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August 30, 2005
Update from northern Thailand
CHIANG MAI, NORTHERN THAILAND -- The world has changed. Young monks here in this city in Thailand's hilly far north, clad in orange robes, now wear photo-IDs around ancient temples. They look like Mr. Smithers at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. I'm just glad I made it, since I left my passport at the hotel this morning and nearly missed the flight. (And I left a bag with $50 of new clothes on a plane last night; I think it's a loss.)
Macau is changing, too. The tiny territory, ruled by Portugal for over four centuries before being handed to the Chinese in 1999, is undergoing massive development as two new American casinos come on board. Mini Mao (John), The Columbian (Claudia), and I took a jet-ferry there from Hong Kong on Saturday to check it out.
The gambling market is almost entirely mainland Chinese playing a mixture of both US and Chinese games, with baccarat by far the most widely-played. We pooled our money and bought a MOP5 token (that's about 75 cents US), dropped it into a strange machine, pressed some buttons, and quickly got a "game over" message. So now I have been gambling in Macao and Stockholm, and I lost it all every time.
Macao also sports a well-preserved old town, where roast piglet, the latest cosmetics, and antique furniture are all on offer. Claudia thought it looked like downtown Cali, hometown of her and the infamous drug cartel, probably because of the Iberain influence on both places. The southern end of Macao is undeveloped, offering a relief and haven from Hong Kong's teeming Times-Square-like streets. A taxi from one end of the territory to the other runs just $10, so we took it to the far southern beach and enjoyed a great Portugese dinner.
As for Hong Kong, well, Hong Kong deserves to be experienced from multiple angles. The best angle is from above: either in a bank's offices or from the Peninsula Hotel. We stopped by two major banks in HK to chat with their folks about the Chinese business climates, though we also spent a significant amount of time taking pictures from their offices high over Victoria Harbour. The Peninsula is Hong Kong's old grand hotel, almost always mentioned as one of the world's top 5 hotels. I don't know if that is true--the lobby crowd is rather touristy--, but the drinks were outstanding. I suggest the Lady in Red, made with lychees and perfectly balanced yet stunning like a beautiful woman. After 6PM, the Peninsula's bar at Felix is a must-visit. The crowd is of the international jet set variety, enjoying 28th floor views over the harbour in a Philippe Starck interior.
A number of members of our group decided to finagle their way past the "polite but firm" door staff at Felix both nights in Hong Kong. However, on the first night, Mini Mao, the Columbian, and I met one of Mini Mao's buddies at a Shanghaiese supper club for a more typical Chinese banquet than one usually gets in god-forsaken hotel restaurants. From there, we walked up to one of Hong Kong's few bar streets and found ourselves at a trendy Scandinavian lounge. The nightclub crowd in Hong Kong is fairly rigidly split: expats and tourists in one area, native Hong Kongers in another.
What else?
- I flew down to Bangkok on Ethiopian Airways. I thought that Indians traveled heavily, but Ethiopians take the cake. One guy tried to check 16 rice bags full of stuff, then complained when he was presented with a US$1200 bill for excess baggage.
- I have been offered prostitutes more times than I care to recall. Our night on the Bund in Shanghai was particularly bad, so I insisted that Salonika walk beside me the entire night. The Bund is the riverwalk established by wealthy western traders; today it is dominated by trendy restaurants and clubs overlooking the skyline.
- Alessandro has posted some pictures; mine are coming next week.
Posted by adrianjo at August 30, 2005 06:04 AM
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