What happens in Macau...

As we said before, in order to get to Hong Kong, we flew in and out of Macau. Macau is a Special Administrative Region, like Hong Kong, but they are not part of the same SAR. Macau has its own currency, the Macanese Pataca (MOP), and is made up of a peninsula and 2 islands. Macau was the first and last European colony in the Far East, and was officially handed back to China on December 20, 1999. However, Macau is autonomous in its economy, which relies almost entirely on tourism and, more specifically, gambling. Macau had a monopoly on its casinos until 2002, which is when many Vegas casinos opened under the same names as they have in the US. When the Sands Resort and Casino opened in 2004, it was the largest in the world in terms of number of gaming tables. Other familiar names are the Wynn and Venetian hotels, the latter  located across the street from our hotel - The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The Hard Rock Hotel (my idea, of course) was located in a newly developed area called the City of Dreams in a larger up and coming area called the Cotai Strip. The City of Dreams (COD) is a mega-complex with 3 hotels and a shared casino with lots of high-end shopping.

Unfortunately, staying in a newly developed area off the Macau Peninsula means you're a long way away from anything of historic significance. Staying for only one night means we didn't even have time to get out and see much. What we did see, however, left quite an impression. For anyone who has been to Vegas, you may need to check out Macau - depending on what you go to Vegas for. If you go to Vegas to party, stick with Vegas. If you like to gamble, then give Macau a try. Jen and I agreed (as does Wikipedia, apparently) that we have never seen a larger gaming floor in our lives. Walking through the COD, it's got a nice size floor, but when we went across the street to The Venetian - HOLY MACAU! Imagine the Georgia World Congress Center covered in gaming tables... that's about how large it is. If we were allowed to take pictures, we would have. But even more amazing than the sheer size of the gaming floors is the fact that both the COD and the Venetian were JAM PACKED full of people. There was no one in the bars, no one in the shops, everyone was gambling. I guess that's how Macau surpassed Vegas in gambling revenues in 2006 with over $6 billion. Jen and I contributed a little to the profits by playing the slots, but we noticed that despite Macau having its own currency, the slots (and perhaps the tables) only accept HKD. I guess they know where their gamblers come from!

Back at the COD, they have an entertainment theater called "The Bubble". Jen and I were looking for stuff to do that didn't involve losing money and they were handing out free tickets to a show called The Dragon's Treasure. So we grabbed tickets, thinking it wouldn't be much of a hit with everyone in the casinos. Man, were we wrong! The line was full when we queued up at 7:45pm for the 8:00 show. However, we were still in the dark about just what the show was. Finally, the doors opened and we all filed inside. The Bubble is a dome made of translucent acrylic skin with an opening at the top to allow for water or objects to enter the room. The floor has no seats, only rails to lean against. We figured the show must be pretty short and seats would be a waste of time. Looking around the dome, there were large things that looked like jellyfish suspended from holes in the skin. Then, the lights went out and the show began. I could try to explain it, but this video does a better job:

The show was pretty amazing and the technology is very advanced. This video was created by someone else, but the footage I shot showed that the projections and sound show up very well on even a standard video camera.

This was also our first experience at a Hard Rock Hotel, which I have to say, has some unbelievable rooms. Huge LCD TV, iPod ready alarm clock, awesome bed, and great decor - all the comforts of home with a rock n' roll feel. The rock shop, however, left... well... everything to be desired. As a collector of HRC merchandise, the only thing that I could find worthwhile was a signature pin for my brother, Drew. Despite the lack of a separate cafe, Jen and I did enjoy one heck of a burger and a Dark & Stormy at the R Bar in the lobby.

Maybe when we're older and wealthier, we'll come back to Macau and spend more time seeing the history on the peninsula. In the meantime I think we'll stick with Vegas.