Macau Insider Website

Recently I created a site that highlights Macau. As I have been living here for more than 10 years, I highly recommend Macau to all those who want to see a place with a blend of historical Chinese and Portuguese world-heritage relics. Macau's biggest attraction is its gambling industry and casinos. For more information visit http://www.macau-insider.com

Travel Paris, France

Last 5th of June from Paris, Charles de Gaulle International Airport our flight back to Hong Kong was cancelled and we were booked to the nearest hotel at exactly 1:30. Our flight was re-scheduled at 17:00 and we took this opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful places in Paris like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Palace, Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe, 12th Century Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris and many more.

Below are some of the basic information of Paris taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris.

Paris is the capital and largest city of France. It is also the capital of the region Île-de-France that, encompassing Paris and its suburbs, represents France's most dynamic centre of economic activity. Paris is a leading global cultural, business and political center and is renowned for its defining neo-classical architecture as well as its role as a major international influence in fashion, gastronomy and the arts. It is widely regarded as one of the world's major global cities. Dubbed "the City of Light" (la Ville Lumière) since the 19th century, Paris has a reputation as a "romantic" city.

Last Round Of The 37th Chess Olympiad

June 4, 2006, Macau chess team with 19 points played Mozambique in round 13. Victor Ho finished his game after his opponent at board 4 resigned in just 26 moves. Zachary Calangi showed his tenacity at the end game scored a point after 53 moves. Boards 1 and 2 were not able to score. Macau draw the match against Mozambique with 2-2. Macau team finished this Olympiad with a total of 21 points. A fine result after 13 rounds of tough match games.

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Rolly Fesalbon Breaks The Ice in Round 12

June 3, 2006 Round 12 at the Olympiads. Macau faced Brunei Darussalam in this round. Rolly Fesalbon playing for board 2 scored his first point in this olympiad just when it needed most by the team. Playing against the tough Brunei team, Macau even the match with a score of 2-2. Boards 3 and 4 were not able to score. Total points of Macau after this round is 19 points going in the last round

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Victor Ho Cheng Fai Now A FIDE Master

June 2, 2006, Victor Ho Cheng Fai obtained the second master title for Macau by defeating his opponent from Rwanda, keping his medal hopes alive. The FIDE master title is awarded to any player who scores 6 points in 9 games, equivalent to 66%. Jose Silveirinha and Mak Keng Kei also won their games respectively. The Macau team scored 3 points in round 11 increasing her total to 17 points.

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Zachary Calangi Gains Macau's First Master Title in Round 10

31 May 2006, Round 10. Macau, pitted against the relatively stronger team of Surinam, survived a total onslaught. Thanks to Zachary for outmanuevering his opponent to give Macau her 1 and only point. To make this point more meaningful, Zachary achieved the CM title. This is the first accomplishment of the whole Macau Team at this olympiads.

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Travel Venice, Italy

Travel Venice, Italy

Last 27 May 2006, I had a chance to visit the city of Venice. From Turin train station I rode the train to Sta. Lucia in Venice. We travelled 5 hours by train. At the train we met the Malaysian chess team who are also going to that place. From Sta. Lucia I thought that it would be far from there to see the city but its not. It only takes a few minutes before I saw the entrance to this esplendid city.

Famous for its canal the city is built and connected with more than 400 bridges. The classical boat which is known as Gondola is no longer used by the locals but mostly tourist. Venice is the only 21st century city Europe that has no motor vehicles allowed. Travel to the city can be done by foot or boat only. Restaurants and canal shops dominated the area.

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Repeat Performance in Round 9

May 30, 2006, round 9 at the Chess Olympiad, Macau chess team today faced Guernsey. Victor Ho CHeng Fai playing his 7th game crushed his opponent improving his percentage to 85.7 %. Macau Board 1 player, Solomon Celis III drew his game. Macau now has a total of 13 points with 4 more rounds to go.

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Slowly But Surely in Round 8

Monday 29 May 2006, Round 8. Macau faced San Marino in this round. Undazzled by the stunning loss yesterday, Macau crept back to her scoring ways. The team scored 1 1/2 points against the San Marino team composed of their best rated players. Jose Silveirinha toppled his opponent in 24 moves and Zachary Alexander Calangi's opponent saved his game by a repetition of moves for the half point. Macau now has total of 11.5 points after 8 rounds.

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Macau Team Taken Back to Earth in Round 7

28 May 2006, Sunday, the great leap in the standings proved rather unlucky as Macau had to face the Faroe Islands, a team composed of 2 International Masters and with average team rating of 2300. Macau used it's top 4 players but to no avail.

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Macau Team in Devastating Form in Round 6

27 May 2006, Macau chess team was paired against Fiji. Boards 1, 3 and 4 of Fiji are all rated. Zachary Alexander Calangi playing at Board 3, outwitted his opponent in 35 moves of the Queens Gambit Declined Defense. Victor Ho Cheng Fai, scoring his 5th win in 6 games forced his opponent to resign in 31 moves. Jose Silveirinha on board 1 followed suit momentarily after 52 moves. The fourth player Mak Keng Kei was lucky to win on the blunder made by his opponent; the final score 4-0 which pulled over 40 other teams with a total of 10 points.

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