Macao is the up-and-coming locale in the Far East for hotel & casino development. Macao actually surpassed Las Vegas in casino revenues back in 2007, but development continues. The “Cotai Strip” is destined to be equivalent or even better than the Las Vegas strip.
Macao is made up of two distinct areas Macao itself, which is connected to mainland China. And Tapai, which is an island connected to Macao by three different bridges. Tapai is the area of intense development right now. There were no less than 10 hotels/casinos being built there now. All the big names are there. Sands, Wynn, MGM, etc.
Ever since I took my first trip to Las Vegas in 2003, the only game I play is Craps. Its an awesome game. You feel like you’re part of a team, because typically the entire table is winning or the entire table is losing. Compare that to Blackjack, where you play individually against the dealer.
The Chinese must not be big with Craps. I had a really hard time finding it in Macao. They do love their Baccarat, and they do love Sic Bo. Without a doubt, over 50% of the table games in Macao are Baccarat.
There are over 40 casinos in Macao. I went to (9) of them in search of Craps. Here’s what I found:
Sands Cotai Strip – has 1 Craps table at Himalaya Casino (located in the Conrad). The other casino in the Sheraton only had electronic craps.
The Plaza Casino @ The Four Seasons hotel – has 1 Craps table. This hotel is also connected to the Venetian, which is the area’s largest (actually world’s largest) casino. I didnt get to the Venetian, but I’m betting there is a craps table in there.
Wynn Macao – The Wynn in Macao has 1 Craps table. Wynn is also opening another hotel/casino on the Cotai Strip. I think it’ll be done in 2015. They were putting steel in when I visited today.
Starworld – No craps. No blackjack either. Tons of Sic Bo and of course Baccarat. They also have 6-foot tall Asian women at every entrance and every escalator/elevator as ambassadors. Its a stark difference between the security at the other facilities.
L’Arc Casino – No craps. No blackjacks. Primarily a Baccarat casino.
MGM Macao – Lots of Baccarat, Sic Bo, 3 Card Poker, two Blackjack tables, three Caribbean Stud tables, and they only had electronic Craps. MGM is opening a new casino on the Cotai Strip as well. I think it’ll be done in 2015.
Lisboa & Grand Lisboa – No craps. The typical Macao casino: Baccarat, Sic Bo, Carribean Stud, Money/Fruit Wheel, and a few Blackjack tables.
There are about 30 other casinos in Macao. Maybe next trip I’ll get to try them all and find more Craps tables.
Also to note, while despite being in Macao, and the currency is the Pataca (MOP), none of the casinos accept Patacas. You must gamble in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). The HKD has an exchange rate of 1 USD to 7.76 (fixed), and MOP has an exchange rate of 1 HKD to 1.02 MOP (fixed). Both – HKD and MOP are treated essentially at the same exchange rate. Taxis will accept HKD and give back change in MOP. Hotels will convert for you (and also casino cages) but you’ll pay a penalty, despite the two currencies being almost identical. If you’re getting money at an ATM, be sure to get HKD not MOP or RMB.
I dont know where I originally heard of them, perhaps my friend Sarah who loves candy, but I decided to spend a few hours trying to locate the illustrious Green Tea Kit Kat, which are only available in Japan. So, after checking out mini-mart after mini-mart in my travels this week, I came across NO Kit Kat at all. Not even the normal chocolate American ones. Feeling defeated, I turned to Google where I should have started with in the first place.
There were several blogs I found which talked about where to find these mysterious candies, and all of them said go to Tokyo Station. So I headed there. Mind you, Tokyo Station is the largest train station in Tokyo (home to two subway lines, a monstrous JR Railways line, the Shinkansen (bullet trains), and a dozen other train lines.
Tokyo Station is also enormous. Its much larger than Grand Central Terminal in NYC, in physical size (though GCT has more train lines). I also went there around 6pm, when it was rush hour. Wikipedia tells me that 400,000 people move through Tokyo Station every day, while only 100,000 move through Grand Central. Yeah, its that insane.
