I Left My Heart (and my Money) in Macau

Last month, Mike and I took a long weekend and headed up to Macau, a former Portuguese colony in the south of China near Hong Kong. It's also the Las Vegas of Asia, thanks to a growing crop of casinos. You know how I love the blackjack. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but were definitely excited to finally check it out.

Suffice to say, we loved Macau. The architecture and atmostphere is a bit surreal, as if China and Europe got together and made a baby. A baby that loves gambling and especially delicious seafood dishes. (Also a very air-polluted baby, though that's not really its fault.) Much of Macau is run-down, but in a charming way. Of course, there's not much to do in Macau – we'd planned to spend 2.5 days there, but after the first day, we realized we'd seen 80 percent of its main attractions and gambled half our budget. So we took a boat over to Hong Kong for day 2, which was pretty fun in itself.

I was mesmerized by the textures and colors of the city (also by the Wynn – the newest, nicest casino in town) and took lots of pics on our long walks around town. Our next big trip is a weeklong trek in Burma, which starts next Saturday (well, it will if Mike's visa comes through. Fingers are crossed!) I can't wait.