Chapter 6 - Las Vegas

If I was travelling alone, I guess I wouldn’t have gone to Vegas since I’m not into gambling. Vegas seems to be the best place for those who gamble (of course), who love buffets, and night life. With the exception of gambling, Vegas wouldn’t be much fun if you’re there by yourself. Just like… good food tastes better when shared. My last visit to Vegas was over 10 years ago. Vaguely, I remember the hotel was new and very spacious, and food was good. I remember Circus Circus, a Pirate ship and some shows. I remember the indoor “sky”. It’s been a long time.

Since Vegas is one of my travel buddy’s favourite destinations, we were there for almost a week. What to do in a week? Well… There were many sightseeing, shopping, eating and a bit of gambling. I think we have checked out every single casino on the Strip, from Mandalay Bay in the South to Wynn in the North. One day we also checked out the downtown Vegas… which was a bit of a surprise to me. The downtown was quite run-down - an old town… especially when compared to the elaborated Strip a mile south. The only tourist attraction there was the “Fremont Street Experience“.

Once we have decided the destinations, one of the challenging part was to choose a hotel that’s affordable, of good location and good condition. Shopped around on the Internet, we saw the promotion on Travelzoo for Monte Carlo, on the Strip (good location). The price ranged from $79 to $149 per night. Overall, the price worked out to be about just over $100/night. Not bad. Consider they also have a $25 meal credit and $20 gamble credit (per person - I thought it would be $10 per stay, but somehow they gave us $20/person :p). The hotel was pretty nice… Compared to the high-end Wynn/Venetian ones, I think this one is more like a place to stay since you won’t see a lot of tourists wandering around the lobby, checking out your hotel and shops.

The first night, by the time we arrived in Vegas, it was quite late at night. We were both hungry and tired. (Well… we were almost always hungry and tired on this trip -_-”) So, after checking in @ Monte Carlo, we quickly checked out the *cute* Excalibur nearby. I think children would love this place because of its cartoon theme. Also because of the arcade downstairs. I was very tired and started complaining…(always tried not to, but my legs just weren’t listening to me anymore.)

Oh, I also remember MGM from my experience 10+years ago. This time I went there again and I found… it’s probably not the prettiest one, but it’s very grand and classic - with all the gold and bronze. Vegas, the Sin City, is like a miniature of the world’s attraction/fantasy. You get to see the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramid, Caesar’s Palace… Everything is very elaborated, shiny, flashy, eye-catching. After a while, you might really feel like you’re the king/queen of the table, throwing the chips around. Yah, of course. If you have the money, you can do whatever you want here.

Paris in Vegas - Daytime.

There were many casinos and hotels on the strip. Bellagio was one of my favourites. The decor was very colorful, flowery, and happy! I loved that. There were an indoor garden and it was a sunny day. You can feel the warmth from the pictures.

Walking around and taking pictures… Large butterflies, ladybugs, water pots. Walking through the curved water streams, feeling like you were in wonderland. Vegas is definitely a wonderland for both adults and children.

There was also the Jean Philippe Chocolate Fountain! OMG, it was huge! Now I think about it… We should have gotten something from there @_@

The entrance… where you check-in. Isn’t that pretty?!

We also watched the “O” Cirque du Soleil show @ Bellagio. There were many shows to choose from, but based on the reviews, we’ve chosen this one. Booked the tickets like a month in advance. Cost us about $360 for 2 tickets. But I think it was worth-watching. Watch shows is definitely one of the things that everyone should do when you’re in the city. I’ve always wanted to watch this show… and finally I’ve watched it in Vegas. A lot of things are unexpected in life - like… I never thought I’d go on this trip. If I didn’t go onto the RedFlagDeal forum and didn’t know about the Air Canada promotion, I wouldn’t have chosen North America. Maybe I would have gone to Europe - that’s what I thought I’d do. And I never thought I’d have a travel buddy to go with me. Crazy ppl. Btw, we also had a lunch buffet at Bellagio - excellent value and very good food!

Vegas is heaven if you’re into shopping and if you have the dough (of course). There are several malls - like this Forum Shops @ Caesars Palace. I think this is the one I’ve been to like 10 years ago. Not 100% sure but I remember the setting, the style and the “sky”.

Flamingo is one of the older Casinos. Here’s one of its attractions.

M&M’s World Las Vegas Store! I love its cute keychains, earrings, T-shirts and accessories.

The Venetian is another one that I love. Of course… those in HK must know about this Casino. I heard another Venetian opened up in Macau, but I haven’t been there. Gotta check it out next time, and see which one I like better.

For one moment, I don’t even know where I was… Venice. Maybe?

Of course, New York is here! I guess they GOTTA have New York in there. Or else it wouldn’t be complete - New York-New York Las Vegas - Daytime (below).

Finally… Last but not least, another favourite of mine - Wynn. I think one day I’d live there. I know I will. On the left, it’s the Fashion Show Mall.

