Tuesday, January 29, 2008
聖誕節遊記 07
The destination for this year Christmas trip is Las Vegas again. We were suppose to see Jacky Cheung's concert, but the rest of the gang refuses to go because they claim no good seats left when they finally have made up their mind on going to LV in Dec 
. They have decided to go see KA instead. I was responsible on booking the rental car this time. I was about to book the Camry again, but I don't have my membership number with me when I was in HK, so I waited until I came back to US to make the booking. Too bad that the Camry jumps to $369 a week when I was ready to make the reservation 
, where it was still $198 2 weeks ago. So I end up booking a Hyundai Sonata instead. I have driven this car before to SD, and I know it's not bad in terms of gas usage and handling. However, it was a bit small since we have 5 people (all 5 are petite, but our trunk was stuffed with sleeping bag, drinks, snacks, etc).
We are staying at PH (a.k.a. Aladdin) again. We played the $20 tricks again and we end up with a Resort Room, which is perfect for us because we have 5 people this time. They have remodel the room so it's more modern now, compare to "Aladdin" feel in the past. Our room also comes with some strip view as well. Perfect deal!
Day 1
Our first meal in LV is nothing but -- buffet (come on, you can leave LV without at least 1 buffet meal). We choose to go to Paris because it's the one close by PH and we are starving since it's 3:30 already. The line was long (approx 1:20 hrs wait). Same old stuff in the buffet as last year. We all agree that their dessert is the best. The good thing about having a big group is that we get to taste all the different dessert 
. 
Event for the night -- KA. This is my third time seeing cirque du soleil's show. This is one of the show that is recommended by cousin (besides zummanity). I knew ahead of time that this will be full of Asian elements. So I'm not surprise to see certain parts of the show, like hand shadow (btw, the one that I saw in 成都 is much better -- highly recommended if you are in the area). The overall story and "martial art" does not impress me much (as it's our same old Asian "work" that we have seen something similar many times), but I'm really impressed by the graphics and stage design. They can reuse the same set up many times for different scenarios.
Day 2
Another buffet meal, but this time it's Brunch @ Spice Market (how come I'm going to the same buffet as last year 
After lunch, we decided to hit the street. One of our friend has find his "old-time-lover" in MGM, so we decided to head there for some fun. You won't believe what his old-time-lover is. It's actually a jockey machine. I used to see this in 歡樂天地, but we use token at that time instead of quarters and your gifts are tickets to exchange for toys instead of real money. Next up, the 2 mega store, M&M and Coke Cola . This is where we have our 味分高下之 Tastes of the World 可樂篇 . If you have seen 味分高下, I'm sure you know that there is a game where they stuff some sauce on your tongue and ask you to name the sauce. This is where we take advantage of the game with our "Tastes of the World". Each of us takes turns to taste all the drinks before the game. Each of us will be tasting 3 random drinks during the game. We only have 1 chance to guess. Here are some pictures from one of our clips (due to privacy reason, please click to see): Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3
Our result:
Mr. V: 1
Ms. C: 1
Mr. A: 0
Mr. S: 0
Ms. R: 2
Winner gets to pick which one he/she can bottom up and loser gets to drink the most nasty one as punishment. And this is the game aftermath
Day 3
Our original plan was to go to Grand Canyon, however, we have decided to canceled the trip (how come I never get to go 
) It turns out we spend a relax day in LV. We eat at the Planet Dailies for a light brunch (also to use up the $20 dinning credit that comes with the hotel package). Of course, a relax day without shopping wouldn't count (for me) 
. It's surprising that some stores are on sale on 24th already. I didn't spend much this year as I already got what I wanted from HK last month. After shopping and gaming, we start off our dinner at 4pm (which is sending someone to wait in lines @ Bellagio). Why so early, because ....
Our dinner actually takes us 5 hrs (4 hrs of waiting in lines), just like a fondue dinner 
. The buffet have some really "good" food, but not in a way that we can totally enjoy the true taste of it. With the Christmas Eve buffet dinner, we have foie gras wrapped with some meat (forgot what kind of meat is that), and kobe beef. They "sounded" tasty, but not as good as we think. The foie gras is good, but the meat is just so-so, and we end up just eating the foie gras and leave the meat behind. The kobe beef can be better, if they were not so "well done". It turns out the seafood is the best, sea bass, crab legs, etc are way better. BTW, don't get the poke in the Japanese section, the poke sauce ruin the whole thing . After dinner, we decided to head out to the fountain to catch the show. However, the show was cancelled due to high wind 
, yeah, it was freezing cold in LV.
95% of this trip is the same as my trip from last year. I promise I won't be going to the same places again in April (I hope).
