September 21, 2010
-
Las Vegas 2010
AUGUST 19 - VIVA LAS VEGAS
My brother Van and his wife Konie dropped my mother and I off at Union Station just before 6:30 pm. There, we took the Flyaway bus to LAX. After checking in our bags, we had McDonald's for dinner. Not long afterwards we discovered that our 9:20 pm flight was delayed until 10:05 pm. On board Southwest Airlines, as we closed in on Las Vegas, the captain announced on the PA system "Good evening. This is your captain. We are 15 minutes away from Las Vegas. The temperature there is a cool 97 degrees". I was appalled. It was almost 11 pm and it's that hot. I could only imagine that the days must be scorching hot.
We landed at McCarron Airport in Las Vegas at 11 pm. Our relative Noi and her friend JC picked us up. They dropped us off at the Imperial Palace, our residence for the next 4 nights.
My mom had eaten very little that day for she was not feeling well all day. She wanted some food so we went to Ginseng 3, an eatery inside the Imperial Palace, for a late meal. It is primarily a 24-hour Korean restaurant that also served Japanese and Chinese food. She had a tofu soup and ate as much as she could bear. It was quite good. I was full from McDonald's so I only had a California roll. We finally slept at 2:40 am. That was possible because we were tired so it didn't matter that the Carnaval Bar below was blasting loud hip hop until 4 am.
View from our room with dreaded Carnaval Bar tent below
AUGUST 20 - WEDDING
We had breakfast at the Emperor's Buffet here at the Imperial Palace. It's only $12.99 per head for brunch. We then walked over to nearby Harrahs. My mother played her usual favorites - penny slots. I hopped onto a 3-card Poker table. I had no luck at all and lost $120. I then tried my hand at roulette. That was better as I won $65. While my mom kept at the slots, I went to the Palazzo to inquire about tickets for Jersey Boys.
Yours truly and my mom with The Mirage across the street from us
After a while, we returned to our room. I needed to get ready to attend a wedding which is the primary reason I came to Las Vegas this time. Noi picked me up at 2 pm and dropped me off at the Chapel of the Flowers. It turned out I was still very early so I decided to walk around and snap some photos. of this place. It was scorching hot, well into triple digits. It was a quaint but charming place not far from Stratosphere. After finishing a bottle of water, I just found a shady spot to kill time. I saw the groom, Arthur Van Lerberg, arrive with people in his party. I got to talk to them including his father, a minister, who will conduct the wedding. Arthur used to be a co-worker. Not long afterwards, two of my current co-workers (Maria Gaytan and David Barajas) arrived.
The Chapel of the Flowers
Left to right: Me, Arthur Van Lerberg, Maria Gaytan, David Barajas
Almost time to start
The wedding took place at 3:30 pm. It was our first Vegas wedding. It was held inside the Victorian Chapel there. I was thankful because it was indoors. Maria was very excited about the wedding. The whole thing was short, to the point, and sweet.
Inside the Victorian Chapel
The wedding bands
We then headed to Palms for dinner at the Bistro Buffet. Towards the tail end of eating, I saw someone who looked just like Willie Nelson. It turns out he was part of the upcoming entertainment.
David and Maria at Bistro Buffet inside Palms
Tamara and Arthur
We then headed to a room on the 28th floor here at Palms Place where Arthur and his bride Tamara have a room. The rest of the festivities took place here. There was the first dance and the father-daughter dance. There was also the traditional cake cutting. During the garter toss, David was just walking about when the garter hit him so he wound up with it. As for the bouquet toss, I was trying to position myself to take some pictures when bouquet hit my chest and fell next to Maria. Yep, Maria wound up with the bouquet. Way to go, NGI!
First dance as Cab Calloway and Elvis Presley look on
Ol' Blue Eyes wishing our newlyweds the best as Willie Nelson looks on
Tamara and Maria
We were entertained by five celebrity impersonators: Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Willie Nelson, and Cab Calloway. They were all really good and it was a lot of fun. Cab Calloway also sang at the wedding.
Maria and David with Willie Nelson
Judy Garland takes the mic
Where else can you find Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson in the same room?
