July 9th, 2008 inmacau
You heard right!
Every Friday, starting July 11 until the end of August, ladies get FREE champagne from 8pm until late.
Guys don’t miss out, cos they’ll get 50% discount on selected bottles of spirits at the Bellini Lounge, on the casino floor of the Venetian Macau. 
Sign up for a free membership of the Macau.com Insider Club and you can download a coupon from this Friday on Macau.com to present at the Bellini Lounge for your Free Champagne (ladies) and half price bottles (men).
Other than flutes of bubbly, champagne cocktails will also be free. Chose from delicious choices including Mimosa (champagne + orange juice), Kir Royal (champagne + Creme de Casis), Champagne Cocktail (champagne + cognac + sugar cubes).
There will be live entertainment and retro music until late!
July 4th, 2008 inmacau
Rihanna makes it seem so fun. The rain, that is. Prancing about wearing Lycra hot pants with water dripping suggestively all over her body. Forget about streaky eyeliner or a single hair out of place. For most of us, being caught in the heavy rain equates to bad hair, make-up and temper.
Rain, rain, go away.
It has been raining in Macau on a daily basis for the past 3 weeks. And when I say rain, I actually mean torrential downpour, with a good dash of gale force winds for dramatic effect. The type which gets you soaked head to toe, hopping from the bus stop into the bus 2 feet away.
If someone had told me a few months ago that I could still be wearing my boots in Summer and not look like a fashion victim with sweaty feet, I would have beamed. Of course the fact that I’m wearing boots because battling the puddles in heels or sandals would be pure madness is not something I could have predicted. And leather boots aren’t always waterproof, especially when you discover a hole in them. And some enterprising person should add gumboots to the umbrella carts which pop up when the rain comes down.
I’m sure pink gum boots would do a roaring trade, especially if it came with Hello Kitty prints on the side.
Think most men would rather get wet than be seen with Hello Kitty? Think again.
It amazes me that out of 10 umbrellas on the street, ¾ are in pastel shades, with almost ¼ in pink. And that ½ of these pink carriers are actually male. In my experience, guys usually shy away from carrying umbrellas unless they are absolutely necessary – seeing they aren’t viewed as being the most “manly” accessory.
The only explanation I can think of is that guys are
a) Embracing their feminine side, or more likely
b) Too lazy to carry or purchase black umbrella so are forced to grab the first one nearby (usually their daughter/wife’s) lying nearby when it starts to pour
Pretty in pink 1
Pretty in pink 2
The rain isn’t all that bad. On the up side, there is less traffic on the road. On the down side, all the taxis go into hiding and you’re almost as lucky to find one as you are to win the grand prize on the slot machines.
Which is of course one popular option of entertainment to while away time when it’s too wet and windy to go-kart, check out the historical sites or bungee jump. Of course, being trapped in a casino like Wynn, MGM or the Venetian isn’t all that bad. Even if you’re not a gambler, there are plenty of shops and bars and great restaurants to keep you occupied.
This brings us back to umbrellas. Wynn has a nice touch of dishing out free umbrellas to their casino patrons, which is handy, because one can never underestimate the value of a good umbrella, what with Macau’s unpredictable weather. And when I say good umbrella, I mean one that can really weather the storm.
I have been through 4 umbrellas in as many weeks, and I have finally learnt my lesson.
Introducing my savior – my Venetian umbrella.
The only way to brave Macau’s rain - the view from under my Venetian brolly
This heavy-duty umbrella can shield up to 3 people and is a formidable force on a crowded footpath. One look at that black beast of a brolly trudging towards you can instill fear into the hearts of most small neon versions.
Small dainty umbrellas with fancy satin covers which can fit into your handbag are certainly more stylish than lugging round a monster umbrella but they make you look darn foolish in anything but a light drizzle. Just last week, I was trying to hail a cab, while borrowing my colleague’s dainty umbrella, but trying to stop it from blowing away with one hand, while trying to hail a cab with another and keep my feet grounded scared away any perspective cabbies.
Fat lot of good an umbrella can do, when it’s turned inside out, and at an arm’s length. I would have stayed drier and looked slightly less stupid using a handkerchief to cover my head.
Which is why Rihanna’s Slender ‘brella, which retail for US$25 is not really all that practical here in Macau. Although the vesrsion which comes with an exclusive “Girl Gone Bad Print” does sound tempting.
Rihanna likes her umbrella so much she doesn’t let a minor detail like the absence of rain prevent her from sporting one about town
Yes, I kid you not - we guess it’s not enough to make millions from making millions from a song about an Umbrella. Why not set yourself up for life and keep the fans happy with their own, to take home.
Here’s the starlet posing with her ‘brella available now.
