Day 3 - 12/3/2012 - Macau

Macau Tower

A bit about Macau to start off this blog. Macau has a mixed background of Chinese and Portuguese. It is split into two islands, Taipa and Coloane. The old city area is on the Taipa side, this is where the ferry terminal is situated as well as the Macau Tower and a few of the older Casinos like MGM, Wynn and Grand Lisboa.
We are staying on the Coloane island which is where the newer developments are. The City of Dreams is made up of 3 hotels, each with their own casino. There is the Hard Rock (4 star), the Hyatt (5 star) and Crown (6 star). The Venetian and Four seasons hotels are opposite and then further down is another massive casino called Galaxy. There is a Holiday Inn, Sheraton and Conrad also being built ready to open in a few months - this is a HUGE gambling Mecca for Asia. We tried to put $20 Macau in a pokie but it rejected it! That is the extent of our gambling:-)
It seems like a growing and fast developing place. They also have nice new anti-smoking laws which means you do not smell stale tobacco every where. They can smoke in the casinos but they have great air con which makes the smell much more subtle, unlike Las Vegas!

Shops at City of Dreams

Each of the hotels has a massive shopping mall attached. They seem to all contain the same high end shops - Tiffany's, Prada, Chanel, Hermes etc... Most of which have very few customers inside, although they probably only have to make 1-2 sales per week to break even?!
This morning we had a nice casual breakfast at the Paradise Coffee Cafe (their version of Starbucks, but much nicer coffee).
In a taxi off to play Macau Golf and Country club. Weather was cool and overcast. No rain so we did not get wet but did wear our wet weather gear as it felt misty or foggy.

Macau Golf & Country Club

We had a great caddy called Lawrence. He was Phillipino and very knowledgable. Neither of us played really well, also the greens had been cored some weeks ago but because it has been winter the new grass has not grown back - took a bit of getting used to! In stableford points I won the match, but it was only the first game and I expect Sean to fight back strongly :-))

17th Hole - very pretty

Sean & Jane

Scenic on the water

Overall the course was quite scenic. The 17th hole was right along the water front, very pretty and the other side had views of the airport runway which has been built right out onto a peninsula of reclaimed land in the middle of the ocean - sounded a bit like RQ!
We had lunch at the club afterwards and then caught a taxi back to the hotel for a shower and change. Food is very cheap over here. Have resisted shopping for anything else yet, will wait for Hong Kong and China.

Galaxy Casino

Went and had a look around Galaxy, Crown and Hyatt - nothing too exciting unless you are a high roller! My knees and hips needed a rest so back to our hotel for a little rest then out to dinner. Decided to go local again do that I did not have to walk too far, very nice :-)
Back to room and started to pack everything up. We are playing golf at Caesars Golf Course tomorrow, then getting on the turbojet to go to Hong Kong. I have enjoyed Macau and it was definitely worth a short visit but looking forward to the buzz of HK again.