Macau: The Culture and the Casinos

I've always wanted to set my foot on Macau. As a nation I find it rich and bound by unique and conflicting cultures. The Portuguese colonized Macau in the 16th century, hence influencing a lot of Macau's food, culture, even the language. As a Filipino whose country was colonized by the Spaniards, Macau made me curious. I wanted to find out how Macau fared after all these years, how the the eastern and western culture mixed, is it somehow similar here in the Philippines, that sort of thing. Heck, I've always wanted to visit Mexico and Brazil since their history of being colonized by Spaniards/Portuguese is similar like ours.
In this trip, having been to Hong Kong, a day trip to Macau seemed nice, if not refreshing. I was actually raring to see a lot of sights. But nobody prepared me for the adventure that awaited me.

See, apart from the Portuguese inlfuence in Macau the country is also known as the Las Vegas of Asia. And why is that? Since the turn of the millenium casinos had sprouted in Macau, making gambling the main attarction for tourists! High rise hotels and casinos abound and dot the city's night sky! With the opening of Sands Macau which is considered to be the biggest casino in the world, it even beat Las Vegas in gambling revenues in 2006!

Coming from Hong Kong, my friend and I took the free shuttle to The Venetian Hotel. It's a hotel with a huge mall inside where people can actually sight see and window shop. Deeper on is the main entrance to the casino. It was my first time to enter a casino, and my first time to actually play.

 
Okay so the tokens are relatively cheap (only 5 Macau dollars) so I was able to play on and on with the slot machines. But during my second try...I won 100 dollars!!! Thank God for making me set my foot on Macau, and thank God for casinos, hehe.