“Just like the ones used in her 2007 MTV Movie Awards performance of “UMBRELLA,” these Rihanna inspired stick umbrellas are beautiful in shiny satin matrerial. The satin material keeps you dry while looking completely glamorous. Rihanna satin stick umbrellas automatically open with the touch of a button. Each Rihanna Collection umbrella now comes with an exclusive Rihanna removable charm.”
Well, one can’t really blame Rihanna who probably hasn’t carried her own umbrella in years, except when performing in a fake storm or posing in a fashion suit. Although we haven’t given the Rihanna Slender ‘brella the Macau test, we have feeling that while it may make the cut in Hollywood, here in the Vegas of the East, we have much higher standards.
Though over in Europe, umbrellas are a whole different breed - just check out these monster brollys out and about town…
June 25th, 2008 inmacau
There’s a new DJ at the the Venetian Macao’s Bellini Lounge, DJ Kamikaze
Catch DJ Kamikaze at the Bellini Lounge at The Venetian Macao, from 10pm most nights until late.
Read on to find out how he got his name, and why you should check him out behind the turntables, but steer clear if you ever see him behind a scooter.
Stefan Hensel, 28 aka DJ Kamikaze
How did you get your DJ Name?
DJ Kamikaze: In Germany the word for cat is “Katze,” I was 16 and had a scooter and accidentally
hit a cat, which caused a bad accident. So my friends started to call me “Kami-Katze,”
because I was driving like a kamikaze.
How and when did you start DJ-ing?
DJ Kamikaze: I started buying records when I was maybe 14 or even a bit earlier.
One Saturday a few years later when I was around 17, I think, a friend dragged me to replace a DJ who called in sick for the night. The club owner straight away booked me for the whole summer….
What made you leave Germany and where else have you worked?
DJ Kamikaze: I left Germany because of a nice girl, but travel back at least 3-5 times a year.
I have played all over the world, actually. Apart from Germany, of course, and the rest of Europe, I hold a regular DJ residency in Moscow. I also created my own DJ party events called “Just Bananas” in Shanghai and I get booked all over Asia and parts of the United States and Australia as well. Expect for Africa and South-America, I guess I played all over the world.
What’s your first impression of Macau?
DJ Kamikaze: I like it. Compared to Shanghai it’s small but much friendlier and more relaxed. The Food is very good and I love to wake up and have a dive in the pool.
Have you played in a casino before?
DJ Kamikaze: Actually yes, I’m from Germany’s most famous Casino-Town, Baden-Baden and was once invited to play there for a corporate event.
Describe your DJ-ing style?
DJ Kamikaze: I grew up listening to all kinds of music; Rock, Pop, Techno, Grunge, also Reggae and Classical Music. Now I try to mix and blend all the music-knowledge in the HipHop-DJ mxing style and drop in unexpected songs or songs you haven’t heard for a long time. Just playing the hits is too easy.
What are your musical influences?
DJ Kamikaze: My sister, she bought a lot of CD’s when I was younger. But of course nowadays other DJs, my girlfriend, just people around me showing me stuff on their iPod.
What are your proudest musical achievements?
DJ Kamikaze: Hmm, back in I won Germany the JUICE Magazine Mixtape award 3 times in a row
(http://www.juicemagazine.com).
I was also the first one to do a Mash-Up* CD back in 2000 when no one did that kind of style.
For me it’s more the small things. Like when I play at an empty club and after I finish the place is pumping. As I said, it’s more the small things….
* (“Mash-up” defintition from Wikepedia: A mash-up is a song created out of pieces of two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another…Mash-ups are incredible fun and a fascinating way to reexperience some of your favorite tunes.)
May 29th, 2008 inmacau
Get your Cirque du Soleil Macau tickets HERE
Her name is ZAIA.
And she is the star of the US150 million Cirque du Soleil Macau production which will be a permanent addition to Macau’s entertainment scene from August, it was announced at the official press conference today.
The press conference for Cirque’s first permanent show in Asia was held in an 1,800-seater custom-built theatre in The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, which is now the permanent home of Cirque Macau. After the official launch in August, there will be 2 performances a day, 6 times a week.
The Gala premiere on August 28, will not only celebrate the official launch of Cirque Macau, but is even more likely to be a star-studded affair because it coincides with the 1st anniversary of The Venetian itself. But while the stars have to wait until August 28 to see any part of the show, we were one of the the lucky few who got to attend today’s press conference were treated to a sneak preview of ZAIA.
ZAIA is the name of the young female heroine who journeys into space. The director Gilles Maheu got his inspiration from a postcard, which had a drawing depicting a young girl in an astronaut outfit sitting down on the moon.
So ZAIA is about “a young girl who journeys into space on a strange, yet familiar voyage of self-discovery. As she travels, she encounters the beauty of humanity and eventually brings it back with her to share with the inhabitants of earth”.
