So, 2 weeks before the day I arrived in Vegas I booked an airplane ticket (United Airways) from SF to LA. Pretty straightforward affair, and was later impressed at the airport with the automatic check-in counter. All I had to do was to swipe my credit card (the one I used to pay for the ticket) and voila! Choose your own seats, print your boarding ticket, and I was all set. It was all DIY. A little detail I would like to put down: like to thank the brother who pointed out to me where the auto check-in counter was, well I did have to donate a bit of money for charity (he was there asking for donations to a certain cause which I forgot what it was) but the brother was kind enough, and he pointed out to a sorry shortie like me the way so it was cool.So, after an hour of traveling by train from the little pleasant town of Pleasant Hill to SFIA in SF (got off at the wrong train station once, and had to change train, the whole affair made me a bit nervous along the way) and an hour-and-a-half flight from SF to LA, my friend and his wife finally picked me up at LAX's pick-up area. First place to visit was the nearest McD's drive-in to grab ourselves some grub and after that it was a long, 3-hour drive to Vegas all the way. Chatted with that long-time buddy of mine (knew him since elementary school) 'bout lotsa stuff, and played his PSP to get rid off the sleepiness. Finally dozed off a bit though, but woke up just in time to see the bright lights of Vegas.
First impression was: look at all those lights! And there was this bright beam of light shooting straight up from a big, glossy-black, pyramid-like structure (it's the Luxor, my friend pointed out to me). Couldn't say enough how much lights there were. Don't get the wrong impression, though, we didn't stay in any one of them fancy hotels. We went to the outskirts of Vegas and stayed in a cheap (but good enough) motel. It's the kind of cheap motel you see in the movies where the main character's staying when on the run from the bad guys or something (and where he or she will most likely get ambushed by one of the bad guy's henchmen). It's good enough for resting before the big day in Vegas.The sun rose, and we rose as well. Got ourselves decent and ready, and went out of the room. It was a good day: the sun was shining brightly in the sky, and my skin was starting to get scorched and was drying up so fast it scared me. It was hot, and there was no perspiration on my skin not because I wasn't prespiring but because my sweat dried up instantly due to the heat. I'm not much of a fans when it comes to applying sticky liquid on my skin, but seeing how dastardly hot and dry the weather was I thought to myself that I can make an exception or two once in awhile. Asked my friend's wife for moisturizer without shame, and started applying it before my skin goes to hell (it was starting to wrinkle, by the way, and I was not ashamed to admit that I started to freak out a bit).
That was my first time ever in an American dessert, and boy was it hot! When you think of it, it's amazing that they built a city like Vegas in the middle of nowhere, and a scorching nowhere it was to boot.
Our first stop of the day was a big factory outlet. Nothing special, just a big factory outlet. Was looking at some Oakley glasses when my friend's wife told me that she could get that for half the price for me and I asked which model was the best. She said the most expensive one so far is Juliet so I said I want that one. Was interested with some Nike shoes, but thought better of it (but would later regretted that decision). After about an hour of walking around in the complex, I ended up buying nothing, but had a good time looking at some nice merchandises (and was quite happy with the prospect of having one of the coolest sunglasses with half the price). Next stop was 'The Strip'.
Alright, the Strip. They call it the Strip because it's a long road and this is where all the luxurious hotels are located. Remember the movies? Remember that whenever they shot Vegas they shot a street lined up with big fancy hotels and lots of lights? That's the Strip. We got there at around 12 in the noon. Even during daytime and without the fancy neon lights Vegas was quite extravagant. The decorations, the (fake, wanna-be, copy cat) architecture, the statues, the buildings, the flashy billboards with flashy advertisements, they all scream 'Big Money!' They have a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower, a compacted Venice complete with water canals (outside AND inside the hotel/shopping plaza/casino, to boot!), an onix black pyramid (The Luxor) and they even have a hotel named 'New York New York' with miniatures of famous landmarks from New York on top of the hotel and jet coasters zig-zaging in between 'em. To top it off, showing that Vegas is a place where people throw money away, up in the sky there was a plane circling around making a sentence 'John Doe loves Jane Doe' using its exhaust trail. You got the money, you got it.
One of the many classy restaurants inside 'The Mirage', there are cushions in between the big letters of 'Revolution'
The walkway to the entrance of the Beatles-themed show named 'Love', also by Cirque du Soleil
First stop at the Strip was lunch. There were many buffets in the many hotels of Vegas, and we visitted one of them. The food was okay. It was, after all, lunch buffet and in all honesty the food was average, something that is to be expected out of any buffet restaurant and nothing more. After that, it was hotel/casino hopping. We visitted lots of grand and luxurious hotels/casinos such as Caesar's palace, MGM, Venice, and many more, taking pictures and marveling at all the money they pour to create the level of luxury displayed all over the place from the obvious, out-in-the-open spaces to the corners and crevices of the hotels. Walking along the Strip I found many people giving away cards with pictures of ladies wearing 'suggestive' attires (sometimes downright blatant, nearing nudity). I guess that's Vegas, people gamble and when they do win they might want to celebrate (catch my drift?). According to my friend, the 'advertisements' are not representative. In other words, the ladies probably look as good as in the pictures...10 years ago.
