Hello, Las Vegas!

Strangely enough, I have returned from Las Vegas (two weeks ago now) - a place I wouldn't of considered visiting anytime soon. The fact that I went with my parents and aunt made the experience all the stranger.


DAY 1
The plane was delayed 20mins, still made pretty good time and arrived in LV at 9pm ish. As soon as you see rows of slot machines in the airport, you know you've arrived. We checked out the Vdara hotel we were staying at. Environmentally conscious hotel with 57 floors, built in kitchen, no corridor a/c, and a pleasantly quiet lobby.



We felt pretty active still so we explored the new (and free to ride) tram line that went across the City Center block, stopping at Aria, Crystals, Monte Carlo... We also figured out some neat shortcuts to take to get to certain places.

DAY 2
In the morning, we walked across the front to Aria across the street and had a breakfast buffet. My very first LV buffet was conveniently called 'The Buffet.' It's definitely one of the best! Price and quality wise.


The rest of the day was dedicated to Premium Outlet shopping. We took the express transit which 'toured' around downtown. We then ended up staying and shopping there for about 8 hours (yep!). After a long day of hard work, we had our second buffet - Planet Hollywood. This time, we joined in on the Buffet of Buffets promotion where you are given a wrist band which gave you "unlimited" access to 7 buffets across the Strip for 24 hours. The tandoori chicken on the skewer was definitely the highlight for me.


(here, have some hairy arm~)
After filling up, we needed a walk. YEP DEFINITELY. It was pretty late but we walked the Miracle Mile regardless and were able to pick up a few things before it closed for the night.

DAY 3
50km/h winds greeted Las Vegas that day, complete with pebble bullets. Painful stuff.


I suggested going to Caesar's Palace for their breakfast buffet and so we did. Yet another awesome breakfast. The customizable omelet was DELICIOUS.

Alright, feeling fat again, we did some more walking on the strip. To make time for the show we have planned to watch later that night, we went back to Planet Hollywood for our 2nd meal-buffet of the day. We originally considered Paris' but the lineup was insane by the time we got there.

After fattening up once again, we headed to the MGM Grand and headed into the theatre to watch KA. Seeing people eat popcorn while watching a live show was a bit strange to me. Anyway, inside, the theatre was a lot smaller than I imagined it to be. The seats had built-in speakers which gave it a surround sound effect - that was neat. As for the show itself, the story felt a bit cookie cutter but it was still a pretty amazing performance. The music was definitely up my alley though.

For the rest of the night, we walked back from MGM and made some stops at the Coca Cola and M&M stores.

DAY 4
Shopping continued at the Fashion Outlet in Primm. We had to signup for a specialty charter bus that drove us there and the ride itself took about 45mins one way. It was a quiet indoor outlet mall, but the selection was quite decent and the prices were even cheaper for some things. We stayed there for 5 hours and left with the last scheduled bus. We returned to the strip and decided for another round of Buffet of Buffets. Ya rly.

(Round 2! This time, have some chubby hand meat~)
We went for the buffet in Paris where the restaurant itself looked like the streets of Paris itself. As for the buffet, it was a disappointment. They were known for their crepes, but the filling was a complete bust.

That night we returned to Miracle Mile and finally got to walk it with the stores still open. Light shopping was done.

DAY 5
That morning we revisited Caesar's Palace's buffet again for breakfast (just because it was that good!). Then we went back to the LV Premium Outlet to return something my aunt decided she didn't want anymore and instead, they did some more shopping there.

Returning to the strip via transit, we stopped at the Fashion Show Mall and did a walk around. That night, we went to Rio for the final buffet. GEEZ IT WAS AWESOME. They had pretty decent Chinese food (make your own noodle combination) and customizable Teppanyaki. I can't agree more for EVO to hold their event there with such an awesome buffet at their fingertips.

Back at the hotel, it was packing time and last minute AX plan-making over the internets.

DAY 6
We checked out, dropped off our stuff in storage and did some more wandering. We had McDix and their crazy 50 piece chicken mcnuggets for $9.99. WHAT. FIFTY.

On our way to Caesar's Palace, my mom gets pickpocketed in the washroom. Long story short, it sucked and it ruined our trip a bit... but stuff happens. For the rest of our spare time left in LV, we walked the Forums and caught one of the animatronic-powered hourly fountain shows.

In summary:
- 7 buffets in 6 days, 5 nights. WHAT.
- Think I gained 4lbs when I was there and returned to normal when I got back. The clothes I bought there are all strangely loose now. :(
- Las Vegas smelt like smoke and vanilla. Vdara smelt like new hotel and cleaning.
- Taxis everywhere. Bums in some places too!
- LV felt like LA and HK merged into one.

As as graduation present, yeah - I think it wasn't all too bad. The gaining weight and feeling full almost all the time was quite gross though. Shopping is heaven, but a dangerous heaven. For the price you pay to get there, it's definitely worth returning for.