My Asia adventure is winding down, in less than 48 hours Ill be heading home. Im sad to leave but just as excited to get home. Ive been away a lot recently. Orlando and Mexico City then home for a week. Followed by a Cirque du Soleil Live Entertainment Symposium in Lafayette, IN and then the USITT Stage Expo in Ft. Worth. Once again home for a week and then off to the Far East. In Macau I visited a high school buddy Lonnie Bevens who Ive known for close to forty years. Lonnie first went to Macau in 1982 when it was a Portuguese Colony. He escorted a lion and tiger act from a Texas Shrine Circus to Macau for the U.K. based Chipperfield Circus. It was a long harrowing trip by sea via the Berring Strait in the winter. The seas were so rough he had to wear a harness strapped to a cable to go on deck. He fell in love with the region and vowed to return someday. He fulfilled that dream in 2010 when he returned to work for Cirque du Soleils resident show Zaia in Macau. Unfortunately, the show closed and he returned to the states in 2012. Late last year he was hired by the Venetian Macau and has returned to what he considers the real promised land. I landed in Hong Kong on April 10th after a 14+ hour flight at 7:00am. Since the Airport Ferry service doesnt start until 10:00am, I took the Airport Express train to Hong Kong Island. There I took a Turbo-Jet Ferry to Macau which is about an hour long trip on a hydrofoil. At the Ferry Station I took the shuttle bus to the Venetian to connect with Lonnie. After a short tour of the Venetian Theater we headed to Lonnies apartment in a residential district in nearby Taipa. I expected Macau to be more like Vegas with all of the casinos on a central strip or road. Its much more spread out than I anticipated. Also, the properties are on huge plots of land. The resorts are massive and getting from casino to casino often requires a taxi or long bus ride. During my three day stay, I covered a lot of territory. Visited the majority of the casinos and attractions and attended Franco Dragones House of Dancing Waters show at the City of Dreams. We also sampled a variety of food at a number of small local establishments. Returning to Hong Kong I caught the Cotai-Jet Ferry from the Taipa Ferry Terminal which is owned by Sheldon Adelson the owner of the Venetian and the Sands. This ferry is the same cost and docks at the same station in Hong Kong but is far more luxurious than the Turbo-Jet I came over on. More on Hong Kong and Tokyo to follow.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 13:07:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015