Macau

We took a day trip to Macau, changed hugely since I was last there in '96.  It is striving to become the Las Vegas of Asia and now has many casinos with all of their excess and ugliness in most cases.  We visited The Venetian and were immediately surprised by the allowance of smoking inside and that we seemed to be the only non-Chinese there.  It is a Chinese gambling Mecca.  Despite the high stakes at some tables, we thought the gamblers didn't look well-off judging by their dress, so pondered whose money is being gambled away.

During a visit to the old town, we were again in the minority and I was struck by how the shops had changed to suit the market - gone were the semi-precious stone jewellers that I remember from the 70s, replaced by Chinese food outlets.  It was crowded and we didn't linger as long as I had expected to absorb the Portuguese architecture and ambiance, because it was pretty much subsumed by the influx of gamblers.

The steps of St Paul's.