It has been raining solidly for the past week, and there hasn’t been a ray of sunshine in sight…But I promised motoring writer Ju-Len (who made a trip from Singapore to check out the track at the Motor Sports Club – stay tuned for the review!) blue skies. And I do aim to please.
So here we are at The Venetian Macao’s Festivita Food Court – the perfect place to grab a bite in between shopping, or gambling. To find it, just listen for the sound of the gondoliers singing, and follow the Grand Canal down towards the direction of the Great Hall. Then look up for the blue skies. Yes, there’s no need for sunglasses, cos you’re still indoors, and that blue is Pantone 14-4318 – Sky Blue.
It’s a great concept.
21 big brand names in fast, mid-priced food offering almost every cuisine under the sun - or in this case, the blue sky at least. In my opinion, the photos come out real, but in real life, there’s something a little disconcerting about the pale blueness of the ceiling. It could be the fact that there’s no actual sunlight or birds singing. Although there’s always classical music softly playing in the background.
Anyway, after an initial recce, we were finally seduced by Fatburger. Doesn’t the name just conjure up the image of a huge juicy, mouthwatering burger, so stuffed full off goodies that you can barely fit it into your mouth? And there were two sizeable Americans chowing down in front of the stall that seemed like a perfect advertisement for it. But anyway, I digress…
And I’m sad to report that the Fatburger wasn’t so… phat. The patty tasted rather processed and lacked flavor and texture. In fact, it wasn’t any better than Burger King’s Whopper and on the scale of satisfaction, was about equal to a McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger. Plus, at 43 MOP, it was kinda pricey.
Dear readers, accept my unconditional apologies for not “sounding the trumpet” the past days. I’m away from the office on a little R&R, thus I’ve been slightly neglectful of my obligations to you. We drew winners in the blog contest last week. Check them out on the contest entry page. While away, I had my mate AH go check out the Thai boxing duel. Here’s what he had to say.
Managed to get some complementary tickets to see the ‘Fury in Macau’ Kick boxing event held at the Macau East Asian Games Dome in Taipa last weekend (2nd June).
Excellent event!
Several kick boxing bouts where spread out over the evening with plenty of supporting entertainment to keep eyes and ears occupied. The boxers originating from Thailand, Australia, China, etc were generally evenly matched providing an entertaining display of kick boxing skills and aggression with plenty of knock downs and the occasional KO! (No pantomime antics here, this was the real thing!). A knowledgeable crowed ensured the atmosphere reflected the nature of the event and kept everybody on the edge of their seats.
A slick production, well worth seeing if it happens again.
Word of warning: Make sure you arrange transportation home before you go; there isn’t a great deal of public transport around the East Asian Games Dome last thing at night.
It’s me again… AH sure describes a good event. I was surfing on YouTube in the arvo and came across a few videos posted by fight fans who also attended the event. This one has a few good moments…
So I took another stroll through Crown Macau on Monday night. I was a little unsure of what to expect following the Grand Opening but frankly I was impressed. There were a bunch of punters on the first two floors. We went to the top floor bar to swill a few finely concocted drinks. Fair prices, nice ambience. High ceilings and patterned chandeliers make the upstairs casino and bar comfortable. Colour scheme: greys.
With an effective means of getting people to the casino, it looks like they’ll have a pretty good thing going. I noted that Crown Macau now has shuttle buses waiting in central Macau right outside of Hotel Sintra and Fortuna Japanese Restaurant.
My innocuous dinner plans for Saturday night on Macau’s Thai Street seemed harmless enough in retrospect.However, Singha lager - in its infinite wisdom - deftly muted reason and clarity.Next I knew I was debating the virtues of vatted malt whiskey over our own bottle of Johnnie Walker Green Label at Whiskey Bar on StarWorld Hotel’s 16th floor.FYI, a bottle of Green Label is a steal at 500 MOP.From there we migrated to Wynn’s Tryst, where at the stroke of twelve one of Macau’s troupes of showgirls paraded in to the excitement of about 50% of the crowd.(After a year in Macau, I’ve developed a keen affinity for Macau’s talented dancers and special insight into their lives here.I promise to devote a post to them in the not so distant future.)
Anyway, when Tryst’s free promotional shooters came our way, it was more-or-less predetermined that I would end up at DD’s, Macau’s most infamous late-night spot.It’s pretty-much the only late-night destination with a crowd.Its licentious nature and eclectic crowd top-off a big night out.It’s not swanky, but it sure is something to behold.Rumor has it that DD’s is one of the establishments set to be shut-down.Though it probably doesn’t fit most people’s vision of the New Macau, most nostalgic ne’er-do-wells will be sad to see it go.
Piling out of DD’s at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning reminds me of that scene in The Bourne Supremacy when the Russian assassin leaves the Moscow disco and walks out into full sunlight and a busy street scene.At that point in the “night”, it seemed right to get dim sum and then hit up a private party in one of the Wynn’s huge executive suites for chardonnay and a view of the city.Home and in bed before 10 a.m. Ugh.
Route: Thai Street à Whiskey Bar at StarWorld Hotel à Tryst at Wynn Macau à DDs à Red 8 in Wynn Macau à “early morning private party” at Wynn
NBA Basketball is coming to Macau! Now this is what Macau is becoming!
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic play two games in China. The first is on October 17th in Shanghai, followed by the 2nd to follow on October 20th right here in Macau – the little city fast becoming the Entertainment Center of Asia.In between the two NBA matchups, the Chinese National Team will square off against the Orlando Magic on October 18th also in Macau.
The games will be held in the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel which will open on Macau’s Cotai Strip in Summer 2007.
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Without question, Mahjong is one of the most popular games in Asia.
Now, the World Series of Mahjong is turning the game into a star-studded tournament, with contestants from around the world recently competing in Macau for one million US dollars in prize money.
This year, 302 contestants from 15 countries battled it out for the title of "World Mahjong Champion", with the 1st place winner taking home a cool 500,000 US dollars.
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