They bring you to the West entrance and upon walking into the lobby you mainly notice one thing - it's huge. However you could be walking up to the check in counter at any hotel in the world. Very unlike Vegas which hits you with sensory overload as soon as you walk through the doors - giant fish tanks, tigers, music, gaming, showgirls and everything under the sun, the Venetian in Macau is very sterile and it is about a 15 minute walk past a few stores and restaurants, but mostly just hallways, before you get your first glimpse of the casino tucked away behind paneled walls and out of clear view.
As Lisa mentioned after one lap around the floor we only saw two very crowded craps tables and a handful of blackjack tables. Most of the space is for local games which is ironic because the western games were packed. But seeing that blackjack is typically my game of choice this was not an issue as I found a spot fairly quickly.
There is not much difference once you start playing except that the dealer only takes one card face up and then deals out the rest of the table (so there is no little sensor for them to see if they have blackjack because they never take a card face down). The other differences I noticed is that on occasion the dealer will ask if you want to back out of your hand for half the bet (not only when he has a potential bj hand). I think when your first two cards were lower than their single card, but not always, so I'm really not sure. Also all the tables were set at 200 HKD (about $25 USD) and they did not appear to fluctuate regardless of the crowd (It was the same Sunday afternoon when I was the only player at any of the tables). And a major difference from Vegas is they close all the blackjack tables at 3:40 a.m. sharp regardless of who is playing and do not re-open until after noon on Sunday - definitely not Vegas but it can save you from that foolish late night urge to get your money back.
Dealers varied just like in Vegas and AC and the last one I had would count out your cards as he dealt them until you broke and then in a very sing song way just go Toooooo Mannnny! Something like 8, 12 (hit me) 15 (hit me) Toooooo Mannny! He did it for himself as well so it didn't bother me especially because he had Tooooo Mannnny more times than me.
Lisa left out the one excursion we did take while there which was to go to a very popular Portuguese restaurant called Fernando's. After winning a little bit we stopped in a pub and I grabbed a beer, where Lisa left me to go get ready. I watched the first half of Australia vs. Ireland rugby match which is definitely a much more watchable sport than I originally gave it credit (still can't take soccer - sorry Joe). Then I headed back up to the room to see that Lisa was still in pre-shower mode. We ended up getting in a cab a little after nine and the cab driver tried telling us that the place may be closed. He dropped us out front and a group scooped up our cab and was gone.
When we got to the front of the place they informed us they were no longer serving and now we were stranded. We walked back to where the cab dropped us off and there was another couple that appeared to be waiting awhile. The guy went back to the restaurant to see if they could call a cab and they said they were sorry but he would probably have to take the bus. This was not a good sign as there was not a lot of English being spoken - we had no idea what bus we would have to take - and we hadn't seen a bus yet.
Staring up the street we saw the little light on top of a cab coming and the other guy was in the middle of road trying to flag it down. Clearly it was their cab and as I stood there with a brick in my hand, Lisa asked if they were going to the Venetian and if we could share the cab. They were and we got back without incident and can now visit Macau again without sporting wigs and fake moustaches.
This is a good thing too because if you couldn't tell by the picture just out our window with about 15 cranes working in our sight lines alone they are building the place up at a break neck speed and I have no doubt that in 6 months time it will already be a new city. Though they make a fortune in gaming they do not cater to the club scene which now probably brings in half of Vegas' money. You see a lot of 20 somethings there and it is simply a matter of time. The plan is to double the 30 or so casinos by next year and Cirque du Soleil was at the Venetian which is the first major Vegas type show in Macau. For those of you that might like to say "I was there when...", you should start planning your trip very soon. One last thing, you can also take a helicopter there in about 15 minutes for around 100 bucks per person. A complete waste of money seeing the ferry is only a little under an hour and much cheaper but I guarantee there will be aerial photos before we get home.
