00:30I'm Dan McCauley from New Zealand. Here I am now in Macau. I came here in 2010 as a pilot. I came here for something different, a chance of a job.
00:44Then we set up this business here in 2020-ish and now we have Macau's first gin distillery.
00:53We started on my balcony at home with a small distilling kit that my wife bought me and we made some gin.
01:00And this was just as COVID was beginning and pilots obviously weren't flying too much in COVID.
01:05And then one day I emailed one of the government departments in Macau and said,
01:10hey, what are the chances of us successfully opening a distillery in Macau?
01:15We were lucky that the government department that we approached at the start,
01:18they held our hand and guided us through the whole thing, which was incredible.
01:22I think the mix of cultures of Macau definitely changed the direction we went with our gin.
01:33I think most Western countries sort of go down a more traditional citrusy kind of path,
01:38where we completely went down the herbal path embracing some Chinese medicinal botanicals.
01:43And even now we're starting to explore more with some traditional Chinese teas and stuff,
01:49which has been a great learning curve for us,
01:51but it's also something unique as well to Macau and the region.
01:56I think Macau is a great place for a small business.
01:58If you can find a product that services Macau's unique niche market,
02:04like for us it's the hotels and the casinos, their volume is huge.
02:08So for a small business like us, we can happily move 10,000 products a month,
02:13which in most cities would be a very hard feat to have.
02:24We kept pretty busy juggling a business and a job.
02:29But yeah, days off, again, Macau is small, but you can still do almost anything.
02:33So my days off, I love to drive my motorbike around the south of Macau.
02:37There's some nice roads there with greenery and the beach.
02:39It's quite peaceful.
02:40That's a great way to spend my mornings.
02:47And then if my wife and kids are not at school or working,
02:51we catch up at the beach.
02:52Daddy!
03:00Have a nice lunch.
03:01The kids can play in the sand.
03:02I'm a lover of coffee and anything food, more or less.
03:09So Colawan Village, which is just around the corner from the beach,
03:12it's a great place to explore.
03:13A lot of old school history stuff there.
03:16So every time you go there,
03:18there's always something new that you haven't seen before.
03:20The evenings in Macau, again, being a hospitality town,
03:30there's some amazing bars and restaurants.
03:33The Kota Strip full of Eiffel Towers and mini Frances and Italy's is amazing.
03:39Personally, for me, I love to get a few friends.
03:42There's some great little bars off the beaten track that catch up with our life.
03:45On the flip side, if we want to have a more quiet evening,
04:00quite often if I'm here in the evening,
04:03Macau being small, I can flick a message to a few friends
04:05and within a few minutes, they can turn up,
04:08maybe play some guitar here,
04:09and yeah, just relax and enjoy the evening.
04:12Nobody else's sky, but why, why, why can't it be,
04:20but can it be more?
04:30Yeah, I think for us, we want to keep this factory operating.
04:34We like Macau, the kids are super happy here.
04:36I came here back in 2010,
04:38and the idea was to come for maybe one year
04:41just for some career experience and something different.
04:44And then Macau is one of these interesting places
04:47that the longer you stay here, the more enjoyable it gets
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