viva las vegas

hi folks, i'm back to the land of bloggers. sorry for the lack of posts recently, had been working round the clock to finish my preparations for company event before i went off for my vacation to las vegas :) finally arrived home late night last sunday, thank goodness i have this week off too - but it all just seems too short, never enough :P

las vegas is fun, lots to see and experience (and we didn't even venture away from the strip). and boy was it hot hot hot - 37 degree celsius (my gosh!), much hotter than singapore weather. we were walking quite a fair bit under the hot/dry sun, didn't realise i got sunburnt, until the last 1 - 2 days. now my neck and side of the ears are itching and peeling like nobody's business (well, it's not exactly anyone's business anyway :P) *scratch scratch* i've been applying aloe vera gel since i got home, seemed to have helped a bit... but today my neck suddenly started to itch again *scratch scratch* gotta resist the urge to scratch, cuz it gets my neck all red and patchy *scratch scratch*

besides gambling (and weddings *lol*), las vegas is well-known for it's shows and buffets. 1st day there, we went to wynn las vegas (vegas newest hotel) for buffet. beautiful lobby, the spread's good, wide selection of food ranging from chinese, asian, japanese, to italian, western, fusion etc. i suffered a mild heat stroke from the long walk under the sun from luxor (that's where we stayed at) - plus travelling on an empty stomach, so felt somewhat giddy by the time we arrived at wynn. nonetheless, i enjoyed the meal and the company :)

after lunch, we went across the street to check out the fashion show mall. one of the largest malls (multi-storey) in las vegas i suppose, housing big departmental stores such as nordstrom, macy's, dillard's, sak's 5th avenue, bloomingdale's home, as well as the many well-known american stores - bath & body works, victoria's secret, fredericks of hollywood, abercrombie & fitch, gap, banana republic, coach etc. they even have a zara store and louis vuitton there too! huge place.

another place i had the chance to go shopping at, was the desert passage mall at the aladdin. relatively smaller (single-storey) than fashion show mall, but still a very nice place to shop and walkabout. there's a clinique stand-alone store, and sephora is opened till 11pm on weekdays, and midnight on saturday ;) i just read that desert passage has some kind of manmade "rainstorm" show in the mall - a pity i didn't get to experience that when i was there, only saw the very interesting "blue skies" painted on the ceiling of the mall.....

"One of the miracles not to be missed during your Desert Passage visit is the live rainstorm at Merchants’ Harbor, featuring thunder, lightning and pouring rain. Catch the cloudburst every hour on the hour Monday – Thursday and every half-hour Friday – Sunday." (extract from www.desertpassage.com)

besides shopping, which dear S. isn't quite excited over *smile*... we walked about quite a lot along the strip. bought tickets to watch a cirque du soleil permanent show "O" at bellagio on wednesday night. we sat at the 2nd row "wet seats", and it was quite an experience. i found myself marvelling in awe for the first 5 mins. when the show started. the stage setting, the backdrop, play of water, wind and fire, the music and skilled performance... the entire choreography was breath-taking! greatly enjoyed myself. after the show, we had a posh (read: expensive) dinner at circo. maincourse: lamb for him, sea bass for me; appetizer: some wrap with rabbit meat in it :P (the rabbit meat actually tasted very much like chicken, just slightly tougher).

one other to-do thing at vegas, is to visit the grand canyon. if you could afford it, go take the helicopter tour, which S. did - good for him :) check out maverick helicopter tours, don't forget your camera!

if you're looking to pick up some souvenirs for friends back home, then you have to pop by m&m's world at the showcase mall - 101% cuteness! 4-storey packed with all kinds of m&m's merchandise and chocolate candies that came in impossible colours (think pink, lavender, turquoise, black etc.) wish i had taken some pictures from inside the store.

to enjoy a bird's-eye-view of las vegas, i'd recommend the stratosphere tower (1,149 feet) - US$9.95 per entry (excluding thrill rides). good spot for photo-taking... it's located at the far north of the strip, easily accessible via las vegas monorail (sahara station).

there's so much to see and do in vegas, not just casino-hopping. really, that's the least we did in the week. (oh btw, we won US$11.75 together at one of the jackpot machines - *lol*) las vegas to me, is like a surreal land - i mean where else can you experience so many different "countries" in one single location? there's paris, new york, egypt, the desert, the victorian's, the castle, the imperial palace.... it's almost like living in some giant's toyland with doll houses all around :) and all that, smacked right in the middle of a desert! incredible.

to end off, just wanna share some nice pictures of luxor, where we stayed at. i absolutely love the pyramid-shaped hotel. the escalators (called "inclinators" there) move diagonally up and down - how cool! there's a sphinx statue right in front of the front entrance too. the sun rises in front of our hotel room window every morning - incredibly beautiful :)

last but not least, i dedicate this post to my darling S., without whom this entire vacation/ experience wouldn't have been possible :) thanks for taking special time off for me, and all that loving, romantic wine-and-dining too!! *heart*