27 September: Travelling

The upstairs neighbours were redecorating and they started drilling round about 11am. I got sick of it and left for the airport at noon. I’ve checked in already so it was just a matter of getting my boarding pass and checking my luggage. Hung out at the lounge for hours, heehee. Ate so much! There was additional security of course, one section of the airport was set up specially for US flights. First there was a body check, then everyone lined up to have their bags checked by hand. Not too much hassle because they had something like 30 officers checking, so it moved quick. I was glad I have club membership so I could board at the business class gate.

Flight wasn’t full, the middle seat was empty so I could stretch my legs a little. Sat behind 2 babies and they were crying at the beginning of the flight though they quietened down later. Dinner was pasta with spinach and cheese. Didn’t feel like the meat or fish dishes. Slept sporadically, may be an hour at a time. I changed my watch as soon as I got on the plane, but all told probably only had 3-4 hrs of sleep.

Security at the domestic flight part of the journey was fine too. Most people know what to pack and what not to pack at this point, the queues were manageable. Instead of checking my bags, they swabbed and checked my crocs! Heehee. I had my caffeine injection and got settled for a little wait.

SFO airport was okay, lots of places to eat and shop. I had a split pea soup and a diet coke for late lunch. Came to over $8 though, not cheap. Internet day pass was $9.99, which was acceptable to me. Of course I prefer free wifi, but can’t be picky — it’s either pay or sit around with nothing to do. The terminal was fairly quiet early on and I was able to easily find wall sockets. The battery could probably last, but I wasn’t taking the chance. Available spots keep being used as the afternoon wore on as the place got busier.

Flight to LAS was delayed. Sigh. Originally it was supposed to leave at 7.30pm, then it changed to 9pm. As the evening wore on, it became clear that 9pm was optimistic. Apparently the plane coming in had a mechanical problem and was stuck in LAS. At almost nine they announced gleefully that it’d left LAS and will be readied for flying back out as soon as possible. The departure time shifted to 10.30pm at this point. It was all very disappointing and boring. I got a little hungry so I bought a roast beef and cheese sandwich, but not much of an appetite.

It was disconcerning watching other people board their planes; and still ours hadn’t arrived. A group of men started complaining loudly and though they had their point, I wished they could keep their voices down. Some officials came, huddled around the desk and made numerous calls on their cellphone. Everyone was watching them expectantly but they never made any announcement to reassure the passengers, which I thought wasn’t so nice. They came back later with police (!) and talked to the loud men. Shortly after, another group of police arrived on mountain bikes, and the long and short of it was that the loud men were led away. Wow, they were loud and slightly drunk but they were never threatening or anything. Kinda heavy handed in my opinion.

Finally, the plane arrived, we waited till the incoming passengers got off and not long after, we finally boarded. There was a cheer when the boarding announcement went up, it had been a long wait. Took off at just before 11pm, I was very tired, had a drink and then fell asleep. Flight was only 1.5 hrs, so it seemed like I’d just closed my eyes when the seatbelt sign came up. I could see the lights when we came in and it was exciting. The airport was virtually deserted, though I saw what Car meant when she said that there were slot machines as soon as I came out of the gate. There were! Anyway, despite there being hardly any other people at the airport, it was still a wait for the bags. At least mine wasn’t the last, and I got on the taxi really quick. $25 to the Aladdin, which was under renovation so it was a little trek through boarded corridors to the make-shfit reception area. I was so tired, I didn’t even hear Car call me, until she almost shouted in my ear that I’m deaf! Heehee.

The room was pretty good, Car’s Mom and Gram were already in ‘ready for bed’ mode (didn’t blame them it was past 1am). I unpacked a little, and then the two of us went downstairs to scout around the casino a little. It was BIG! Was a little too incoherent to take everything in, but saw the roulettes, poker, blackjack tables. Plus of course the rows and rows of slot machines. I never realised they had special “themes” — we put $1 in a Star Wars machine, it had the sound effects and we won a little, though promptly lost it all. Back to the room and I took a much needed shower. It’s been a long trek but it took me a while to actually fall asleep.

28 September: south side of the Strip

Early start (well, for being on vacation). First stop was to go across the Strip to the Bellagio. It was one of my original hotel choices but it was too expensive. And wow! Impressive! First thing that caught our eye was the glass flower roof at the lobby, with all sorts of colours.

Just a little way off reception was an awesome garden with fantastic light through skylights, and a banyan tree that had been rescued from (?)Florida(?). The Halloween theme could already be seen, with pumpkins and scarecrows heavily featured.

From the Bellagio we walked to the Monte Carlo. On the map, these two hotels are next to each other, but in reality it was a good 10-15 minute walk. Took us longer because: a) we had Gram’s wheelchair and b) we stopped off at a Walgreens to get Gram’s medicine and to do a little catch-up shopping. So when we got to the Monte Carlo we’d worked up a good appetite for brunch. Nice brunch it was too — mainly breakfast items of bacon, sausages, eggs, french toast and cereal. I was also introduced to the very interesting American breakfast item known as “biscuits and gravy”. It was not biscuits or gravy as I knew it. Basically it’s a large scone that was smothered by a white sauce that had bits of sausage in it. Tasted quite nice (as white sauce and scones would) but pretty stodgy. I also tried a blintz which was warm pancake stuffed with cottage cheese. That I did not like because the idea of warm cottage cheese was unstomachable for me. They didn’t have proper tea so I had iced tea.

Walked around the casino a little, took some pictures of the slot machines. This would become a theme for the trip — pics of strange slot machines. From the Monte Carlo we made our way to the New York New York. Dude, it was just like NY, with a Brooklyn Bridge at one side and the Statue of Liberty on the other. Inside was a rabbit warren of small alleys and NY-like cafés and shops. There was even a smell of apples (cos, well, big apple …). The rollercoaster outside wasn’t operating at first, but later on it was. I put $1 in a Star Wars Dark Side slot machine and played for a long time — was lucky enough to get bonuses and the like. It was a good $1 spent.

Next on our visit list was the MGM Grand. Now I started getting the feel of these hotel casinos. Each had a theme, lots of interesting things to see, a show or another, and then there was the casino. Many people walking around, made the place seem like a resort. The theme at the MGM Grand was lions, they had an enclosure where we could see 2 lions sleeping. Another area where they had cubs. For $200 one could enter the cub enclosure and have an “experience” with the cubs. Well, no.

From the MGM we visited the shops along the way. Bought a bunch of rainbow keychains, like my Chicago one. These were good souvenirs for the people at work. Also took in the M&M shop and passed by the Coke shop. Was pretty tired when we returned to the hotel. Originally the plan was to rest a while then go out exploring but we all ended up napping! Which wasn’t such a bad thing, we were all tired from the travelling.

Dinner was a the Bellagio buffet. $27 per person. It was GOOD! We got there early (before 6pm) so the queue was short. Alaskan king crabs, sushi, mussels, roast lamb, prime rib, turkey, ham, all sorts of hot dishes, pizza, polenta, paella … couldn’t try everything. Dessert was ice cream, profiteroles, crème brûlée and many others I couldn’t remember. Everything was done nicely and presented with the intention to tempt.

One of the other reason for going to the Bellagio was to watch the fountain display. They had a short display (one song) every 15 minutes and we stayed for 3 displays. It was a fabulous free show, I was impressed all over again.