Macau Part I: No, I am not below 18.
I miss Macau already.
Struggled to ease myself back into my usual school routine and the truckload of backlogged work for the whole of today. Was very much tempted to simply sit and stare at the photos I took in Macau but I practically forced myself back work by constantly snapping my wandering mind back to reality.
“Girl ah. This is no longer Macau. You are in friggin’ school, with your butt parked on a friggin’ uncomfortable (but familiar) black chair. And Frou Frou is in front of you. So, go and do your work NOW!”
It worked. I managed to debug all my code in one afternoon. Haha, yay.
Not to mention an upcoming assignment due in four days (which I completely forgot about) and more readings. And when I was doing that former assignment, all I had on my mind was Macau, Macau, Macau.
Gee, what’s wrong with me?
Anyway, I guess it’s time to put school aside and talk about my trip, eh?
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I’ve too many things to talk about, so I’d be splitting the whole Macau trip into a series of entries which will be posted as the days go by. The rest of the entries are already in draft mode.
When people mention Macau, the first thing that comes to mind is … gambling. It figures, considering how Macau has 28 casinos in all and practically every hotel has at least one casino. Our hotel is no different.
There was one extremely big one which took up practically 50% of the ground floor, and it was built in such a way that it was right smack in the middle of the resort premises such that one has to actually walk through the casino in order to reach the lift lobby, to the hotel rooms, or anywhere else for that matter.
And all entry points to the casino were guarded by … well, a guard.
That bright yellow uniform (worn by all security guards in Macau) has become all too familiar to me now. I’ve been stopped and questioned by these yellow-clad nuisances umpteen times because I looked like I was below the age limit for entry to the casino. (18 years old, for your information.)
Like hello? I just want to go to my friggin’ room. Do I look like I’m even remotely interested in your one-armed bandits, roulette and whatsoever crap?
I think I nearly bit the head off at least four security guards. In fact, I recall getting stopped by similarly evil security guards when I tried to enter a casino to look for my mum back when I was 14 on board a cruise ship. That one, I understand - because I was four years below the age limit.
But hello? I’m still getting the same shit at the age of 22?!?
Each time I get stopped, I was torn between laughing out loud or just screaming in frustration. Repeating to multiple, different security guards stopping me at various entry points that “I AM 22 YEARS OLD” gets pretty tiresome after a while.
Was quite tempted to craft out a huge sign that states “I am not below 18!” (In both English and Chinese) and wear it around my neck, so that I would no longer be hassled each time I have to cut through the casino just to get to somewhere else in the resort. But just imagine the potential embarrassment.
For the record, I don’t gamble. And never will.
The casino was quite a sight though. It’s practically a sea of gamblers. And I’ve observed a couple of hard-core gamblers at work as well and discovered why gambling is so addictive - and swore to myself never to be sucked into this black hole.
The casino was swarming with hookers as well, and it seemed like they were targeting mostly men who were alone. My mum and I were practically standing from an elevated area and observing these hookers do their thing. It seemed like they were failing in their bid to lure, because they were getting rejected one by one. (Hehehe.)
On the whole, Macau’s mostly about gambling (for the gamblers), and shopping (for people like me). Photography buffs will also love the place because there is just so much architecture around. Sight-seeing wise, there is nothing much - apart from Senado Square, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf and The Ruins of St Paul’s Church. And perhaps the harbour view.
I will proceed to talk more about all these in the subsequent entries. ;)
Stay tuned for Part II.
That would happen to me to (read: age). I know how you feel, I know.
I’ve only ever been to Macau once but we were left in the arcade, which would have been fun if we had money to play on them. :P