Tuesday, December 26, 2006

2006 Las Vegas Trip: Introduction And First Day

Introduction

My friend Steve and I took a vacation in Las Vegas Monday December 11, 2006 to Wednesday December 13, 2006. We stayed at Treasure Island for our hotel and we saw Folies Bergere for our show entertainment. We gambled playing slots, Craps, and Blackjack and walked around the strip. The trip was fun and we had a blast. I arrived at McCarran International Airport at 8:05 AM and Steve arrived around 2:00 P.M. We flew back home at 10:55-11:00 A.M. on Wednesday.

Day 1: Patience Is A Virtue

My flight departed on time from San Jose to Las Vegas. My dad gave me a ride to the airport. The flight totaled 50 passengers. Southwest told everyone to just line up and enter without following the A, B, and C groups. Everyone got either orange juice or coffee. No peanuts :-( I sat on the left side next to a window. I saw snow on the mountains and lots of residential development at the outside of Las Vegas.

I arrived at McCarran Airport at 8:05 A.M. I walked around the C gate looking at the restaurants. I choose to eat at Burger King. $7.50 for a sausage and egg bagel combo :-P After breakfast, I walked to the ground transportation. I saw the security line which was long. McCarran airport is the best airport I have visited. Those passengers should pass by security quickly.

I took a shuttle from the airport to Bellagio. I wanted to stop at the Bellagio first to view the indoor Christmas garden. The shuttle fare was $5.50 which was good. Waiting 20 minutes for the shuttle was bad. There was no rush. The shuttle made a stop at Aladdin first. The second stop was Bellagio at 9:40 A.M.

I stayed briefly at the Bellagio indoor Christmas garden because viewing the garden at night time was better looking. I took a few pictures. I noticed there were more shops opened on the backside of the garden and the polar bears were at the left side. The 2004 visited the polar bears were at the left side.

I walked to Treasure Island and arrived at the check in line at 10:40 A.M. Check in time was 11:00 A.M. I was the fourth person in line. When check in opened, the line grew big time. I got my keys and room and walked to the room on the 14th floor. Fortunately, Treasure Island devoted elevators to specific floors. Steve and I waited seconds for the elevators throughout the vacation. The room was similar to Bellagio in 2004. Bellagio is still my all time favorite hotel room because the room and bathroom were bigger and more elegant. After settling in, I went to the gift shop to buy bottle water, Lay's potato chips, and cookies. I watched TV mostly ESPN while I wait for Steve to arrive. I saw two window washers at the Venetian hotel washing the windows floor by floor.

Steve Arrived

Steve arrived at 2;30 P.M. He called me on cell phone he arrived at the airport. I was watching Viva Rock Vegas, a Flintstones movie. Coincidence ^^; I told him to come straight to the room because I got his keys. When he knocked on the door, I was surprised because I expected him to arrive at a later time. The reason why Steve arrived quickly was because he took a taxi ^^ Steve relaxed for about 15 minutes and settled in. Then we walked out of Treasure Island. Our first destination was the Greek Isles.

Along the way to the Greek Isles, we stopped at Fashion Show Mall Food Court at 3:00 P.M. for lunch. I ate at Taco Maker and ordered the number 1 combo which was three tacos, potato wedgies, and a soft drink. Steve ate Chinese. We ate there for 30 minutes. The food court reminded me of the Washington Canada trip because the food court was at the top floor and there lots of windows. Steve made a toast to the Las Vegas trip. We walked down the stairs outside the food court and visited the Wynn hotel for 10 minutes. I saw the waterfall by the outdoor restaurant and the main lobby decorated with trees.

After the Wynn, we saw the Stardust gated and closed. Steve found out the Stardust is going to be blown up and torn down for a new hotel and casino. I saw a Las Vegas Police Department station. I watched CSI briefly from time to time and I joked whether the show is filmed at the location. And I wanted to see some Las Vegas police cars because I wanted to take pictures for my webpage XD

At 3:50 P.M., we arrived at Greek Isles. Wow! Wow again! The Greek Isles was the smallest casino we ever saw. Fortunately, we stayed at Treasure Island. After staying for three minutes, we headed back to the strip. The plan was to walk to Treasure Island to get the tickets, visit Luxor because our favorite Camel Ride machine might be back, and then Tropicana to watch Folies Bergere. We stopped at Frontier casino for some gambling. I played Craps and walked away ahead $10.00. The table was cold and I considered myself lucky. Steve played Craps and some Blackjack. After Frontier, we walked to Treasure Island and got the tickets.

Steve and I were ahead of schedule. We stopped at O'Shea's casino. Steve played Blackjack. I played slots. I lost money $-( After O'Shea's, we walked to Luxor. I asked Steve about New Years Eve on the strip. He visited Vegas on New Years Eve one year. He said it's worth visiting on New Year's Eve once in a lifetime. One year, I'm going to visit Vegas on December 31.

We finally arrived at Luxor after me screwing up the Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay tran at 7:10 P.M. Steve saw a deli and made the call to eat dinner. I agreed and we ate. I ordered the roast beef sandwich and Steve ordered the corn beef sandwich. After dinner, I lost $20.00 on a slot machine :-\

Bam, Bam, Bam Waiting For The Hot Table For Action

We arrived at Tropicana at 8:00 P.M. The Folies Bergere started at 10:00 P.M. The plan was to arrive to our seats at 9:00 P.M. If anyone of us were having a hot streak at the tables, we seat at 9:30 P.M. I played Craps and Steve played Blackjack. The Crap table was hot. One of the shooters made his point three times in a row. The table remained hot throughout my stay. There was a pause for casino staff to restock chips. And there was a brief pause to change the minimums from $5.00 to $10.00. It was the first time I saw a change in minimums and the second time the table paused for chip restocking. I started with $40.00 and walked away at 9:30 P.M. with $186.00 for a net winning of $150.00. I kept $1.00 in a Tropicana chip for souvenir.

The Folies Bergere show started a little after 10:00 P.M. I missed the opening act getting bottle water at the bar. A couple of people were joking on ordering a cola. A cola is a cola they say whether it's Coke or Pepsi. The show was entertaining. Loved it. BTW, the show was topless O__O *Hee, hee, hee* My favorite scene was the last scene which was the Can Can and the dancing acrobats doing their acrobat stunts. Did I mention topless??? ;-) The dancers were very attractive 8-)

After the dance, we walked back to Treasure Island. On the Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard bridge between MGM Grand and Tropicana, I saw a Las Vegas Police car at a distance. I took a few pictures. I hope one of them turns out good to post on my webpage ~~ It appears the officer pulled over the car because the license plate was missing. We stopped at Walgreens to purchase snacks and bottle water. I purchased a bottle water, Fritos corn chips, and a Twix candy bar. I wanted to get an ice cream which I choose to get tomorrow. Steve made a joke saying I wanted ice cream on a cold night.

At 12:30 A.M., we arrived back at the hotel room. I showered, watch some of the original Blue Brothers movie and then went to bed. I realized if I want to buy a used police car, I must buy a California Highway Patrol because most of their miles are freeway miles.

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