Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING DECEMBER 2017 80 INDUSTRY PROFILE of our things are on a ship in the middle of the ocean so Bec is living with not much back home, but we always knew there would be that six-month transition period. She’s a primary school teacher and she’s going to come to Macau at the end of January. I’ve been told that January isn’t the best time weather-wise in Macau and all her friends are school teachers so I told her to enjoy that month in Sydney and then we’ll start our new life together from February. IAG: What are your early impressions of Macau? LR: I’ve been fascinated to be honest with you. What has struck me most has been the multiculturalism. There is obviously the big Chinese influence but then there is the European side with the Portuguese. There are so many cobblestones. Coming from Sydney, I knew there was Portuguese heritage but I didn’t expect it to be so visible in the architecture. Then of course with the gaming industry there is a fairly strong expat community so you’ve got this clash of three cultures which I’m just starting to explore. Clearly I’m going to struggle to stay in shape with all the nice food here. “To be honest, Asia was the region that excited me the most, particularly being Australian. If I had to pick one region it would be Asia.” But I found a nice little café where I’ll get my coffee everyday called Rethink, that’s always important. IAG: What restaurants have you discovered so far? LR: Believe it or not in the few months since I’ve been in Asia I’ve only really been in Macau itself for about three weeks, but I have spent a bit of time at North at the Venetian which is nice Cantonese and IN Portuguese in Taipa. That seems to be a winner on the Portuguese front but I’m looking forward to discovering many more. IAG: Do you plan to travel while you’re here? LR: That was a huge part of it for my partner particularly. The goal is to spend every second weekend on the road somewhere if possible – once a month somewhere in Asia and once a month in Hong Kong. I can’t wait to throw myself into it.