Macau: The Asian Las Vegas

We took a short trip to the gambling Mecca of Asia, Macau. I'd been to Macau once when I was little and way before all of the casinos were built.

Macau was the first and last European colony in Asia. Settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau didn't fully go back to China until 1986. It has status similar to Hong Kong where it is quite an independent state with its own monetary system (MOP or pataca) and immigration rules (read: no visa required). You can see the centuries of Portuguese influence in some of the architecture and signage. Funny enough, I don't think any of the Chinese people here actually know any Portuguese.

Asians LOVE to gamble and Macau offers dozens of Vegas-esque casinos. Macau has surpassed Vegas in gaming revenue. Crazy, right? I told you Asians love to gamble. The Casino Lisboa is the oldest casino in Macau and has definitely seen better days. My mom says that is where the hookers are. I did not ask where she got that info.

We are staying at the Galaxy Casino complex, in the Japanese hotel. The world's largest rooftop wave pool is here! The bathroom in our room is at least as big, if not bigger, than the rest of the room. The toilet is heated with a very involved bidet system. I tried it, of course, and it wasn't as traumatic as I thought it might be, but it also did not change my life.

Casino Wins: $1
Casino Losses: $50

Galaxy Hotel and Casino

Roof top wave pool and fake beach

Fancy bathroom!  There were blinds along the glass divider. 

Toilet controls

Crystal Lobby

Diamond Fountain

Journey to the East: Eating my way through Taiwan

I survived the 19 hour flight to Taiwan and was rewarded with some of my favorite motherland eats in the first day: steamed buns, Peking duck, and pot stickers. Sadly, scallion pancake man did not have his cart out. It has been very cold and rainy so I really don't blame him. Plus, he's rich--there's a lot of money in a scallion pancake cart, apparently--so he really doesn't need to be out there anyways.

I saw a bunch of relatives including my one surviving great aunt (87 and still kicking), baby cousin Winny and her parents. Winny's dad is a dermatologist with the most fantastic skin. He also notices every single pimple and blemish and gives you tiny cryptically labelled jars of ointments. This time he came at me with a flashlight at the dining room table and pointed out pimples I did not even know I had. Ah, family! Also at their house were Wally and Shawn, their two fluff ball dogs. Wally is the fat one but he was shaved, so it was harder to tell the two apart.

I also lost the fight against jet lag. Around 3pm I was ready to have a meltdown. Napped for 3.5 hours. Back to bed by midnight, and now up at 5am watching Chinese music videos on MTV. And blogging using Mom's spotty bootleg wi-fi.

Today we'll be heading into Taipei and the next day we are off to the Las Vegas of Asia, Macau, to win big!

Peking Duck

Sushi made with the Peking Duck skin

Family

Pot stickers!!!

Wally, the fat one

Shawn

The view from above, a hamster wheel, and money, money, money!!!

I don't think you can visit Chicago and not go up on one of the observatories for a sky high view of the city.  We did both the John Hancock Building and the building formerly known as the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower).


The Sears Tower was the tallest in the world from 1973-1998. With 108 floors, it is 1,729 feet up to the tip of its antenna spire. It is still the tallest building in the United States. The observation deck (SkyDeck) is on the 103rd floor and includes glass balconies that are too freaky for me to stand on.

Skydeck! Wah.

The John Hancock Center ("Big John") is 1,500 feet up to the antenna spire and has 100 floors. It is the fourth tallest buildling in the United States, but when it was built in 1968 it was the tallest building in the world (for just a little bit.)  The observation deck has the worlds highest ice skating rink--it is very small and doesn't actually have ice--it has some synthetic material that you can skate on.  It was a sad sight.  But the sights out the windows were very nice--including the Sears Tower.

Window washing at the Hancock Building

Chicago at night

We made an afternoon trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. This was a fun museum with so much to see and do including a fake coal mine tour in the basement!  There was also a human-sized hamster wheel (RIP, Hammy), which was not quite as massive--or mobile--as I had hoped, but I still took a spin on it.



















And right before we headed back to NYC, we made a quick stop into the Money Museum at the Chicago Federal Reserve.  This was by far one of the favorite things we did on the trip.  Not only was the museum free, but it was very interactive.  I learned all about counterfeit money and how to spot it, and we made our own currency!  It was a Monday afternoon and we were the only visitors in there, and thus, we were asked if the Chicago Tribune could take photos of us at the different exhibits for an article they are doing on the museum.  I looked like hell, but how could I turn them down? Ha.  Will keep you posted if we actually make it into the article!

$$$

Chicago Taste Test!

Chicago is known for their eats, two of which I had planned on partaking of during this trip:

• Deep dish pizza 
• Italian beef sandwiches

Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time to eat a ton, but we did manage to have 2 of each to compare, and there were clear winners for both.  Now, before any of you die-hard foodies or hardcore Chigaoans get in a huff, I realize that "the best" is a difference of opinion.  It's just like New York City--everyone has their favorite pizza place (Zero Otto Nove) and bagel spot (Absolute Bagels), etc.

Deep Dish Pizza
Gino's East vs. Giordano's

Winner:  Giordano's
Pizza is all personal preference, and Gino's had been recommended to me by several people (and blogs). The funny thing is, as soon as we walked in, I realized I had been there years before when I was in high school.  We were on a family trip to Chicago and my older and wiser cousin David declared we HAD to go to Gino's.  I remember not being so impressed with their deep dish then, and this time around, some 20 years later, I was still not so impressed.

Giordano's had less thick of crust, but more toppings in their "stuffed" pizza.  The crust went down much more easily than at Gino's.  It was delicious.

