Trip Report

My Macau Trip Report, inspired by baiter's trip report. All prices are in HKD unless otherwise noted. 1 USD = 7.75 HKD.

FRIDAY

* Getting HKD- I arrived in Macau Airport around 9:30pm and immediately went to the HSBC ATM in the arrival hall. I tried to withdraw the maximum of HKD 11,000 but the machine said I couldn't... I'd reached my daily limit. I needed at least $3,500 for the tournament the next night, so on my second try I punched in $7,500 and that worked. I saw on my online banking that I was charged $967.73 USD (an exchange rate of 1 USD = 7.75 HKD, good deal imo).

* The PokerStars poker room (Grand Waldo) - disappointing- I took a cab to the Grand Waldo, went straight to the poker room and disappointed to see that there was only one cash game table running at 10pm on a Friday night. It was a 10/20 NL game, about $1.30/$2.60 USD. This is much lower than I usually play but I sat anyway and played for a few hours, running well and ending at about +2400.

* The Grand Waldo Spa - AMAZING- As per voycontodo's recommendation, I stayed at the spa. This was my first time in a spa/sauna and they told me right off the bat to take my clothes off and go shower with these naked old men walking around. I was uneasy at first, but after a long hot shower I felt right at home, hopped in the huge jacuzzi pool and really enjoyed everything. Ate dinner at the buffet and there were these small fried bread things that were delectable. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and with a sweet creamy sauce that brings it all together. Heavenly. After I ate, I got a v nice Shanghai-style massage on the 3rd floor, then went back down to the jacuzzi area. I showered again, washed up with the toothbrushes, soap, shavers and shaving cream that they provide, and I felt so fresh and so clean afterward. Slept like a baby in the sleeping cubicle (a bit uncomfortable and hard, but I was too tired to care). The spa is a really great deal at only $188 per 12 hours.

SATURDAY

* Hong Kong- The next day I woke up at a little late around 11am. Did the whole jacuzzi thing again and made sure to check out before my 12 hours was up. I left my bag at the cloak room and went outside to the shuttle bus station to go to the Macau Ferry Terminal. I wanted to go to Hong Kong to get measured for some dress shirts. There is a tailor called Jantzen that has a reputation for being the best in Asia for custom tailored shirts (I have some shirts at home but none of them fit well). So I took the TurboJet ferry over, walked over to Jantzen's, picked out my fabrics and styles, paid them and gave him my address so he could ship the shirts to me. They are nice people over there and I'm hoping their products will be just as nice. I originally wanted to have lunch in HK but had to get back to the Grand Waldo by 6pm, for the $3500 tournament. My impression of Hong Kong was that it was very nice and hopefully I'll be able to spend more than an hour the next time I visit.

* Grand Waldo $3500 MTT- I barely got back in time for the 6pm $3500 tournament. There was a $150K guarantee and about an hour in, the tournament staff was saying there was a $70K overlay. Not relevant though, I busted in the 3rd level. Guy to my right opens in LP, I shove 15bb with AJo, he hems and haws for a full minute before calling with KK. I don't think too much of the slowroll and leave to go "relieve some stress" at the Grand Emperor. Also, again there was only one cash game table... very disappointing for a Saturday evening.

* The Grand Lisboa and its famous deli- I then walked over to the Grand Lisboa, only two blocks away or so. I read some posts here about the deli below the poker room (Crystal Deli & Lounge, iirc?) so I obviously had to get a sandwich there. I got an "Italian Foccacia with prosciutto" - it was good but not spectacular as I expected... probably just bad variance I imagine. A can of soda was only $20, not $50 as KKF mentioned. I didn't play poker there but there were about 5 tables running, biggest game was 25/50. Sicbo seemed to be really popular. There were a dozen Chinese people huddled around every Sicbo table. I don't blame them -- Sicbo is really fun.

* The Venetian- I'd heard good things about The Venetian in Macau so I went there to check it out. The place is very nice and absolutely MASSIVE. It's like a big open layout with an absurd amount of tables and they were pretty much all full. I've seen many casinos in America but I don't think any of them even come close to being as big. It would've been nice if PokerStars set up their poker room there instead of the Grand Waldo... there would be a lot of action. The bad thing here was that the taxi queue was extremely long and I ended up waiting around 45 minutes for a 5-minute cab ride.

* Back to the Grand Waldo Spa- Went back to the Spa, did the same shower/jacuzzi/buffet routine and did some research for the following day. I read about Macau Motor Sports, the go-kart track nearby, and decided I would go there the next day. Watched some TV in the TV room and slept.

SUNDAY

* Bad experience with the Grand Waldo staff- After getting a painful but liberating "rub cleaning" (back scrub), I checked out of the Spa around noon and spoke to the staff about Macau Motor Sports. They said they would help me arrange transport. I asked if the driver could wait for me, they said he could not. But he could drive me there and after I finish, I can call him to pick me up. I agreed and paid for both rides in advance (2 x $100 = $200). So the driver and I went there, only to find that it's closed for repairs until next month. I went back with the driver expecting to get a $100 refund, but nope, the staff said they could not refund anything. The correspondence with the staff was very frustrating, for two reasons:

1. the language barrier. I was trying to explain to the supervisor that I paid for two rides (the driver would drop me off and go back to the hotel, then pick me and go back to the hotel) but only used one and therefore should receive $100 back. Even with the staff translating, I think some things were lost in translation and that obv didn't help.

2. it was really hard to keep calm and not cause a scene. The supervisor showed me utter disrespect and the worst service ever by leaving the premises multiple times without any notice. This made me very upset and I really had to make an effort to not cause a scene or make him lose face. After a while of back and forth, they finally refunded me saying that they would only make this exception once. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that it was such a clear refund situation that their stance on the situation just baffled me. Went to the PokerStars poker room afterward to find that there were zero tables running on a Sunday afternoon. Disappointing again.

* The Wynn, the best casino in town imo- I wanted to play some poker so I decided to go to the Wynn. From what I heard, the poker room had opened only a few days earlier. The Wynn is extremely nice, looks similar to the Vegas Wynn but much bigger and cleaner/newer. It has a water show like the Vegas Bellagio and inside one of the entrances, there is a huge ceiling thing with sculptures of the 12 Zodiac animals. It is incredibly detailed and ****ing cool as ****. I played poker, but found the rake to be killer. At 25/50, they take 5% out of every pot, capped at $200. I'm not sure if it's profitable in the long run. Anyway, I got all my money with A5cc against Q9o on a JT6cc flop and he got there on the river so I left. But I left very impressed with the Wynn. Easily the best casino in town and so far my favorite casino in the world.

* Grand Waldo Arcade, hours of fun- So after losing all my money, I had some time to kill. I just went to the arcade in the Grand Waldo Hotel and played video games for about three hours. There was one game called "Jambo! Safari" that I couldn't stop playing. You drive a car and hunt animals with a rope. Very, very fun. I split up the rest of the time playing Crazy Taxi, Initial D, Capcom vs SNK, Photo Hunt, and some rhythm based games. So that's it. Flew back Sunday night and I'm back in Manila now. It didn't feel like I did a lot, but after doing this write-up I realize I saw a lot of things in only 2.5 days. Anyway, time to work on my Singapore and Vietnam trip reports as those are long overdue.

-Paul B.