Hk + Macau

Besides the flippant little Hk flight attendant little twit of a old fellow, I really quite enjoyed my Qantas flight. In light of this revelation might even not complaining about the little twit. The flight is not packed so I get rows of empty middle row seats where I even had an after nap after watching some jimolan comedy and two and half man episodes. After the nap while having some lovely lovely pizza subs I watched 3 episodes of larry David's curb your enthusiasm. Lunch is a delightful serving of beef and mashed potato with roast vege. Leg room is great for a long distance flight, certainly better than that tight squeeze of a singapore air flight. Mount franklin is provided on embankment instead of singapore's useless and not to mention unhealthy ice cream. While the video selection isn't Qantas' strong suit, it's more than adequate and recent new releases did found its way into its premiere section. 

I'm a little torn about my feeling towards the Venetian though. It is a cold blooded evil business preying on the weak and the corrupted and built without passion or soul, but how many things these days are? 

Macau impressed with following: the house of dancing waters show, the circulating prostitutes at the hotel lisboa, the diamonds and treasures at grand lisboa, the MGM VIP room, and bambu Buffett, last but not the least. The only egg tart worth its fat is The Lord stow tart, full of eggy flavour. 

The gambling population consists of mainly chain smoking southern Chinese and surprisingly large number of well todo Indians. A testament to the rapid rise of the brown continent. Casino floors and mostly littered with no commission baccarat tables and fast baccarat. Seems its the game of choice. Smoking rules on the casino floor is a suggestion only. Hordes of gamblers still puff and chuff wherever they happen to wander to. 

Tripadvisor review of the Venetian macau:

We booked the low season discovery package for 3 nights which includes a generous selection of buffet breakfast and lunches at 4 different restaurants. We ate at all four included buffets and very happy to report they are all really excellent. Especially the Bambu Cantonese restaurant, we are genuinely surprised at how great the food is, on the last day at the bambu we stuffed to our neck with the awesome dessert and congee. Also sampled portofino the classy Italian joint where things are a bit pricey but worthy of the fee. I can't imagine how any hotel/resort could do restaurant better than the Venetian. Package also includes a sprinkle of activities to do such as the worthwhile half day macau historic site tour and vouchers for shopping and gondola rides. The Brazilian girls rowing our gondola is a brilliant singer :) I must also say the grand canal shopping experience is the best man-made shopping environment I've ever had. There is no wonder tourists flock to this casino as a major destination. I am no impulse shopper usually but this is too good not to spend a few hard earned dollar :) I know the canal and the facade and the bridges and the singers and the oh so blue skies and the broad boulevard and the huge sized shops are all fakes, but as far as fakery goes, you can't top the Venetian :)  btw, for egg tart, forget anywhere else, just go straight to The Lord Stow egg tart shop in the Venetian, easily the best egg tart I've tried in macau by miles (and I've tried quite a lot of egg tarts here!)

Room wise, we get a standard room which they call a suite. Other travellers has provided plenty of pictures of the standard rooms. The decor is breaming with gold ornament and Italian opulence, albeit they are showing a fair bit of wear and tear and cracks. The only minor gripe I had was with the shower water pressure. It's interesting why the hotel only give guests the option of hot and cold adjustment but no pressure adjustment. So you are always having a torrential wave of a water pressure in the shower. It's not to the point of unbearably unpleasant, but I can imagine it could cause issue for some, such as small kids with sensitive skin. The king sized bed actually looks like a small double bed in this gigantic room, which really shows how huge the rooms are. The window overlooking the rooftop mini golf course and the city of dreams building which we don't mind. All in all the biggest room we have ever stayed in and certainly enjoyed it a lot besides the tiny issue of the water pressure. 

To get around macau, Venetian provides frequent and free air conditioned shuttles to the nearby city of dreams and four season so you can go and watch the awesome production of house of dancing waters, and to ferries and airports and sands casino in downtown which is a short stroll to the other big casinos such as the grand lisboa, MGM, and historic district of Macau. There is really no need to ever hail a taxi if you stay at Venetian. 

If you are a gambler you'll probably have a ball at the Venetian. I'm not a gambling man so it was just another sight seeing item for me. Unfortunately for non-smokers, the no smoking sign on the casino floor appears to be suggestion only. The flock of roaming Chinese gamblers seems to light up wherever they feel like. 

Family entertainment wise, the pool is a long walk for us as we stay at the south wing where the pool is located at north wing end. There's dedicated kids zone too. The in door plazas and outdoor main entrance square always has some sporadic performers doing various acts. There's also a CSI themed mini game to keep you entertained. However to keep kids away from the main casino floor means you'll have walk the long way around the casino to check in/out etc