March 10/11: 1 more day + 1 birthday
So after a night of bar/club hopping, we decided to take it easy on thursday morning. As usual, the day started at 12 noon and we headed for the part of the strip we've been neglecting for the past few days. The blocks on the other side of the MGM. But first we had to eat some lunch so off we go to New York New York. Once everyone was full, we left the "city" for the tropics, king arthur's court, and the desert. And this time we are taking the express tram to Mandalay Bay, Excalibur and Luxor. I don't care if I had to wait five minutes because the tram was delayed. I'm not walking another 3 miles. Not after walking to the dodgy end of the strip on day 1. First stop was Mandalay Bay since we had to get Ulka's phone from the lost and found desk. We played penny slots for a while. Believe me...a dollar worth of pennies goes pretty fast. and i didn't really understand how the video slots worked but it was still fun. i knew if i bet more i'd win more but the odds of me winning get slimmer. and hence, gambling. then off to Luxor: it's the one with the huge sphinx in front. of course we just had to do the egyptian walking pose when we took pictures. of course people were staring at us because we were such tourists. AND of course we didn't care! we said our oooh's and aaah's, discussed our own casino theme (if we were to build and casino....it'd be Chinese-themed with the great wall and everything. if some other Chinese-themed casino/hotel ever pops up in Vegas, we are going to fight you!), then headed for Excalibur. It's the one that looks like the Walt Disney castle. We played video poker. Bets are a quarter each but it's easy to win. you keep getting your quarter back everytime you get a pair of jacks or better. it's cool. i think i won about four dollars and lost it all. then the cocktail waitress came and asked if we wanted to drink. oh yeah, i forgot...drinks are free when you're gambling. as long as you're at a table or machine for at least five minutes or however long it takes for the waitress to get to you, you get any drink you want. yes, that includes beer and other types of alcohol. however, i ordered a coke because i am so COOL. by the time we finished casino hopping, we went back to the hotel. Jing, Justin and I bought some fudge at the MGM candy store. mmmmmm...fudge. saved our energies for the next hour or so because we were soooo gonna party at Rain that night. dinner was take out from the beloved food court because we had to watch the OC, b*tch! yeah, we are THAT obsessed. deal with it.
Primping time! then rode the monorail to Harrah's - the stop closest to Treasure Island -for free. thanks to Lorenzo for giving us his 10-ride ticket. we just missed the pirate show at TI even after speed walking/almost running with heels on. a couple more pictures taken in front of the mirage fountain. then to Caesars to catch a taxi to The Palms. So we get there at around 10:30pm....the line was already looping around one of the lounges, past two restaurants. People were trying to sell us VIP passes, but we refused because we still had to wait in line - a shorter one but a line nonetheless. Apparently there was a Maxim private party that night so they didn't open the doors to the public until midnight. So guess who celebrated turning 23 standing in line? ME!!! It's ok though i was expecting a loooong line. I mean it was Rain - the dance club where the Real World Las Vegas cast worked. (I don't really know if that actually contributed to its reputation...and frankly i don't care so much if it did. although i bet the fire shooting out from above the elevated dance floor had something to do with it.) The dance floor was packed but we squeezed our way in. Thanks to Jing and her gung-ho attitude. My friends bought me drinks and I was definitely gone by the end of the night. I still remember what happened. I wasn't that far gone. Definitely a happy birthday for me. Thanks, ladies and gentleman.
Mirage volcano: 2
Treasure Island pirates: almost 1
March 11 - leaving on a jet plane
Our flight left at 8:45 AM so we decided to meet at the lobby at 7 so we get through security and all that stuff before boarding. I actually felt ok the next day. (tip: drink lots of water before going to bed) We had one stop before DC -- it was LA. yeah, does not make sense but the flight/hotel package was cheap and plus we had a nonstop flight going to Vegas so no complains here. We had an hour and a half to kill at LAX so shraddha and i decided to get lunch. I was really craving burritos so when we found the mexican place at the airport, I got nachos. Well...their nachos looked really really good so i ditched the burritos. (there's always qdoba back home.) the flight was long but then again i'm used to extremely long flights. after you've travelled a total of 26 hours before, you kinda get the hang of it. I did get to see Finding Neverland on the flight so all was good. Ulka and I tried so hard not to cry but i don't think we succeeded.
And the plane touched down at dulles at 7:15 PM eastern time. It was cold. Spring break was over just like that, but i have memories (not to mention lots of pictures) to share with everyone. thanks to everyone.
Kim: thanks for not letting me take that aleve and for telling me to move up the bed. If i slept where i initially plopped onto the bed, i would have been in all sorts of the pain the next day.
Ulka: thanks for being such a good sport especially the day after Ghostbar.
Shraddha: thanks for not taking over the bed and for not hogging the sheets. haha
Jing: thanks for having an itinerary. if it weren't for you we'd spend the whole trip staring at the Bellagio fountains.
Justin: thanks for being a source of entertainment especially during lunch and dinner time. oh yeah!
Lorenzo: thanks for the monorail pass. i still don't know why we didn't ride the monorail the first day.
Anh: thanks for playing the very unconvincing fun police
Jerry: thanks for paying for the cab ride to the Palms. i'm sure all four of us are grateful.
Vegas is great. Definitely will come back. Road trip anyone?