An uninitiated visitor might presume the casinos had some sort of generous promotion in force-blackjack pays 2-1, perhaps-or that they had momentarily lost their finely calibrated sense of larceny and were simply giving away money. A few of the island's eight casinos are the size of a decent Wal-Mart-and most have about as many 'shoppers.' Even on an otherwise tranquil Sunday afternoon, the casinos of Macau are easily the most crowded gambling joints you've ever seen, with bettors three and four deep at every table, elbowing their countrymen aside to get some money on the sacred green felt. These are not genteel European parlors or spacious, American-style ballrooms outfitted with plush carpets and ersatz chandeliers.
That is because Macau, a Portuguese protectorate that will be handed back to China in 1999, has something you can't find in Hong Kong: casinos. Like children in the backseat of the family station wagon, they just want to get there. But the hundreds of passengers who take this train-on-the-water aren't interested in the craggy shoreline or lumbering fishing boats that the jetfoil leaves in its wake. The ride across the South China Sea is remarkably smooth and scenic. Jetfoils from Hong Kong depart for the island of Macau every day of the year, every fifteen minutes during the day and frequently throughout the night.
