This morning was weird. Good though: there's a lot to be said for surreality. The last few times I have stayed in Macau my accommodation has been the Grand Waldo (I have to say at this point that the place has improved massively over the past few years, attracting enough punters to make it feel like
This morning was weird. Good though: there’s a lot to be said for surreality. The last few times I have stayed in Macau my accommodation has been the Grand Waldo (I have to say at this point that the place has improved massively over the past few years, attracting enough punters to make it feel like a normal hotel. On my first visit, I felt as though I was walking into the set of The Shining). So I am used to waking up in the morning (or the middle of the night!) and opening the curtains to a building site. I got to the hotel late last night after a 30-hour trip involving three flights, a train ride, a taxi ride and a stomach-churning ferry transit on a very choppy South China Sea. And this morning I opened the curtains to the fairy kingdom-like view of the new Galaxy. It’s been a long time coming, but it seems that it has been worth the wait. The G2E Asia show, by the way, as I pointed out in the InterGame International newsletter (or will do, if you are reading this before Friday) has definitely got its mojo back. There was a buzz again about the Asia market. Galaxy was part of that, but so were last year’s Singapore openings and the improving situations in places like Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines, not to mention the potential lurking in Taiwan, Japan and (dare we say it?) the mighty China. Back tomorrow. Just worked out that my four-day trip involves less time on the ground here in Macau (48 hours) than on the move. Still - gotta look on the bright side. Not enough time to get jet lag! -Phil Clegg
