A little updated introduction: My name is Natasha Montagu and I'm half English and half Tawianese. This blog was to orginally made to keep friends and family up to date with what I was doing during my gap year. Now I have left the University of Exeter and am now taking the new and exciting path of hotel management, I am sure I will have lots of things to write about. ^_^
Thanks to those who continue reading this on a regular basis)
P.S. My other much more interesting blog :
http://dysfunctional-at-best.tumblr.com/
I am now working at this bar/lounge/deck called Sugar in the EAST hotel in TaiKoo Shing. The EAST hotel is part of Swire hotels and is a relatively new hotel since it has only been open 3 years.
I made my first real mistake yesterday when I admitted a Korean couple, with a baby. Clearly we have a no under-18 policy since we are a bar but somehow I knew the baby wasn’t going to be drinking so I let them in… Luckily the manager didn’t make a fuss since it was a quite Sunday night. Won’t be making that mistake again. Plus who brings a baby to a bar?
Macau is the only region in China where gambling is legal. As a consequence there are around 30 hotels in Macau all with their own hotels attached. In comparison to Vegas, Macau’s casinos are relatively quiet with slot machines only making up 5% of total casino winnings, in comparison with Vegas’s 60%. Here table games are the staple, mostly baccarat, then roulette and a dice game called dai sai (big small). Secondly, unlike Vegas drunks are hard to come by since the Chinese believe drink dulls the skill.
Over 80% of gamblers and 95% of high rollers come from mainland China. The latter play in members-only rooms where the total amount wagered on any given day can exceed a country’s GDP.
I wanted to go into Sand’s one of the biggest and newest casinos in Macau. All the casinos are easy to get to since they all provided a free shuttle bus from the ferry terminal. Unfortunately I was stopped at the door and asked for my passport. (Apparently I don’t look older than 18, doesn’t surprise me). Well that didn’t matter in the end because they don’t let under 21s in, so my hopes of winning the jackpot were dashed.
→ 08 May 13 at 9 am
The streets of Macau are dotted with pork jerky, almond cookie and egg tart vendors. I had a sample of the famous Macanese egg tart, delicious!
→ 08 May 13 at 9 am
I finally got my HK training visa which meant I had to exit and re-enter under my new visa. The majority of people do this and do a day trip to Macau, which is 65km to the west of Hong Kong, and only an hour on the Turbojet. Macau is a mixture of fortresses, churches and Portuguese food intermixed with alleyways, temples and shrines. All signs are in Chinese, Portuguese and English however I don’t think any locals can actually speak Portuguese…
The Ruins of the Church of St Paul otherwise known as the Gate to Nowhere is considered a “must see” when visiting Macau.
The Street of Happiness, with it’s red shutters, was once Macau’s red light district.
→ 18 Apr 13 at 11 am
In Taipei the telephone boxes are quite unique. Each painted with a pretty scene to make the boxes look less obtrusive and more attractive.
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→ 15 Apr 13 at 9 am
→ 15 Apr 13 at 9 am
My best friend during my time here in Taipei. Koko the dog, who lives down my alley.
Yes!!!! I have found out I have been accepted into Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Switzerland with a 20% Presidential Scholarship!!!!!!
Happy days! :)
Apologies for not keeping this up to date, but I have now left Exeter and am now back in Dubai with the parents.
I have now chosen a new path to follow; hotel management in Switzerland. I have just received some great news that I have got an internship with Swire Hotels at EAST, Hong Kong.
This is going to be fun
It is true that when you grow up your taste buds change. Coffee lovers are adults and not children. What used to repulse us when we were young now has a new found place on our palates. I am no different, take for instance the common mushroom. Once sending me into the firey depths of tongue hell is now another delicious vegetable. And my most recent discovery the avocado. Modest, versatile and packed with healthy benefits, it seems as if I cannot go a day without this tropic delight.
