A good part of the week has been about work – the venues here are amazing. The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centreis a world famous site – and they are adding to it! Actually to be honest, it looks like a lot of Hong Kong Harbour (at least near the water) is under construction. Took the airport express train out to AsiaWorld-Expo. Beautiful new venue – less than 3 years old. They also have a 13,000+ seat arena where world class acts have played (among those, The Cure really impressed me, but hey, I’m easy!). Nice column-free space in the exhibit halls. State of the Art everything.

Took the ferry over to Macau to see my friend Judy and spend a couple of nights at the end of the week at the Venetian. Friday was spent being a SLUG. An ACTUAL DAY OFF!!! Consisted of leisurely western-style breakfast, gym for over an hour – LOVE my IPOD, then the pool to recover from kicking my own butt at the gym! Then lunch and a cruise around town in the humidity so my hair could get curlier and bigger – such the fashion statement - don’t you know brillo pads are the newest “in” hairdo?

The Venetian in Macau is larger than the one in Vegas. Seriously HUGE. The casino goes for MILES. The largest Casino I’ve ever seen. Like Vegas on steroids. And it was packed with well-dressed people, not all of who were smoking! Not familiar with many of the games going on, but folks seem enthused. Trying to figure out what these newfangled slot machines do in another language is quite the challenge that I just don’t have the patience or inkling to deal with…especially when I’m NOT WINNING. (notice I said “winning”, NOT “whining”)

One bad thing about technology – they have an automatic dice roller on the craps table. Horror of all horrors and I DON’T EVEN PLAY Craps! I think this is one case where technology is NOT a good development! It so takes away the energy from the game… you know how fun a craps table can be with someone who’s having a hot streak throwing the dice? Now think about a machine manipulating the dice. NO people screaming (then crying when they lose). Just not the same game.

It’s quite eerie to see the Casino packed at 10:00pm (and much later) but EMPTY at 9:00am. EMPTY. By 11:00, people start showing up again, but mornings walking through the building are creepy (like a horror flick creepy). Oh no! The craps table is going to get me! Just joking…

The service was quite impressive and not everyone has his or her hands out for a tip. Imagine – people working and smiling and doing their jobs WITHOUT needing a tip to do the job? Nice! Although as I watched a waiter standing in the shade of the tree in the oppressive heat looking forlorn – there were maybe 4 or 5 people out by the pool – I remembered that most of these hardworking people (12 hour shifts, 6 days a week for about US $40 a day IF they are lucky) will probably never experience many of the things I’ve been fortunate enough to do, have and taste. Kinda puts things into perspective how lucky we are.

The only hotel on the Cotai Strip is the Venetian. Here’s a view from my window of the construction.

After returning to Hong Kong after much revelry in Macau, but no wins (sadly) via the ferry, my first thought was WOW it’s SO CLEAR!

Next was, “I’m starving!” The “rule” is if it’s your first trip to Hong Kong, then someone has to “take” you to High Tea at the Peninsula. (Trust me – this is one Rule Book I actually like and adhere to, unlike the IAEE rules and regs!) So I “took” Judy to the Peninsula Hotel for High Tea. We were a bit under-dressed but were able to get a table after a 45-minute wait.

There are more expensive jewelry and watch stores in the lobby of that hotel than I think are on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills! If anyone has questions about what I want for my next birthday, one can easily be directed to a few “little bobbles” they had on display that would look fabulous on me. Fabulous. By the way, did you know that calories don’t count at the Peninsula? It’s also in The Book. May I have some more scones with my clotted cream and strawberry jam? Thanks.

Nathan Road in Kowloon is known as one of the premier “shopping streets” on the planet. I bought some cheap bracelets…ha ha! After a bit of a walk down the street (hey lady – you want Prada? Tag? Rolex?) decided walking down some of the scenic side streets back to the hotel would be more fun. So off we went – successfully negotiating crossing the streets looking the correct way (they drive on the “wrong” side of the road in Hong Kong). One class of counterfeit items was nowhere to be found: Beijing Olympics merchandise. Not one fake hat, t-shirt or other commemorative item! Hmmm…..

Saturday night we went out with the Hong Kong-based InfoSalons group (3 Australians thus far) to the Hong Kong Island side of the city to a place called SoHo (believe it or not). Located 1/2 way up in the hills, it made San Francisco look almost flat. The taxi ride there was memorable and I still have the bruises to prove it! Apparently our driver thought he was participating in a Grand Prix. Take that back – leading the Hong Kong Grand Prix.

So back to SoHo - Wow! Super cool area! Great restaurants, bars, galleries, shops. After dinner, we walked down a bunch of stairs (would HATE walking up them after a few rounds of adult beverages) to another area of nothing but bars. And more bars. And yes, still more bars. Too bad I can’t recall the name of the area. Somehow I don’t think I’m the only one!

We were there early – it gets going after midnight – hung out at a terrific salsa bar run by a charming Italian man with an Aussie accent having tequilas and mojitos – but called it an early night as our Aussie friends were going on an all day boat excursion and we were planning to PowerTour.