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JT House
A fusion of Asia and the WestWow, I can’t believe it’s come to this, the last few days of this monumental adventure. It seems like only 5 minutes ago we were sitting down first thinking about the idea.
Well here we are back in Bangkok, our hub for Asia and probably the heart of this winter. The reason for our brief return is twofold, it’s about 5 times the price to fly directly from Saigon to Macau rather than back to Bangkok then over to Macau, which is double the distance. What it does do though is give Lisa the change to ‘Jimmy Choo’ shop. Yep, the ladyboys of Patpong market are in for a visit. As this is our last ‘proper’ Asia stop on the tour, pressies need to be purchased and where better than the knock off stalls of Bangkok’s notorious street. Armed with a plan she shopped and shopped and shopped some more and leaving the stallholders in tears the JC handbags were procured. Only the excess baggage costs to think about now.
The next day we finally, after about 6 visits to the city, managed to get to the Jim Thomson house. JT was the ‘father’ of Thai silk, an American
Slumming It
We're lucky they let us in really who fell in love with Thailand, understandably, and made a very healthy living exporting these beautiful silks to the world. We had already walked the hills where he had mysteriously disappeared in 1967 in the Cameron Highlands but never found the time to visit his former home in the city. He collected 6 traditional Thai buildings and brought them to the capital and, being a former architect, combined the lovely building with some more modern western techniques and created a unique home that survives to this day. The house is a showcase for his obvious love of Thai and Asian art and design and well worth a stop if you are in the city, it’s a 5 minute walk from the Siam & MBK centres so culture and shopfest all in one.
That’s it then, ta ta Thailand, another wonderful country with wonderful people, beautiful scenery, stunning beaches, magnificent mountains, fabulous food. We’re not going to talk about the downside, it’s there but you know what, we really don’t care. It’s a magical place.
Hello Macau. We decided that as we had seen most that Hong Kong has to offer we’d end our trip indulging in a little
Not too shabby
The only comfy bed in Asia bit of luxury in Asia’s Vegas. We arrived at our chosen hotel and flippin heck, we really weren’t sure they would let us in, with 7 months of travel dust and laden down with backpacks (and Jimmy Choos). We must have looked a sight wandering into the magnificent Venetian Macau but as the credit card checked out nothing else really mattered, this is Asia after all. We made our way to our appointed suite and flippin heck, again, it was huge. Our room was larger than a number of the towns that we had stayed in and gobsmackingly fantastic. Yep, this was going to be a nice way to end the trip.
We unpacked, what a luxury, Lisa ironed (heaven) and we then set off to explore Venice. Back in 1979, before Lisa fell for Chris’s charms, we were both in Venice on the same cruise and the Venetian was a damn good reproduction of the canals and the store fronts and they could all be enjoyed without having to wade through the sewage laden flood waters of the original. OK so St Marks isn’t as impressive but the coffee is cheaper. I believe that this is the biggest
Senado Sq
Little Lisbon? casino complex in the world, the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the fifth-largest building in the world. Walking around it takes more time than some cities we’ve visited. It is split into 3 districts, the Grand, Marco Polo and San Luca, has 3 canals complete with serenading gondoliers and shops, millions of them. The casino was packed during the day but strangely much emptier at night, day trippers from Hong Kong seem to form a large part of the clientele.
Keen to see the real Macau, as our luxury abode was part of the new Cotai Strip, still being built on the island of Taipa, we hopped on a bus to Macau ferry port then another to one of the original casinos in Macau itself. Macau is a former Portuguese colony, attached to the massive Guangdong province of China and was the first and last European colony in China. After being handed back in 1999, it remains, like Hong Kong, a special administrative region. Unlike Hong Kong, it seems to be almost completely reliant on gambling and tourism but it can’t be a bad place to live because apparently Macau has the second highest life expectancy
Wot no Church
The most photographed place in Macau in the world. We hopped off and headed for ‘old’ Macau. I think we half expected little old alleys of Portuguese shop houses with that urban mix of Chinese and European history but apart from a few restored buildings around Senado Sq it’s a fairly shabby centre. Enough to keep you amused for a couple of hours but not much more. We wandered up to the famous ruins of St Pauls, a bit of a mecca for Macau tourists judging by the amount of people there and we meandered slowly through the impressive Monte Fort whose fantastic cannons stand ready to blow apart the Hilton or Wynn should the regime change. Back down through the myriads of shops selling, well we aren’t really sure what meat it was but there was lots of it, up past the picturesque Cathedral and back down to modern Macau, the incredible Grand Lisboa Casino. You wander inside this hotel and wonder why so many security guards then, in front of you, is the biggest diamond we have ever seen, part of the personal collection of the owner, and one of the world’s richest men, Stanley Ho and at 218 carats is one of the
Stunning Carving
It's criminal a beautiful elephant gave his life for this but what a work of art biggest in the world. A stroll around the lobby of the hotel is better than a trip to many galleries and museums because on display are ivory & jade carvings that take your breath away with their beauty. Art of such intricate elegance that you simply have to stand, quietly, and admire. What a shame most people simply rush through to their rooms or the gaming floor. Like so many of the best things this trip we walked in here by chance and ended up being rewarded with a memory that will stay with us forever.
