“If you must play, decide upon three things at the start:
the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.”
– Chinese Proverb
I wonder how many Chinese gamblers believe on their own proverb, because to date, Macau generates more revenue from gambling in the world and 7 times more than in Las Vegas, and most of its patrons were from mainland China alone.
I went here with my ex then in 2007, whom I thought at that time the man I’ll end up with (of course). But during this trip (which was actually my birthday holiday!) it was already the 2nd time in a row that he made me upset on my birthday itself and I still didn’t see the sign haha! I was gambling with my “love” life then I suppose 😛
We went in Macau for few days as a side trip from our Hongkong holiday. You can find a separate entry for my HK trip HERE.
We took the 90-minute ferry from Hongkong. Macau is also one of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China who used to be the colony of Portugal. For this reason, the streets of Macau has a very European atmosphere though the signages were all in Chinese! The very first problem we encountered upon entering Macau was the language barrier, our cab driver couldn’t take us to our hotel if it’s not in Chinese characters.
The places we visited whilst there:
- Ruins of St. Paul
A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Macau that is used to be a Catholic cathedral that was ruined by fire during a typhoon in 1800’s.
- Senado Square and Rua de Tercena
It’s very interesting places to walk around Macau. It has the fusion of European and Chinese culture.
Rua De Tercena - Macau Museum and Guia Fortress
Another UNESCO World Heritage sites for its cultural and historical significance.
Guia Fortress - Macau Tower
The highest sky jump in the world. I didn’t try it but we visited the place because this is best place to see the whole Macau peninsula.
- Venetian Macao
It was the newly opened casino in 2007 s we opted to visit this amongst all the casinos there. The interiors are very grand and simulate the atmosphere of Venice where there are also gondolas going around the premises. We didn’t gamble, because, well we didn’t have money lol.
After our Hongkong-Macau holiday in 2007, my ex then and I went back to Singapore still as a couple despite the troubles we had during the trip. But I remember it as turning point in my life wherein I realised that I have a huge decision to make in the coming days of our relationship – to stay or to quit.
But as stubborn as I am when it comes to love, I stayed for around 2 years more (lol) even if we were already growing apart. In my mind I thought we could still work it out, but there are certain situations when persistence and hard work are not going to change anything, and in the end when you had enough, all that you needed to do is to QUIT.
As they say: Quitting doesn’t mean you are weak, it means that you are strong enough to let go…
