Macau Update

Was in Macau over the weekend. Of course, it is probably more accurate to say that I was at Wynn Macau. If it were not for the fact that I felt professionally obliged to "check out" Venetian, I would not have stepped out of Wynn's revolving doors. And I'm not even a serious gambler; I set my limit and was done within 3 hours of hitting the casino floor.

I arrived Macau Saturday evening to join friends who were hosting an informal party in one of Wynn's suites. We had Champagne and pizza before hitting the blackjack table. After a couple hours, we had dessert in Il Teatro, the Italian restaurant. And here was where I was very pleasantly surprised by how much service at Wynn had improved since my New Year's Eve visit. I noticed a dessert on the menu that had truffle honey topping and decided that it would be nice to have a scoop of vanilla ice cream with some truffle honey topping. This request does not sound all that complicated, but it's not on the menu. But service at Wynn had previously been so bad/green, that they were struggling just to get the standard things right. But I decided to try anyway. It paid off. Not only did the waitress understand my English request, she even added: "Would you like the truffle honey on top or on the side?" Wow, I thought, this is really a quantum leap since 1 Jan. Similarly, the Wynn Club front desk staff were sharp, on-the-ball and capable of dealing with somewhat complicated billing instructions. Where the service did disappoint somewhat was in the coffee shop. It took seemingly forever and multiple requests just to get a bottle of water. But I suspect that by the time I visit again after they open their expanded wing early next year, there will be even more improvement. It was encouraging to hear that with Macau's tight labour market, Wynn had no problems retaining staff. Apparently, staff prefer the culture at Wynn over LVS's (i.e. Las Vegas Sands and Venetian).


As for Venetian, I would say that my expectations have been very well-managed by friends who visited before me. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Sure, Venetian has a cheesy, artificial quality about it. But if you can forgive the silliness of trying to replicate Venice in the vein of Disney's It's A Small World ride, then it's not so bad. Venetian is huge compared to Wynn and the feeling is much more mass market. The Grand Canal shops are very main street -- Zara, Nike, Massimo Dutti etc. There are chain fast food restaurants in the food courts. And the casino floor is wide open, lacking the intimacy of Wynn's casino floor. For now, I would still stay at Wynn in Macau, but with the events that Venetian puts on (so far Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, Federer vs. Sampras match), there is enough reason to head over the bridge to the fledgling Cotai Strip for a brief excursion. As of tomorrow (30 November 2007), Venetian's CotaiJets are scheduled to begin service between Hong Kong directly to Taipa, where Venetian is located.

I want to be in Lech now!

Just got an email from GS in Lech. The subject read: View from our window. The message was simple: "This is what you will miss." The sole attachment was the photo above. He was teasing me...no, tempting me to jet over to Lech the weekend of 15 December for the opening of his new restaurant (his family currently run two other restaurants in and around Lech as well as the lovely Almhof Schneider). Apparently, they haven't had snow like this in 50 years! So very, very tempting...

80 Conversations Around the World in 80 Days

I want Aleksandra Gumowska's job. She's a 28-year-old journalist at Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's highest circulation daily, and she's been charged with the very plum assignment of having 80 conversations with people in London, Paris, Cairo, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, San Francisco and New York. All in 80 days.

Aleksandra's email requesting a meeting arrived shortly after one rather frustrating meeting with a local journalist, so I wasn't really in much of a mood to speak with another journalist. But of course, as an entrepreneur, turning down meetings with press is not really an advisable option. So I dutifully dashed off the obligatory reply saying I'd be happy to meet for a chat.

This morning, I met Aleksandra at IFC Starbucks for breakfast after my morning jaunt to the gym. We clicked immediately. She explained the project she was working on, which I found fascinating. I actually wanted to interview her about her experiences thus far. In Hong Kong, she's meeting with the Cardinal, a sexologist and a Polish expat architect (one of the common threads is that she has to have conversations with Polish expats in the various cities). She's also looking for a young (i.e. under 35) novelist as well people who have affairs outside of their marriage (interviews would be anonymous of course and is really just for background for a longer, more literary piece on love and relationships in the 11 cities). I couldn't actually think of any young novelists off the top of my head. On the other hand, I do know people who fit the second description, but it's a bit awkward asking if they would like to be interviewed for that particular reason.

I asked her who her most memorable conversation had been with. It was with the British adventurer/explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes over a 200km journey outside of London in his car. One of his most impressive accomplishments was running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days in 2003 after having undergone a double heart bypass 4 months earlier. It was surprising to hear that Hong Kong was the first city she's visited on this trip where she did not feel safe. I always feel incredibly safe in Hong Kong, but then again, I know the city and speak the language. What might shock a lot of Hong Kong people, however, was her observation that Singaporeans dress more trendily than Hongkies. Granted, she admitted that she's only been hanging out in Wan Chai, not exactly the hippest of Hong Kong neighborhoods. But I do agree that in Singapore, there seems to be a more laid-back creative vibe. And the fact that I've found it so difficult to come up with a young novelist for Aleksandra to interview is also testament to Hong Kong's rather unfortunate cultural desert reputation. One friend who works as a creative director actually commented: "I don't read Chinese books anymore. The bestsellers all have to do with investing in the stock market and the novels are all rather uninspiring."

When I asked him whether he knew any married people having an affair, he didn't even have to pause to think.