I have been very occupied ever since I got back from Las Vegas and went to Taipei for another work trip in November (which I'll update after this post). I haven't been paying attention to this blog besides replying comments/questions. Las Vegas
Part 1 and
Part 2 were posted a month ago. =x Anyway, even though I don't blog for a living, I still feel obliged to do so as I really wish to share with people the wonderful (or not so wonderful) places I've been to and this also serves as a good diary for me to read in the future. =)
Part 3: 15 Oct 2014 to 19 Oct 2014
15 Oct 2014, Las Vegas
Wednesday
Craving for Eggs Benedict and curious about how it's being prepared in the U.S., I asked the concierge for a place that sells the dish and she pointed me to the café just right next to my lift lobby. Here goes my breakfast.
24 Seven Café
Venue: Palms Casino Floor
Operating Hours: 24 Hours
Contact: 702 953 7682
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| Hot Chocolate |
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| Eggs Benedict with Hashbrown (US version) |
The hot chocolate was alright. I was a tad disappointed with the Eggs Benedict as the Hollandaise sauce was pretty average. The hashbrown, which was more like Marché's Rösti, tasted really normal. I couldn't remember the exact price of this meal but it was around USD 20. #notworthit
And so, today was conference day 2. Nothing to talk about what happened during work hours except combating jet lag. It started to kick in. I thought I was alright as I didn't sleep throughout the 26 hours journey from Singapore to Las Vegas and everything was as per normal till today. Zzzz
Palms has a free shuttle bus for guests (you need to show your room key) to the Forum Shops at Caesars in the Strip, last shuttle departing at 8pm. My colleagues and I boarded the shuttle towards the Strip at about 7pm.
"What should I have in America as a first timer here?" My colleagues mentioned burger and hot dog. We chanced upon Haute Doggery @ The Linq and went into the shop to get some hot dog buns.
Haute Doggery @ The Linq
Address: 3545 S. Las Vegas Blvd #L30, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Operating Hours: 10am - 12am
Contact: 702 430 4435
Website:
http://www.hautedoggerylv.com/
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| Selfie, I looked really tired. #jetlagsfault |
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| Menu |
Overwhelmed by the choices of hot dogs on the menu, I chose Polish USD 5.49 (before 8.1% tax). It was a Char-grilled all-beef polish frank, tasted OKAYYYYYY. Added chilli and mustard sauces to enhance the taste.
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| Char-Grilled All-Beef Polish Frank (USD 5.93 after tax) |
One of my colleagues, Fabian, was promoting Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte so much that I got to try it myself. As it was already 8pm and I wouldn't be able to sleep if I have any caffeine now, I requested to change the latte to cream instead.
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| Poster promoting Pumpkin Spice Latte |
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| Starbucks Menu in Las Vegas |
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| Starbucks Menu in Las Vegas |
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| Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Cream |
I'd say that the taste was unique and probably latte would taste better than cream. Green Tea Cream/Latte still rank first in my favourite Starbucks drink list.
Sipping my cold Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Cream, we headed towards Planet Hollywood to Gordon Ramsay's Burgr! The streets leading to Planet Hollywood was so Paris. I need to go there one day!
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| Eiffel Tower |
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| Paris |
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| Planet Hollywood |
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| Planet Hollywood Entrance |
Gordon Ramsay Burgr
Address: 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109
Operating Hours: Sun-Thu 11am-12am; Fri-Sat 11am-2am
Contact: (702) 785-5555
Website:
http://www.gordonramsay.com/us-restaurants/las-vegas-restaurants/gordon-ramsay-burgr/
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| Gordon Ramsay Burgr |
There was queue outside the restaurant when we arrived at about 8.10pm. The 3 of us waited for approximately 13 minutes to get to our seat. It was faster than I thought! So excited while looking at the menu on the poster while we were queuing! The flames (in the picture above) were real and the standing next to it while we were queuing was quite "hot".
