This is not Vegas....it's Macau! Part 1.

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Hello again.

I'm back in Hong Kong now, writing this after spending two nights in Macau.

My sense of direction has been horrible so far this whole trip, so my journey to Macau was no different! I took a cab from the hotel to the ferry terminal. After I bought my ticket to Macau I realized that the host couple I was staying with lives in Taipa - which is south of Macau and has it's own ferry terminal. I asked if I could have my tickets exchanged/refunded but was yelled at and told, "YOU TAKE SHUTTLE in MACAU! GO NOW!" LOL!! and that was exactly what I did! I got off at the Macau Ferry Terminal and took the hotel shuttle bus to City of Dreams. I remember in an email that she told me she lived about 5 mins from the City of Dreams.

As you are exiting the ferry terminal in Macau, there are tons of people waiting outside representing the various big name hotels (Venetian, MGM, Galaxy, Hard Rock, Hyatt, etc..) trying to get you to stay at their hotels. Not me! I wasn't planning on spending $200 bucks a night at those big fancy hotels. I found myself a very nice affordable apartment with a really nice couple to spend two nights with.

Finding their apartment however was a challenge. Their directions told me to inform the cab driver to take me to the "Manhattan" apartment complexes. Their place was across the street from the Manhattan. I was dropped off at the Manhattan but could not find their apartment. I walked up and down the street trying to find the Indian Restaurant that they say they were next to with no luck. The locals were no help either. No one spoke English or knew the street they lived on.

As I was about to give up, the concierge at one of the apartments came out and pointed to me to ask a man that was approaching the entrance. The man lived in the Manhattan and thank god he spoke english. His name was Jesus. Jesus is originally from Argentina but has been in Macau for six months managing a Thai Restaurant. He walked me to the location I was looking for and invited me to check out the Restaurant when I had time.

Meet Aaron & Marisa and their dog Levi. They are who I stayed with in Macau. Aaron is an acrobat/performer in the show the House of Dancing Water (http://thehouseofdancingwater.com/en/#/home) and Marisa is a Yoga Instructor. Both are Americans living in Macau for Aaron's job.

Aaron got me tickets to see his show - which was excellent! It's sorta like Cirque Du Soleil performed in water with a revolving stage that becomes a pool and changes to a dry stage.

The first night in Macau I watched The House of Dancing Water and walked around the City of Dreams casino. I also watched another 15 minute 3-D show called the Dragon's Treasure. It was an animated show in a round, floor to ceiling room that was 360 degrees. Pretty awesome.

Hope everyone is enjoying the blog so far. I'll continue with the second part to Macau tomorrow as it is getting late here and I have an early day to see one more thing before my 430pm flight to Vietnam.

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