Puss in boots is leading everybody up a merry, flamboyant dance; Shrek and Fiona can?t seem to get enough of being photographed, while Po of Kung Fu Panda and Alex the Lion give them stiff competition on the popularity scale. The music is on full blast, fairy lights blink in all their brightness and donkey pop cakes and dragon eggs are flying off fast from the counters, as both kids and adults enjoy an early morning ?Shrekfast? at the Sheraton Hotel in Macau. Entertainment in Asia?s Vegas is clearly no longer restricted to nights!
The biggest casino market in the world, Macau has woken up to wholesome entertainment in recent years. Shows like the House of Dancing Water, concerts, industry trade shows and international art crossovers are now common here. However, gambling still contributes about 70% of the state?s revenues.
The casinos here operate round-the-clock and with advise not to sleep while in Macau, I put off gaming till later and opt for a gondola ride at the opulent Venetian after the break…er…Shrekfast. Grand canals, bridges, beautiful buildings ?Venice style?, an artificial sky and a gondolier singing in Italian…the ride is a great experience and ends a bit too soon for my liking.
However, the glittering shops displaying every luxury brand you can think of beckon, and walking along the canals, window shopping on the maze of streets, passing by several food courts, is no less fun. Some shopping for my little daughter, and I am a satisfied customer.
Suddenly, there?s loud music and a synchronised parade of Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda characters swings through the hotel complex. There?s a tie-up with DreamWorks Studios to make the Cotai resorts a family destination, Brandon Elliott, vice-president, sales and resort marketing, Venetian Macau, explains. This explains the breakfast with a whole gang of movie characters too.
It?s evening by now and having glimpsed the grandeur of the casinos during the day, I head for the Venetian for the full experience. No player myself, I am content to watch, and settle around a roulette table (having seen many spin in movies). A local resident is losing miserably and utters ?finished? every HK $2,000 he puts on the table. But the game comes alive when two middle-eastern men pitch in. Starting with HK $3,000, they quickly win about hundred times the amount. By this time, the casino management is also on alert. They ask the men for their passports, which are flashed impatiently, and supply them with free drinks. A salesman smells blood and attempts to sell them some deal. After some rounds of losing loose change, the men move on, and the Chinese guy is back to being ?finished?. I also call it a day.
Exploring the town is on the agenda the next morning. The city centre, Senado Square, looks grand in photographs, but is just a small area, though not without charm. Portugese influences can be seen in the square, which has a fountain, cobbled streets, flower-lined shops and restaurants.
Several arterial roads lead from the square, one of them taking you to the ruins of St Paul?s cathedral, which is the facade of the cathedral originally built in 1602, now a world heritage site. Souvenir shops line the small streets from the ruins to Senado Square, but offer nothing interesting to buy, besides being expensive. The famous Koi Kei bakery on the same street is full of customers, but for a vegetarian like me, the sight of all sorts of cured and dried meats is a deterrent. So no almond biscuits from Macau for my family!
The A-Ma Temple, dedicated to the goddess of seafarers and fishermen, is the next stop. Portuguese sailors are said to have first landed at the Macau coast just outside the temple. I try my luck at the water that?s supposed to vibrate if a lucky person touches the copper vessel it?s placed in, but nothing happens. Unlucky me.
The evening is spent at Taipa village, where Portugese influence can be seen in the charming streets full of restaurants, cake shops and bars. The Taipa houses museum complex is also an interesting place to visit. The complex consists of five houses that have been restored to recreate houses of well-off Portuguese families living in Macau during the first half of the 20th century.
Back at the Venetian, though it?s close to midnight, several shops are still open, the casinos are in full swing, so are the live bands, the bars and the crowd. I am not stopping at the casinos tonight, but an energetic dance performance in full ballroom costume attracts my attention. I stop to watch, mesmerised. The night is still young…