Grandview Taipa

... of the night. We ended up sleeping at the airport for a few hours before our flight to Manila the next morning.

... any Pai Gow tables though. I have wanted to play Sic Bo again since I did the other day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic_bo). First I try to play Sic Bo on a big automated machine. This is a total mistake. All the instructions are in Chinese and I have absolutely no idea what I am doing and it goes really fast. There goes a 200 pataca donation in about 5 minutes. That was not cool. I decide instead to ...

... at 8pm and they might have a seat. I look around and notice a lot of empty tables. As we are walking away, I make a loud comment, this is BullS**T!! Suddenly, the host says there is a table available and seats us immediately. Draw your own conclusion on that one. Anyone who has eaten with me in Vegas knows how much I like buffets. This is not your ordinary buffet though. But it does have one really good thing going for it ...

Sam: I love Macau! It was by far my favourite place yet. Firstly just a mention on our journey from Hangzhou to Macau. Our plan to sleep in the airport blew up in our faces (even though the girls at the hostel said it would be ok). For 1 hour it was ok then at 1am the security turned off all the lights, ushered us out and locked the doors. The airport is in the middle of nowhere. We contemplated waiting outside for 5 hrs but it was freezing and raining. This obviously ...

... it wasn't as good as the one in Vegas). I didn't take the ride over to the Venetian, about a 20-30 min free shuttle ride from the main town area, though that one is supposed to be an exact replica of the Venetian in Vegas, so maybe it has more of a Vegas feel than all the others. In my opinion, the best thing about the casinos was the free water bottles. Otherwise Macau was ...

... So gingen wir den ganzen Tag zu Fuss durch Gaesschen, runter zum See, zum Fernsehturm und weiter mit Bus zum Zentrum wo die Casinos waren. Sobald die Sonne unterging fingen auch dort ueberall die Lichter zu blinken an, und man fuehlte sich fast wie auf dem Rummelplatz. Nach dem Abendessen gingen wir uns noch das Wasserlichtspiel anschauen, bevor uns das Boot zurueck nach Hong Kong Island brachte.

... I will give it another go tomorrow morning before we catch the train to Beijing. Tonight we watched the symphony of light. It is a nightly light show throughout Hongkong. About 20 of the biggest building are participating in the show.It is very spectacular but doing it every night is a big waste of energy. The only thing I have left to say about Kong is; I will go back there for sure!

... of people; the clash of communism and capitalism; the varying desires and goals of all manner of peoples and nations. Hong Kong carried a sense of pride and purpose, of a David who somehow slew not one but two Goliaths: of a city that couldn't be tamed. Hong Kong, in its own hyper-consumer way had bested the giants of the world, Imperial China and Colonial England. Hong Kong is the thorn in China's side, and England's 'big one that got away.' It stands alone, proud and ...