Gino's East Deep Dish

Giordano's Stuffed Pizza

Italian Beef Sandwich
Al's vs. Portillo's

Winner: Al's
I've never had a Chicago Italian Beef sandwich, but my research indicated it was a must.  Lucky for us, there were at least three spots within walking distance from our hotel.  Unfortunately, there is only so much Italian beef sandwich you can eat in one meal.  Originally I had Mr. Beef on my list, but some of the blogs touted Portillo's (generally known for their hotdogs) as fantastic.  It was more of a tourist spectacle at Portillo's, but hands down, we enjoyed Al's (divey fast food) much more.  The meat may not have been as high quality, but the flavor and wetness from it being dipped in the meat juices, and the hot peppers were really good.  The french fries weren't bad either.

Al's Italian Beef

Portillo's Italian Beef

It is worth noting that we did not have any Chicago hot dogs.  I like my dogs with just ketchup, so all of those toppings would have been wasted on my simple tastes. However, I did have my very first Chick-fil-A ever.  It was a fancy one, but I would not say for all the hype, that it was life changing.

The not-so-windy city

5 and I headed to Chicago for my birthday weekend. Yes, I am fully aware that Chicago in January is a frostbite death wish, but airfares were super cheap and we wanted to get away Funny enough, it was almost 50 degrees here!

Day 1:
Arrive at Chicago O'Hare. I have 2 memories of this airport.
1) The toilets have a plastic seat cover that changes automatically.
2) Running (far) to catch a connecting flight. It's a big airport and connections are always in another corridor. Everyone I know has the same issue w ORD.

Getting to the subway was easy peasy and the fare card machines were exactly like NYC's. Then the epic train ride into town.

We checked in to our hotel and spent the next few hours walking around in the balmy weather.

Thanksgiving in the Peach State

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I did not spend Thanksgiving in New York City.  And for the first time, I went down to Atlanta.  My sister's in-laws are down there and she spends every Thanksgiving in Hotlanta, so my friend Melanie and I joined them.

We saw all of the major sights that were on our list:  Georgia Aquarium (whale sharks!), Zoo Atlanta (pandas!), and the World of Coca-Cola (soda galore!).  There were a few things we didn't have time for, many of them Civil War related (ahem, the Union won) but I am satisfied with what we did see.

Whale shark on top--world's largest fish species in the world.

Behind the scenes view of the gianormous tank
--it is about the size of a football field!  This tank is the world's
largest, holding 6.3 million gallons of water.

Melanie diving with the giant manta

While Melanie was getting ready for her big dive, I went to check out CNN.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for the guided studio tour.  And there were too many families in the lobby taking pictures with the big CNN logo so I didn't get a chance.

I also walked through Centennial Olympic Park, which serves to commemorate the Centennial Olympic Games (held in ATL back in 1996) as well as part of the revitalization of downtown Atlanta. There wasn't much except the Olympic ring fountain.

After the aquarium we headed across the plaza to World of Coca-Cola.  Atlanta (and perhaps Georgia itself) is Coke-Land.  I was actually shocked to see Pepsi sold in stores.  Highlights of the tour were photo ops with the Coke polar bear and Coke Mecca--getting to taste a ridiculous number of Coke products from around the world.  My faves were the bitter lemon from the UK (a zippier tasting Sprite) and gingerale from Africa--very gingery and zingy.  The biggest lesson learned?  Stay away from the fruity sodas.  Except for orange Fanta.

mmmmmm...Coca-Cola products from around the world...

Last but not least, we hit up Zoo Atlanta. 

Sleeping panda.  Actually, the other pandas
were very active, wandering around. 




 

 



Gorilla soap opera!  There was a lot of drama amongst the gorillas.  The big silverback alpha male was pounding his chest, two smaller males were trying to get to one of the females with a baby.  Then one took the baby and seemed to be using him as a shield from the silverback.  Craziness! 

Meerkats!

Day Tripping: OHNY

For some reason, I am usually out of town for Open House New York.  It's the one weekend chock full of behind the scenes (and not so behind the scenes) tours of places throughout the city.  This year I was around, so 5 and I got tickets to tour 7 World Trade and the future Moynihan Station in the current Farley Post Office building at 34th Street.

 7 WTC was the first tower rebuilt at the World Trade Center site post-9/11 (opened in 2006).  The building is 52 stories and houses a ConEd power substation. It is a certified green building and has enhanced safety construction (lessons learned from 9/11, I suppose.)  I have to say, the view from the 48th floor was amazing.  Granted, the southern view was of the 9/11 Memorial (sad), but the other views were pretty damn awesome. I was also very jealous of the fancy conference room up there. The ones at my work don't even have windows. At all.

North view from 7 WTC

e+5

5 at 7 WTC with 1 WTC behind him

9/11 Memorial

Taking charge in a conference room at 7 WTC

Moynihan Station will hopefully be the west side counterpart to Grand Central Station.  There are high hopes that it will outshine the strangely smelling hellish commuting mecca that is Penn Station. Construction has not begun, but Phase 1 will take at least four years to extend the rails from Penn Station through the Farley Post Office Building.  The budget for Phase 1 is $267 million. Yikes. One of the obstacles the project has faced is having so many stakeholders to placate: NYC, New York state, and federal levels, as well as the Post Office and many trains (Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit). Oh, and the Farley Building is landmarked, which limits the type of contruction for some parts of the buildling, and contruction can only take place at night and on weekends since train service cannot be disrupted.

I will be very curious to see how this turns out. It is possible that I will be pretty old by then.

What will one day be the central hall at Moynihan Station

Waiting in front of the rendering of Moynihan Station

Postal office after office in the Farley PO Building