Anyhow, to celebrate our one year anniversary we decided on a short getaway to Macau to enjoy a relaxing weekend. Macau is a favorite destination for Hong Kong expats because it is only a short ferry ride away, and is a good place to go when you need to make a 'visa run' to validate a Hong Kong visa by leaving and re-entering the territory. But, there are increasingly more reasons for people to visit Macau - the territory is quickly becoming the Las Vegas of Asia as large casino companies open resorts to compete with the older gambling establishments that have long been the main source of revenue for Macau. The Sands opened in Macau last year, the Wynn will debut this September, and the Venetian will go on line next year. The competition is going to be great for Macau's tourist industry as the casino/resorts bring more entertainment options and better customer service to a place where both have traditionally been in short supply. Hopefully the Blue Man Group and Cirque de Soleil will have shows in Macau soon.
Friday afternoon we bought a couple of tickets on the ferry and departed the hectic place that is Hong Kong. An hour later we arrived in Macau, and after a short shuttle ride we checked into our room at the Mandarin Oriental.
Shortly after our arrival, there was a knock at the door - one of the hotel staff brought us a cheesecake to help us celebrate. We had got a good laugh after reading what was written on it. I guess they mistook us for gardeners rather than newlyweds.
On Saturday we enjoyed relaxing by the pool. Annette had fun going down the waterslide. After a few hours of that strenuous activity, we headed to the spa for a 'traditional' Macanese sangria ritual - a grape seed scrub followed by a sangria bath, topped off with an 80 minute grapeseed oil massage. Yeah, it was a pretty rough weekend.
Following our active day, we headed to the Hotel restaurant to try out some Macanese dishes. The first course was a 'tomato' soup, which turned out to be tomato-flavored cream sprinkled with flavored oils. For the main course, Wes had the African chicken - a quarter chicken cooked in a creamy spicy-sweet sauce - while Annette opted for the grilled prawns. Both delicious. To top it off we had a traditional Macanese dessert - layers of whipped cream and crunchy sugary bits that Annette swears she had one time while she was traveling Europe... perhaps Portugal.After dinner we were finally rested and well fed, so we decided to go check out the nearby "Fisherman's Wharf" attraction - a new shopping and entertainment center that was built by Macau's richest businessman, Stanley Ho. The complex has buildings modeled after famous places past and present, such as a Qing Dynasty palace, a Roman amphitheatre, and streets reminiscent of Amsterdam, Germany, New Orleans, Lisbon, Miami and more. There is also a giant Volcano that spews fire after dark.
When we walked by the volcano we got the impression that there was some kind of attraction inside, since there was a ticket booth where we could purchase tickets to experience "The River of Fire" and "Dragon Quest." We had no way of knowing what either of these rides were since there was no advertising, but we decided to be adventurous and get tickets anyway. Tickets in hand, we ventured inside the volcano. The environment inside was not much different from the steam room in the hotel spa - the giant black mountain had been baking all day in the tropical sun, and the plume of burning gas on the top of the volcano probably didn't help the situation much. A river wound through the volcano, adding to the humidity. As far as we could tell, ventilation had not been a part of the design. On the upside, we had the place nearly to ourselves, except for a couple of other expats and a few staff members who were covered in sweat after being in the spalcano all day.Our first ride was the "River of Fire" which was a typical theme park water ride, save for the fact that the river was in the volcano. The ride itself was actually fairly long - I'm not sure how they managed to fit so much river in such a small place. Next we went to the "Dragon Quest" ride - a roller coaster that traversed the upper part of the volcano. The experience was similar to Space Mountain, except the roller coaster cars were individual instead of linked in a train. It was a relatively fun ride, but maybe a little short. The real excitement came from the fact that we weren't confident in the soundness of the engineering that went into the ride. After all, the engineers who designed the volcano forgot to add ventilation.
Next we headed to the Sands to play the cheapy slots and a popular local game called 'Sic Bo'. In Sic Bo, three dice are rolled and players bet whether the total of the dice will be greater than 10. We played about an hour then decided to call it a night.
The following day we slept in late, walked around the Fisherman's Wharf a little more, and checked out the famous 'New Yaohan' mall where Macau's elite and wealthy tourists shop. We enjoyed our much needed weekend of relaxation in Macau. Thanks to everyone who wished us a happy anniversary!
