Personal Dork Assistant

Episode IV: A Nou Camp

The Venetian Macau is a virtual clone of the Vegas version, which was itself a reimagining of the European city. After my most hideous run of losses ever at the gaming tables, I decided that if I'm going to hand over my money I damn well should get something in return. Thankfully, The Venetian has a huge shopping mall attached for just such an occasion.

The canals and gondolas were neat and all, but most of the stores aren't much different from the shops you'd find in downtown in Taipei. The Manchester United Experience was at least something different, in a nauseatingly worshipful kind of way. I didn't particularly felt like paying big bucks to get on that bandwagon, but I was drawn to the cart of clearance goods sitting just outside the front door. Flipped through the scattered pile of unpopular goods and found a big stack of original Barcelona jerseys, 30% off.

I've been tempted to pick up a football jersey before. After all, they're distinctive, instantly recognizable around the world to the cognescenti, and loose jersey made from high-tech fabric is comfortable to wear. However, I've been put off by two things. First, the real-deal jerseys are expensive. Secondly, all the major clubs put sponsor advertising on the front of the jerseys and I'll be damned if I pay big bucks to act as a walking billboard for some corp. But in this case, the Barca jersey is going for 30% off, making it about the same price as your standard Nike sport-jersey. And it turned out that the FC Barcelona is sponsoring UNICEF on its jersey, at least I'd be advertising a good cause.

So I guess now I'm a Barca man by default, which makes it interesting because the SO is actually a Real Madrid fan from way back. The Dry-Fit jersey sure was comfy in the sticky Macau heat, though.