So, back to Kit Kat. Several blogs said go to Tokyo Station Central, and you’ll find the gift shop. Keep in mind thats like saying “Go to O’Hare airport and you’ll find your plane” without giving any other direction. Finding this gift shop was impossible, but I was determined. I wandered around the entire first floor of Tokyo Station, starting on the Marunouchi side, and ending on the Yaesu side. I went into every single store – and there must be 25 gift shops, confectionary stores, and food stores on the first level inside the JR Station… No one had these darn Kit Kat. I turned back to Google.
Finally someone on another blog said, “its easy to find, its on level B1 next to ‘Ramen Row’ ” – well hell, I was on level 1. No wonder I couldnt find it. Down the flight of stairs towards the Tokyo Metro line I go.
I head towards a map of level B1 (called B1F, since every floor in Tokyo ends in F). Holy crap, B1 is twice as large as the first floor. I start hoofing it around. I cover every square inch of B1F, and no damn Kit Kat. Finally, I stop and ask someone who looks official, and show them a picture of the Green Tea Kit Kat. She says, “Outside the terminal”. Good grief, are you kidding me? None of these blogs said it was outside the terminal. She points towards the terminal exit, and away I go.
Of course, I had scanned my Suica card to get into the terminal, and since I was now leaving without going on a train, the card got denied. I had to see an agent, and they had to manually let me out. I finally head into an area called 1st Avenue Tokyo Station (http://www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/en/) – no, there is no 1st Avenue street, we’re still underground. Its just the name of the area of over 100 shops. I keep on walking around aimlessly…. and where is that damn “Ramen Row” that the blogs kept on talking about that the Gift Shop was near? Ugh.
Finally, my nose directs me to and area of food. I wouldnt call this “Ramen Row” its not like there’s 100 noodle shops. But, I walk in that direction anyway. Finally, right at the end of this concourse, I see the damn Gift Shop. And the Kit Kat are right in front. After about an hour of wandering this train station, I had come to the end.
So, if you’re every in Tokyo, and you want to find Green Tea Kit Kat, follow these directions precisely. Ignore every other blog.
1) Head to Tokyo Station. If you’re arriving by train, and you’re inside the station (either by Metro) or by JR, head to level B1F and skip to step 3. If you’re arriving from outside, enter inside the station (you’ll have to swipe your Pasmo or Suica card. Dont worry, you wont be charged).
2. Depending on what door you entered, head downstairs to B1F (follow the signs to the Marunoushi Underground). Once you get downstairs, you’ll head East and actually exit the JR station. You’ll have to swipe your Pasmo/Suica card and you’ll get denied (because you entered and exited at the same station) so see the attendant and he’ll let you out. Look for signs taking you towards Yaesu exits.
3. You’re now in whats called 1st Avenue Tokyo Station shopping area (http://www.tokyoeki-1bangai.co.jp/en/index.html). There’s about a 100 stores here. Head towards the Yaesu South exit. You’ll walk past a bunch of restaurants. This is called Ramen Street. Keep walking all the way to the end of the corridor.
4. Once you reach the end, turn left, and the shop will be immediately on your right. Kit Kat are facing the corridor.
After all of that, I couldnt just buy 1 flavor. There were 10 there. So, I bought 7 of them. I skipped the odd ones (Wasabi Flavor? Red Bean Sandwich?) but I did get:
- Citrus Golden Blend
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Rum Raisin
- Strawberry
- Strawberry Cheesecake
- Brown Sugar Syrup
- as well as the Green Tea that I originally came here for.
Here’s some excellent reading which should get you shaking your head… this is from a forum I follow called flyertalk.
Poster GeorgeBurdell:
About a month ago, I had a car reserved in Charlotte. I received the email as I was sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting to board my flight to CLT. I saw that Avis had not upgraded me as an Avis First should have been. I called the location and asked the person who answered if they could go ahead and swap me out for an upgraded car. They refused to do it and told me I’d have to come inside when I got there to do that. The conversation continued on for a little while as I attempted to point out that he could just switch the reservation to the upgrade as they should have done already. Finally, I gave up. Even the guy sitting next to me was shaking his head at the stupidity of the conversation. This was also not what I expected since Avis in Charlotte has generally treated me very well in the past and upgraded me to some nice cars.
