This place is not just for Gamblers, in fact I haven’t stepped into one casino in my two days there.
Every Year for the last 5 years I’ve been fortunate enough to qualify for my company’s Annual Global Ball, this years it’s in Macau.
My company had organized charter flights from all around the world and arriving into Macau was a mission in itself, with half the plane wanting to party in the aisles and seat right next to me! I somehow seem to draw the short straw and I was unlucky enough to get an exit row seat, which means I’m now stuck next to the ten most rowdiest people on the flight.
After 2-3 hrs of drunken shouting I was offered to swap seats with one of the instigators.What did you say? You have a middle seat out the back. I’ll take it! Usually no-one likes middle seats but this time it allowed me to have a few hours of broken sleep.
There’s several problems when traveling with work and being in a large group. With 400 people checking in at the hotel, it took us an hour to stand in a queue..Oh well at least we got a room at 8am and didn’t have to wait until 3pm.
As with most company’s it’s all about saving the cost so I had no idea who would booked in the room with me, It turned out that I was sharing with some random person from our South Australia office and after being in the room for 15 mins she decided that the noise of air conditioning on the roof near our 11th floor apartment was too much to bear. The noise was so negligible that at first I didn’t realise what she meant. She asked to be moved to another room, which meant a new roommate for me so it’s going to be a lucky draw when I come back from my walk.
Not wanting to miss out like last year in Mexico I was determined to go and see the old town and other tourists sites. It was raining when I got to my room, then it eased up. But it was back with a vengeance when I was in the taxi. Thoughts turned to Oh man, I am going to get soaked. There were buses leaving nearby the hotel but given the weather and my tiredness to negotiate a foreign bus system I took the taxi to old town which is on another island. It took about 15 minutes and $8.00AUD later I still thought it was money well spent. The only problem was that by that stage the rain was a tropical strength and when I was dropped off I got soaked, staying under shop awnings and open air I still managed to get pretty wet. Luckily for me I did found Senado Square and saw a street vendor selling umbrellas. I bought one which was actually quite pretty with silver underlining and a light blue top.
I spotted a bakery along a small street and to my delight I saw that they were selling Portuguese egg tarts that I wanted to try. They are delicious if you can get used to egg being very sweet.
After twenty more minutes the rain started to slow down and by the time I’d reached St. Paul’s ruins it had completely stopped.
St. Paul ruins is probably the most photographed site in Macau. There is only a shell of former Portuguese cathedral left but it still looks grand none the less.
The sun was shining and hoards of tourists appeared from nowhere. I walked only a street away and suddenly it was quiet with only locals going about their own business. Walking further I found a delightful little garden where I’ve attempted to lie down on the bench but was reprimanded within 20 seconds.. Oh well I have to sit down then. No tourists in sight. One lady was using exercise machines in the far corner of the garden and a man on the bench next to mine was singing quietly.
It’s a quiet oasis in a busy city centre with centrepiece fountain and a peaceful vibe.
Getting more adventurous now I took the bus 21A all the way to Sheraton Hotel on another island. Fare – around 60c.
After finding a little gem of a food court (in our hotel complex) with at lest 20-25 little stalls I opted for a Japanese chicken noodle that filled me up nicely. It was 2 o’clock but I was so tired so it was shower for me and some resting time before the party.
The party was huge with 3500 people all dressed in onesies that we were given. The alcohol was flowing , the food was actually quite decent and plentiful, we had DJ Twisted playing music for 2 hours until the crowd screamed when Will.I.Am ( from Black Eyed Peas) came on stage.
Not wanting to be so tired for main Ball tomorrow I went to bed early yet so many people stayed until early hours of the morning. The party was a blast!
