Las Vegas

Thu 20th Dec 07
After 5 days in SF... we are leaving for the Sin City LV today... i guess immediately you would know it is the LV airport because there's slot machines in the airport itself already... haha...

After arriving at LV airport... you can see the strip from afar... it looks like someone just left a strip of casinos in the middle of the desert..

We took the airport shuttle... and arrived at our first hotel... MGM Grand... the hotel was pretty grand... boy this is going to be a luxurious trip... hahaha..

we settled for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe... then proceeded out for our first intake of the strip... the hotels are all so wow... each with their own theme... it's like you are in a giant arcade... where there are lots of lights flashing all around you... and lots of ppl swarming past you...

Bellagio.... Caesar Palace.... Imperial Palace... Stratosphere... New York New York...

Planet Hollywood... The Mirage... Treasure Island... The Venetian...


Excalibur... Tropicana... Monte Carlo... Mandalay Bay...


Wah!! so many so many!!!

Fri 21st Dec 07
Today we took the day tour to Grand Canyon... finally get to one of the Wonders of the World... The bus journey there was super long! No wonder we need to set off so early...

We made a 10 minute stop at the Hoover Dam for some quick shots... before proceeding on the next half of the journey before we are finally dropped at the South Rim of the canyon at the Grand Canyon Angel Lodge for our approximately 1 hour plus of free time to go venture the Canyon... you don really see the canyon during the journey.... it's not like you see it when u get near... and u see it all the way until you reach your drop off point... you don see it until you walk to the edge... it's still wow... like i'm finally here... taking in the Grand Canyon... but well... i guess we came to the Grand Canyon at the wrong time... it is so freaking cold!!! the canyon is covered in snow!! I couldn't last more than 15 minutes outside by the ledge... can feel my ears and nose and hands hardening from the extreme cold... gotta run indoors in case these parts all fall off... after taking all the shots we can take... at the various points... Mather point... Yavapal Point... then we spend the remainder of our time at the visitor centre and souvenir shops... wish we could stay out longer...

the whole journey is madness! 6 hours there 6 hours back... and we stayed at the canyon for about 2 hours... travelling time 6 times more than actually being there!!

Sat 22nd Dec 07
Today we took a half day tour of the Hoover Dam... although we did stop by when we went to the Grand Canyon... it was only for 10 minutes for photos... i wanted to stop by longer for a more in depth look around at the place... plus this tour enable us to go into the dam itself... and know more about its history and how it work.... quite cool... glad that i took the tour...

after the guided tour of the inside of the dam... we went to the top of the dam... over looking the Colorado River... scenery is beautiful... and reminds me of the show "Fools rush in" but i couldn't find the part of the road tat has the Arizona and Nevada line... only managed to find the 2 clocks showing the time of the 2 states....

After the trip... we checked into our second hotel Luxor... and pyramid shape hotel that has a beam of light shooting straight up into the sky... really cool! but... it's located at one end of the strip... so very tiring whenever we need to go anywhere... lots of walking involved... haha...

After we settled down and had dinner... we went to NY NY for the cirque du soleil Zumanity... a different kind of cirque du soleil... sensual.. provocative and seductive... quite interesting.. and different... woohool!

Sun 23rd Dec 07
Today we are going to the old LV strip... Fremont... the one where they shot 双天至尊 i heard? we took the monorail to the end of the strip at Sahara there... then decided to walk... boy were we wrong... Fremont is not near Sahara at all.... we walked for about half an hour plus before reaching there... and sad to say... there isn't much to see there... just lots of souvenir shops... so now we had to wait till at least 6pm... 6 hours of wait!! wat to do!?! so we hang ard there... going into every souvenir shop... and we found something interesting to keep us occupied for a while... watching those street spray paint artist conjure up piece after piece of artwork... with their spray paint cans... and creativity... it's so cool lor... they make it look so easy... and yet the finished product is... PRO!! there's also the street caricature guy... all these kept us occupied till the actual "laser show" which actually is like watching a huge tv... on the ceiling... with random stuff flashing by... faintz... all the wait for these!?!? sigh... well well....

after we finally managed to make our way back to the strip... we took the video cam and went for the Bellagio fountain show... the musical fountain is super nice lor!! too bad tonight is our last night in LV le... if not we can come every night to watch this... reminds me of Ocean's eleven... haha...

After that we went back to our hotel for the topless show Fantasy... where girls dance topless... haha... the show's ok... just not super wow...

Mon 24th Dec 07

Last day of our west coast trip... we made a mad rush to go to all the hotels we haven been to the past few days... mainly those hotels at the other end from us... so well... tat entailed even more walking... haha... and not forgetting the walking back too... and the rush to check out and off to the airport we went....

when we reached the carpark near Manchester airport... our car is semi-buried in the snow... and the snow already harden.. not those u can sweep away... so we need to get the help of the carpark uncle... he was pretty frenly and helpful... came with his shovel and "dig" our car out of the snow.... luckily got his help... if not don know how ah.. so tat concluded the vacation... driving home... at midnight.... LV is really a place to go when u have lots of money.. cos all u do is eat a lot... watch a lot of shows.... go for day trips... hotels also not super cheap... plus if u gamble... tat's even more... weird thing was we never gamble at all... not even a dime in the slot machines... hmm wonder if it's weird to not gamble at all in a city of casinos... haha... well....

-jiahua