No Money, No Friends in Macau Casinos

It is often said that Macau is the Las Vegas of the East. We have been to Las Vegas not one, not two, but three times, and we really love it! So we decided to complete the pilgrimage so visit Macau.  In fact, Macau has overtaken Las Vegas many times over in being the world leader in terms of revenue. So really, is Macau the Las Vegas of the East, or is Las Vegas the Macau of the West? Ooh controversial! (My view: LV came first so will always be the OG!)

First impressions of Macau was quite overwhelming – I had expected it to feel like Vegas, but it didn’t feel anything like it. Strangely it reminded me of Panama due to the thick jungle around, low lying cloud, and stifling heat.  It was also poorer than I had expected in terms of the housing of the local population, in contrast to the opulence and excess of the casino hotels. Like nearby Hong Kong, Macau is its own Special Administrative Region of China. And Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal, and coaches bring tourists from the nearby Chinese border straight to the casinos.

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Crazy Barman + Free Tequila + Vegas = One Big Night

Vegas baby! This time we had a pool in our hotel so we made the most of that. We’ve never had a “pool holiday” where we spend time lounging, and suddenly that seemed very attractive! So we attended our first Pool Party in Vegas, which sounds very glamorous but basically seems to comprise standing in a swimming pool listening to dance music while lifeguards shout at people to get out of the pool with their drinks. We stayed a while but preferred the quieter pools!

My BF also sought out a “Flowrider” machine at Planet Hollywood. This was slightly weird as it was on the 6th floor and there were no signs. But my BF will always manage to sniff out an opportunity to spend his money on “awesome” things, so we found it.

Can’t help falling in love with Big Elvis in Las Vegas

After a week in the wilds of Wyoming we were psyched to get back to civilisation – and what better place to do that than Las Vegas! It was a total sensory overload with signs, lights, cars, people, street performers, everywhere.

Our fave stretch of The Strip is the middle section, between the junction of MGM/New York New York, up to the junction of Ceasars/Flamingo.

One day in Las Vegas!

We have visited Las Vegas before (blog post here). So we’d seen everything we wanted to see. The aim of this visit was mainly some pure luxury and to see The Sign.

We had missed the infamous Las Vegas Sign on our first visit, mainly because we both forgot it was there – duh!. So after a leisurely champagne buffet brunch (What?! They don’t do brunch without champagne, so what is a girl to do?! 😉 ), we ambled down to the sign. Bizarrely, this is located in the central reservation of a duel carriageway. But that did not deter us, and we spent a while taking photos of this iconic sign. While we were there two just-married couples appeared to have their photos taken in front of it, so we all had to queue for our turn posing in front of The Sign.

I loved loved loved it, but there’s only so long you can spend standing on a central reservation looking at a sign, so with that important experience “ticked off” our list, we made our way back up The Strip, seeing the landmarks such as the Paris hotel, New York New York, the Bellagio, and wedding chapels. We saw the Pirates show outside Treasure Island. On reflection, we did too much

Viva Las Vegas!

One of the first things I saw when we landed at Vegas was a vending machine that sells “fresh” flowers. I have never seen this before and found it quite funny!

After we had spent some time chuckling at that, it was time to head to the hotel. We found it frustrating that we could see our hotel from the airport, and it was easy walking distance, but there were no pavements so we had to pay for a taxi.

We found Las Vegas big, brash, and cool! We enjoyed the sheer hedonism of it all, having large buffet lunches, and visiting each and every casino on the Strip. We had a craps lesson in one casino, and a poker lesson in another. We aren’t really gamblers but we did gamble about $10, and came away with $23.85! We’re EARNING on this trip!