Macao – More Than a Slot Machine

Wednesday, 01 October 2008 19:09 Regional Getaways

Cirque de Soleil is opening in Macau adding to both the entertainment options and lively exapt scene. AsiaLIFE HCMC’s Fiona Stalker reports on drinking with clowns and going local style in one of Asia’s glitziest destinations.

From the moment you land on the reclaimed land that houses Macau’s new, shining airport it is clear the group of odd little islands is unlike anywhere else in the world. Even while the plane is taxiing on the runway cranes and building sites are visible, dwarfed only by the monolithic tower of the Venetian Macau Resort. The immigration queues are filled with groups of Asian tourist, mainly Chinese, all of whom are clearly excited about their upcoming holiday at one of the many casino resort developments. Look closely, however, and you’ll see the other kind of person attracted to Macau’s glitz and glamour. While AsiaLIFE waited in line, a petite young woman with a fairy tattooed on her bare ankle flitted to the passport counter, with some kind of stringed instrument as carry-on luggage. Behind her followed a tall, lumbering man with a long grey beard and sinewy muscle showing beneath his loose cotton shirt. These people were some of the countless hundred performers and many thousand workers who have arrived to make rather than spend money.

Cirque de Soleil

With dozens of casinos putting on round the clock entertainment and literally tens of thousands of hotel rooms needing to be maintained every day, Macau has become a mecca for hospitality professionals. For example, the gargantuan Venetian resort, the world’s largest casino and second largest building, employs more than twelve thousand people ranging from cleaners to ballad singers and stocky, bearded and bereted punters to navigate the complex’s indoor canal system. Croupiers must be Macau nationals and schools and universities have long been stripped of people to fill these and other positions so the casinos have had to look overseas for staff. This has had a remarkable effect on the expatriate population of Macau with a mish-mash of hospitality and entertainment types joining the long existing construction and investment crowds in the expat bars and hotspots. This year the crowd will see an added jolt of colour as Cirque de Soleil launches Asia’s first resident show in a specially built arena within the Venetian resort. This means not only that one of the world’s finest entertainments will be available just hours from Phnom Penh, but that you have the chance to bump into the acrobats, jugglers and clowns in Macau’s bars and restaurants after the show. Spending a night in Macau you can, in fact, join the circus.

The new Cirque de Soleil show, Zaia, which started on Aug. 29, is every bit as spectacular as you might imagine. Seventy-five artists in three hundred costumes tell the tale of a young girl who takes a journey to space. While flitting around the solar systems – and above the heads of the audience – she realises the inherent beauty of humanity and decides to return to earth. There can be no doubt that the audience also notes the beauty of the humans on stage as the finely toned and taught figures dance, leap, contort and perform a range of other indescribable actions. Seeing them in character is remarkable enough but meeting them in person would be even better. So what do these people do after work?

After the Show

“Drink!” said Cirque de Soleil’s clown acts director Leonid Leykin, confirming circus performers are just like any other expat. “I suppose it’s personal preference, some drink while others, I don’t know, go swimming? No, I think most people drink.” Leonid recommends the long time expat favourite Lion’s Bar at MGM Grand as the watering hole of choice for his clowns. This is an eternally popular lounge bar on the ground floor of the MGM Grand where older business types and your standard, long suffering expats mingle with models and entertainment stars to the sounds of a pretty decent live band.

While it might seem odd that people who work in hotels and casinos stay on after hours, a casino employee explained the bars are usually free of tourists. “Most guests are either in their room or on the floor so the bars and clubs are largely local,” he said. Another popular lounge is the Bellini Bar at Venetian, especially for ladies’ night on Wednesday. These venues are well-patronised starters but in Macau late is late and many kick on to notorious clubs like MP4 (at the Royal Hotel, 2 - 4 Estrada Da Vitoria) and D2 (AIA Tower, 251A - 301Avenida Comercial de Macau) which start happening around 3am.

Local Macao

However, Macau isn’t all about glitz and glamour. For a truly local experience head to Che Che Café (70A Rua Tomas Viera) near the Kiang Vu hospital. This quiet, funky wine bar is owned and operated by Portuguese expat of 14 years, Pedro Ascensao. The headmaster of a kindergarten by day, Ascensao says Che Che is like a hobby and he tends the bar by himself, pouring exceptional and unusual Portuguese wines by the glass and bottle. Open from 9.30pm to 2am every night except Monday Che Che is something of relic among the nearby neon. “This is the kind of Macau I like,” Ascensao says, “This is the old Macau.”

Buffets, Chinese food and club sandwiches are plentiful in the casinos and hotels but if you’d like a local bite head to Pier 22 behind the Shell service station on Rua Visconde Paco de Arcos. Grimy Styrofoam boxes containing live seafood crowd the entrance. The interior is greasy, so walk past the steaming kitchen to the outside plastic tables that face the inner harbour and look over the water to mainland China. The blue lights of Pont 16 casino are juxtaposed in the backdrop against shipping containers, fishing boats and groups of friendly and well-humoured Chinese and Macanse sitting down to lengthy, cheap meals. The restaurant opens at 6pm, gets busy at 1am and stays open until 4am and you simply must try the fried duck’s tongue washed down with litres of Tsingtao beer.

Tourist Twist

If you feel you must tick off the tourist must-dos while in Macau, do so with a local twist. The well maintained neo-classical Portuguese architecture along the cobbled shopping streets around Senado Square remind tourists of the island’s colonial past. During the day, it’s hot, crowded and at times verges on tacky so go local style instead. Head down at sunset with a cold drink from a convenience store, perch on the fountain’s steps and while away a few hours in pleasant conversation and people watching. The same goes for the ruins of St Paul’s which can be downright disappointing in daylight. Built between 1602 and 1640, the building was destroyed by fire in 1835 and all that’s left is the façade that is still mercilessly snapped by tour groups. At night this wall is lit up gloriously, hiding the fact that there is nothing behind it. Groups of young people chill out on the steps below while quaint couples walk their dogs and locals generally go about their business. Between drinking with circus performers and dining on duck’s tongue there’s much more to Macau than slot machines and gilt-leafed hotels. Enjoy the overwhelming experience of places like the Venetian Macau Resort but don’t forget the real show is on elsewhere, and you can be part of it.