Macau

I went to Macau (ma-Cow) today. Macau was a Portuguese colony until 1997, when it was reabsorbed into China and now functions as a Special Administrative Region. Macau's situation is similar to Hong Kong's, except Hong Kong was handed over two years earlier, in 1995.

Macau's two official languages are Portuguese and Cantonese, so all the signs are written in Chinese characters as well as more familiar letters. I was pretty amazed how easy it was to figure things out, when I was able to see letters.

I was reading bus schedules and maps, menus, and everything. It sure was different from trying to decipher the Wingding-like characters that I'm used to on the Mainland.

It's rained pretty much every day for the last three weeks. Today was no different, and it seems to rain harder in Macau than it does in Guangzhou.



Here's a picture from last night. What's worse than trying to negotiate a busy bus stop in China? A busy bus stop where everyone is carrying an umbrella. You can't walk in a straight line...you must constantly avoid people and it's really annoying.

So, it was raining hard in Macau when I got there, after a 3-hour bus ride from Guangzhou. That was too bad as I had heard walking around Macau is a good way to explore, since it's pretty small. There are two types of people that go to Macau...those that go to gamble, since it's legal there and not in Mainland China, and those that go to check out the old Portuguese flavour.

I hadn't done my research before I arrived, so I had no idea where anything was. I noticed that a lot of the casinos had free shuttle busses, so I thought it'd be a good idea to jump on one of these and see where it would take me.

There are lots of casinos in Macau, and I've heard it called Asia's Las Vagas. But when I got there, I noticed that the phrase is trademarked, so it's actually just marketing material. However, I recently read that Macau's casino revenue has now exceeded that of Las Vagas. Maybe Las Vagas should have a sign that says Las Vagas... Macau in America!

The biggest casino is the Venetian, and it opened about a month after Carol and I arrived in China. I remember seeing it on the news a lot back then, and decided to see what the fuss was about. I hopped on a Vanetian shuttle bus and got a tour of Macau on the way there. I arrived about 10 minutes later.

It's pretty stupid. It's pretty much just a big mall, with a casino in the basement, and hotel rooms on top. They even have a food court. The big attraction at the Venetian is their indoor canal that offers gondola rides, complete with a singing gondalier. O-so-la-meee-oooo...

They've painted the ceiling to look like sky, and have molded the walls to look like buildings in Italy, complete with windows.









I bought a hamburger in the foodcourt from a place called FatBurger, advertised as the best burger in Las Vagas. I disagree, unless all the burgers there are small, overly expensive, and too dry.

When I was done, I tried to leave, but like any good mall they like to keep you trapped inside. It took me about half an hour to find my way out. It was almost as maze-like as the Guangzhou Ikea, but not quite.

I found a bus stop and got on a random bus, not sure where it would take me. It took me to the Grand Lisboa, another big casino. I knew they'd have a free shuttle bus back to the border, so I got out and tried to find it.



The Grand Lisboa is a really gaudy building. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be...a palm leaf rising out of an egg? Maybe.

I found the casino downstairs, and decided to play two hands of blackjack. I lost both, facing off against a dealer who drew a face card for himself each time, while only giving me a 2 and 5. I wasn't going to be able to climb out of that hole, and I didn't.

I wasted my thirty dollars, a significant portion of my weekly spending money, and didn't have any fun. I was really disappointed in myself and have been grumpy for the rest of the day. Lesson learned I guess.

I got a shuttle ticket from the gaming table, showed it to the driver, and hopped on the bus and returned to the China/Macau border. I got on another bus there and drove to Guangzhou.

I enjoyed my trip, especially the part before I wasted my money. I was talking a bit of Mandarin to street vendors, and they were loving me for it. I bought juice and a bun from them. I also liked reading the bus schedules and having an understanding of what was going on. In Guangzhou I'm pretty much illiterate, but in Macau I had a grade three education. It was nice.

Next time I go, I'll be there with Kir. Now I know the slope of the land, and the way Macau works. We'll be able to find the cool things to see, and not get stuck in the casino vortex like I did today.

I'll leave you with a random picture that has nothing to do with Macau. It was in a fancy-ish restaurant I was at last week with all the teachers. Sometimes, even if you think you bought an English bathroom sign, you actually didn't.