Macau and Week 6

Apparently this blog has turned into more of a weekly update, but woe is life :-) Just wrapped up week 6 of my internship and only have two more left! I'll give a quick synopsis of last weekend and this past week... I've been incredibly busy this week working more with Prezi. As soon as I finished two decks, two other VPs called me into their office to brief me on a presentation that they want me to create involving the Greater China market landscape and how social media plays a prominent role. It will be a lot of research, but I'm up to the task. It's nice to be busy! They even mentioned hiring me as a freelancer once I'm back in the states to continue helping them. Looks like my skills are needed - Woo hoo!

Last weekend I ended up going to Macau - the gambling mecca of Asia - which surpassed Las Vegas as the world's top casino market. "Under the policy of 'one country, two systems'... Macau maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy." We took an hour ferry to reach this oasis in the South China Sea and, low and behold, HELLO LAS VEGAS! Of course there were other cultural sites too, like cathedrals, temples, the Ruins of St. Paul's and the Monte Fort, but then there were casinos bigger than Vegas. I'm not a big gambler so the day trip was mostly about exploring the city for me. We walked... and walked... and walked... It was incredibly hot, but we finally found a delicious Portuguese restaurant to quench our thirst and satiate our hunger. Macau is a former Portuguese colony and also both the first and last European colony in China so they are famous for their Portuguese cuisine. You will see in the pictures below that it looks just like Vegas, only with an Asian fusion. Also, Macau is home to the world's tallest bungee jump (see below). Next time I'm definitely doing that!

Streets of Macau

Monte Fort

A-Ma Temple built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu

The Ruins of St. Paul

Macau Skyline

Wynn Macau - opened in 2006

Venetian - opened in 2007 (Sixth largest building in the world by floor space)

MGM Grand Macau, etc. (Told you it's just like Las Vegas)

Famous Hotel Lisboa 

Macau Tower - World's tallest bungee jump (765 feet)

It was a long, tiring day on my feet, but I was told Macau is one of those places you need to visit while in Hong Kong. Now that I've been, I don't think I really need to go back unless its to bungee jump :-) The one downside was trying to get back to Hong Kong... We were going to take the midnight ferry, but the next available one didn't leave until 1:30am. Continuing with the theme of this summer, I just had to go with the flow... Cramming as much as I can into these last few weeks!