When I arrived in CLT at Avis, I noticed a Ford Escape on the upgrade line. It didn’t have any upgrade price on it and I’ve been upgraded to these from an intermediate rental many times in the past. Irritated at being told I’d have to come inside for an upgrade, I grabbed it and headed out. For some reason (which I found out why later), the gate person had to do some paperwork before he gave me the agreement.
I didn’t check the receipt when I returned it the next day since I trusted Avis and knew they’d email me one. Little did I suspect that they had grossly overcharged me for my rental.
The next week, I was reconciling expense reports and saw a charge for $190 come through. I thought it was for a full week rental so I billed it to my customer in Denver.
The following weekend, I was reviewing my Amex statement and noticed that the charge of $190 was for a ONE DAY rental in Charlotte of the Escape. Now I’ve billed this to a customer in my company’s expense system. Understand that it’s really difficult to back out an expense once it’s gone through.
I had already dinged Avis on the survey they sent me. The station manager had responded and apologized for the lack of customer service. So I sent him an email and outlined the issue and asked him to fix the charge so it reflected the correct amount of $40. He replied back the next day and said he’d take care of it. That was the last I heard from him.
So 2 weeks later, I called Amex and disputed the charge. Meanwhile, after numerous internal emails to my admin staff and my time, I managed to get the credit from Amex associated to the correct internal account and so forth.
After this lovely little incident, I decided to move my business to Hertz.
A hilarious response soonthereafter from WIRunner:
Okay, let me summarize this, and make changes as you see fit.
1, You’re Avis First and wanted a complimentary upgrade for your rental.
2, You were upset that they wouldn’t upgrade you over the phone and had asked you to go inside to request an upgrade and receive your paperwork for the new car.
3, You chose to take a vehicle that was not issued to you assuming that you could just take your upgrade that you felt was yours.
4, when you got the new paperwork you chose to not look at the newly issued paperwork to review what charges you’d be billed for and then left.
5, when returning the vehicle you chose to not look at the amounts that you were billed for on the paper receipt.
6, when you finally got around to checking the amount due you were upset that a few weeks later it was larger than you anticipated, when this could have been resolved BEFORE leaving the airport.
7, you’re disputing this with Amex (which will likely not work)TL;DR – I was issued on rental car, and then took a different one with out asking about the cost and am now upset that it is $190 for the day.
Upcoming in the end of April & beginning of May, I’ll be taking a trip to Asia. Details are below. 21,686 miles in all.
Outbound to NRT (Tokyo):
| SYR (43°06’40″N 76°06’23″W) | CLT (35°12’49″N 80°56’57″W) |
603 mi |
| CLT (35°12’49″N 80°56’57″W) | LAX (33°56’33″N 118°24’29″W) |
2125 mi |
| LAX (33°56’33″N 118°24’29″W) | ICN (37°28’09″N 126°27’02″E) |
5994 mi |
| ICN (37°28’09″N 126°27’02″E) | NRT (35°45’55″N 140°23’08″E) |
783 mi |
| Total: |
9505 mi |
|
Syracuse to Charlotte – USAirways Flight 2815
Canadair Air 900 – First Class Seat 2A
Charlotte to Los Angeles – USAirways Flight 1487
Airbus A321 – First Class Seat 2D
Los Angeles to Seoul, Korea – Asiana Airlines Flight 201
Boeing 747 – First Class Seat 2K
Seoul, Korea to Tokyo – Asiana Airlines Flight 106
Boeing 747 – First Class Seat 2K
Intra-Asia:
| NRT (35°45’55″N 140°23’08″E) | ICN (37°28’09″N 126°27’02″E) |
783 mi |
| ICN (37°28’09″N 126°27’02″E) | HKG (22°18’32″N 113°54’53″E) |
1284 mi |
| Total: |
2067 mi |
|
Tokyo to Seoul, Korea – Asiana Airlines Flight 101
Boeing 747 – First Class Seat 2K
Seoul, Korea to Hong Kong – Asiana Airlines Flight 745
Boeing 747 – First Class Seat 2K
Home to Syracuse:
