January 28, 2007

  • The Little Vegas Trip 2005

    The Little Vegas Trip 2005

     

    February 19 – My father dropped my mother and me off at the Garfield Lincoln center in Monterey Park.  This is where the bus for Dynasty Vacations was waiting for us.  However finding it was a mini-adventure.  My mom had directions to the Lincoln Plaza Hotel.  Upon getting there, we did not see any bus.  We then called the tour guide.  It turns out her English was not good at all.  I had to iterate to her that I didn’t speak Chinese.  She then forwarded me to another number.  That person’s English was no better.  She then transferred me to a third person.  Fortunately this man spoke pretty good English.  He successfully guided us to the bus.  It is 8 AM when we took off from Monterey Park.

     

    The bus stopped at three other locations to pick up passengers.  Then it’s off to Las Vegas we go.  The tour guide passed out cha siu bao and water for breakfast.  She’s practically a dead ringer for Jade Fox from “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”.

     

    We had a brief 10-minute stop in Barstow.  Almost everyone went inside the Barstow station.  Seeing how many people were there, my mom and I walked a little bit and went to Popeye’s instead.  We got some popcorn shrimp, red beans and rice, and biscuits.

     

    The bus dropped off most of the passengers at Nevada Landing Casino.  These hearty gamblers will stay here for 6 hours.  In the meantime, the bus took the rest of us to the Four Queens Hotel and Casino.  It is located in downtown Las Vegas.  This was a few minutes after 1 PM.

     

    At 3 PM, my mom’s friend, Leticia, met us at the lobby of the Four Queens.  They caught up on old times as she was driving us to the Tropicana.  We passed by a new shopping complex that opened.  We also saw the site of what will be Donald Trump’s new hotel.  In the distance to our left we saw the new Wynn Las Vegas hotel which will open on April 28.  Because of the Presidents’ Day weekend, there were quite a lot of cars.

     

    In past trips to the Las Vegas Strip, usually my mom and I had toured the part with Caesar’s Palace, Bellagio, The Venetian, and The Mirage.  We had never ventured to the other end so this time that’s what we did.  From the Tropicana, we took the tram to Mandalay Bay.  We walked around looking for the Shark Reef.  Supposedly there were over 2,000 animals in this aquarium/animal preserve.  In trying to find it, it became very apparent that Mandalay Bay covers a whole lot of acreage.  Once we finally got there, we saw a long line waiting to buy tickets to see Shark Reef.  I didn’t want to waste my time in line while there were other things to do and see so I figured “Perhaps next time”.

     

    We walked all the way back and came across the Bayside Buffet.  We’re still inside Mandalay Bay.  Leticia asked my mom if she wanted to head to Rio and try their buffet or just eat here.  My mom decided to eat here.  Because it was only 5:30 PM, we practically waltzed to the cashier and got us a table in very short time.  There were people inside already but not too many.  It was a nice view by the window overlooking the pools.  I was really enjoying the food especially the crab (Dungeness and Opillio).  Both were pre-cracked so breaking them open required minimal strength.  I can’t complain about buffets because they’re all-you-can-eat.  There was a good selection including Chinese, Italian, roast beef, prime rib, dessert table, shrimp scampi, and scallops on risotto.  I don’t think I’ve had a bad meal in Vegas yet.  What I liked was that the wait wasn’t long like the Bellagio’s buffet.  Though that buffet was good, I did not enjoy waiting an hour and a half just to eat.  When we left, the line to the buffet now formed.  Thank goodness we decided to eat when we did.

     

    Now it’s time to burn off some of that dinner we had.  We walked over to Luxor.  I liked the Egyptian motif and structures that they had including the Sphinx and obelisks.  We then went to New York New York and finally to Monte Carlo.  My mom got tired and wanted to call it a night. 

     

    We took a cab back to the Four Queens where we proceeded to spend a couple more hours on penny slots.  That’s all we played – penny slots.  Afterwards we retired for the evening.

     

    February 20 – We woke up and played a few more penny slots.  We then had brunch at the Golden Nugget with Leticia.  I once again pigged out.  I hadn’t eaten so much in a while.  I guess when it comes to buffets; I really take advantage of it.

     

    Soon we said goodbye to Leticia.  We then prepared for the journey home.  The bus picked us up at 1 PM.  We left at 1:20 PM because somebody was very late.  We had a brief stop again at Barstow for 10 minutes.  Afterwards it was back to Los Angeles.  It was a slow, slow drive due to the number of cars and the rain.  We got back to Monterey Park at around 7 PM.

     

    That’s pretty much for my little Vegas trip.  It was a nice way to spend my first official Saturday and Sunday off.  There are many reasons for people to go to Las Vegas.  Some love the gambling.  Others like the atmosphere.  Some want to catch some shows.  Others indulge in the Sin City aspect.  My favorite thing is the buffets.  What can I say?  It’s why I have a belly.