A quick overnight visit to Macau Macao Ao Men, my first in more than a year and a half. Casino gambling holds little appeal for me but there are other aspects of the place that I like – although most of the old world charm is rapidly disappearing in the face of construction. I would hope that someone there takes note of what happened to Atlantic City after the advent of casino gambling, but I doubt it.

We booked a quick & cheap hotel room/ferry ticket combo at one of the travel agents at Shun Tak Centre, who promised us that the Emperor Hotel was newly renovated. On arrival in Macau, there were a gazillion busses for the New Emperor Hotel and the Grand Emperor Hotel and the Emperor’s New Clothes Hotel but we had to wait half an hour for the one little bus to the Emperor Hotel. On arrival, we were told that there were no smoking rooms available at the rate we’d booked and could I promise not to smoke? Um, nope. So free upgrade to a suite. Perhaps they hadn’t gotten around to renovating the suites yet or maybe the renovations consisted of buying the cast-offs from other hotels that had just renovated.

A quick check of the TV channels available showed that there were only two English language news channels – Fox and Russia Today. I suspect RT’s broadcasts might have more relationship to the truth.

Anyway, outside after sunset for a walk around town.

My gf commented that perhaps the best business to be in there would be the electricity business.

Anyway, the wider angle lens on the G10 (as opposed to the G7) certainly comes in handy. This shot was grabbed in full auto mode, no tripod.

Inside the old Lisboa, there’s still the mini museum of Stanley Ho’s treasures, but we were the only ones taking time to stop and look at them.

Also still inside the old Lisboa Hotel, a basement still filled with mainland hookers. These however seemed to have been renovated as they were all babes – tall, fair skinned northern Chinese women wearing a ton of make-up and very little clothing. Cleavage down to their navels, short skirts that barely cleared their butts, a veritable army patroling the basement, a few eying me but taking note that I already was well taken care of in that regard.

The Lisboa reflected in the glass of the building next door:

Across the street at the Wynn, we arrived in time for the dancing lights & fire show.

I noted with a mixture of horror and glee that after opening with Also Sprach Zarathustra, the next song played was Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” It was a jolly new arrangement that managed to omit the verse that goes:

Life’s a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke, it’s true.
You’ll see it’s all a show
Keep ‘em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

Hmmmm, wonder why that might be.

We then hopped a taxi for dinner at Fernando. I know many people don’t like this place, many more do and I’m one of those who do. Fortunately it’s not mentioned at all in the new Michelin guide. You already have to wait an hour for a table as it is.

Waiting is a pretty painless experience though when you’re sitting in this nice outside spot, accompanied by a pitcher of sangria and a plate of grill chorizo and olives and a basket of bread. No complaints from us!

Once inside, more sangria, garlic prawns, clams, grilled sardines, we stuffed ourselves silly!

Of course leaving Fernando’s late, there are no taxis, but there is the reliable and cheap mini-bus. $6.40 per person and it dropped us off right near the Lisboa. I was thinking about going back into the basement there again to try to grab some photos of the “patrol” but we were too tired, too drunk and too cold! We made it back to the hotel and collapsed on the bed for what should have been a nap but ended up being about 10 hours of sleep.

Today, after we checked out of the hotel, over to check out the Venetian. Jesus H Christ on a bicycle, this place is huge. As a matter of fact, a bicycle would have made it a lot easier to get around. We ended up criss-crossing and doubling back many times.

As you can see, the main part of the casino was quite busy ….

But that doesn’t tell the whole story, as about half of the casino was empty on a Sunday afternoon.

The entrance to the shopping mall …

The food court …
We didn’t eat there – we went to Roka, a Japanese restaurant that originated in London and has a branch at the Venetian and another at Pacific Place. They’re currently offering a weekend lunch special of all you can eat robata and tempura for $138 per person and most of it was quite tasty. A large space that was about 80% empty when we sat down at 12:30, the waiters told us that the place was quite full when they first opened but doesn’t seem to be busy now, which is why they’ve got this lunch special (their “tasting menu” is $788 per person) and a “very long happy hour.”

The Venetian lists 35 restaurants currently and a lot of them are probably quite worthwhile but, forgive the stereotype, I think it’s probably true that most people coming there are from the mainland and spending as little as possible and sticking with what they know when it comes to meals.

The “canal” complete with gondolas and gondoliers

Coming soon on the Cotai Strip – more of the same.

We considered going to the Asian Adult Expo, but we’d already walked a helluva lot. And the $100 per person ticket price didn’t make it seem that enticing. (I later heard from one person who went that it wasn’t very good.)

And so, back to HK ….

I used to spend a lot of time in Macau and wouldn’t mind doing so again – except I’m not at all interested in the casino frenzy. Yes it provides a lot of jobs and clearly there’s plenty of people who love to gamble … and I don’t mind that now there are even more restaurants, the taxi drivers seem to speak a bit more English, I’m sure Cirque du Soleil is worth a visit. But I’m probably not gonna hurry back.

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Driving home this afternoon, passed a Black BMW convertible with the vanity license plate SP1KE. Damn! Wonder if I can sue him?