Let Me Visit!

This is part one of our series – Casinos and more in Macau.

Recently, I took a trip to Macau and visited numerous casinos and hotels.  The most notable was at the Cotai Strip in the Taipa just south of the traditional Macau hotel and casino districts.  The Venetian.  Staying there made me feel like I was in Las Vegas.  It looked exactly the same as the Vegas property.  But there were distinct features found in the Macau property and not at Vegas.  Shuttle buses would drive tourists from the border of Macau and Zhuhai, China as well as from the ferry terminals.  It becomes less of a hotel/resort and more of just a gambling destination.  Recent news has shown that the casino operations in Macau are more profitable than its counterpart in Vegas because Chinese and other Asian people who are into gaming, they usually play in larger amounts than their American counterparts.  Therefore, it appears that casinos in Macau are profitable businesses.

Meanwhile, across the street from the Venetian is the newly opened City of Dreams, in which we will talk about next time.  Anyway, good luck and have fun if you go to Macau!

If you are taking a trip to San Francisco, then there is a must-see destination.  The The Walt Disney Family Museum.  Now, you may ask, where is this museum?  It is located in the Main Post in the Presidio of San Francisco.  Now, what is there?  Of course there is Mickey Mouse, the legendary Disney trademark.  You can also see different characters from classic to present Disney movies and television shows.  In addition to the museum, there is an auditorium for viewing movie screenings and concerts.  Now, what’s the disclaimer here.  Looking at the flyer, they say clearly they are not affiliated with the publicly traded Walt Disney Company.  I believe this is a managed and operated by his family foundation exclusively, but it does provide a clearer and less-commercialized perspective of the classic Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters.

Anyway, if you are going down to San Fran and if you or your kids like Disney classics, then the Walt Disney Family Museum would be a great place to visit!

What you can buy at Bloomingdale’s on San Fran’s Market Street?  This is an interesting title.  Today, I would like to share with you about Bloomingdale’s located in the heart of San Fran’s Downtown at the Westfield San Francisco Center at 845 Market Street.  At the Bloomingdale’s store, you can purchase a variety of name brand products at reasonable department store prices.  Whether you are craving for the handbags from Louis Vuitton or Chloe, here is the place to go.  Additionally, you can buy shows from Jimmy Choo and Tory Burch – both exclusively wonderful places to buy shoes at.  For the gentlemen, there are stores like Canali, Ralph Lauren, John  Varvatos and David Yurman.  Additionally, you can get your friends and relatives Ugg boots from Australia, they’ve been in style for both winter and summer occasions in the United States.  Lastly, there are Creme de la Mer, Theory, Pratesi and Burberry brands along with many others just in this one location!

If you’re looking for a place to shop, then I would highly suggest San Fran’s Market Street at the Bloomingdale’s!  Anyway, have fun with your shopping vacation and see you next time on LetMeVisit.com!

If you ever end up going to San Francisco, let me recommend you to a great shopping place.  It is Embarcadero Center.  Examples of stores in the center include: Lucy, The Bar, Method, Club One, Pure Beauty, Origins, L’Occitane, Vanity Beauty Lounge, Ann Taylor, Barcelino, Banana Republic and Victoria Secret.  For drinks, there are cafes like Peet’s, Tully’s as well as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.  For a sip of wine, you can go to Blanc et Rouge, or what translates to “White and Red” from the French Language.  Finally, it is important to have a wonderful evening dinner in Downtown San Francisco.  There are many restaurants ranging from Sen’s Restaurant, Gaylord India, Osha Thai, The Holding Company and Fuzio Universal Bistro.  Best of all, there is also a cinema on site along with wonderful validated parking we all love.

So if you end up going to San Francisco, Embarcadero Center is a must-see landmark in the heart of San Fran’s beautiful commercial business district.  Anyway, I hope you have fun with you shopping, dining and movie watching experience!  Share your stories on here also!

