Macau

Best known as a smaller, seedier Las Vegas, Macau is a Special Autonomous Region (like Hong Kong) about an hour's ferry ride away from here. Even without the gambling, though - Macau casinos are notoriously high-stake, and the summer associate budget doesn't cover slot machines - Macau definitely has a day's worth of distractions to keep your average summer associates busy. Thus, every batch of summer associates is given the option of joining Robert, one of our senior counsel, on a day-trip to the island for a few hours of sight-seeing, a few hours of eating, and 20 high-adrenaline minutes of go-kart racing!

The day started off too early - not only were we to meet in the Macau ferry terminal before 9:00 AM on Saturday (most of us having gotten back from Harry Potter rather late the night before), but I arrived just too late to stop at the Starbucks for some much-needed caffeine. By the time we hit Macau, however, excitement had set in, and I was set for energy - for a few hours, at least.

The last trip Robert had organized, he'd hired a bus and driver ahead of time, but with such a small group, he figured we could just pick up one of the drivers/vans that hang around the ferry terminal for groups just like our own. We found a driver quickly enough, and piled into a poorly air-conditioned van to visit the Macau Tower. The tower was awesome - one of the tallest buildings in the world, at least according to its own propaganda materials - and the viewing deck on the 58th floor had glass panels inset into the floor so excited tourists could get their pictures taken, seemingly floating in midair. Of course, years of scuffing have made the effect less miraculous, but it was still novel enough to set entire tour groups (including seemingly dignified 60-year-old Japanese men) squealing with excitement and pounding on the glass. Why anyone would want to be known as the person who fell to their death after knocking out a glass panel is beyond me, but whatever makes them happy, I guess ...

After the Tower, we stopped by a lovely church (Macau was a Portuguese colony until the handover in the late 1990's, so there's amazing European architecture everywhere), where one of Robert's daughters was baptized, and then trekked down the road to visit an old government building. It was formerly a barrack for visiting Portuguese troops, and while it doesn't seemed to be used for much these days, it's still quite heavily guarded.

Next was a great Chinese temple (sort of a non-denominational church, both Buddhists and Confucionists worship there), and then a maritime museum, set up where the Portuguese first landed on Macau. I'm not a huge museum fan, or a huge maritime enthusiast, but I do enjoy air-conditioning, so it was a welcome break indeed!

Then it was time for lunch, at a well-known Portuguese restaurant. We left to Robert the job of ordering, and wound up with a delicious spread of chorizo, clams, a rice and chicken dish, fish, and some pork neck concoction I refused to touch. Closing the meal out with a nice glass of iced coffee, for energy, and a glass of port, because we could, we prepared for the next branch of our trek.

The afternoon sights included this old Catholic church, that is now a perfectly beautiful facade and nothing else (kind of like the standard Wild West Hollywood set), a great fortress with a view over the city, the Macau museum (highlight: an exhibit about the now-dead sport of fighting crickets), and then a walk down a winding cobblestone roadway through a shopping district (or, as one associate described it, "the snack road") into a beautiful, European-designed square.

Then it was out to a lovely little village on one of the smaller Macau islands, where we had famous Lord Stowe's egg tarts as an afternoon snack, and then the go-kart track. I had no idea that go-karts were traditional Macau - in fact, they very likely aren't - but it was a popular place. There was even another law firm summer associate event happening there! Most of us enjoyed ourselves immensely, and I managed to spin out twice (once was fairly harmless, but the second time I wound up facing backwards on the side of the track, buried in tires used to stop crazy drivers like myself - it was pretty awesome), so a good time was had by all.

At that point, sweaty and sticky, we were kind of tourist-ed out - luckily, it was time for dinner! We checked out another Portuguese restaurant that Robert had heard good things about. The food again was delicious, but most of us had lost the energy even to eat, and the table was still piled high with food when we threw in the towel, hopped back in our van, and returned to the ferry terminal for the ride back to Hong Kong.

Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, the crappy van that couldn't drive up hills without us getting out and walking (seriously), and one associate who seemed less than enthusiastic about being there, it was an awesome day. And if I ever feel the need to drop thousands of dollars in a casino, I know where I'm going!