The many examples of the grand architectures that can be found in Vegas
Just between noon and evening we were walking down the street to visit another hotel when we realized that we should have taken the bus (it was blistering hot) and we got in to the nearest 7-11 to get ourselves some drink to cool us down a bit. I believe someone stole some stuff from that 7-11 store while we were there. Vegas, they don't call it Sin city for nothing I guess. Walking down the road further more we arrived at a collection of building, one of 'em a big Coca Cola store. Went in, took some pics, and went up to the second floor where they sell this combo set of drinks made by the Coca Cola company. The range of flavours they have was quite staggering. Ginger-flavoured soda, anyone? They really have it all, from sweet to (I kid you not) bitter soda drink. And when I said bitter, I mean bitter as in taste-more-awful-than-your-most-hated-cough-solution bitter. Right next to the Coca Cola store was an M & M store. Well, it was chocolate all the way. Nothing bitter, mind you, just chocolate in many-colored coatings.
This advertisement can be found almost everywhere in Vegas. Yum...
Wish I was invited...
There was a place offering Grand Canyon tour with helicopter. I think the fee was around USD 300 (quite steep, but if I had the money one day I wouldn't mind) and thought to myself that I'd probably go for that the next time I went to the US in September (that didn't happen though, the project decided that everything was covered during my visit there so there was no business need for me to go there again in September. Boo-hoo) and my friend was, at the time, looking forward to it as well. So, that didn't happen, and anyways the Grand Canyon was only a really huge piece of coal (my friend's words, verbatim) so no big loss there. New York, well, that's a really different story. One day...one day...New York...New York...
On Top of 'The New York, New York'
Inside 'The Venice'
Sun went down, and it was time to have our dinner. For that, we needed to go back to our car. Passed 'Treasure Island' along the way, and the 'Pirates' show was on-going. The sidewalk right outside 'Treasure Island' was packed with people and it took some time for us to pass. We finally got back to 'The Mirage' and drove to the place where we were planning to have dinner. It was to be a seafood buffet restaurant, but by the time we got there the place was packed and the line was long. We had a deadline so we took another alternative: a Japanese restaurant which happened to be located in the same hotel/casino as the seafood buffet restaurant. The food was...well, sub-standard, but at least we had our dinner. We watched a show as well in there, free, and at the end of the show wooden boats hanging from the ceiling carried on rails started to run around the big casino room. On it were pretty dancers giving away plastic necklaces, throwing it down to the throng of people on the casino floor. Got lucky and caught one. Not bad for a souvenir.
Finally, we got to the end of the itinerary, the gala event of the day: 'Zumanity'. Before I venture further, let me tell you another thing famous about Vegas (aside from gambling, shopping and whoring): the shows. The shows! Boy, are they magnificent or what! They even created stages specifically for certain shows. A few examples come to mind: Cirque du Soleil, a famous circus troupe with lots of shows in Vegas, has some shows with stages created specifically for them. One is a show called 'O', where I heard the performers dance inside a stage-size aquarium, another is a show called 'Ka', where the performers perform on a stage that can rotate to a 90-degree angle and where the performers practically climb up across the stage. The Blue Man Group also has a show going on in Vegas at the time of my visit.The show we were watching, 'Zumanity', was also a show performed by Cirque du Soleil. The stage is in 'New York, New York' and we came just a tad bit late. They were already starting, but we didn't miss much. The theme of the show was sexuality and sensuality. The performers danced, jumped, did acrobatic maneuvers on stage with very minimum attire. Even the ladies are bare-breasted most of the time. But the show was not about cheap nudity. It celebrated artistry in the sensuality of the human body in the forms of dances, acrobatic maneuvers, and often times, comedy. It was a beautiful performance accompanied by great acting and live, on-stage music and singing. It was USD 130 well spent. Shame that cameras are not allowed. The show was probably the best part of my visit in Vegas. If ever there would be a next time, I'm planning to watch more.
The show also marked the end of my visit to Vegas. It was time for us to drive back to Los Angeles. Some things that I regretted not doing in Vegas were: not visitting the Luxor and not seeing the water fountain show in front of 'The Bellagio' (featured in the movie 'Ocean's Eleven'). But, overall, it was an awesome trip, one that I don't mind doing again. One day was good enough, but next time I'm watching more shows!