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| Menu |
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| Bar nearest to the entrance |
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| My view of the kitchen while I was sitting |
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| What a cute menu! |
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| Creative menu |
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| Here comes our burger and truffle fries!!!!! |
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| Truffle Parmesan Fries USD 11 |
Best truffle fries I ever had!! Together with the awesomely fragrance tomato sauce and yummy mustard sauce (if I remembered the 2nd sauce correctly), the combination was so heavenly!!!! MUST ORDER IF YOU ARE THERE.
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| My Euro Burger, BEST BURGER IN MY LIFE |
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| Euro Burger - truffle aioli + goat cheese + arugula + oven roasted tomato (USD 16) |
Oh my god. I never imagined that a burger could taste this good! Really good! I could easily sink my teeth throughout the huge burger. Top & bottom of the burger were so soft, the mixture + beef (you can choose how well-done you want it to be) was well combined. AHHH, BRING ME BACK PLEASE!!!
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| My colleague's burger (I forgot what he ordered =x but he was very satisfied as well.) |
I got to say that this was the best meal I had in Las Vegas. The expensive
steaks at fine dining restaurants I had previously in Vegas were no match to this simpler and relatively much much much cheaper burger. Gordon Ramsay, you are really awesome to keep a burger restaurant up to such a high standard!! Can't wait for your new restaurant opening at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore! =D
We walked around the Strip after the enjoyable meal to explore more areas and to digest all the heavy food we just had. Stepped into Venetian, the original Venetian, it was bigger than the one in Macau (which I been to in 2012).
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| Candy coated apples |
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| Cute chocolates |
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| Looks like MBS hall in Singapore |
We took a cab back to our hotel after this statue. What a fulfilling day with GR's Burger digesting in my tummy! =)
16 Oct 2014, Las Vegas
Thursday
Last day of conference!! Today will be my last full-day in Las Vegas as I'll be catching a morning flight back home tomorrow. =/ I actually missed home a lot, as well as my BF even though we were in contact whenever I have wifi. I didn't have breakfast today as I was still full from the hot dog + burger I had last night.
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| Geared up for the last day of conference! |
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| Lynne Matcha - Sounds like a real name, not bad eh? |
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| Yummy buffet lunch sponsored by company |
Limousine Ride
The Palms to Fremont Street
Work's over, it's finally PARTY TIME!!!!!! I never thought that I will ever take a limousine! And tonight, I took it not only once but THRICE! The limousine was so cool! It fits more than 20 of us, with some sitting on the floor. Music was blasted and there's a TV screen displaying the music video, playing Pitbull's with all the sexy babes, Rihanna's and all the popular R&B club songs. Many of them were high, screaming and shouting while dancing to the music in the limousine. No, I was not one of them. I was a silent observer. =P
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| Getting on-board |
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| Squeezing in |
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| Smile! |
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| Disco lights |
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| Result of opening the window while the limo travels at xx km/hr |
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| The limo which our boss paid for us for our return-trip from the Palms to Fremont Street. Thank you! |
Fremont Street Experience, Downtown Las Vegas
Address: Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
Website:
http://vegasexperience.com/
Fremont Street was the old "Strip" of Las Vegas. It has been replaced by the current Strip, which is more modern. However, I would prefer Fremont Street to The Strip. Why? Fremont Street is like a big carnival with performances, music, great lighting and happy people. You can buy alcohol everywhere along the street. There's no shortage of food & beverages, of course you will see casino at every 50 steps.
If you don't wish to cab or to take a limousine to Fremont Street, you can take the bus I took on Sunday as mentioned on
Las Vegas Part 2 when I headed to the premium outlet.
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| Upon entering, we saw these hot babes in bikini. Sorry, the pic isn't clear! |
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| Here, a clearer one! |
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| Do you see the flying "fox"? |
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| Twist |
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| Flying fox on top of Fremont Street, sounds like fun! Nothing is free in Las Vegas, you got to pay for it. |
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| A shop for the bikers |
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| No kidding, there was a bunch of bikers in their bikers suit hanging around just right outside the shop. |
Triple George Grill
Address: 201 North 3rd Street, Downtown, Las Vegas, NV 89101, USA
Contact: 702.384.2761
Operating Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-10pm; Sat-Sun 4pm-10pm
It wasn't easy to find a restaurant that could accommodate so many of us. We waited 15-20 minutes for them to get our longgg table ready.