From the 28th floor we had a great view of The Strip. It was the best view I ever had of Las Vegas. Festivities continued when my mom called about the sink being clogged in our room so I asked David and Maria to drop me off at the Imperial Palace with great reluctance. I wanted to stay with the party. I wished Arthur and Tamara the best.
View from 28th floor of Palms Place
Yours truly
When I got there, the water had receded so I figured all was good. Shortly my mom went to sleep. I then went to the Karaoke Club here at the hotel. I entertained the masses with "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls and "Always and Forever" by Heatwave. There were lots of great singers at the Karaoke Club. Basically any guest that's a karaoke enthusiast would come here so most of the singers are going to be good.
At the Imperial Palace casino there is an area where the dealers are dressed as singers called Dealertainers. From time to time they would sing for everyone. The Dealertainers I could recall were Elvis, Michael Jackson, Avril Lavigne, Garth Brooks, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and the Blues Brothers. I sat down at a 3-card poker table dealt by Garth Brooks. He then retired for the night and Avril Lavigne took over. She was really cute. However I had no luck nor restraint at the table so I blew $150. I went to sleep at 3:10 am very upset at myself.
AUGUST 21 - CITYCENTER AND JERSEY BOYS
My mom wanted to eat at Noodle Asia, a restaurant inside The Venetian. When we got there, it wasn't open yet so my mom waited. I hopped over to a craps table. I made $38! I also purchased Jersey Boys tickets for tonight at 9:30 pm. The food was good. We enjoyed our pineapple seafood fried rice and Buddha feast pan fried noodles.
Yours truly with Indiana Jones Mom with Whoopi Goldberg
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum at The Venetian
At the Venetian, my mom played more slots and I played more craps. We had a hot shooter at our table. Since he wore a Lakers T-shirt, he was simply known as Lakers man. Everything he tossed was gold. I made $88! That made me feel a whole lot better.
Me at Grand Canal Shops at The Venetian Me at waterfall at The Palazzo
We then took a cab to the CityCenter. It was very big and beautiful in a modern way. Part of it had the neatest marble floor. It was parquet. I always found its architecture interesting for it had an industrial look as opposed to the neon glitz of downtown or the classic style of the larger Strip hotels.
CityCenter
First we went to Aria hotel and resort. My mom hit the slots again. I instead walked around to check out this place.
Inside the Aria. Me with bust of Elvis Presley Me near eateries at the Aria
I found a free monorail within the CityCenter so decided to ride it. It stopped at Crystals. I didn't know what this was so I got off to see. Turns out Crystals is a mall. It looks pretty nice.
Crystals mall at CityCenter
I got on board the monorail again and this time it stopped at a spot where I could either go to Vdara Hotel and Spa or the Bellagio. I checked out both. Vdara is different in that it doesn't seem to have a casino within. At the Bellagio, I headed to the Conservatory where the theme of this garden this time contains giant bugs and garden accessories.
Lobby of Vdara Hotel and Spa
Conservatory at the Bellagio
I took the monorail back to Aria to rendezvous with my mom. We took a cab back to our hotel.
At 5 pm, Noi and JC picked us up. We went to dinner at Archi's Thai Kitchen. We enjoyed mussaman curry with chicken, stuffed chicken wings, panang, spicy fish, and seafood yum.
Afterwards Noi and JC dropped us off at the hotel at 7:20 pm. There we got ready for the show.
Mom at Palazzo
Due to my mom's weariness and inability to walk for long stretches, we took a cab to the Venetian to watch Jersey Boys. It was a great show. Travis Cloer, who portrayed Frankie Valli, is a terrific singer with a great voice. My mother also enjoyed it immensely.
Me and my mom outside Jersey Boys Theatre after watching the show
Back at our hotel we sat down at the Big Wheel. My mom invested $4 and made $25. That was a nice way to end a fabulous day.
AUGUST 22 - CONTRIBUTIONS TO LAS VEGAS
We had brunch at Flavors Buffet at Harrahs. It was pretty good with good variety. Afterwards it was more slots and craps. All the shooters including myself were ice cold. I lost almost all of my money and had to go to the ATM.