| HKG (22°18’32″N 113°54’53″E) | PEK (40°04’48″N 116°35’04″E) |
1234 mi |
| PEK (40°04’48″N 116°35’04″E) | LAX (33°56’33″N 118°24’29″W) |
6251 mi |
| LAX (33°56’33″N 118°24’29″W) | PHL (39°52’20″N 75°14’27″W) |
2401 mi |
| PHL (39°52’20″N 75°14’27″W) | SYR (43°06’40″N 76°06’23″W) |
228 mi |
| Total: |
10114 mi |
|
Hong Kong to Beijing – Air China Flight 118
Airbus A321 – First Class Seat 2C
Beijing to Los Angeles – Air China Flight 987
Boeing 777-300ER – First Class Seat 2A
Los Angeles to Philadelphia – USAirways Flight 716
Airbus A321 – First Class Seat 2D
Philadelphia to Syracuse – USAirways Flight 4016
Bombardier Dash 8-100 – Coach Class Seat 2C
The DYKWIA is the best kind of traveler. They think they are important. They think they spend a lot of money on their travels. They think they are better than you. They are the “Do You Know Who I Am?” traveler.
- You may have seen them in line checking in, arguing with the gate agent.
- You may have seen them trying to bring on 4 carry-on bags
- You may have seen them still using their blackberry when the plane is taking off down the runway.
- You may have seen them trying to go places they shouldnt be (first class check-in areas, special TSA lines, etc.)
You may have noticed that the DYKWIA really isnt an important person. Its just that they *think* they are important. After all, we’re all on a flight, trying to get from point A to point B. Once I’m at the airport, i’m just one of many, just trying to get home.
So, last week, I encountered a classic DYKWIA on board a flight from Boston to Charlotte. I had already boarded first (one of many Star Alliance Gold Preferred perks), and was sitting in my seat on an Airbus A319, I believe around seat 7C. A few people behind me, this gentleman comes walking down the aisle and proceeds to take seat 5D. This guy then takes his sweet old time, taking off his jacket, putting his bag in the overhead, then stuffing his jacket in the overhead, then getting his laptop bag arranged, all while still standing in the aisle.
This drives me bonkers. 1) if you’ve traveled on a plane in the last 20 years, you hear the flight attendants asking you to “please step out of the aisle and allow passengers to pass while you put your bags away”. 2) have some decency, you’re holding up an entire line of people trying to get home.
So after what felt like 10 minutes, but was probably only 90 seconds, I had to yell out, “Hey buddy, there’s 100 people behind you trying to board. Move out of the aisle!”
Startled, he responded, “I’m trying to get situated” to which I responded, “yeah, its not always about you”.
To be honest, I thought I was going to get a rousing round of applause from the other passengers, but perhaps it was just Friday afternoon, and people just wanted to get home… I didnt get a round of applause. Oh well. It was a small win that I’ll have to keep personally.
So today’s rant about plane travel…
Airlines have been charging for checked bags for over 10 years now. Its a fact of life. We all should have gotten used to it.
What has this done for air travel? Made folks carry-on their bags to avoid the $25-$35 fee for your first checked bag. In the past, people used to bring on their backpacks, their small rollerboards, perhaps even a stroller. Today, people bring their bags that are the sized of a medium sized cow.
There are wonderful bag sizers at check-in, at the gate, and yet no one cares. Because they are going to save $35 and force whatever they can into the overhead compartment with no care. Its all about the Benjamins, right?
So – no biggie. You want to stuff your oversized bag into a compartment that was designed to hold your teddy bear? Ok with me. But, dont get on the plane, and then struggle to lift this bag over your head, and look around the cabin for help. You knew you were going to lift that beast of a bag when you packed it. You consciously saved yourself $35 to bring it aboard.
Tough luck buddy, you’re going to have to put that over your head yourself. I’m not helping.
brettology.com 