Culture over, it was back to the pampering. A quick session in the gym before a relaxing evening in the hotel and the online check- in that really said ‘you are going home’. Not before one final treat. For our last night we had booked tickets to see the new show Zaia by Cirque du Soleil at the Venetian and we are really, really going to struggle to describe how simply fantastic it was. All centred around a central theme of a journey to far off worlds before returning and sharing the joys. The acrobats, trapeze artists, tumblers, skaters and dancers produced a
Just one
Cornetto !!!! feast of entertainment that made us both feel like little kids again, such was our unbounded joy at what we were watching. Asians don’t tend to clap, we did, and sometimes we were the only ones but when for an hour and a half you are constantly exclaiming “Wow” or grinning like a Cheshire cat, the people who provided this pleasure deserved our applause. It was amazing.
Not quite over, Macau is all about one thing, gambling, and it was time to indulge. Lisa retired to the suite to watch the wedding and Chris ventured forth. Well it’s all about entertainment but Chris seems to be lucky more often than not and after about 3 hours found himself a few of hundred quid up, this is where the casino’s really come into their own and the excitement, combined with copious amounts of free alcohol meant all but £50 had been handed back to them by the time he called it a night (or morning). Still, not a bad result anyway.
Macau isn’t the new Vegas despite the claims from Asia, it may be the profitable future of the industry, it may be better for serious gamblers, we don’t
You call me dog
but that was the real Rialto know but Vegas is a fun town for everyone. Staying at one end of the strip and ambling along to the other, stopping in all the different hotels along the way. They both have their darker side, the adult side, but Vegas manages, on the surface at least, to welcome all with open arms. Having said that, it was a great way to end the holiday, luxury pampering, terrific entertainment and a bit of mindless fun. Now just the journey home.
We caught the ferry over to Hong Kong and made use of the brilliant in town check-in. You can check in up to 24hrs before your flight on either Hong Kong Island or Kowloon and then spend the rest of the day enjoying the city without the hassle of baggage, corking idea, BAA take note. So with the best part of 12 hrs to kill we set off around Kowloon again, the hustle and bustle that last time seemed so foreign, so Asian, now seems quite polite and almost western. We ended up at the Hong Kong Science museum where there was an interesting Einstein exhibition and some brilliant exhibits, like the rest of the trip, we were
Still madly in Love
even after all this time big kids for a few hours. A final visit to Hong Kong’s stunning waterfront to watch the incredible lightshow, a final ferry ride across the river and it was off to the airport for the long final leg and thankfully this was with Cathay Pacific, not Virgin like last time. Even in economy, there’s good leg room, the seats in front can’t invade your space and the food and drink are good. All in all it turned out to be a decent flight and served as a reminder of when Asia does things well, it does things very well.
We won’t tell you about the welcome Blighty had in store for us, makes Cambodia almost appealing. Ask us about it when you see us.
And here we are ... home. What an amazing adventure. Is this the end? Who knows. We’ll write one final blog entry soon, before reality (and the cold) stifle the desire but just in case we don’t thanks for staying with us, it’s been a pleasure sharing this voyage we hope you’ve enjoyed it too.
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Anna
non-member comment
You are both so selfish...Now you have insisted on ending your travels, what am I going to read regularly to both entertain and educate me on the world??!! Can't believe you have stopped!!!! Shall miss these updates a lot, thank you.