Saturday, March 15, 2014

Deluxe and Animals (This week's Photo Hunt themes)


The Italian city of Venice is a place I've long wished to visit -- and all the more so after seeing many beautiful photos taken there by bloggers including Kathy of Trekcapri and Annie of Churches in Venice.  However, the closest I've yet to get to it thus far is only the Venetian Macao, a deluxe, Venetian themed mega resort in the former Portuguese enclave of Macau that includes a 3,000 all-suite hotel, casino, shopping complex, various dining and drinking establishments, concert venues and other entertainment areas.

In keeping with certain ideas of what deluxe means, there's a lot of gold color and elaborate decorations about the place -- which, more than incidentally, just happens to be the sixth largest building in the entire world.  Look around you when there and you'll also see lots of representations of animals -- in particular, the winged lion that is the symbol of Venice, and also non-winged lion that is popularly looked upon as the king of the jungle even though they actually are far more likely to be found on savannahs

If truth be told, I find the decor at the Venetian Macao to be too over the top and, well, kitsch for my liking -- and tend to avoid it when visiting Macau, preferring the quieter and older parts of that which is now Hong Kong's sister Special Administrative Region (of the People's Republic of China).   But I'm glad I took as many photos of it as I did the one time that I stayed there since, otherwise, I'm not quite sure how I'd have managed to fit together Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunt themes for this week! ;b

13 comments:

Trekcapri said...

Hi YTSL, thanks so much for the kind words and mention in your post. I think you would love Venice especially in the neighborhoods far away from the crowds. Annie's photos are amazing.

Your photos are beautiful and are perfect for the two themes this week. The floor on your last photo looks 3D. Nice effect. I would love to visit Macau. My friends went there when they visited Hong Kong and really loved it.

Have a great weekend.

Carver said...

Wonderful sequence of shots for both themes. Very luxurious.

eastcoastlife said...

When I saw the photos, I thought you went to Venice! hahaha..... I would love to visit Macau too.

Photo Cache said...

You and me both that the closest I got to Venice is via The Venetian Hotel (mine in Vegas).

Anonymous said...

LOL - when I looked at the first shot I thought 'hmm, that looks like Vegas'. Who knew there were other similar spots?

Great shots for this week's theme.

Have a super weekend.

YTSL said...

Hi Trekcapri --

You're welcome re the mention -- and in turn, thanks for including me on your blog roll. :)

Hi Carver --

I have to admit that I think the Venetian is more over the top than downright luxurious -- but reckon it worked for this week's Photo Hunt. :)

Hi EastCoastLife --

I wish re Venice! ;b

Hi Photo Cache --

I know the Venetian Macao hsa an older and smaller "cousin" in Las Vegas. I wonder what the Venetians would think of them both! ;b

Hi JDeQ --

I wonder whether people who've been to Vegas think th same way as you... :b

Gattina said...

I was looking for a pigeon in the church, never thought about a golden lion, lol !

Louisette said...

Nice place, great shots

peppylady (Dora) said...

Like that round gold item..not sure what it call or is. Caught my eye.

Coffee is on

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

The first shot of the tower nearly had me ... the others are as you say 'Over the Top'. Venice has a deluxe style of it's own!
Happy St Paddy's day ~ I'm sure you are as Irish as I am on that day ;-)

YTSL said...

Hi Gattina --

A pigeon in the church? You've now got me imagining a scene from a John Woo movie! ;b

Hi retriever --

To be honest, I don't think the Venetian Macao is that great a place -- but it sure is a place that it'd be good to visit at least once when you're in Macau. :)

Hi peppylady --

I'll just call it a piece of sculpture or eyecatcher! ;b

Hi Sandi --

Didn't realize that it's Saint Patrick's Day until you told me -- so to be honest, I don't feel very Irish today or any other day at all! ;D

Aiyah Nonya said...

Ha... The nearest ever experience I had with Venice was in Macau too. In fact most of the hotels there has this deluxe look. :)

YTSL said...

Hi Aiyah Nonya --

Sounds like you've visited Macau quite a few times. The most deluxe hotel I stayed in while there has actually been the Mandarin Oriental. Very understated but very nice! :b