The kingdom of Shu was led by a ruler name Liu Bei. He was a man of virtue, and his desire was to restore the former Han dynasty back to its glory. Of the three leaders, Liu Bei was the most compassionate and daring. Along with his two forsworn brothers Guan Yu and Zeng Fei, he attempted but failed to reunite China. His story begins with the story of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when bandits tried to overrun the Han Dynasty. He and his brothers set out to protect the prince of Han. They succeeded in that battle but would ultimately fail to protect the prince. A dictator named Dong Zhuo would later manipulate his way to the top and forced the prince into abdication. Liu Bei and his brothers set out to defeat Dong Zhuo, and they did so, but they failed to restore Han to its former glory. Rather, with the defeat of Dong Zhuo, China was ushered into the Three Kingdoms Era. Liu Bei, hopeless at the status quo, formed his own Kingdom to protect and restore Han. He would recruit talented warriors and generals to his side, but the most compelling of his forces was the strategist Kong Ming (to be cont.)

Several millenniums ago, in the part of the world we call China today, there were many feudal wars and civil conflicts. In this post, we will discuss the Three Kingdoms Era of China, a time when the country arguably faced its worst civil strife. During that Era, China was split into three Kingdoms, known as the Wu, Wei, and Shu. Wu was ruled by Sun Jian and the Sun family, who wanted to restore peace and serenity under their family regime. They believed that China should be one country and fought for the sake of their own future. After many battles, many victories and failtures, however, the Sun family ultimately failed to win the throne. Stay tuned for the story of Shu and Wei.

This weekend was the Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle, Washington, a hot music festival on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, located slightly east of the Downtown Commercial Business District.  Tickets were for sale ($23 a day and $42 for both days through their vendor TicketWest.  Here is their lineup for you to check out.  Bands like Sonic Youth and the Black Lips are amongst the bands playing.  In addition to the music festival, on any given day you can explore the area like the main street, Broadway, filled with eclectic gift shops, restaurants and fashionable clothing stores.  Capitol Hill is home to a number of luxury automobile dealerships like Ferarri, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.  In addition, there are many trendy nightclubs for you to party and art galleries for you to enjoy the surroudings.  Head farther east, you will find the upscale residential neighborhoods of Madison Park, Broadmoor, Denny Blaine and Washington Park along the beautiful shores of Lake Washington.  What’s unique about Madison Park is the waterfront park with boat launches and other facilities for the public.  So if you like to enjoy the Pacific Northwest, why not check out Madison Park after visiting Capitol Hill.

This is part one of our ongoing series which will explore with you Hong Kong from the eyes of a localized tourist, one with strong knowledge of Hong Kong but doesn’t live in the hustling bustling city.

I found this picture on Carpe Diem Review, a creative arts publication and I felt it is quite an interesting picture since it represents Tsim Sha Tsui, a popular tourist destination on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.   We can see in the picture the Yue Hwa Department Store, known for its fine tradional goods imported from Mainland China.  We can see the constant public works improvements taking place in Hong Kong that reflects on the city’s care to infrastructure and its people.  We can see many highrises, noting the high density nature of Hong Kong.  And many of those buildings just look like towers of concrete.  But it is in these buildings that the daily lives of Hong Kong residents take place in, where people buy and sell goods or come home from a long day of work.  It is these buildings that create the tourist nature of Tsim Sha Tsui and the rest of Hong Kong.

Hostels have traditionally been a source of lodging while traveling especially for young adventurers in their teens and twenties. You may ask, what is hosteling? Hosteling is basically like a dormitory in college where you share rooms or bunks with other people. In this case, other travelers. These have been around for a very long time, at least dating back to the 1960s. Another difference between a hostel and a hotel (not only the difference in pronounciation and one less letter), they have shared dining areas, bathrooms and kitchens. Yet, the newer hostels have accommodated the demands of the present generation of traveler and include private rooms for couples and families as well. Wi-fi today is a popular amenity for travelers with laptops. Some hostels even provide chargers for iPhones and iPods. Today at hostels you may even see travelers in their 50s and 60s who have lived in them earlier in their lives while traveling and like to reminisce their past adventures.

1) The Capital City, Beijing, was once called Peking. This was due to the fact that the earlier translation was in Cantonese, and the recent one is in Mandarin.

2) Astronauts can see the outline of the Great Wall from space — yes, it’s that long.

3) There are more than 10 native tongues in China. Among them are the two well-known ones such as Cantonese and Mandarin.