Oh Vegas. With your enticing buffets, topless shows, scandalous gambling, and blinding lights…
It had been a while since we checked out Las Vegas; last time, one Zeon-organized trip took us mid-summer, mid-desert, to a place where free public entertainment compensated for limited college funds. Since I was in between jobs and Sui was on winter break, we figured it was about time for a return trip.
Sadly, when you don’t gamble or go clubbing, Vegas is a lot less interesting. Despite the diverse entertainment, having a jolly time in Vegas ultimately means spending money at the slots, in the bars, or around the malls; we opted to spend cash on shows and food instead. This is a quick account of some of the interesting venues we dropped by, just in case anybody wants to check them out.
And for those more visually-inclined, some pictures of the trip. (1)
Day 1
Clear skies, a quick and uneventful flight, and shuttles to the hotel; the trip started fine, especially since I didn’t have to drive 9 hours prior. We stayed at Planet Hollywood – Sui has connections for cheaper rooms – with decent accommodations and service, just a bit depressing someone chose to base a resort on a landmark merely two hours away by car. We ended up at a restaurant in a small casino called Ellis Island, where $8 will buy you a steak dinner with a soup/salad and a beer.
Unfortunately, Sui got sick sometime on the flight, so we retired early and hoped she’d feel better the next day.
Day 2
Sui still wasn’t feeling well, so we made the day “let’s wander and see if anything changed”. Turns out things have largely remained the same: the Bellagio still has a squirty fountain show, New York, New York still has overpriced ghetto-NY-esque food, and good ol’ dependable Walgreens still sells $2 cough drops.
We attended Rio’s rather disappointing “Show in the Sky Masquerade“, and spent the evening – courtesy of the Deuce – in quiet downtown Las Vegas, home to much of the older casinos. It actually felt more genuine; street performers and artists (more importantly, not the ubiquitous callgirl card peddlers) braved the cold to draw crowds, casinos offered deals actually related to gambling, and food is cheap and plentiful. We stayed for the Fremont Street Experience (essentially a short film on an overhead canopy), and enjoyed dollar shrimp cocktails at the Golden Gate casino and hotel.
Day 3
Our 3rd day proved to be more eventful, as we had tickets to Le Reve, an acrobatic artsy show from the same mold baking Cirque du Soleil acts in Vegas. Our self-imposed buffet quota was spent at the excellent Paris Le Village Buffet (we paid dinner at lunch prices, lucky timing) and waddled up the Strip to the Wynn, a dark monolith easily mistaken for an oversized chocolate bar (Sui’s words). Le Reve was breathtaking, but not so much the underwhelming Lake of Dreams performance in the front or closed off pay-to-see Ferrari dealership.
We ended the night standing out in the cold, gazing at the even colder Sirens of TI dive into subzero waters for the privilege of gyrating to pop music.
Day 4
The chilly air defeated me on the last day; I woke up tired, coughing, and a little dizzy. It was a good day to check out the sole “outlet mall” accessible from the strip by bus, as the empty streets and quiet storefronts provided a peace away from the bustling casino lights. I’m sad to recall that we stayed a good two hours hanging around Electronic Fry’s.
The god of gambling must have taken offense to our thrifty trip; our flight was delayed 2+ hours due to bad weather conditions in the Bay Area, and we made it worse by checking in early in anticipation of going home on an earlier flight (which was, of course, cancelled). All I remember are sleeping uncomfortable chairs, thanking my iPhone and DS’s company, munching on a Starbucks croissant, and agonizing over the ever slow-moving lobby clock.
But we did make it back in one piece. With minimal gambling losses.
- Apologies for the clash between the main theme of the site and the gallery software. I’ll get around to integrating the two parts soon (↩)