Over the past 36 hours, I have experienced sensory overload. Our trip to Macau started with first class tickets on the Cotai Jet. It was a relaxing way to travel and away from all the noise that is a hallmark of economy travel to Macau.

On our arrival, we were taken via bus to The Venetian. The coach entrance is at the back so the only thing of note was the amount of coaches there – at least 40. Going into the hotel lobby we were assaulted by at least 150 people all talking at the same time in a relatively small, entirely hard-surfaced, hotel lobby. It was later that we realised all these people were part of a tour group coming to see the hotel rather than check-in.

The scale of the complex became evident when we were given our keys and a map. We were in the South Wing and would need to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find our way out again. As we made our way out of the lobby area, up the escalators and past a ticketing booth, the opulence really began.

The detailing on the walls was 24 carat gold leaf, murals covered the ceilings and sculptures were in the walls. It was visually spectacular. Our room was larger than our HK residence and the opulence continued. We were expecting it to be somewhat gaudy but it was quite tastefully done. Our suite even had a guest bathroom, a kitchen area with a Nespresso, two televisions, a dressing room, king size bed and his and hers vanity units. We decided which was mine and which was Mr Shallot’s by going through the complimentary toiletries. There were his and hers shaving kits – a blue Schick razor for him and a pink one for me.

We decided to explore the remainder of the hotel as we had five hours or so before the Cirque du Soleil production, Zaia, was to start. The entire hotel complex is modeled on Venice and after walking through the biggest casino we have ever seen, we arrived. On either side of canals, complete with gondolas and gondoliers singing opera, there were facades of Italian style houses. People in traditional Venetian clothing provided ‘street’ entertainment. This was all undercover with a painted roof made to look like the sky. While this all sounds incredibly tacky, it is also incredibly well done and very convincing. As the sun sets, and standing in St Marks Square, it does actually become twilight, it is quite amazing.

Dinner was eaten at an Italian restaurant, Cecconi’s. The entire meal was fabulous except for my seared tuna. Unfortunately it was well done tuna which is relatively minor but not quite the taste I was expecting. It was redeemed by a chocolate pudding that would almost be worth selling your first-born for. If I eat like this while I’m on holidays in Italy, I’ll be coming back at least three times my current size. I’ve just packed my running shoes.

Then it was time for Zaia. It’s staged in a custom built theatre located in The Venetian. A hallmark of all the Cirque shows is the acrobatics. This one was no exception. I found myself alternating between amazement at the spectacle of it all, the flexibility, co-ordination and strength of the performers to the detailing in the costumes and makeup. This is the closest we have sat to a stage (Row C) and if anything, this was better. Next time, I’d sit further in the middle just to get a different perspective. We were close enough to see their facial expressions and to watch how they tie their bindings for some of the trapeze work.

For a moment I was transfixed by a guy in Row A who had fallen asleep. At various stages during the show, performers walked over to him and either held lanterns up to his face or gestured but he never moved. He did wake up at the end and clapped. In a similar vein, others in the first two rows left at various points in the show to come back again later. I think they were going to gamble but I’m not sure.

Time to jump into the king size bed. A pouf had been placed at the end of it and Mr Shallot decided it was an invitation to run really fast, jump on it and then launched onto all the pillows. The invitation was accepted many times. I had trouble running fast enough because I was laughing too hard.

Next morning, Nespresso, breakfast, wander around and checkout then back to HK. Back to life, back to reality.

* Thanks to Soul2Soul for the title to this post.