Also on the back of Lisa's blog we decided to go and stay at the Venetian because of all the rain we were having. As it turns out this was actually a record setting amount of rain which is fortunate as we thought that this was just what we needed to get used to. Also fortunate was that things finally cleared up this weekend and we got what will probably be our nicest weekend in HK. With that we decided to take advantage of our pool.
On Saturday Lisa took me on the Bowen Road trail that she has started running along. As she posted the most direct route is an unbelievably steep hill for what I would guess is about a half mile straight up and situates you somewhere directly between the highest and lowest points of the Island. It is a workout in itself getting there but we then took the 1.25 mile scenic run. Since moving I have concentrated on eating and drinking and have not been to the gym since February. So hiking a mountain side on a hot and sunny afternoon and then going for a run may not have been the wisest decision to ease back into training. After getting a sneak peek at Jesus we made our way back down the hillside with the goal of spending the rest of the sunlight poolside.
Our rooftop pool is beautiful with amazing views of the city all around. In addition there is an elevated roof top garden one level up with a bbq, bar and couches. The issue with the architecture is that it was clearly built for aesthetics and not practical use.
They want everyone to shower before entering the pool and no shoes worn on the patio, so when walking through the doorway to the pool there is a constant running shower out of the ceiling - it looks pretty cool and the thought process is understandable. However any towels, books, ipod, etc. you want to bring to the pool must also go through the shower and you need to go back through when you want to leave the pool.
The first time we visited the pool one night a few weeks ago we noticed right away there was little patio space and only eight lounge chairs. That's correct over 300 apartments and eight chairs. The odds are not in your favor for getting one of these on a nice weekend. In addition the patio is slate, so after bursting through the shower you need to immediately go to the overflowing edge of the pool in order to not scorch your feet.
The final issue we have is that there are daily sessions which the pool is open. To Lisa's dismay the pool closes at 11:00 a.m. on weekdays and does not reopen until 6:00 p.m. Obviously they are catering to the working people and this does not impact me. On the weekends however they close the pool between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. We got back a little before 4:00 from our run on Saturday and had to hustle down to get in a swim before they started kicking everyone out.
On Sunday we went to Repulse Bay, a small beach area about 20 minutes from our apartment. I'm not the biggest beach fan in the world and this beach did nothing to help diminish my prejudice for pools. The sand was more gravel than smooth and scorching hot, the water was quite filthy (so much so Lisa would not go in) and there were more out of shape Asian men in speedos then you would have ever thought existed.
We lasted about two hours and then headed back. This time we wisely got to the pool check in a few minutes before it opened at 6:00 and managed to land the first two chairs. At about 6:05 they were all gone and we witnessed some people storm off angrily realizing they could not get a seat. We are aware that people will wisely all start lining up earlier and earlier but for now we'll take advantage of careful planning and utilize our seemingly singular knowledge of the pool's scheduled hours.
These are of course just some small annoyances we've noticed in the planning of the pool and not actual complaints. We are still amazed that we are swimming 40+ stories in the air overlooking this crazy city, wondering how we ended up here and trying to take advantage of it all before it's all over.
Once we return from Bali we will try to explore how we can participate in the rooftop dining that was also going on this weekend and looked and smelled quite tasty. We'll also try to include some photos, however we learned that you are not supposed to take pictures while on the roof. The best reason we can come up with is that they don't want people stealing their layout, even with all its flaws they are very protective of the roof's privacy.
Lisa managed a few shots before they asked someone else to not take pictures and I'm sure we'll be able to get a few more in next time we're up there. For now we just have Bali on the mind and will send our thoughts (and some pictures) when we get back.
A Happy Belated Birthday to my Mom and I'll blog ya' later.
1 comment:
Dear Uncle Paul,
The problem is you have never seen one of my soccer games! Unlike the Spain/Italy game that went on for hours with no score, I usually get about 3 goals a game. OLSS is trying to get a travel team started. I tried out for it and the coaches said I ranked the highest of all the kids that tried out. When it starts I'll be working with a trainer and playing all year long. When you come home I'll turn you into a soccer fan, I promise!
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