Grand Lisboa, Macau

The Grand Lisboa Hotel and casino is the tallest building in Macau at 261 meters (856 ft.). It has the flawless 218-carat diamond "Star of Stanley Ho" on permanent display in the lobby together with the Qing dynasty sculpture of a bronze horse head from the Summer Palace.

It's a worthwhile visit just for those two, but throw in our tourist guide's hilarious stories about the Grand Lisboa's owner, "The King of Gambling" Stanley Ho's complicated love life (4 wives, 17 children!) and we've got a very entertaining glimpse at the life of one of the world's richest men.

I loved this building's unique structure with its lotus-inspired facade and sharp edges. The intricate design of the ceiling was quite eye-catching and mom just had to pose beside the giant vase near the entrance.. oh ma!

Dragon of Fortune @ Wynn Macau

Wynn Macau was our first stop from the ferry terminal. We were just in time for the "Dragon of Fortune" to make an appearance from the globe dome located at the casino atrium complete with billowing smoke and fire.

                     

Lasting for four minutes, this show is pretty dramatic, especially the opening of the gilded ceiling. Very Vegas... after the dragon did his thing, he went back down to his domed lair just to pop up 30 minutes later to give the gawking tourists another round of fierce stares amid the fog.

                     

Since we didn't plan on gambling, we just went about the building and enjoyed the opulence of the place. It's just amazing to see the people milling around--throwing loads of money on designer bags, shoes and jewelry--too bad, I'm too cheap to comfortably spend that kind of money around, haha!

I'm very grateful that I have enough money to travel with my family now, so I'm not whining too much. Although the plan is to have enough to buy that Prada or Hermes bag without too much guilt in the future.

But for now, appreciating stuff on my travels like Wynn's "Performance Lake" fountain show (pictured above), is the way to go.