2 years is a long time in Macau. The harbourfront has sprouted a volcano, a lost Inca paradise, the science museum, the fisherman's wharf. It's too much.

Then go to the cotai strip. Venetian on one side, City of dreams on the other, and a huge Galaxy development next to that. A huge building site.

The quaint Macau I used to know is gone. Gone, gone, gone. All the shops along the Almeida Ribeiro are shut. Closed 'cos the landlords hiked the rents and are waiting for an offer from the developers.

It's just glitz, glamour, gambling and whores. What a shame.