funny. the title of this post makes me sound like an ingrate. before you continue feeding that thought, hear what i have to say. vegas is totally not fun if: 1) you're not a gambler, 2) you're not into sleazy stuff, 3) you have no moolah, 4) you're underage to gamble or watch topless shows, 5) you go with a bunch of grownups whose first concern is spending their time there glued to the seat of a slot machine and making a killing. i suppose i've made myself pretty clear regarding my situation. don't get me wrong, i'm really grateful for my relatives taking me there, and i did have fun; it's just that it would've been so much nicer to have gone with a bunch of good friends with similar tastes, you know.
day 1:
Aunt Ros drove Mama, Daryl and myself to vegas. i was really sleepy so i was snoozing most of the way, but i did manage to keep awake long enough to snap some photos of some interesting geomorphological features like conspicuous rock strata, semi-arid slope profiles, tors and corestones. zzz, i know. but it's 100% me. i get excited when i see the stuff of my geog textbooks in actuality. it's almost larger than life.
anywaysss, when we got to the hotel (Paris), we went into every single one of the 5 rooms my aunt had booked so she could choose one with the most suitable feng shui view for her. Daryl and i made it a point to sit on every single bed and crumple the sheets before moving on :P then when we were in the room waiting for everyone else to arrive, Daryl and i watched the dumb instructional video clips the hotel recorded which taught guests how to play certain games like Craps and Mini Baccarat. it was sooooo lame. for each game, the woman dressed up as some celebrity e.g. the Nanny, George Burns, Judge Judy... then spouted lameass comments like "you're looking at the only judge who's ever sent someone to the electric chair for jaywalking!" like HA.HA. well, ok, i confess. i laugh easily when it comes to lame stuff.
that evening, when everyone (everyone = Aunt Ros, Mama, Daryl, Aunt Esther, Eason, Keanen, Kayle, E-poh, Lao Teoh, Aunt Jac, Uncle Allen, Zoe and myself O.O) was finally there, we headed to a HK restaurant we thought was nearby. it turned out to be relatively far from the Strip and looked a lil desolate so when we turned into the parking lot, we were contemplating whether to follow through with our choice. surprisingly, the food turned out pretty good, especially the breaded lobster. i've never really like seafood all that much, but it was really fresh, juicy and crispy! too bad it came close to the end of the meal, i'd have had more if i could've managed.
after dinner, the older grownups went back to the hotel's casino to test their luck; and Aunt Jac dropped Aunt Esther, the twins, Kayle, Daryl and myself off along the Strip to take in the sights. we went to the M&M store and spent quite some time there. America's ability to commercialise anything is amazing. the amount of merchandise spawned from just a plain looking piece of candy is simply mind-boggling. wanted to buy M&M coin pouches for you guys but they cost $6.95 each, and that's not even inclusive of taxes. ouch. on our way back to the hotel, we bumped into Aunt Jez and Stacey, who just came from a family friend's house in the vicinity and were wanting a piece of the action. after putting the kids back to rest, Aunt Jez headed for the slot machines as well, while Stacey dragged Daryl and i to the shops beneath Bally's. yeesh, everything was closed. we were like corpses when all of us were finally cleaned up and ready for bed.
day 2:
grownups headed to different casinos to recoup their losses. Aunt Jac, Uncle Allen, Aunt Esther, the twins, Kayle, Zoe, Daryl, Stacey and myself made a beeline for Adventuredome in Circus Circus. most of the rides were way too kiddy for the grownups and us in-betweens, so Daryl took up the job of chaperoning the twins whilst Stacey and i spent our loose change on booth games. i spent about $10 on various games and got 4 stuffed toys: an orange elephant, Kermit, a purple rose and a red salamander.
i was real pleased with myself for getting a Kermit cos the machine cost only 50c per play and i got it on my first try! Stacey was encouraged and tried it too, only to realise after she failed that the claw was kinda dangling with some wires sticking out. man, i was real lucky :D
to get our money's worth, Stacey and i tried out some of the games that seemed easier to win. although it was a lil tough, we really liked the game where we paid a dollar for 4 ping pong balls to toss into a pool filled with floating glass bowls. white bowl = 3 free balls, red bowl = small prize, yellow = medium, blue = big. one round, i won 3 free balls, a second round got me the elephant. winning the salamander was a cinch; just hit a balloon with a dart. got the flower from a fishing game i thought was quite a ripoff, but no choice, the flower was practically guaranteed. you pay 2 bucks for a fishing rod with a fat horseshoe magnet tied to it, and try to "fish" a red puck amongst the gazillion yellow ones that give you the small prize. ah, what the heck, it was for the fun of it!
after lunch, we ventured into the indoor carnival which had many of the games that was in the Adventuredome. there was a ring toss game with many glass coke bottles and very small rings that fit almost snugly around the mouth and neck of the bottles. Stacey and i split the cost for 20 rings but didn't get anything. later on, Uncle Allen, Aunt Jac and Zoe got a small bucket full of rings and by "sheer dumb luck", Zoe got one around a bottle! O.O her dad wanted to get the ipod shuffle cos it'd fit nicely in a pocket but Zoe wanted the huge unicorn to ride on, no prizes for guessing who won that dispute :P
that evening, Aunt Ros brought Daryl, Stacey and i for dinner at a restaurant at Bally's and we each ordered something we thought would be rather light. but when it came, omg... the portions could feed a minimum of 2 moderate eaters. we ended up boxing the food for those who didn't wanna join us for dinner. when we were done, us in-betweens were too tired to roam the Strip so we just chilled in the hotel room and watched tv. it was a pity they were underage, i wanted to check out the club at Planet Hollywood. then again, i don't think i'm hot enough for the bouncers to let me in, lol!
day 3:
woke up early and waited for the grownups to get their butts off the bed. Aunt Ros brought all of us for breakfast at a buffet place in Paris. the food was great, i loved the crepe; fresh, sweet, succulent blueberries wrapped in a layer of batter heated to perfection and drenched with a generous helping of flavourful raspberry sauce. ahhhhh... damn. i'm making myself salivate at the thought of it. Zoe had her pink teddy with her and when her parents went off to get food, she placed it on the seat between her and Aunt Ros. when Aunt Ros picked it up to take a look, Zoe was all "Put it down!" in a very baby talk way. a British bloke at the table beside them turned over and with an incredulous look on his face, asked my aunt "Did she say 'Put it down!'?!" LOL. Zoe's gonna be so embarassed when we tell her all this in future, muahahaha!
tummies filled, the entire army went up to the rooms to pack. we chit-chatted a bit more before we finally checked out of the hotel. Zoe and parents headed home, Aunt Jez drove Aunt Esther and the kids to her place in Porterville for the week, and Aunt Ros drove us back to her place in LA. tired from staying up practically the entire night, she wanted Daryl to drive for a bit while she snoozed. but when Daryl was at the wheel, all of us were just too nervous to sleep. i'll bet that he's only clocked a maximum of 7hrs behind the wheel so far, wonder how he actually got his license.
when we got back, we rested for a bit before heading out for dinner at a Thai Chinese restaurant nearby called Banana Bay. it was sort of a farewell dinner for Mama and Daryl, who flew off just yesterday afternoon. the food was great, and i have to say that my gastromical roots are definitely wedged tightly in the soils of Southeast Asia. haha.
right now, it's just me playing the role of the intruder in the Rivas home. wish i could go somewhere a lil more welcoming... talk to me guys, leave me messages on my blog, email me, whatever.
