit “The Venetian” – a huge and famous 5 star hotel, casino and luxury mall. Decorated to the brim with fountains, chandeliers, murals, and tall ceilings - the place was spectacular. The more interesting part of it was the mall, where they tried to recreate a street in Venice. Complete with a river on which the gondola drivers sing to their passengers, overpriced boutiques built in a faux Venetian style, and party favors like real-live statues (a man with white facepaint standing really still) . There was also this tall guy on stilts who popped out from a corner and startled quite a few people – but then made up for it with some witty remarks and poses for pictures. Cool guy, cool place.
Then we proceeded to the casino, where I spent a whopping $20 Macau dollars on slot machines (a bit under $3 CAD). It wasn’t as glorious as it seems, I still cannot sympathize with people spending hours weekly playing slots. Macau is actually very known for its casinos from the time that gambling was outlawed in Hong Kong - people just took the 1 hour commute by sea to satisfy their cravings. Because of this, a slew of casinos emerged all over the island, including the prominent “Casino Lisboa” empire. From what I’ve seen, Lisboa is the biggest casino on the island, spanning several large buildings and running several hotels for the gamblers to stay in. The most notable structure was this oddly shaped building called the Grand Lisboa, the walls of which made up an enormous low-resolution LED screen with many flashy animations and scrolling messages. According to Wikipedia the building was meant to resemble a lotus flower, but I never got that image. Nonetheless we decided to go in and check it out.
This was an experience that eliminated any of my desires to go into a casino and blow some money. No, I didn’t lose a lot of money. Just seeing the sheer grandeur of this casino - the décor, the statues and paintings they have on display, the number of employees, and the thought of the electricity bill from the flashing lights - it all made me think: where is this money coming from? In the Grand Lisboa intricate jade and golden statues were put off to the side, because of the many more exotic exhibits for the public to look at: the most expensive statue sold in China (a horse’s head) and the largest cushion shaped diamond in the world just to name a few. Then I remembered that this is only one of many casinos owned by the same company erected side-by-side, each with an accompanying hotel. My conclusion? I think that the percentage of visitors leaving the casino with more money than they came in doesn’t stray far from the headcount of penguins in the Sahara desert. Excuse the exaggerations, but that’s just the image that stuck with me. I didn’t leave a single penny in the joint.
Originally we planned return home on the last ferry of the day, but once we realized how little time we have to explore the city we decided to spend the night at a hotel. Since “The Venetian” was fully booked, we settled on a Holiday Inn. After some clerical error and hassle with the front-desk attendants we managed to score an upgraded VIP room. They also had a spa where the massages were half price – that was probably the most memorable hour of the trip. A traditional Chinese pressure-point massage with a masseuse who didn’t speak a word of English and kept telling Ivan to translate to me that she thinks I should go to China to find myself a wife because I’m so handsome. Although I’m not so sure if I’ll take her advice the massage was great and I was surely entertained.
The two days in Macau were great. Although I didn’t get to experience the city as much as I did with Taipei, Tokyo or Hong Kong, I definitely recommend anyone visiting Hong Kong for a few weeks to take the detour to this island.
Photos:
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