The Marvel of Macau
After about a month or so in Hong Kong, we finally took our first step out of the territories, into the Last Vegas of the east! What we saw at Macau was intriguing and fascinating. It was a small city of its own, but we actually managed to spend about 14 hours on the island, just walking around marveling at the different aspects of splendor it brought.
After the hour long ferry ride, we took an old school public bus and landed at some touristy central area of Macau. It was streets of shops, just like any other streets you can find it Hong Kong. I wasn't really expecting this, as the myth in my head was that Macau was just malls and buildings of Casinos, but it kinda turned out otherwise. So we just walked and walked, and unknowingly landed up at some residential area of Macua. I always enjoy these kind of 'exploration' walks, as it kinda allows me to observe the different ways people actually lead their lives. From the conditions of their roads, their shops, the food they eat, and the condition of their houses.
We soon landed up at St. Paul's Ruins, and this monument was just a testament to the uniqueness and beauty of ancient Portugese structures. They can actually be found scattered all across Macau, and I believe that it is these structures which make Macau really nice.
Now what's going to Macau without visiting the Casinos, so we promptly did that straight after lunch. And boy was I truly amazed by how their Casinos were laid out. We first entered this hotel Grand Lisboa, and at first sight the hotel lobby really looks like any other hotel lobby, but once we stepped across the security screening area just behind the lobby, the whole of the other side of the hotel was a huge casino. Slot machines and playing tables filled the whole place, and that was just the first level. The second level was even larger. In Singapore, those spaces would be used for function and wedding ballrooms, but here in Macau, every single corner was for gambling purposes. We went on to a few other hotels, and this 'open concept' of gambling was similar everywhere else.
Oh, and I didn't really get to try my luck, as I didn't really find a table with minimum bet small enough for my preference. I wasn't exactly worried about losing money ... I was more worried that with bets too high, my 'experience' of sitting down to gamble at a Macau casino would be too short lived. Bummer!
What really stood out in Macau for us would have to be The Venetian though. The entire place was huge, beautiful and just spectacular. The interior seemed abit like those kinda grand palace interior, and even the mall inside was designed according to some Venice gondola style theme, real nice! The casino was the largest ever, as we couldn't see the end from where we entered, and it was really packed with people (and money too of course). Have some shots of this wonderful place, and have uploaded it in my Picasa Web album.
Speaking about shots, I kinda experienced some photography woes yesterday. You see I am someone who's not really into photography, nor am I in any sense photogenic. And the only reason why I bought my Ixus 50 some 4 years back was probably due to impulse-ness. But it's at times like yesterday at Macau when you really wish you had a good camera (plus good photography knowledge) to really capture all the wonderful things you experience. I felt we saw alot yesterday, and I was really keen to snap everything down for everyone to see, but apparently most of my shots did no justice to the marvel I experienced. There was always this conflict with brightness, blurness, and level of ISO, and shots being too grainy. So in the end, I couldn't really find that perfect balance, and quite a number of shots turned out disappointing. Dang! But as we like to say, I guess the best camera lenses would have to be our own eyes, and the best memory card, your brain!
During the bumpy ferry ride back (still feeling myself swaying as I type this), Elaine asked me how we were gonna pick ourselves back up to 'study mode'. And after a 4 month absence from books before arriving, together with the 1 month of total slackness here, I really didn't have an answer to her question.
After the hour long ferry ride, we took an old school public bus and landed at some touristy central area of Macau. It was streets of shops, just like any other streets you can find it Hong Kong. I wasn't really expecting this, as the myth in my head was that Macau was just malls and buildings of Casinos, but it kinda turned out otherwise. So we just walked and walked, and unknowingly landed up at some residential area of Macua. I always enjoy these kind of 'exploration' walks, as it kinda allows me to observe the different ways people actually lead their lives. From the conditions of their roads, their shops, the food they eat, and the condition of their houses.
We soon landed up at St. Paul's Ruins, and this monument was just a testament to the uniqueness and beauty of ancient Portugese structures. They can actually be found scattered all across Macau, and I believe that it is these structures which make Macau really nice.
Now what's going to Macau without visiting the Casinos, so we promptly did that straight after lunch. And boy was I truly amazed by how their Casinos were laid out. We first entered this hotel Grand Lisboa, and at first sight the hotel lobby really looks like any other hotel lobby, but once we stepped across the security screening area just behind the lobby, the whole of the other side of the hotel was a huge casino. Slot machines and playing tables filled the whole place, and that was just the first level. The second level was even larger. In Singapore, those spaces would be used for function and wedding ballrooms, but here in Macau, every single corner was for gambling purposes. We went on to a few other hotels, and this 'open concept' of gambling was similar everywhere else.
Oh, and I didn't really get to try my luck, as I didn't really find a table with minimum bet small enough for my preference. I wasn't exactly worried about losing money ... I was more worried that with bets too high, my 'experience' of sitting down to gamble at a Macau casino would be too short lived. Bummer!
What really stood out in Macau for us would have to be The Venetian though. The entire place was huge, beautiful and just spectacular. The interior seemed abit like those kinda grand palace interior, and even the mall inside was designed according to some Venice gondola style theme, real nice! The casino was the largest ever, as we couldn't see the end from where we entered, and it was really packed with people (and money too of course). Have some shots of this wonderful place, and have uploaded it in my Picasa Web album.
Speaking about shots, I kinda experienced some photography woes yesterday. You see I am someone who's not really into photography, nor am I in any sense photogenic. And the only reason why I bought my Ixus 50 some 4 years back was probably due to impulse-ness. But it's at times like yesterday at Macau when you really wish you had a good camera (plus good photography knowledge) to really capture all the wonderful things you experience. I felt we saw alot yesterday, and I was really keen to snap everything down for everyone to see, but apparently most of my shots did no justice to the marvel I experienced. There was always this conflict with brightness, blurness, and level of ISO, and shots being too grainy. So in the end, I couldn't really find that perfect balance, and quite a number of shots turned out disappointing. Dang! But as we like to say, I guess the best camera lenses would have to be our own eyes, and the best memory card, your brain!
During the bumpy ferry ride back (still feeling myself swaying as I type this), Elaine asked me how we were gonna pick ourselves back up to 'study mode'. And after a 4 month absence from books before arriving, together with the 1 month of total slackness here, I really didn't have an answer to her question.
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