I will be posting tons of details and photos later on.  But for now, a quick recap.

How long was I in Macau?  44 hours

Is it actually “Macau” or “Macao”?  I am glad you asked.  I have seen it spelled as both and you just gave me the perfect way to have both spellings in here for web searches.

Where did I stay?  Hotel Lisboa.  I picked it because I loved the way it looked.  My impression of Macau before I got here was that it looked more like Reno than Las Vegas.  Judging from the area outside my hotel, I nailed it.

How much was my hotel?  $267.84 USD.  I just had to do it.  It was totally worth it.

How much money did I spend in addition to my hotel?  $433 HKD = $55.85 USD

What did I spend that on?  

Biggest expense: Ferry from Macau to Shenzhen.  $222 HKD ($28.63 USD)

McDonalds:  $18 HKD ($2.32 USD)  Yes I ate McDonalds in China.  Cry about it.

Starbucks:  $40 HKD ($5.16 USD)  Venti Green Tea Frappucino mmmmmmmmm

Croissant and Blueberry Cheesecake at my hotel: $40 HKD ($5.16 USD)

Cabs: $115 HKD ($14.83 USD) I hate taking cabs and pretty much never do.  In Macau, you can get between casinos for free by taking the shuttles each one has, to the ferry terminal.  Then you switch to a shuttle to the casino you want to go to from there.  I decided that since I was on top of a big win, I would splurge for a cab.  It was so hot out.  But guess what?  Even on a Monday night there are more people in line for a cab than there is on a Saturday night in Las Vegas on a fight night.  No joke.  So I burned anyway.  And then took a cab back and suffered the same fate.

That doesn’t seem like a lot for two days.  It really isn’t.  My hotel had a free mini bar with drinks, plus the casinos have bottles of water out for customers.  So I didn’t have to pay for that.  I tried to eat at my hotel restaurant and the waitress never took my order so I didn’t spend money there.  Macau’s main attractions other than gambling are free.

Why are you typing as if you are having a conversation with anyone other than yourself?  Because suck it, that’s why.

Things I brought that are no longer with me:  I am down half a bag of mixed nuts I was saving for Tibet.  They were my dinner the first night I got here since the waitress at the restaurant in my hotel never took my order.  Three more packs of tissues have gone away.  I also ditched the sun hat since I kept forgetting it existed.

Things I accumulated along the way:  Two more tooth brushes.  My hotel, like the one in Hong Kong, gives you two tooth brushes a day with little tooth pastes.  I used two, am leaving with two.   I am also the new owner of a sewing kit, shaving kit and hair brush, courtesy of my hotel’s over toiletrie-ing.  Casino player’s cards from Lisboa, Wynn, MGM Grand and Sands.  New player sign up swag.  OH AND 7000 Hong Kong Dollars.  That is $900 USD.

Macau player’s cards:

Lisboa swag, a cookie and a little change purse:

Wynn gave me a little card holder:

MGM Grand gave me a fish pin:

Venetian gave me a key chain:

What are you going to do with the money you won?  Book a trip anywhere, obviously.

Would I return to Macau?  Maybe.  I would never in a million years sit at home and think “I want to go to Macau again!” and start pricing flights.  But if I were near here and could easily work it out, I would come back.

How many times did I have a Chinese person ask to take a picture with me?  One.

How many pictures did I take?  228.  Unfortunately, due to the extreme heat and humidity, my camera lens was fogged up both inside and out.  A lot of those 228 pictures look like this:

Can I show you one?  I just did.

Can I show you one where you can actually see anything in the picture?  Sure.  It took me a lot of walking all around this place to finally find a spot where you can fit all of Lisboa into one picture.

Bonus picture of my room view:
Want to read more about my trip?  Follow the links below!

Gambling parts one and two

Non gambling touristy stuff