The Room

After 22 hours of traveling, I finally arrived at my hotel. I dropped my bags, put on my pyjamas, and went straight to bed. Two hours later I woke up—and couldn’t fall back asleep. So, in the middle of the night, I did something I’ve never done before: unpacked my bags and put all my clothes neatly into the closet. Normally I don’t stay in hotels long enough to bother, but since I’ll be here for the next two months, it felt worth it.

The room itself is pretty nice. Plenty of space to walk around, enough surfaces for my stuff, and—most importantly—enough wall outlets to charge all my devices (South Korea uses the same outlets as the EU, which saves me from buying adapters). The only downside was the bathroom, which still had a few stray hairs from the previous guest and a weird stain on the mirror.

After that little midnight project, I took a nap. I had an early start ahead of me: Macau.

On the Road Again

Yesterday I took the express train and metro to reach my hotel. This morning I found out there’s actually a direct bus to the airport leaving just 500 meters away. Much easier.

At the bus stop I found two people already waiting: an elderly gentleman and a flight attendant. A good sign. The gentleman kept staring at me until he finally asked in Korean, “Where are you from?” Proudly, I replied in my best Korean: “I’m from the Netherlands.” He nodded and launched into a whole sentence I couldn’t understand, repeating one word over and over: 풍차 (puung-cha). I asked him what it meant, but I still couldn’t follow. The bus arrived and I quickly looked it up on my phone: it meant windmill. Suddenly his other words made sense: “turning,” “going round,” “wind.” My very first Korean conversation—success, sort of.

At the gate I noticed I wasn’t the only one heading to Macau for the TWICE concert. Fans were wearing merch, and their songs were playing in a food stall nearby. I also realized I was the only Westerner around. Everything was in Korean, but when it was my turn the staff immediately switched to English. I have a feeling this will happen a lot.

The flight was uneventful—more naps—and soon enough I landed in Macau. I grabbed some cash and almost paid €10 for a bus ticket that should’ve been €0.60, but the driver refused since he had no change. A quick snack run to 7-Eleven solved that problem.

On my way back I noticed ads in the terminal: fans had bought entire screens to welcome Mina, one of the TWICE members, to Macau. I’d seen similar ads (but for birthdays) in Korea last time, but this felt on another level.

What Happens in Macau, Stays in Macau

For those who don’t know, Macau is basically the Las Vegas of the East. Gambling is illegal in China, Vietnam, and Japan, and South Korea only has two casinos in the whole country. Macau, on the other hand, has more than 40. The city welcomes over 30 million visitors a year—despite a population of just 600,000—and its gambling industry is seven times bigger than Las Vegas.

Like Hong Kong, Macau is a Special Administrative Region, thanks to its history as a Portuguese colony. That’s why all the signs are in Cantonese and Portuguese, though only about 7% of locals actually speak Portuguese. The city is packed with giant casino-hotels and equally massive high-rises housing the people who work in them.

It’s also hot as hell here. And humid. Which is especially inconvenient because I only brought one pair of pants.

The Concert

I dropped off my bags at the hotel and made my way to The Venetian. It’s a massive mall-casino-hotel hybrid modeled after Venice, complete with faux canals and gondolas. The place was overflowing with concertgoers—some cosplaying as the members in specific music videos, others wearing the colors of their favorite idols. I kept it simple and wore my tour shirt from when I saw them in Berlin two years ago.

I’d bought my ticket second-hand on a reseller app, and I wasn’t sure it would actually work. The seller had sent me the receipt, a photocopy of his passport and credit card, and a signed declaration that I was the rightful owner. It all felt a bit sketchy. But when I handed over the documents, the attendant simply gave me my ticket. No questions asked.

Inside, I bought a new shirt and hoodie (“For you—XL!”) and found my spot. The floor was already packed, but since I was taller than most of the crowd, I had a perfect view of the stage.

The concert itself was incredible. The crowd sang and danced along to every song, and the energy was unreal. Most people had their phones out the entire time, but I only snapped a few photos. I’d rather enjoy it directly than through a screen I’ll never rewatch. At one point I even felt like I made eye contact with some of the members—though maybe that was just wishful thinking.