Post from Macau

Not really because we're back again, but it is going to be about Macau.
Macau is a weird place. Like Hong Kong, Macau is also a SAR (Special Administrative Region) of the peoples republic of China, and as a former Portuguese Colony, it has quite some remains of the culture brought from there. Now it is a big -maybe the biggest- gambling metropole, and every big Hotel and Casino Enterprise has their own Branch -or are building it- in the City, and I've never seen a city this size -about 500.000 inhabitants- with so many and so huge Hotels and Casinos, some even say that the gambling enterprise in Macau now, is bigger than that of Las Vegas.
From Hong Kong it takes 45 minutes by jetfoil boat to Macau, and the traffic is huge. From two terminals these boats leaves 24 hours a day in 15 or 30 minutes intervals, but also from Shekou, Shenzen and Zuhai in China, boats are as regular, not to speak about the Helicopter traffic and the regular traffic by airplane to the international Airport, built on an artificial Island in the south china sea just outside the city.
The majority of these people comes to Macau because of the Casinos, and because the chinese people likes to gamble -and there is many of them- all these seems to do quite well.
Most of them are built in the recent years, after Portugal handed over the colony to China in 1999, and now it is just booming, and for people who likes modern and -or- odd architecture, this place could be heaven -or hell.
Every enterprise seems to want to be more prestigious or innovative than the other, and so the city has completely changed from a sleepy little Portuguese trade colony with Mediterranean influenced architecture and lifestyle, to a mega futuristic playground for architects, building "THE" gambling and entertainment resort for 1 billion Chinese and some curious tourists from overseas -like Catriona and I.
To be interesting and able to get people to come to this tiny place, which in itself isn't that interesting as it has absolute no beautiful nature or landscape around it, every possible measure has been taken, from the fake venetian canals and Marcus Square in the Hotel called "the Venetian", to the "Fisherman's Wharf" on the sea front, where they've rebuild Lhasa and Mount Everest, parts of Amsterdam, Lisbon, New Orleans and what do you know. All fake, but as bait for the Chinese tourist with money in their pocket, it seems to fit, coz why bother travel to Europe or the states, when you can see it all here in Macau.

Once before I've posted pictures from "Venice" in the Venetian, so I'll spare you for that again and will concentrate on the other Macau, the "old" Macau, if it is that old, because when you've seen all the fake buildings, you can somehow get the idea, that this "old" Macau, also is fake and just built to make it more interesting for the Casino guest, to take a walk around to relax and calm down after loosing a big part of their money.