I was the Lady Luck for many guys in Macau-PG

I WAS THE LADY LUCK FOR A LOT OF GUYS AT THE CASINO IN MACAU

All About Pooja Gor's First Trip Abroad!

When people think of holidaying in the Far East, they mostly opt for popular destinations like China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia. But very few have explored the beautiful city of Macau, near Hong Kong, which is undoubtedly one of the lesser known gems of Asia. Famous for its casinos and splendid tourist locales, it's slowly becoming a hot holiday destination. Recently, a popular Indian TV award ceremony was hosted in the city and that's when Pooja Gor, along with other members of the fraternity enjoyed a five-day work-cum-pleasure trip. The Pratigya actress shared some photographs with Showtime.

Though the trip was short and work-related, it was Pooja's first visit to another country and she can't stop gushing about it. "Prior to this, I had never gone out of India. My five days in Macau is something that I will cherish forever. Moreover, it was a great experience, as I had so many actor-friends along with me. It was fun and totally new for me," she says.

Since they had been invited for an event, the entire television bandwagon was put up at the world famous Venetian Macau Hotel. "To reach there, we first travelled to Hong Kong and then caught a ferry from the Tapei terminal to Cotai. It was a one-hour ferry, which was a nice experience, as I had never been on a ferry before. We were stuck in our shoots, so we couldn't roam around much. But luckily for us, our hotel was huge. The third floor has been made like an entire city. They have a stream of water flowing by, on which they have built a bridge. It is structured on Venice. They even had gondolas, in which we would travel. Along with my friends Rucha Hasabnis, Vishal Singh and Karan Mehra, I went to this market in Macau. Since there was a festival going on there during that time, the place was well-decorated."

Rightly termed as Asia's Las Vegas, Macau is most famous for its casinos. And Pooja made sure to visit them. "I visited the casinos along with Jay Soni, who's like my brother,
my producer, Pearl Grey and Ashita Dhawan, amongst many other people. But I didn't play because I am very scared of losing money. However, I was the lady luck for a lot of guys at the casino. So I would just stand there with them for luck!"

If you go on a work-cum-pleasure trip, no matter how busy you are, shopping is one of the few activities you would definitely indulge in. But Pooja didn't splurge in Macau, despite all the temptations. "In our hotel, there were a lot of branded stores. But I didn't shop much because I had already shopped a lot before going to Macau. I did buy a couple of watches for myself. I bought perfumes from Ed Hardy and Issey Miyake. I also bought coffee mugs and coffee beans from Starbucks. That's the one thing I bought for my mother, as she is a big coffee addict. The other things that were available there weren't the kind of things my parents would like as gifts. But I made sure to get a lot of souvenirs. Anyway, nowadays, we get everything in India. Moreover everything was very expensive there," she reasons.

Ask her about the cuisine she sampled there and pat comes her reply, "I had to stick to Indian food, as though I eat non-vegetarian food occasionally, it was really difficult for all of us to even look at their food. Their non-vegetarian cuisine consisted of whole-roasted ducks, prawns, squids and pork. Chicken isn't a delicacy in Macau; instead they love pork, so they had uncut piglets hanging at the food counter! Looking at it only, I lost my appetite. So I stuck to having dal-chawal and aloo ki sabzi. Thankfully, they had arranged for Indian food," she shudders.

She may have not liked their food, but she definitely praises the local people of Macau. "They are very quiet and disciplined and keep to themselves. But if you need help, they are kind enough to help you. For example, while I was hosting the awards, there were a few lines we were supposed to speak in Macanese, their national language. We were just given the words in the script. But I didn't know the right pronunciation and meaning. I wasn't confident if I was saying it correctly. So I spoke to the locals and asked them for the correct pronunciation and they readily obliged. That was really sweet of them." Doesn't it sound like the perfect work-cum-pleasure trip?

*Courtesy: Showtime