Taking a Gamble

I made a trip to Macau, which if reports are correct is the world's gambling capital.  I was making the trip principally to meet my sister in Hong Kong who was over for a holiday, but as I had a mate who I'd known for quite some time now, I thought it would be a good idea to pay him a visit too.

The flight from Clark to Macau is a little over an hour and cheap too.  On the first day I went for a wander around the Venetian Casino (or resort as they like to call them, thus trying to give some sort of legitimacy that the focus isn't entirely on the casino.  Which it is).  My mate Barry had worked on the Venetian and had even tried to get me job there some years ago but for some reason, my face just didn't fit.  It was Barry that also got me started with the same mob (mob?  A Freudian slip.  I'm sure they're not associated with 'The Mob' or organised crime...) in Singapore on the casino project I worked on there.

An artificial canal, in an artificial Venice, under an artificial sky,
in artificial light.

The Venetian, as the name implies, is themed around Venice.  The corridors of the shopping centre have canals running through them under an artificial sky, on which you can take a gondola ride (why would you?)  On one hand it's mighty impressive the scale of the development but on the other hand it comes across as being very, very tacky.  From the outside the building looks like something cobbled together from Lego.  Inside, the artificial sky, painted blue with clouds, is quite something (apart from the sprinklers sticking out of it which totally distract from the effect it's meant to convey) but with an artificial sky you get artificial lighting and after a few hours wandering around the place it feels quite claustrophobic and I couldn't wait to get outside into some natural daylight.  I don't think, other than the hotel, that the whole edifice has a single window.  I've heard that casinos never have windows (or clocks) as it gives the gamblers no sense of time and hence they continue to gamble until all their money is gone but this place has gone one step further and removed all the windows. 

The Main Lobby - I'm not sure Michelangelo would
approve of all the sprinklers sticking out of the artwork

I had a walk through the casino and it's massive.  Even at 8:00am it's busy.  But it's far from being the glamorous place that you would associate with James Bond, it seemed to me to be very seedy and sordid containing no joy or happiness.  Chain smoking (Chinese) punters with angry faces and still in their outside coats were hunched over the tables looking far from relaxed or having a good time.

I couldn't wait to get out.

Once outside, and blinking in the natural sunlight, I crossed over the road and paid a visit to the competing casino over the road.  Different theme but essentially more of the same.  

I went for a walk and to some exploring and found myself in the old town of Taipa.  This was more my thing.  An old Chinese town with remnants of the Portuguese influence and with plenty to see and photograph.