Other attractions:
- Treasure Island free show (outdoor) - but the time we went, they cancelled it!
- Las Vegas Premium Outlet - couldn’t help buying something. It’s within walking distance from downtown. So we took the Deuce from the Strip to Downtown, then walked to this mall. Going back to the Strip from this mall, you’d have to take 2 buses - One from the outlet mall to near the Stratosphere, the other one (Deuce) from Stratosphere to the Strip.
- Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat @ Mirage - entrance fee required. We skipped that part but I think kids would like it.
- Miracle Mile Shops @ Planet Hollywood
- Adult Superstore (3850 W Tropicana Ave) - take 201 bus, go West.

To eat/drink: (affordable and pretty good)
- Buffet @ Bellagio
- Ginseng II (3765 S. Las Vegas Blvd.) - we ate there twice. Open late and taste good.
- Todai (@ Planet Hollywood) - good price seafood buffet to satisfy seafood/Asian food cravings.
- Huge cup of drinks that you see everyone holding - approximately = 4 cups. Price range from $15-20.

Tags: Travel

Chapter 5 - San Francisco (cont’d)
The Ferry Building was one of the must-go’s. Restaurants and farmers market - chowhounds love it. The travel guide book recommended Mijita. We got there one early evening. The market and some restaurants were starting to close. Luckily, we could still order a Taco Pescado (fish taco) $4.75 and a Quesa Mijita $4.50. Awww… they were good! Just… maybe… a bit small. :p~~

Inside the Ferry Building, there were a store where you can check the arrival time of the Muni Metro (light rail) in front of the building. The F-line would take us right to the Fisherman’s Wharf. Nice!

Talking about Pier 39 (wiki), one of the piers on the San Francisco Bay… There were quite a lot of things you could do:
- Check out the poster store, the “lefty” store, the huge chocolate heaven…
- Visit the Aquarium of the Bay
- A view of the Alcatraz Island and the bay, check out the sea lions…

One of the things that I thought of San Francisco is its openness to the GLBT (Gay/Les/Bi/Trans) culture. I once heard that SF’s pride parade is one of the largest scales in the world. Not sure if that’s true since the parade is usually held on the last Sunday of June. Given that, I’d check out the Castro area. It was very easy to get to Castro from where we were - just hop on to the F-line and it would take you there.

Under the reign of rainbow flag… There were some interesting, artsy stores where you can find some nice gifts. There was a place called “Under One Roof” (549 Castro Street) - everything there is donated by local designers and businesses, and 100% of the proceeds from the sales goes to the AIDS service organizations.

Since all the districts weren’t that far apart, it makes sightseeing a lot easier. After Castro, we took a bus to the Golden Gate Park via the Haight. Good weather, good day. A walk in the Golden Gate Park was very relaxing. There were a lot of children and babies, dogs and puppies. Locals and tourists came here to spend a nice afternoon. Those who enjoy the nature, especially those who like flowers would definitely like this place. There were the Conservatory of Flower, Japanese Tea Garden, and MH de Young Museum. Too bad, we were both really tired by the time we got there. Didn’t walked too far to cover the whole park. (I think that would take a few hours, at least.) All these venues require admission fee, but I think it is still worth-seeing. We didn’t go to the Conservatory of Flower since we were running out of time and neither of us was a hardcore flower lover.

After a the Golden Gate Park - we stuggled a bit on whether we should go see the Golden Gate Bridge. And how could we get there? Thank to the help of the staffs at the MH de Young Museum, we got onto a bus again and finally got there… The SF icon! Yah! At that time I thought… now I can say I’ve been to San Francisco.

In SF, there were different districts each of which has its unique character. The Mission, however, I can’t really use one word or one phrase to describe this part of the city. There is the Clarion Alley (more), and there’s the Good Vibrations (more: some background info of the store from the history of masturbation). There were some other interesting stores. Little Otsu is one of them.

When I was a kid, I used to go to mainland China a lot - to visit relatives. Back in the days, I loved playing these “pop pop” mini-boom’s that would explode when you throw it on the floor or at someone. It’s so harmless that I would squeeze them to explode using my fingers. I saw these toys again in SF. Long time no see, old friends. I don’t know why… I’ve never seen these things in Toronto. They were selling @ 5-6 boxes for a dollar. So cheap but tons of fun :p

The Chinatown in SF is a very old and (dirty) one - quoted from my friends… the government have scheduled cleaning of the ground in Chinatown every night. I somehow felt like a foreigner in Chinatown. I see many Taiwan flags (similar to the Chinatown in LA). It was kinda interested to see how the Chinatowns look like in other cities.

Another interesting tourist attaction was Lombard Street - here’s a view. See the green zig-zag far back?

Alcatraz, the Rock. We tried to get the ticket on Thursday, but unexpectedly all the tickets were sold out except for Saturday - the second last day of our stay. I think it was either the first or second time that I’ve ever visited a prison. With the self-guided headphone tour, we walked around the famous Alcatraz prison inside and out. I could imagine how isolated it would be to stay behind the bar in there. A totally different world from the city across the ocean. They said, sometimes the prisoners could hear the city from here. It was an unique experience visiting Alcatraz - another must-see if you ever go to SF.

Outside the cells

View from inside

The last day. Meet up with a friend. Since we’ve already explored the whole city by then, they gave us a tour to the “Half Moon Bay”. The ocean water was still cold, but it was a very nice walk.