It doesn’t matter if the synopsis sounds rather airy fairy and fluffy. You don’t go to the circus for a complex storyline and character development (watching a movie costs a lot less and is more likely to do the job). Cirque has attracted a crowd of 80 million spectators worldwide because it combines jaw dropping acrobatics, amazing feats of strength, grace and beauty, stunning choreography and beautiful sets and special effects.
If what we got to see in the preview is an indication of what to expect in terms of the quality of the show – ZAIA certainly delivers the goods.
Cityscapes is the name of the first segment and will be the opening of ZAIA. Talk about starting things off with a bang. From an empty stage, skyscrapers, literally, rise out of the ground. It did remind me a little of Wynn Macau’s Rotunda golden tree, which rises out of the ground every half hour or so.
Cirque’s stage is actually 80 foot high, which is why props hidden underneath can suddenly rise out of the ground.
So from this –
- to this in a matter of minutes.
You have your strong men, break dancers, clowns, dancers, skateboarders, tap dancers – just your typical city crowd really, who all happen to be wearing outlandish costumes and make-up and all have fantastic bodies.
In typical whimsical Cirque style, there were cyclists suspended from the ceiling, pedaling away – upside down.
A huge sphere suspended from the ceiling drifted out from the back, and hanging from it by a piece of silk - a female performer, dancing through the air.
Just your average day - hanging around
A huge sphere suspended from the ceiling drifted out from the back, and hanging from it by a piece of silk - a female performer, dancing through the air.
The second act which we got to preview was of a male and female performer doing some amazing acrobatic work while being swung around and up and down by pieces of stretcy rope from the ceiling.
Though the performers were petite and lithe, they twirled and spun through the air as effortlessly as petals blowing in the wind.
How any guy could look graceful skimming through the air like superman, suspended 20 feet in the air by rope wrapped round his arms clenched by his side is beyond me. How he does it with a woman riding him like a surf board, is just mind blowing.
I only knew he was human because I saw him panting a little at the end of the act.
The backdrop, which has 3,000 fiber optic lights was created apparently, to accurately depict the night sky, and all its stars. I wouldn’t be able to point out Mars, Venus or any constelations, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to tell you if they were in the right place. But I do know it makes a pretty amazing background, especially when you have confetti streaming down.
Kudos to the 65 technical crew and 75 artists who must have worked and trained overtime to get ready for the event.
Preview performances begin on July 26.
Tickets are on sale from tomorrow for shows from July 26 to Oct 5.
Click HERE to get yours and stand to win VIP passes.
April 1st, 2008 inmacau
This is Yoshimi’s new friend
This is her dinner of Hainanese Chicken Rice
*Disclaimer*
The bird (above) is of no relation to the bird (top)
It is in fact, authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice, made by the original Singapore Meritus Mandarin Hotel’s Chatterbox Chef, who is now based in Rasa Singapura, which is located in The Venetian’s Festivita Foodcourt.
A few of us from the Macau.com team recently went out for dinner at 3-Monkeys restaurant, located in St. Mark’s Square in The Venetian Macao. Owned by a Singapore group, Solutions17, which also manage World Wide Wings - a sports bar offering 40 types of chicken wings and over 30 types of beer (that’s where Yoshimi’s chicken friend lives), Rasa Singapura, which specializes in Singapore dishes, all at The Venetian.
Other than the Hainanese Chicken Rice, which came with lashings of ginger, dark soy sauce and chilli, we also got the Singapore laksa. (above)
I realized I had bitten off a little more than I could chew when my dish of beef spare ribs arrived. (above)
That must be one big cow. And yes, that is genuine chilli padi and sambal to the right. Apparently the beef ribs is shipped over from the U.S. and takes up so much space, it is stored in a warehouse, and pulled out as needed.
After a soup, appetizers and picking at other people’s food, I managed to make a reasonable dent in the ribs.
I was even tempted when the sizzling fajitas were delivered to the table next door.
Apparently, the burgers here are to die for.
I have walked past 3-Monkeys on several occasions and always get distracted by the giant grinning plush toy monkeys that are hanging around the premises. It may be a family-friendly jungle-themed restaurant, but believe me, there is nothing childish about the portions of food - which are gorilla sized.
There are 300 toy monkeys altogether in the restaurant, collected from around the world. The owners say their friends grab whatever monkey they see on their travels bundle them up in glad wrap, chuck them in cargo and fly them over to Macau.
According to Gwen (above, far left), who runs sister cafe - the iconic Monkey’s Cafe in Orchard Towers in Singapore, many of them are so big, that many would require their own seat, if they were brought on board. And yes, we hear that the drycleaning bills are huge.
Despite the fact, they are the delight of many children, who squeal and clutch at the furry critters, grown-ups aren’t immune to the charms of a giant grinning soft toy monkey either.
For restaurant information, click here.
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