First thing first, here are the pictures from Las Vegas:
http://gigglesworld-2005lasvegas.blogspot.com/Finally, we boarded the plane at midnight. When the announcement of the arrival of the plane was made, many people cheered and clapped their hands. The loudest group was a bunch of middle age men. Perhaps, they were flying to Vegas for a bachelor party of some sort. A bunch of obnoxious men, but I guess if they belonged to a bachelor party group, they deserved to be wild.
Well, well, well, since we departed at midnight, this the first red eye flight since I watched the movie Red Eye. I had the aisle seat and the seat next to me was empty. I guess I did not need to have my ballpoint pen ready (a plot in the movie)… I had several pens in my bag anyway. It takes about five to six hours to fly from Boston to Las Vegas. The flight delay actually maintains my body clock to the Boston time zone: going to sleep at midnight and waking up at around six o’clock Boston time for arrival.
Similar to but not as fancy as Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue also has LCD TV at each seat. The control is not as sophisticated as Virgin’s. It is probably because there is no video game to play. However, it provides live TV via DirectTV. JetBlue seems to be very simplistic. Normally, you would find a brochure or two regarding the airline and information on different destinations, I could not find one in my front seat pocket.
The arrival was smooth. The weather at three o’clock in the morning was cool. However, the taxi driver told me that it would go up to 92 F during the day. He also told me that this weekend is also a Mexican national holiday. There are motorcycle shows. I love chatting with cab drivers. Taxi fare from the airport to Aladdin cost around 15 USD without traffic.
Outside the buffet restaurants in different hotels, food is expensive in Las Vegas. No name bottled water in the room at Aladdin costs 4 USD. Breakfast buffet at Paris before 11:00pm on weekdays costs around 15 USD per person. The trick is to get into the buffet right before breakfast is over. This way, there will be lunch food ready as well. My friends were partly amazed and mostly disgusted by my bloody rare steaks. They called me the blood sucking vampire. Dinner buffet at Bellagio costs between 35-40 USD (including gratuity). They serve Kobe beef, and it was tender and juicy.
Other than food, we walked around the major hotels such as Paris, Aladdin, Bellagio and Caesars Palace. There are many brand name expensive stores. Years ago when I went there, our focus was not at the stores. In addition to sightseeing, my friends had been shopping before I joined them. Looking at the shopping bags, I realized this time that shopping is big.
I went into the stores that I normally would not go. I was offered hor d’oeuves at St. John where there are live models dressing up and standing in front of the store. Their clothes are gorgeous, conservative, and have a hint of allure taste. However, I cannot afford them unless I become someone’s trophy wife (which I have too much pride to do that anyway).
The entire trip was just eating and shopping anyway. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins (other than lust, avarice, sloth, wrath, envy and pride). I ate a lot. I do not think I would go to a buffet anytime soon. All I could think of is the parents pigging out in “Spirited Away”! No one checked my ID. I guess I have to admit that I am growing. As planned, I did not gamble. However, I discovered a fun toy: ceramic flat iron for hair styling, a very wonderful thing.
Since I shared a room with two other girls, one of them owns a ceramic flat iron. Instead of the curling iron that my college roommates used many years ago, this iron can straighten and/or curl hair. My girlfriends did my hair during my two-day stay in Vegas. Other than my college roommates, I have not lived with girls for so long. I guess I have missed out on a lot of girly stuff.
I had no idea that my hair could look that nice! My hair style looked like my four year old niece’s. I guess she could have a glimpse of what she will look like after she grows up. I also had no idea how expensive a flat iron could be. The one I saw at Sephora for both wet and dry hair cost 200 USD! Anyway, I bought a much cheaper one made by Remington. Let’s hope it will do a decent job.
Flight from Las Vegas back to Boston was a red eye. I was the only one in the group flying solo. The plane landed at half past eight Sunday morning Boston time. I went home, took a nap, and then headed to the hospital for volunteering. Not sure whether it was from exhaustion, I have been sick since Sunday… However, the trip was great.
