I Traveled to a "Fake" London

A solo trip with just one bag

I took some time off at the end of the year to go on an overseas trip. It was a carefree trip with nothing but a Boston bag and a Leica M camera.

I left the city center on the night of December 26th and headed to Haneda Airport on the Tokyo Monorail. The monorail was more crowded than I expected. Since it was already past the time for domestic flights, most of the passengers got off at Haneda Airport Terminal 3.

Since the ANA flight I was taking departed from Terminal 2, I stayed on until the last stop. Only a few people got off at Haneda Airport Terminal 2 Station, and even after leaving the ticket gate, the commercial facilities were already closed, and there was almost no one around. The airport at night even felt a little eerie.

The international check-in counters were naturally deserted as well. It seemed that the boarding procedures for some flights to Southeast Asia had already finished, and it looked like only my flight remained. The process at the unmanned check-in kiosks felt a bit impersonal, so I had my boarding pass issued at a manned counter.

Taking a late-night flight to Hong Kong

The destination of that flight, which departed at 2:00 AM, was not London... but Hong Kong.

The ANA flight departing at 2:00 AM Japan time was crowded. I had decided that I would "absolutely not eat udon (carbohydrates)" in the ANA lounge, but in the end, I ordered tonkotsu ramen.

Because of that, I couldn't sleep at all on the plane. The cradle-style seat that ANA advertises as being "like a cradle" didn't suit me at all. "I'm sleepy, but I can't sleep." While I was thinking about that, two hours after takeoff passed, and the meal service began. The Japanese-style in-flight meal was very delicious, but a meal at 5:00 AM Japan time was quite heavy.

Entry into Hong Kong was smooth, and I arrived at Hong Kong Station in the center of Hong Kong Island at 7:00 AM local time (8:00 AM Japan time). I took some photos and caught the evening ferry to Macau. (I'll talk about my half-day stay in Hong Kong separately).

Is this London!?

The introduction has become long, but the St. Regis where I stayed in Macau is located within a resort facility called The Londoner. This facility, operated by the major US casino company Sands, is popular for its facilities that imitate the UK. The exterior of the facility is in the 19th-century Victorian style, and there is even a Big Ben. It is quite elaborately made, and if you look around while drunk, there is a possibility that you might mistake it for being in London.

The next morning, when I went outside, many people were pointing their smartphone cameras at the red double-decker buses parked in front of the hotel and the red public telephone boxes. There are also British-style pubs and restaurants that serve afternoon tea. Yes, this is a fake London.

I didn't intend to stay at The Londoner from the beginning. I had considered other hotels like the Mandarin Oriental, but I chose the St. Regis for the richness of the surrounding facilities, including the casino. (Although, my conclusion is that since Macau is a very small region, it hardly makes a difference where you stay).

I was very satisfied with the hospitality at the St. Regis. When they cleaned the room, they bundled up the USB charging cables I had left lying around, and on the night of the final day, they even prepared their famous egg tarts in my room. I also appreciated that the restaurant where I had breakfast, The Manor, remembered my name properly.

The fact that the TV in the hotel room would turn on and off, and that the minibar was locked and wouldn't open, were just trivial troubles.

So, here is the fake London. Giant teacups are placed here and there within the facility, and a changing of the guard ceremony is even held. "It's just a simplified fake, right?" Having been a British territory, Hong Kong is one thing, but I initially felt nothing but discomfort at the fact that Macau, which has no inherent connection to the UK, was "recreating" Britain.

However, even with such a fake, many tourists were pointing their cameras at the Big Ben-style clock tower and taking selfies. They seemed to be fully enjoying the "British vibe." Looking at social media, I see many photos taken at The Londoner. Everyone looks like they are having fun.

But, I wonder, does everyone not want to see the real thing? Even if London is far away, it takes about half a day to arrive from Asia, and for those who can afford to stay at a luxury hotel in Macau, going to London shouldn't be that difficult financially.

That made me wonder: what percentage of people never go to London in their entire lives?

95% of people never go to London even once?

When I tried a rough estimate using ChatGPT, it suggested that roughly 95% of the world's population will never visit London in their lifetime. (This is a figure based on tourism statistics and layers of speculation, and the reliability of the number itself needs verification, but it feels "not far off the mark." Please do not cite this as it is unverified.)

In the first place, it seems that about 70% of the world's population goes through their entire life without ever leaving their own country. (This is also an estimate using ChatGPT.)

Looking at these numbers, perhaps surprisingly few of the people gathering at Macau's "fake London" will ever reach the "real thing." If the imitation in Macau acts as an incentive to go see the "real thing," then that has its own significance, and even if not, if it stirs interest in the "real thing," that is also fine.

With inward-looking tendencies growing around the world, I thought it wouldn't be so bad if a resort, likely built without any such awareness, could become a catalyst for people to dream about a major city on the other side of the globe.

There are also advantages unique to fake London. I didn't feel the kind of discrimination I sometimes experience in the UK. During my stay in the UK in 2024, most of it was a good memory, and Oxford was such a wonderful place that I even thought about whether I could live there forever. However, in London, I was once shouted at with something like "Chinese, go home!" and I have heard more than a few stories of Asians being looked down upon. (Well, I wonder if that's what happens after practicing imperialism for so long. In terms of the global economy, the UK has also become quite a declined country.)

Here, no matter how much you frolic and take photos in front of everyone, there is no one to be mean to you. Isn't it peaceful and nice?

Macau's Big Ben has a digital signage for the clock face, and it displays not just the time, but sometimes videos as well. In a sense, it is more advanced in terms of digitalization than the original. (Though the original probably doesn't care about that at all.)

Paris and Venice are there too?

By the way, next to London, there are also Paris and Venice. (Each facility is connected by a connecting corridor.) The Eiffel Tower glitters at night. The Venetian canal in the shopping mall was under renovation, and the water had dried up.

I don't know if there are any plans to build similar facilities in Macau in the future, but I am secretly hoping that one day it will become a place where you can experience the world in one location, like Tobu World Square. (Where will it be after the UK, France, and Italy? "German Village" perhaps!?)