Other highlights:
- Japantown - it was so-so. However, the Cherry Blossom Festival in April should be worth-seeing
- SMOA (SOth of MArket) - there’s the Cartoon Art Museum , SF Museumof Modern Art (SFMOMA), etc. As far as I know, SF is also known for its Art scene.
- Local designer Sunhee Moon
- Gift shop “Given” (575 Castro Street)
- Yoshi’s Jazz Club and Japanese Restaurant
A week in SF - I think it was just right.

Tags: Travel

Chapter 4 - San Francisco

Sometimes, there are things that I really look forward to - without a solid reason. It’s just a feeling that I would like it. Have you ever had that kind of feeling? I have never been to San Francisco and I haven’t paid attention to this city. Top of my mind, I had the image of the Golden Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the sea. Also, I know there must be quite a lot of Asian/Chinese based on the limited history that I know. But my gut feeling told me I’d like this city. Googled SF and read some travel advice, there we go… We were at SF in this beautiful week of April.

We arrived at SFO in the afternoon. It wasn’t hard to find the hotel shuttle buses. There were quite a lot to choose from. So we just hopped onto one from Lorrie’s for $17/person. (I thought it should be cheaper, though.) Later on, I found out the return shuttle usually cost less - especially if you mention about their online price or whatever promo that you see on the free tourist pamphlet/flyer. Our hotel was near the Fisherman’s Wharf - which is in the North. Originally, I was thinking of staying somewhere near the Union Square. Uncle T suggested this one instead and I’m glad that we’ve made the right decision to go with his suggestion. On our way to the hotel, we saw this Caesar’s Italian Restaurant and right away we said let’s go there for dinner. We had their “famous fried calamari”, Cannelloni alla Roman, and since it was a Tuesday, we also ordered the Tuesday/Friday Special “Crab Cioppino”. It was a huge dish! Tasted good (maybe a bit too salty towards the end). One word about the restaurant is “oldschool” (even its website :p). Very classic - the ambient, the look and feel, and the way their servers dressed. Our waiter was friendly and helpful. The 7-course meal should be a better deal, but we passed on that coz there’s no way we could finish that. (Reviews on Yahoo Travel).

After dinner, we walked around and explored the Fisherman’s Wharf area. It was around 8:30pm at night. We walked to the Pier 39, which was really close to our hotel. We got so excited about SF all of a sudden and started to like this city. The night view was very nice. I always like the ocean.

The next day… it was again a sunny day. I’d say we were very lucky since SF was unusually warm during our stay that week. It was sunny all the time. The sky was sometimes a bit foggy - as I’ve been told by my friends in SF. Walking around the pier, we saw many people holding China flags… and later we found out we were actually in the same city as the Olympics Torch at that time. During the trip, I didn’t pay much attention to the news. So, I didn’t even know about that in advance. Unfortunately, the path of the Torch Relay had to be changed due to the protest for Tibet. Either way, we didn’t get to see the torch. It’s ok… I guess if it’s meant to be seen, I would have seen it. A lot of people were really upset though - after standing and waiting for the torch for a whole day and didn’t get to see it.

Got hungry again after the huge Italian meal on the first night. The 2nd day, we had the clam chowder bowl and chilli bowl @ Boudin. Later I found that eating Chowder sourdough bowl at the patio wasn’t really a good idea. The food was good, but the weather was still a bit chilly in SF around April. The chowder got cold before I finished it. -_- (So, we gave it a second chance and had it again inside before we left SF. Yumm the fresh breads just smelt so good.)

One thing I like about SF was that we could walk to most of the places and the public transportation system is pretty good - as least from a tourist’s perspective. The second day we got a 7-day Muni Passport ($24) . It was a pretty good idea given that we’d be riding the buses and cable cars everyday. However, I didn’t know that they have the CityPass ($54 for admission to 6 attractions on top of what I get from the muni passport). Grrr. Yah, for one moment I was kinda “grrr” coz I didn’t know about the CityPass, or else we could have gotten that instead! It’s ok. Nothing’s perfect We’ve already done the best we could given the constraints.

On our way to the downtown financial district, we came across the Washington Square. Awww… what a nice day.

As usual, we didn’t have a detail plan for what to do, where to go on the first 2 days… so we walked by the Chinatown border and came across some footprints of Chinese in this city.

The SF financial district is similar to any North American city’s financial district. It was just a check mark on our rough checklist.

Near the Union Square, it was the main shopping district. Main things that caught my eyes were…
- the huge 3-levels building of Forever 21 - lots of clothings and accessories. Heaven for XXI’s fans.

- and the elegant Westfield San Francisco Center… after whole day of walking and sightseeing, I loved being at the food court of this mall - wide range of food to choose from, wifi internet access, nice decor, can sit there and chat and people watch. Enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.

FYI: San Francisco Shopping Guide

Another day… we were looking for a public washroom but couldn’t find one. After a long walk, we finally located one at the Galleria.

But you know what? There were public toilets everywhere - just that we never paid attention to them.

(To be Cont’d)

Tags: Travel