Everest Expedition Part 2? In most expeditions Part 2 would be the barely legible journal account of a grim day inching up the towering north face, scrawled down by the pallid light of a yak butter candle with frostbitten fingers as the wind tries to devour the tent with every gust. On second thought, screw that. Let's hit the blackjack table instead.
Macau here we come! Once a thriving colonial port, the island now deals in trade of a different kind. The kind that involves flashing lights, scantily clad women, and Team J00
ster losing all their money.
Sure beats a tent on an exposed ledge at 6,000 meters.
Where have I seen this before? Perhaps I should rephrase that: where have you seen this before not counting Two Phat Kiwis? Yep, China manages to take piracy to a whole new level. Why copy a mere Windows 7 CD when you can flog a perfect reproduction of the Wynn
Las Vegas?
Posh digs. It's almost like inviting people in to put their hard earned cash into your slot machines is a winning business model.
The Strip 2.0. Clearly what happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas. Now you can experience empty pockets and a splitting headache in the Far East too.
The Grand
Lisboa wins the gaudy exterior award hands down. Meanwhile, Mei gets some much needed jumping practice in before the once in a lifetime jump at Everest base camp.
Rock wonders why his fistful of 10 grimy
HKD isn't getting him in the high rollers entrance. Perhaps they spotted you lurking near the 1c slots a bit too often.
Who would have thought "
obrigado" would come in handy again, half way around the world. Chinese and Portuguese is a strange mix; kind of like communism and capitalism.
Macau is a city with a rich past, and - judging by the hordes of eager gamblers - an even richer future. Sure life as a major colonial outpost was lucrative, but so is building gaudy boxes with holes in them for people dump money in.
Mission control, we have lift off!
A city of contrasts. Literally in the shadow of five star casinos one can still find countless twisting alleys, teaming with the sights and smells of
olde world
Macau.
Would you like a
McKitty with that? In Asia, nothing is safe from the Hello Kitty invasion.
Macau was doing fusion long before it became all the rage. Old Portuguese architecture mingles cheerfully with
bbq pork shops.
Mei of course makes a bee line for the latter.
Seems the whole city also has a hankering for honey glazed
bbq pork. Can't say I blame them.
A relic from a time long ago, i.e. when the west ruled the world. Wake up folks, all you have to do is take Amtrak from NYC to Boston and then China Rail from Wuhan to Shanghai, and you'll know where the future lies. Here's a hint, it's hard to get to the future, let alone your destination, when "high speed rail" equals 90
kmh.
Rock searches valiantly for a sight that isn't a casino.
The old Portuguese section of town almost seems out of place in a city that is increasingly returning to its Asian roots.
Just like Mei is out of place in a city where a $100,000 minimum bet counts as the cheap end of town.
The fort in the middle of the city used to be the highest point in town. That was before the Grand
Lisboa moved in.
Outrageous! A garden? This wasted space could have fit at least 50 more slot machines.
The old...
...and the new. Crisis, what crisis? When your little peninsula is the blackjack table for 1.4b people, there's plenty of money to go around for grandiose new gambling halls.
Unlike the real deal, you don't have to worry about this version of St. Marks square sinking under water at high tide. And there aren't any annoying pigeons flapping about.
Needless to say, the city really gets going once the sun sets. Needless to say, Rock is tucked up in bed well before then.
Wynn,
wynn, and
wynn. The only thing missing is a win.
They look quite cool from the outside. Which is a good thing seeing as our 20 buck slot fund is already helping to pay the lofty electricity bill.
This is what the patrons see after one too many cocktails on the house. Rock had to mimic the effect with his camera, seeing as they don't hand out cocktails on the house at the 1c machines.
Communism never looked to glamorous. Oh, my apologies, I forgot this is a Special Administrative Region.
Somehow Everest seems a long way off. Will they ever get there? Or more to the point, will this blog ever get there?
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, or so some wise Chinese dude supposedly said. Hopefully the same goes for blogs, especially when one needs to get to the point before the Phat Kiwis get back with better photos...
Macau here we come! Once a thriving colonial port, the island now deals in trade of a different kind. The kind that involves flashing lights, scantily clad women, and Team J00ster losing all their money.
Sure beats a tent on an exposed ledge at 6,000 meters.
Where have I seen this before? Perhaps I should rephrase that: where have you seen this before not counting Two Phat Kiwis? Yep, China manages to take piracy to a whole new level. Why copy a mere Windows 7 CD when you can flog a perfect reproduction of the Wynn Las Vegas?
Posh digs. It's almost like inviting people in to put their hard earned cash into your slot machines is a winning business model.
The Strip 2.0. Clearly what happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas. Now you can experience empty pockets and a splitting headache in the Far East too.
The Grand Lisboa wins the gaudy exterior award hands down. Meanwhile, Mei gets some much needed jumping practice in before the once in a lifetime jump at Everest base camp.
Rock wonders why his fistful of 10 grimy HKD isn't getting him in the high rollers entrance. Perhaps they spotted you lurking near the 1c slots a bit too often.
Who would have thought "obrigado" would come in handy again, half way around the world. Chinese and Portuguese is a strange mix; kind of like communism and capitalism.
Macau is a city with a rich past, and - judging by the hordes of eager gamblers - an even richer future. Sure life as a major colonial outpost was lucrative, but so is building gaudy boxes with holes in them for people dump money in.
Mission control, we have lift off!
A city of contrasts. Literally in the shadow of five star casinos one can still find countless twisting alleys, teaming with the sights and smells of olde world Macau.
Would you like a McKitty with that? In Asia, nothing is safe from the Hello Kitty invasion.
Macau was doing fusion long before it became all the rage. Old Portuguese architecture mingles cheerfully with bbq pork shops.
Mei of course makes a bee line for the latter.
Seems the whole city also has a hankering for honey glazed bbq pork. Can't say I blame them.
A relic from a time long ago, i.e. when the west ruled the world. Wake up folks, all you have to do is take Amtrak from NYC to Boston and then China Rail from Wuhan to Shanghai, and you'll know where the future lies. Here's a hint, it's hard to get to the future, let alone your destination, when "high speed rail" equals 90 kmh.
Rock searches valiantly for a sight that isn't a casino.
The old Portuguese section of town almost seems out of place in a city that is increasingly returning to its Asian roots.
Just like Mei is out of place in a city where a $100,000 minimum bet counts as the cheap end of town.
The fort in the middle of the city used to be the highest point in town. That was before the Grand Lisboa moved in.
Outrageous! A garden? This wasted space could have fit at least 50 more slot machines.
The old...
...and the new. Crisis, what crisis? When your little peninsula is the blackjack table for 1.4b people, there's plenty of money to go around for grandiose new gambling halls.
Unlike the real deal, you don't have to worry about this version of St. Marks square sinking under water at high tide. And there aren't any annoying pigeons flapping about.
Needless to say, the city really gets going once the sun sets. Needless to say, Rock is tucked up in bed well before then.
Wynn, wynn, and wynn. The only thing missing is a win.
They look quite cool from the outside. Which is a good thing seeing as our 20 buck slot fund is already helping to pay the lofty electricity bill.
This is what the patrons see after one too many cocktails on the house. Rock had to mimic the effect with his camera, seeing as they don't hand out cocktails on the house at the 1c machines.
Communism never looked to glamorous. Oh, my apologies, I forgot this is a Special Administrative Region.
Somehow Everest seems a long way off. Will they ever get there? Or more to the point, will this blog ever get there?
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, or so some wise Chinese dude supposedly said. Hopefully the same goes for blogs, especially when one needs to get to the point before the Phat Kiwis get back with better photos...
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