Alex in Motion

Situated a few kilometers west of Hong Kong, Macau makes for a great day trip. Although the city is not officially part of China, it enjoys the use of their military defense and foreign affairs while it maintains it’s own legal system, public security, monetary system, customs policy and immigration policy.

Amazingly, for such a small region, it has many “largest in the world” attractions:

1. It is the most densely populated region in the world
2. It hosts the world’s tallest bungee jump, at 764 feet (233 meters) from the Macau Tower
3. It boasts the world’s largest casino, the Venetian Macau, with 39 stories and 10,500,000 sq feet (980,000 m2). Previously to visiting, I thought Las Vegas would have this honour, but nope
4. In fact, it surpasses Las Vegas as the largest gambling market in the world

Cool beans!

A high speed ferry dropped me at the harbour, and I spent the day wondering aimlessly around the city. Apparently, I made it just in time for a duck festival, and there were yellow rubber duckies all over the city. At Fisherman’s Wharf, there was a ducky gala while the Do De Rubber Duck song from Sesame Street played on loudspeakers, over and over and over and … yeah, I ran away screaming.

The Formula One museum and Wine museum were entertaining, and once I got my fix (hint: my feet were tired), I made my way to the gambling region of the city. Comparing it to Las Vegas, it was more classy, more sophisticated, less busy, and less intense. It was also money, big time money.

I visited the City of Dreams and Studio City before going to the Venetian casino, because go big or go home! Upon entering the hotel, I was able to snap a picture of the casino floor before security warned that pictures were not allowed. Then I attempted to gamble at my favourite game, blackjack, but the minimum bet was 50 CAD (34 EUR). Man, that’s expensive! Looking around the room, I realized my backpacker budget is no match for those rich folk.

Luckily a 30 CAD table opened and I played a few rounds to soak up the moment. While I was slowly losing, someone walked by and casually bet with another player sitting at the table. This random walker placed over 1000 CAD per hand, and must have lost about 4000 CAD (2700 EUR) in 3 rounds. He shrugged it off as though nothing was lost. Ya, BIG money here.

The Venetian hotel also had a curved escalator and a water moat with boats on an upper floor; very cool beans. Maybe I’ll return when I am a multi-millionaire.

There’s an expression that says, “A Hong Kong second is a New York minute”, suggesting that Hong Kong’s pace is faster than New York’s. After spending a week in one of the most densely populated and energetic areas in the world, I completely agree.

Truthfully, out of all the places I’ve been to so far, HK is the #1 spot I would seriously consider moving to. Yes, it even beats Cape Town and Tokyo. Cape Town is great for many reasons, but the lack of safety concerns me. And as much as I love Tokyo (and the rest of Japan for that matter), it lacks a work / social life balance; it’s all work and no play. You are identified by your company and position, and hobbies and entrepreneurs are not welcomed. It’s also hard to excel without knowing Japanese.

In HK, not only do you have a similar exotic element, as locals speak Cantonese, but

• There is a huge expat community, so you don’t need to learn Cantonese
• The social and sports scene is enormous and awesome. I didn’t partake in many evening pleasantries, as it’s very expensive, but I felt the overwhelming energy walking the streets
• It’s incredibly dense, with over 100 more skyscrapers than Manhattan, and yet it’s easily walk-able and public transportation is cheap. The city actually feels like a cross between NYC and the city in the movie The 5th Element
• Take a 30 minute subway ride and you’re either at the beach or in nature, among some wonderful hiking trails
• There are dozens of nearby islands, each with their own personality. I did a day tour to Macau, which I’ll discuss in my next post
• People seem more interesting, as it takes a certain character to live here. They are generally beautiful and physically fit too
• For people aged 30 to 45, there are 10 women for every 6.8 men. To point, on an expat personals website, there are 351 “Men seeking woman” and 387 “Women seeking men”
• There are tons of great food and dessert options, from eastern to western cuisines. One of my best dinners was at Jamie Olivier’s restaurant
• It’s extremely safe, so you can walk anywhere alone, even at night

Since no city is perfect, there are some downsides

• Housing is extremely expensive; in a decent area, it costs over $2,000 CAD (or 1400 EUR) per month for a 400 sq foot  (or 38 sq meter) apartment
• Like NYC, summers get extremely humid; even the late spring weather was rough, and I had to shower twice daily
• It’s a transitional city, which means expats usually don’t stay for long. Thus it’s feasible to stay for several years, but you wouldn’t want to raise a family here

Given all this, I loved this vibrant city. It felt like anything was possible.