Exploring the glitzy side of Macau

28 March 2013 

After exploring the historic part of Macau, it was a short walk from the Largo de Senado towards the towering Grand Lisboa hotel and casino to start our exploration of the glitzy side of Macau.

The casinos are located close to one another, much like Las Vegas or Reno in the USA. So, we decided to go hotel hopping and admire the decors.

Our first stop was the Grand Lisboa.

Beautifully lit facade with moving and ever changing colour lights.

The decor at the lobby of the Grand Lisboa was impressive. The “must-see” items were the fine displays of carvings on mammoth tusks!

Monkey King and his entourage carved on a single mammoth tusk at Grand Lisboa Macau.

One carving was that of the Monkey King with his entourage of monkeys.

The other carving was that of the Great Wall of China. I did not bring my DLSR for this trip, so the I took some photos and videos of the exquisite piece of art work with my Galaxy S3 smartphone.

Carving of Great Wall of China on a mammoth tusk

The piece of work of the Great Wall took 6 years by more than 10 expert craftsmen, including onsite surveys, research and examination of the actual Great Wall of China. It includes scenes portraying everyday life of locals in great exquisite details.

Further in, there is a golden dragon boat. Again, the fine craftsmanship and details were amazing.

Gold dragon boat at Grand Lisboa Macao.

Across the road from the Grand Lisboa is the Casino Lisboa.

 
Bright lights of Casino Lisboa.

We only admired the lights on the facade of the Casino Lisboa and did not venture into the place. Further-on, we came to the Wynn Macau and a view of a brightly lit bridge linking old Macau to the new developments in the Cotai district.

Bridge linking old Macau to the new developments in the Cotai district. The Galaxy Macau integrated resort could be seen in the background.

There is a musical fountain outside which plays on a regular basis.
Musical fountain outside the Wynn Macau.

The music was nice and apt. Consoling the people who have parted with their money at the gambling tables; that they should “always look at the bright side of life”.

We went into the Wynn, hoping to find a restaurant for dinner but what we saw were only shops selling the luxury goods and another lobby with the 12 Chinese zodiac symbols on the domed roof, and the western zodiac on the floor.

12 Chinese zodiac symbols on the domed roof of Wynn Macau. Western zodiac ( Capricorn, Leo, etc..) were on the floor.

Fierce tiger and the smart rabbit, and playful monkeys and rats all over.

Moving on, we came to the Star World, which offers free and frequent shuttle bus services to and from the Galaxy Macau located in Cotai.  So, from the world of Stars we went to the bigger world of Galaxies! There were more shops, restaurants located at the Galaxy integrated resort. 

The chandelier at the lobby of the Galaxy seems to create the impression of millions of stars as in a galaxy.

Model of the Galaxy Macau integrated resort showing the scale of the development. Massive.

We finally had our dinner at the Gusto, a Portuguese restaurant since we wanted to try some Portuguese food at Macau. Good service, ambience but the African Chicken dish was not to my liking. I found the meat too dry and overdone and the sauce had a unique flavour. The curry prawn was also quite unique and tasted good with steamed rice.

If we had more energy, we would have explored the Galaxy a bit more. Instead, we decided to take the short bus ride (Free of Charge, of course) back to the Venetian Macau, our hotel in Cotai, Macau.