While we were in Vancouver, one of our favorite weekend getaways was the city of sin, Las Vegas. The gambling, the hotels, the food, the spectacle, it's guaranteed fun in a compact package!!! In Asia, it's much more difficult to go to Vegas for 48 hours since it's a days flight away but if the itch to gamble and live the high life gets too much, you can always visit Macau.
Considered the Vegas of Asia, Macau is the only area in China where gambling is legal, so as you can imagine, it's very popular. So popular that Macau has decided to follow in the footsteps of it's Big Vegas Brother and set up some monster hotels and casinos. You'll find familiar faces like the Wynn, MGM Grand, Sands, Hard Rock and Venetian plus a whole host of other places as well! The Macau versions are pretty similar to their Vegas-counterparts in most ways (decoration, lighting, fonts etc.) but the biggest different is the lack of booze. It seems that the Chinese don't drink when they gamble, they smoke like chimneys but alcohol consumption remains at a minimum and since the Casino has maybe only one or two bars, you have to find your own drink... and pay for it. That's right, you still have to pay for your booze even if you are gambling. Vegas this is not.
Okay enough about the Casinos, let's talk about the weekend...
Michelle, Cheng and I arrived in Macau at about 9am on Friday. We hooked up with Aamir, Denise, John & Lisa, dropped off our bags at the hotel and proceeded to get some breakfast at a local Dim Sum joint (awesome - the spicy green beans & pork were probably the best I've ever eaten). We then decided that today would be a Hong Kong exploration day so we went to the pier and took a 55-minute Turbojet ferry ride across the bay to HK (Turbojet is great and I recommend Super Class, more expensive but you get bigger seats and free food/drink).
HONG KONG is an amazing sight to behold, it's massive, dense, busy, loud, grimy and vibrant. It's grabs a hold of your senses and doesn't let go at all. We arrived on Hong Kong Island and proceeded to walk around the Central District, checking out some of Aamir & Denise's favorite shops. We walked, took photos, shopped and walked some more, eventually finding ourselves in the Lan Kwai Fong District. This is where you will find a good collection of pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants. After a rest and a few drinks, we continued to explore the area until we happened upon the Stanley Street Food Stalls. Think of this as a roadside Hawker Center and while you might think there are a ton of these, there are actually only 28 official food stalls left in HK and some of the best are here. We stayed for dinner, had an amazing street meal and then caught the Turbojet back to Macau. We ended the night with a few hands of Blackjack at the Wynn and then back to the hotel for 2am.
The next morning was MACAU day, so the whole crew got up and had brunch at a local Taiwanese place before separating. The girls went to explore the city, taking in all the sights, shops and bakeries that this Portuguese-influenced city has to offer while the guys gambled at a multitude of different casinos... and proceed to lose big. We then headed back to the Hotel to get dressed up for a night at the Venetian. I think out of all the Casinos, I saw, I was most impressed with the Venetian, as it is a bang on replicant of the monster Hotel/Casino in Vegas plus it was the only casino that had Star Wars Slots! We arrived in time to catch an amazing Cirque Du Soleil show there called Zaia, which I would heartily recommend. We then went for a fantastic Italian meal at their Portofino Restaurant, the food was amazing and since it was John's birthday, the staff sang to him and it was honestly, the best version of "happy birthday" I have ever heard in a restaurant. After that, the boys continued to gamble while the girls explored the hotel and the shops. We then headed back to our side of Macau to go for drinks & cigars at the Wynn, then topping it off with more gambling fun.
We got back to the hotel around 2:30am and got up at 6:30am to pack, shower and head to the airport for our flight home. 48 hours in China is over sooner than it starts it seems!
Great weekend people, great weekend. We both loved Hong Kong and cant wait to explore even more of this amazing city. And even though it isn't our beloved Vegas, Macau is as close as we are going to get over here and it's still a lot of fun so we will definitely be going back.
Pics from the weekend can be seen HERE!!!
Considered the Vegas of Asia, Macau is the only area in China where gambling is legal, so as you can imagine, it's very popular. So popular that Macau has decided to follow in the footsteps of it's Big Vegas Brother and set up some monster hotels and casinos. You'll find familiar faces like the Wynn, MGM Grand, Sands, Hard Rock and Venetian plus a whole host of other places as well! The Macau versions are pretty similar to their Vegas-counterparts in most ways (decoration, lighting, fonts etc.) but the biggest different is the lack of booze. It seems that the Chinese don't drink when they gamble, they smoke like chimneys but alcohol consumption remains at a minimum and since the Casino has maybe only one or two bars, you have to find your own drink... and pay for it. That's right, you still have to pay for your booze even if you are gambling. Vegas this is not.
Okay enough about the Casinos, let's talk about the weekend...
Michelle, Cheng and I arrived in Macau at about 9am on Friday. We hooked up with Aamir, Denise, John & Lisa, dropped off our bags at the hotel and proceeded to get some breakfast at a local Dim Sum joint (awesome - the spicy green beans & pork were probably the best I've ever eaten). We then decided that today would be a Hong Kong exploration day so we went to the pier and took a 55-minute Turbojet ferry ride across the bay to HK (Turbojet is great and I recommend Super Class, more expensive but you get bigger seats and free food/drink).HONG KONG is an amazing sight to behold, it's massive, dense, busy, loud, grimy and vibrant. It's grabs a hold of your senses and doesn't let go at all. We arrived on Hong Kong Island and proceeded to walk around the Central District, checking out some of Aamir & Denise's favorite shops. We walked, took photos, shopped and walked some more, eventually finding ourselves in the Lan Kwai Fong District. This is where you will find a good collection of pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants. After a rest and a few drinks, we continued to explore the area until we happened upon the Stanley Street Food Stalls. Think of this as a roadside Hawker Center and while you might think there are a ton of these, there are actually only 28 official food stalls left in HK and some of the best are here. We stayed for dinner, had an amazing street meal and then caught the Turbojet back to Macau. We ended the night with a few hands of Blackjack at the Wynn and then back to the hotel for 2am.
The next morning was MACAU day, so the whole crew got up and had brunch at a local Taiwanese place before separating. The girls went to explore the city, taking in all the sights, shops and bakeries that this Portuguese-influenced city has to offer while the guys gambled at a multitude of different casinos... and proceed to lose big. We then headed back to the Hotel to get dressed up for a night at the Venetian. I think out of all the Casinos, I saw, I was most impressed with the Venetian, as it is a bang on replicant of the monster Hotel/Casino in Vegas plus it was the only casino that had Star Wars Slots! We arrived in time to catch an amazing Cirque Du Soleil show there called Zaia, which I would heartily recommend. We then went for a fantastic Italian meal at their Portofino Restaurant, the food was amazing and since it was John's birthday, the staff sang to him and it was honestly, the best version of "happy birthday" I have ever heard in a restaurant. After that, the boys continued to gamble while the girls explored the hotel and the shops. We then headed back to our side of Macau to go for drinks & cigars at the Wynn, then topping it off with more gambling fun.
We got back to the hotel around 2:30am and got up at 6:30am to pack, shower and head to the airport for our flight home. 48 hours in China is over sooner than it starts it seems!
Great weekend people, great weekend. We both loved Hong Kong and cant wait to explore even more of this amazing city. And even though it isn't our beloved Vegas, Macau is as close as we are going to get over here and it's still a lot of fun so we will definitely be going back.
Pics from the weekend can be seen HERE!!!
