Vegas Baby, Vegas!

So I went to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and let me just say that I want to move to Las Vegas. I love it so much, it has surpassed Los Angeles as my all time favorite city.  Don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s a crummy place. The truth is that it’s magical and dreamlike. 

Once my business was done at the show, I walked up and down the  Las Vegas strip over and over and over.  I went in every single casino, not to gamble but just to gaze around and explore. The first chance I got I walked really far to get to Circus Circus(a circus themed casino). I had always wanted to see it since it was in “Diamonds Are Forever,” one of my all time favorite movies. People had warned me that it’s part of the old strip, and sort of a seedy area now, but I didn’t care.  I stubbornly walked really far to get to it, and I was not disappointed one bit. Circus Circus is an awesome place. People have to learn to love the idea of something, the feeling of it.

Circus Circus is like a gigantic 60’s carnival with slot machines. I would say that it’s like Chuck E Cheese with slot machines, but that would not be doing the place justice.  And their slot machines are good too. I played for a really loooong  time with only 5 bucks, and I left with 10.  Oh and the game that the kid plays in “Diamonds Are Forever”(1971) where they shoot water and it blows up the balloons…it’s still there!  I’ve also started getting into the habit of writing the year of the movie next to the title, as there are so many crappy remakes of my favorite movies, I can’t even keep track anymore and I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea and start thinking I’m talking about some modern film godforbid. seriously..barf

Getting back to why Las Vegas is wonderful, it is a sort of fantasy land. Like you can live in alternate realities there and dream worlds. Say you’re in the mood to be in a pirate atmosphere, you just head on over to Treasure Island. Say you feel like going to the Circus, you tumble on down to Circus Circus.  What’s that? In the mood for some Springtime in Paris?  Just  travel a few blocks to Paris casino! Oh, you’d rather visit the old west? Well no need to bust out a delorean time machine ala “Back to the Future 3″(1990), just come on down to Bills Gamblin Saloon!  You get the idea. Las Vegas is the escapist’s paradise.  Get it? It’s really, really neat.

One thing I always remember about Los Angeles was that it’s often difficult to get into places. The vibe is one where everybody always says “no”. Whether you’re at the bank trying to cash a check, looking to go into a bar, or just asking a friend for a ride…the word “no” is something you get used to hearing. In fact, part of coming of age in Los Angeles is learning the wisdom to not ask for anything, as the moment you stop asking is when you finally start getting somewhere. While wandering though Las Vegas, I didn’t experience any of the cold shoulder you typically get in LA. I had no problem getting in anywhere. No one ever treated me as if I wasn’t supposed to be there.
There were no annoyingly pompous doormen, guest lists, etc. I could walk into the biggest hotels and restaurants, without any hassle. It was a completely friendly and totally welcoming atmosphere. Everyone is in a good mood and eager to help.

I had an amazing burger at this place called the Stripburger(strip as in Las Vegas Strip, not strip clothes) It was really juicy, even better than Johnny Rockets or the ostritch burger from Astro Burger. Also, while at the airport waiting for my plane back I won $250 in an Airport slot machine called “White Ice.” I had only put a buck in.

Las Vegas, I dig.

I wrote this, took the pix, hung out with a hot gay celeb, and got free wine. What a deal! 

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2008/nov/26/paris-vs-paris/

Get one of these and simply walk around. Tons of people will ask where you got it.

What is it? A very tall Pina Colada in an Eiffel Tower container from the Paris Casino in Las Vegas. The bartender was very generous with the alcohol… I’ve been sipping this one for almost two hours now.

Paris Las Vegas

Paris-Las Vegas
3645 Las Vegas blvdS
Las Vegas
NV 81909
(+1) 702 739 4111
www.paris-lv.com

Location Centre Strip; attached to Ballys, next door to Planet Hollywood and dead opposite the Bellagio. Should this not be enough for you there is a monorail to the MGM Grand. Location! Location! Location! You had better believe it – this is A1.