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| Long table dining |
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| M's main dish |
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| My main dish: Porcini Ravioli - Mushroom Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce (USD 15.95 before taxes, USD 20.11 after taxes and gratitute) |
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| The interior |
My porcini ravioli was not bad. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant as the food was alright, not fantastic. *I miss Gordon Ramsay Burgr* T.T
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| Sexy girls dancing on bar table |
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| Typical tourist shot, thank you Fabian for lending me his drink for the photo =) |
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| Okay. If you are lonely, you can call Megan. Don't say bojio. |
The same limousine picked us up at 11pm back to the hotel. Limousine count: 2. This time round, everyone was even higher than the previous trip as we had dinner and also alcohol on most of our hands. I didn't buy, wasn't a fan of alcohol anyway.
And so, we gathered around the bar at the lobby. As I mentioned before that I haven't been to a strip club, my colleagues were excited to bring me there. I was hesitating as I didn't know what to expect, how crazy the crowd will be in a strip club! Nevertheless, I gave in to my extreme curiosity and went ahead with them. #YOLO right?
Since we were in a big group, a limousine provided by the strip club came over to our hotel to pick us up. Limousine count: 3. It took quite a while for the limousine to arrive and some of my colleagues actually backed off, some went back to their rooms to sleep and some hanging out with the others at the lobby's bar.
Spearmint Rhino
Address: 3340 South Highland Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Contact: 702-796-3600
Website:
http://www.spearmintrhinolv.com/
A strip club that provides complimentary limo services and free entry for both men and women. They will not allow you if you never bring your identification card, so do remember to bring it along when you go to any clubs in the states as well as anywhere in the world.
Do I really have to describe what I'd seen in the strip club? I'll briefly talk about it but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, alright? Rest assured, I didn't do anything funny. Yes, as expected, there were plenty of thinly dressed, if not naked, women of different races/nationalities, no Asian though. The ladies will go around, lean towards guys (they won't touch girls) especially and would ask if they want a lap dance. Each lap dance costs USD 20-25 for the duration of one song. During the lap dance, the girls would take off their bikini top and ya..... OKAY NO MORE.
Also, there's a stage where the girls will take turn to dance and shake their bodies, two at a time. You can tip, at least a dollar note, to any of the girls you like. It was pretty fun to slip a dollar bill into their top/bottom.
It was an eye opener although I was disappointed that most of the girls there had boob jobs. A strip club was never in my check list but I got to say, I experienced a new type of night life that some guys frequent. Girls, if you wanna see, no worries, just go! Cause the female strippers will never bother you for a lap dance. It's the only club that I think it's safe for us ladies! BUT, this will not be a case if you go to a male strip club.
DISASTER
Last night in Vegas. It was wild, it was fun and it was unquestionably memorable. I love America!! This trip was a blast! UNTIL, I RECEIVED AN SMS FROM UNITED AIRLINES THAT MY FLIGHT GOT CANCELLED AT 3AM. >:(
WHAT?? They got the audacity to cancel my first flight out of Las Vegas towards San Francisco just 8 hours before the flight?! You got to be kidding me. My flight was originally scheduled at 11:02am and everything was ruined. United Airlines re-booked my flight to 1:34pm via Washington, returning directly back to Singapore which I would arrive extra ONE DAY later on 12.10am Monday, 20 Oct 2014, relative to my original plan which was to arrive on 12.10am Sunday, 19 Oct 2014. I looked closely at the new itinerary, they put me overnight at Washington. Upon calling United Airlines, the help desk mentioned that she couldn't confirm if the airline will provide overnight accommodation at Washington. HELLO??? Are you expecting me to spend my night at the airport?
