Yesterday we went to the gambling (or gaming as they call it) capital of the world (in terms of that amount taken in per year). Last year was the first year that Macau surpassed Las Vegas in taking peoples money...and yesterday it took some of mine.

 

A few of us left Hong Kong around 11:45 and took a one hour ferry to Macau. It still doesn’t have the hustle and bustle of Vegas (from what I have heard), but it is a fairly interesting place. Especially since Macau doesn’t have much to speak of in terms of exports or imports. The main attractions are gambling and tourism.

 

Our plan was to wander aimlessly around the ‘island’, and that we did. After an lunch of Ox Tail (which was really very good!) we succeeded in finding several of Macau’s tourist attractions including the ruins of St. Paul’s, the Mount Fortress, Church of St. Anthony, and Camoes Gardens to name a few. We also succeeded in finding some of the non-tourist area where I discovered that I enjoy taking pictures of alleyways and other everyday local scenes.

 

After making our way back to the ferries via a mix of expert navigation, misfortune, gondola rides, and luck, we purchased our late-night return tickets and went in search of food and gaming at ‘Casino Lisboa’.

 

I immediately began to wonder what I was seeing the highest concentration of good-looking Asian woman that I have seen since I have been here...and slowly realized that this was not a coincidence. The event that dropped the coin was when a gentleman came to the window of the restaurant that we were in, pointed to a cute girl with tight clothing prompting her to get up, go with him, and never be seen again by the likes of us... all of this was making Matt quite uncomfortable, but since we had a girl with us, none of these working ladies had the gumption to proposition us.

 

During our walk from the Lisboa to the ferries I succeeded in loosing HK$250 playing blackjack. It could be really fun to come here with a thousand US dollars and be ready and willing to loose it all... but alas, I am a poor college student. We also furthered our understanding of the ‘red-light scene’ here when we looked at the ‘menu’ at a sauna and saw that among the sauna and massage options, there were several more sexual options available. If nothing else it added quite a bit to my understanding of this city, and made it’s existence that much more amazing.

 

We caught a 10:30 ferry back to Hong Kong and I found myself slightly indifferent to ever returning. It was a lot like Hong Kong, but the pace was slightly slower and the spaces/bulidings/streets etc. were all a little more open. It is indeed beautiful, but so is Hong Kong which is right in my backyard here! The only other attraction is the gambling, which is fun if you have some money to burn and are with others that are willing to wager some of their precious dollars. Maybe at the end of the semester, if we have any money left!

 

I have to go to bed now as I am getting up at 5:20am to go watch the Super Bowl!

 

 

 

T-11 days to the Philippines!