Theme Well its Paris and it is probably the best themed resort on the Strip, with a 1/3 scale Eiffel tower and Arc de Triomphe, the Opera House, Parc Monceau and the Rue de la Paix they have done marvels. The themeing does not end at the door, all of the security staff dress as gendarmes and staff will use a couple of French words every now and again. The floors are cobbled and French styled street lamps are present, there are posters that appear not to have been taken down properly, just left on pillars like in France. The only way in which you know that you are not in France is the cleanliness of the place and the friendliness of the staff. The one exception being the Spa where the staff are rude and disorganized.

Attractions Well I guess I have listed most of them above. Just walking through this delightful complex is an attraction on its own, you can go up the Eiffel tower for about $6 but we didn’t want to leave the casino floor.

Pool The pool here gets some bad reviews and I think that this is unfair; it’s a standard type of pool, quite big in the shadow of the Eiffel tower with nice plants. Sure there is no lagoon and no waterslides but I think it’s classy and nice and usually kid free.

Shows and Entertainment The rather unoriginally named “Ooh La La” is a sexy (topless) French style review this is the main show at Paris Las Vegas but its not as good as Crazy Horse Paris . Anthony Cools has a show he is an adult rated Hypnotist this show is quite new and the theater only holds 220 people so you will be close but I don’t know how good it is.

Dining As you would expect the grub here is top notch. There is a brilliant take away coffee shop which we had to queue up for ages but well worth it for fresh pastries and coffee only beaten by the Luxor. There is a first class buffet (B: $13.99 L: $17.99 D: $24.99 Sunday Champagne Brunch $24.99) we looked and drooled but did not eat due to the long queue and my lack of patience. The Eiffel Tower restaurant is one of the most expensive in town, the food is great and the view is amazing, the staff are wonderful and the ambience perfect, this is our favorite Vegas fine dining establishment. There is a very good 24hr café though quite expensive and a further selection of top quality but expensive restaurants. Everything culinary here has good reviews and prices to match.

Gaming With 85,000sq ft of casino space it doesn’t seem as big as many other, smaller casinos; it is easy to navigate partially due to you being able to see one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower wherever you are. All of the tables have wrought iron look canopies and the whole feel around the tables is nice. There are 2,500 slots of all denominations and over a hundred tables with minimums at $5 and plenty of them. There is a very large selection of nickel machines, which surprised me, but they do feel a bit squeezed in and as a result it does get a little cramped when the casino is busy. It is cool being able to play on a slot or at a table and see the legs of the Eiffel tower coming through the roof.

Drinks service Stunning, we got some of the best drinks service here, quick and strong, and they kept flowing and flowing. Helping us to prove what we had secretly always known; gambling and large amounts of alcohol are a great mix.

Overall A well themed luxury casino with a great range of games, good staff and great food. The atmosphere is easy and relaxed; we love it.

Good points The theme, you can get all of the benefits of going to France by coming here and not having to suffer the bits I don’t like.

Bad points The Staff in the spa were terrible and the machines in the nickel section can feel a cramped and everything seemed very expensive.

Top Tip Book if you want to eat at Eiffel its expensive but worth it, you can cut through Ballys to get to the Monorail station.

The above is a picture of New York New York that I took while on a car ride to Paris. It’s been fun going from one ‘country’ to the next ‘country’ in a mere car ride! In spite of the weather (+100!!!!!), it’s been ‘cool.’ Our room at South Point was surprisingly nice and very clean! If you’re looking to save a few bucks or two, I would definitely recommend this place. It’s not too far from the strip (if you don’t have a car, they have a shuttle that goes to the strip), building is new, and the table games have lower limits. Also, the hotel is more family oriented with bowling alleys, movie theaters (watched first run Tropic Thunder the night before–HILARIOUS..tad offensive), game zone, etc. Here are some pictures of our room:

South Point Hotel Standard Room

The beds were very very comfortable! Here is a view of the pool down below:

And Finally, take a look at these cool bath products! I love bath and body works, so it was a plus to have these things in the hotel! It’s the little details that gets me, folks.

Bath and Body Works at South Point Hotel

Also, I won another fifty bucks playing the penny slots here, so yeah, I think I like this hotel a lot.

