Don't be fooled by Macau
Written: Nov 08 '99 (Updated Nov 08 '99)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: You don't have to stay
Cons: Barely Portugese, dirty, dangerous and the beaches and gambling suck
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| Donny's Full Review: Macau |
For any number of reasons, Macau sounds like it would be a fun place for a weekend. Brochures and reviews make the tiny island west of Hong Kong sound like an exotic combination of Portugese culture, gambling, and beautiful beaches. In truth, I found my weekend there wholly disappointing. The Portugese culture -- outside the beautiful remains of a cathedral and some other architecture -- is basically nonexistent. Most of the island looks just like Kowloon, ugly urban sprawl with seemingly endless markets and noodle shops. Looking for cheap lodging, the 8 of us ended up at a dirty family run "hotel" that included two of my friends sharing a room with a heart shaped bed and a disturbing number of mirrors. Taking a bus across the bridge in search of the beaches, we were met with a thin strip of sand and a view of the modern Hyatt. Exotic, huh? Luckily, we had brought a nerf football to entertain ourselves and some of the local kids. The one bright spot of the weekend was our lunch on the peninsula at a beachside restaurant. The food -- lots of meat and seafood -- was spectacular and although the name eludes me, the restaurant is well known. Follow the rest of the disillusioned foreign tourists and it won't be hard to find. Thinking that a night of gambling might make up for the less than stellar afternoon, we headed to the famous Hotel Lisboa. Granted, we knew this wasn't going to be the glimmer and glamour of Vegas, but the mood of the casino was downright depressing. Suffocating levels of smoke, unfriendly crowds, not enough tables and minimum bets far too high for our teaching salaries was not our idea of fun. In retrospect, with all the gang activity (the gangs are called Triads)the few high rollers who did catch our attention because of all the money they were losing, may have been Triad members laundering their money. In any case, we wandered back into the urban sprawl, sat outside at one of the endless Chinese street restaurants, and got four kinds of drunk, all the while laughing about our crappy accommodations and visions of an exotic Macau weekend.
I will say that the history of the island IS fascinating, so if you do get suckered into going, make sure you visit Grand Prix museum next to the cathedral. But if you have the choice, buy a history book and stay in Hong Kong.
If I were Portugal, I'd give the island back to China, too.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Donny
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Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 52 members
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