While in Hong Kong, I took a day trip to Macau. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was looking forward to riding a high speed hydrofoil like I did as a kid.
Instead, I got seasick on the TurboJet… particularly near the coast where the waves were the largest. Despite my thoughts that it was merely an unfortunate one-off occurrence, I now realize it was a harbinger of things to come… especially the ride back.
Did get to experience “premium” tickets though. I (mistakenly) thought they gave you the right to ride the TurboJet at the specified time or up to six hours *after* the specified time. Great, a license to be late! Apparently the correct interpretation is actually six hours *before*…
Good food in first class though:
The vomit rocket:
There are some nice cars in Macau, naturally; cars like these are perfect in Macau, where there are no stop lights:
The original Macau casino, the Sands. Too bad photography inside casinos is forbidden, the Sands was really extravagant, all open spaces, live bands, etc.
Inside another casino (the Wynn?), I discovered a couple hundred people milling around the lobby, the roof covered with these extravagant zodiac designs; I discovered the limitations of only having a 50mm lens with me.
To my surprise, the roof opened up to swirling lights:
And a chandelier descended:
To be met by a tree that rose out of the floor:
All to the appropriately grand music. Very impressive, fun to watch, even when virtually lying down on the floor to compensate for poor lens choice.
On the other hand, said lens was perfect for catching these drummers’ performance:
The afternoon was spent trekking to the ruins of St. Paul’s church, and picking some snacks along the way.
Incidentally, that trek to the church is what I think finally did serious damage to my ankle, which had already been hurting from the previous days of roaming around Hong Kong. Lesson: Advil doesn’t actually cure anything.
On the way back to the TurboJet, passed by this fountain performance in front of one of the casinos. To the crystal clear music of a James Bond song (Diamonds are Forever?), the synchronied water jets and lights moved to create visually gratuitous displays, finishing with bursts of flame at the end. A treat for the senses.
After this gorgeous performance, I almost felt recovered from the torture I’d been putting my ankle through, and the huge and slow moving crowds in Macau. In terms of storytelling, the final experiences from Macau were short, but they certainly did not feel that way as I: 1) discovered that I threw out the return ticket instead of the receipt for the original ticket, 2) discovered that my tickets didn’t entitle me to arriving late anyway, 3) discovered that a their ticket machines reject a credit card used twice in a given day, 4) spent time cooling my heels in an unpleasant waiting area, 5) got *super* seasick on the way back. #5 bears repeating; I feel nauseous just recalling how my head was spinning. As much as I wanted, I just could not sleep through the waves.
So yeah, Macau was “interesting”, but I think for the week afterwards, I would have happily given up the casinos and the pictures for the return of my physical equilibrium.
Yes, I did gamble. 骰寶 (Sic-bo) specifically. I won a little at first, and eventually lost it all (of course), but my biggest regret was the point where I started talking big about betting on 17 (1.4% odds, 50:1 payout), and I chickened out, only to have it come up anyway. Stock markets or casinos, clearly I can’t do this right. 