No, this was ridiculous. The first person who attended to me actually hung up on me after some help. I wasn't sure if it's the line's problem or that woman just got tired of helping me finding alternative. Oh my god. Never imagined that this could happen to me. Frantically, I looked through all the flights that flies from Las Vegas to San Francisco. There's an earlier flight at 10:06am departing Las Vegas and arriving San Francisco which would connect to my next flight SFO-NRT perfectly. I calmed myself down, called the help desk again, using the direct line which my VP kindly gave to me (at nearly 4am, thank you!!!). The line got through so much faster comparing to the public help line. This time round it was a guy. He's very friendly and I told him that I want my previous itinerary, he just need to change my first flight from 11:02am (the cancelled one) to 10:06am. THAT'S ALL. How could they re-route into something so ridiculous that will delay my journey by one extra day? So disappointed and mad at United Airlines. >>:(
I didn't sleep the whole night as I have to pack my luggage and prepare everything before I set off. Why did it have to end this way? ='( I was glad that there were people helping me via Whatsapp when I told them my situation. Thank you so much. =')
17 Oct 2014, Las Vegas
Friday
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| Went down to take away Mcdonald's breakfast at 5.30am |
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| Pancakes with Sausage |
And so, I checked out of the hotel at 7am to get to the airport. I met an elderly in the lift and also at the check out counter queue. He spoke to me, ask me where I'm from and praised that my English is very good. I told him that English is Singapore's first language and he was sooo surprised. Same goes to the taxi driver who sent me to the airport. He was amazed that Singaporeans could actually speak fluent English. *Oh my* Well, I got to admit that Singapore is really a small country and U.S.A is so huge! It's not surprising that people from the West do not know about us. There are some people think that Singapore is in China!
My taxi ride from the Palms to the LAS airport was USD 25.90, I gave the driver USD 30, expecting a change but he didn't give me anything. =/ I think it is common to give tips in the U.S. and he was expecting the USD 4.10 to be the gratitude. It's alright. As long as I can get home safely.
Las Vegas Airport
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| United Airlines Self Check In Kiosks |
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| Waiting for my flight to San Francisco |
I fell asleep once I sat down on my seat. I was extremely tired from being awake all night and all the energy was being used up when I got notified about the flight cancellation. I did wake up right in time to take pics of a glorious sight when the plane flew past the desert.
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| Flying above the desert |
San Francisco Airport
I did not need to go past another immigration at SFO airport as I already did so at my first point of exit from Las Vegas airport. I walked around SFO airport, grabbed a hot chocolate from Peet's Coffee & Tea which tasted good and headed to my departure gate. Sadly, there's no personal in-flight entertainment even for Economy Plus cabin, except a big TV at the front, as this Boeing 747 was a pretty old model. (Should I say) thankfully that I was really tired, I slept most of the time except for waking up to eat at 3 occasions.
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| Cute Currency Exchange booth at SFO Airport |
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| Delicious Hot Chocolate |
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| Tomokazu: Very famous Japanese Restaurant with super long queue |
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| Dinner |
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| Tired-max-with-no-make-up-mandatory-plane-selfie |
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| Snack |
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| Breakfast |
18 Oct 2014, Tokyo
Saturday
Narita Airport (Tokyo)
It was like rush hour at Narita airport. I had to buy something for myself at a boutique ^^ and also some yummylicious Japanese snacks back home within a short time limit before my last flight NRT-SIN. Happy that the flight, Boeing 777, has personal in-flight entertainment and I got 2 seats (which is the whole row) all to myself. =D
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| Hello Japan |
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| Dinner |
19 Oct 2014, Singapore
Sunday
BF was waiting at the airport for me. I could actually take a taxi back home but he came to fetch me as we didn't see each other for a week. Aww <3
WHAT A JOURNEY!! Despite all the hiccups, I really did enjoy the trip as a whole. America was a dream and now I fulfilled half of my dream. Of course, Las Vegas was a dreamland. I need to go to other parts of USA to explore the real America, which I will certainly do so in the future. I need to work to fill up my emptied pockets now. Spent too much money overseas! I'll be updating on my next trip to Taipei soon. Thanks for reading! Cheers!
#LCinUSA posts
2016 Seattle-Arizona (Blogging soon)
- Apr 2016 Part 1 Seattle
- Apr 2016 Part 2 Arizona Road Trip
- Apr 2016 Part 3 Arizona Road Trip
- Apr 2016 Part 4 Arizona Road Trip
2015 Seattle
2014 Las Vegas
