We are Ready!

Yesterday marked 200 days to go in the countdown to the Beijing Olympics. Hong Kong is getting in on the action by holding the Equestrian Events for the games, and, apparently, as we hear on the radio every morning “We are Ready!” - according to the not so catchy and now rather annoying theme song.

Darling and I are nearly ready too. Today we learned that we have both secured tickets for the games through the lottery selection process. We have managed to get tickets for two consecutive days of athletics at the ‘Bird’s Nest Stadium’ which include a couple of final events to boot (OK – these may be only the women’s 20K and men’s 50K walk, however we should see at least a couple of athletes win a gold medal). Securing the tickets through the lottery has turned out to be a lot easier than actually being able to find a hotel in the city with availability during the Games. So if anyone knows of a friend of a friend of a friend who happens to be living in Beijing with available floor space, and would not mind a couple of lodgers for a few days, I would be grateful if you could let me know!

Happy New Year!

Well, belated Happy New Year wishes to those of you I have not spoken to and to any visitors to my site. The start of the year pretty much finds me the same as per the end of the last – spending quite a lot of time working in Macau. Thankfully, things are a little less hectic (just a little) now that the Casino/ Hotel development has opened. Exactly 1 month ago today the MGM Grand Macau opened it’s doors to guests for the first time, following the grand opening party. The property looks fantastic (of course I would say that as we built it), and it is rather satisfying to see guests walking around and using areas that everyone was working flat out to complete. I will continue to visit the project up until Chinese New Year, after which I will be back to the day job at Head Office.
Today is also the 10th anniversary of my arrival in Hong Kong. The day is pretty similar to that 10 years ago (grey, overcast and cold) to that when I got off the plane at Kai Tak Airport in my shorts and T shirt following my flight from my flight from KL - I never realised at the time that it ever got cold in Hong Kong.
So with all that in mind I am off for a celebratory beer in LKF now and will post some pics of the MGM Grand Macau when I get chance. Best wishes to you all for 2008!