Ok, now let’s talk about food! Being on a budget, my family and I can’t splurge at the expensive (but fantastic) restaurants here, so we’ve been going around looking for budget friendly places to eat. Unfortunately most of the places of that nature were chain restaurants (Outback–it was surprisingly good!, and Maggiano’s–YUCK). We are going to try the Wynn Buffet later tonight (through food credit provided by hotel) and see if there’s a big difference from the cheapo buffet we had at South Point’s Garden Buffet (two for one buffet coupon in their fun books!)….I’m expecting huge differences, of course. hehe. Oh, yes, almost forgot. We did try a fantastic place at the Paris casino yesterday: Mon Ami Gabi. We really liked it because we could watch the Bellagio water show (it’s right across the place) while eating! The atmosphere was very relaxing and the service was impeccable–unfolding of the napkins and placing it on your laps..the cups never half empty, the whole shebang. My parents were impressed! hehe. This is what I ordered:

The Quiche Lorraine. Surprise, surprise! Although I eat this constantly at home (try our recipe here!), I was craving it again. It was delicious! I have a few more pictures of this place, so I’ll upload them under ‘Restaurant Review’ in the future.

On a much more disappointing note…I HATE Maggiano’s! This was my second try at this restaurant, and I simply cannot get myself to like this place. Although this place has FANTASTIC Peach Bellinis and pretty good salads and appetizers, the main dishes here are just below average. I much prefer Buca De Beppo’s). Take a look at this revolting thing:

Sorry for the lack of clarity…if the picture was clear, you might just barf on your keyboard, so I did you guys a favor…So…let’s decipher this picture. WTH is that? It was seriously a HUGE MOUND of pasta and a couple clams. My poor mother ordered this and let me tell you..she is a small and skinny lady…her eyeballs popped out when she saw this dish. Now, if the pasta tasted good, I wouldn’t have minded the thing..but..oh gosh….let’s leave it at that. I ordered their Lobster Ravioli and…it wasn’t any better. The pasta was wayyy undercooked…towards the rubbery side. I actually had to use the knife to cut the thing up. Not good. I’ll provide a few review on this place later on also.

Btw, the only reason we ended up here was because I had a 15 dollars off 45 dollar coupon. Haha. Yes, we are cheap.

Anyways, that’s that. We also went shopping at the Primm Outlets in Las Vegas on the first day. We bought some VERY good deals! For example, I snatched a couple 6 dollar dresses at Banana Republic while my brother got a couple 7 dollar shirts at Ralph Lauren (originally +60 dollars). Not bad, eh?

OK, this has been a random post. To make it more random, let’s talk about the Olympics!

An interesting tidbit: Korea counts their medal rankings differently than the USA. While the U.S. counts on the number of total medals won (where USA is currently number 1! ), Korea counts on the number of gold medals. You know us, Asians…nothing but the best will be counted. haha. Well, in that particular ranking system, China is number 1. Korea was third place for both the ranking types, but now, I believe they have currently fallen to 4th place in their ranking system–(had upset in women’s archery).

My heart was up and down the whole time I was watching the USA Soccer team battle it out with Nigeria! How sad was that? Although US did a fantastic job of holding their own with one man down, it’s kind of sad, because we will always have that…’what if we had the full team?’….darn it!!!! Oh well, it was a fun game to watch, nevertheless. Boo hoo, now that both Korea and USA have been eliminated from soccer…better turn my focus on basketball now.

On a last note. My mom is a HUGE fan of Park Tae Hwan. She thinks he is simply adorable. HAHA. Every time he comes up, she mentions Yuna Kim (Korea’s star figure skater) and how she wants them to marry–”it’ll be perfect, don’t you think?” sigh. My mom is not the only one in love with him. It seems like the entire Korean peninsula is infatuated with him! Apparently, he is known to listen to music to ease his nerves prior to a game. Well, he was captured onscreen during one of his events doing just that, and now, the headphones that he had on is a HOT commodity in the Korean market. Even the headphone company was surprised while watching the tv…I bet the maker of the headphone thought: ‘hey, doesn’t that thing look familiar? isn’t that…OUR headphone? OMG IT FREAKING IS! OMG WE MADE IT’…hehe. Funny.

Ok, better go now and get ready for breakfast. Bye bye.