My mom wanted to check out Rio so we took a shuttle from Harrahs there. Once there, it was just another casino. Nothing special except the incredibly long line for their buffet. I proceeded to lose a little more money at 3-card poker and craps. We soon returned to our room.
Noi and JC picked us up for dinner at Kung Fu Thai-Chinese Restaurant. It was established in 1973. We met the owner who said she called it Kung Fu due to the popularity of Bruce Lee back then. We enjoyed our combination fried rice, papaya salad, and pork shoulder yum. The food was good. My mom said that this place maintains the food the way it is meant to be as opposed to Westernizing it to accommodate Americans.
Mom and JC Left to right: mom, JC, Noi, and me
Kung Fu Thai Chinese Restaurant
That night I returned to the Karaoke Club where I sang "Every Breath You Take" by Police, "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones, and "Open Arms" by Journey. The words for "Into the Night" flew too fast in comparison to the music. However, I know the song pretty well so I sang without the words. I wished a happy birthday to a young man who was there celebrating with his friends. He interviewed me as part of his Vegas birthday experience. He also enjoyed my "Open Arms".
That was a lot of fun. So how did I end this night? I lost more money at craps.
AUGUST 23 - MISS UNIVERSE
We checked out of our hotel. However, our flight is in the evening so we left our bags at the bell desk.
Mom and I at MGM Grand
We took the monorail from our hotel to MGM Grand. We had brunch at the food court. My mom had McDonald's and I had Nathan's Hot Dogs. We then walked to Excalibur where we took a tram to Mandalay Bay. There had to have been over a thousand people trying to get inside the Events Center there.
The masses trying to get in
Spanish language TV doing some special
Mom is comfortably seated inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center
We were all in attendance of dress rehearsal for Miss Universe 2010 which is to take place later tonight. The first people who got inside were my mom's friend Richard Vasquez and his contingent. We got pretty good seats - just a few rows from the stage.
Hosts Bret Michaels and Natalie Morales
Then the contestants took the stage all dressed in short dresses and sleeveless blouses. We also saw hosts Bret Michaels and Natalie Morales.
Taking the stage
Also in attendance was Donald Trump who owns the Miss Universe Organization. Also present for this rehearsal was John Legend and the Roots Band. They are to perform "Save Room" in this pageant.
Donald Trump John Legend
The contestants also came out in swimsuits and later in evening gowns. The cast and musicians from Cirque du Soleil's Viva Elvis (currently showing at Aria) were also there.
Watching this dress rehearsal was like watching the actual thing. There was the intro, then top 15, top 10, and top 5.
2009 Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez
Left to right: Brazil, USA, Korea, Greece, Trinidad & Tobago
The people cheered their contestant like a sports team. Most of the cheers were for Miss Mexico. People brought flags, too. Ones that were evident were Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina. There was also a sizable Philippine contingent. My mom kept telling me to snap photos of Miss Thailand. However, most of the time she was on the opposite side of the stage.
On the left is Miss Thailand Fonthip Watcharatrakul. She would eventually become the first contestant to win Best National Costume and Miss Photogenic in the same pageant.
This was a lot cooler than I thought. My mom was very happy to have attended this.
Mom
Excited crowd
For the rest of my photos of the 2010 Miss Universe dress rehearsal, just go to my Facebook photo album.
We had a snack at Luxor. We then went to Excalibur. Outside, we took some pictures of New York New York which was across the street. We then took a cab back to our hotel.
Me inside Luxor
Excalibur
New York New York
We had dinner again at Kung Fu Restaurant with Noi and JC. Afterwards they dropped us off at McCarran Airport. There, I won $5 at a Star Wars slot. Though it doesn't make up for my total losses, it felt good to leave on a winning note.
Slots at McCarran Airport
We arrived at LAX around 10:15 pm where we were picked up by Van and Konie.
I was happy to return to the cool air of Los Angeles. It was just too hot in Las Vegas. I was very happy for Arthur and Tamara. I thoroughly enjoyed Jersey Boys and the dress rehearsal for Miss Universe 2010. I am however disappointed at how much money I blew in the casinos.
