BF and I just returned from a long weekend holiday to Macau and Hong Kong.

The last time I was in Macau was four years ago.

 

Wow...is it growing. Five new casino hotels opening this year alone. For better or worse, it is truly becoming an Asian Las Vegas. Casinos and hotels are top notch and soon I am sure they will adding many shows to the venue. A fun city.

 

But.....they need a few gay venues.

YaYa Macau ???

Since a lot of threads tend to look back, I find what has happened in Macau almost grotesque. I know it's progress, but Macau 3 decades ago was a wonderfully sleepy, Mediterranean-type town with a lovely waterfront bordered by colourful old-style houses and a pretty town centre.

 

I used to go with friends for dinner. We'd take a jet-foil from Hong Kong around 18:30, have drinks on the verandah of the really old Boa Vista hotel, pop over to an open air restaurant called Pinocchio on Taipa island (wonder if it's still there) or one on the main island in the quaintly named Rua da Felicidade (Happiness Street - a result of a greater number of prostitutes in the really old days). After a great meal with amazing Portuguese wine (so cheap because there were no taxes), we'd wander to one of the few casinos and play a little roulette in the hope of winning back the cost of dinner, before sauntering back to the jet-foil terminal. The perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. But long since vanished, alas! And there were no gay venues then, either!

Since a lot of threads tend to look back, I find what has happened in Macau almost grotesque.

 

My BF and I visited Macau last year and we thought we were in little Reno (Nevada, USA). I must admit that it is attracting a lot of tourist from the mainland and elsewhere but have to agree that not all progress like this may by good. We ate at MGM and found high prices and so-so food. Toured the other clubs but did not go in. Some beautiful casinos and new hotels, but not to my taste and not quite Vegas. Oh, do not take the ferry on foggy days. We waited hours on the boat to get clearance for the passage. Not fun at all.

I found Macau to be rather disappointing. I lived near Reno all my life, and my sister has lived in Las Vegas for 10 years, so I have been around Casinos a lot.

 

My two games are blackjack and Craps. I found no true crap tables in Macau. The Blackjack rules were so changed from Nevada, that the player didn't have a chance. Enjoyed the sights and the ferry ride...but not the place to gamble for me!