Las Vegas

BA strike cancelled, but bad weather prevails ...

News of BA strikes few days running up to our trip caused much anxiety, but it was cancelled (phew!). However, bad weather caused our flight to be delayed by 5 and a half hours :( They gave us £10 in vouchers to buy some food tho, and we got to see the de-icer at work coz the plane's wings were iced over ...

 

We arrived in LAS 11 hours later and it was past midnight when we checked into Bellagio (NB: the airport at LAS was really old and tatty, and we had trouble finding an ATM). I took a few photos before we started getting too settled in and messed up the room ...

 

We were feeling peckish, so wandered down to one of the only other late-night dining options in Bellagio, Noodles (a few other Honkies were still dining in it at 1:30AM). I had a beef rice noodle, and Muffin had a tom yum noodle soup.

Tasty brekky, CSI Experience, Cirque du Soliel: KA, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

We had our first breakfast in Vegas -- we walked over to Caesars Palace (which was right next door to Bellagio) and found Payard.

After the delicious and very filling breakfast we wandered over to MGM Grand to pick up tickets for our show later that night. We also bought tickets to three attractions for $54 (Bodies, CSI Experience, Shark Reef).

 

We went to the CSI Experience at MGM Grand and did one of the three crime scenes -- ours featured a dead body discovered in the Canyon ...

As we still had time to kill, we decided to check out the newly opened City Center (which opened just a few days before our arrival -- 16th Dec!).

 

We decided to check out the new Casino at Aria -- it was not as gimmicky / themed as the other casinos on the strip, employing natural-looking materials such as wood and stone. Also the music is far more ambient in the casino, and the sounds from the poker machines aren't as deafening as in the other casinos. Overall, it was a more relaxing place to be in (also seemed less smokey). We had a snack and coffee in a Jean-Philippe Patisserie right next to the casino.

 

It was soon time for our show and we returned to MGM Grand for Cirque du Soleil: KA. The stage was cool -- as it was floating, and the actors spent a lot of time floating / falling.

We had great seats -- just 5th row from the front, and right in the middle! And we could feel the heat from the flamethrowers they used in the show! It was pretty expensive tho, at US$176pp.

When the show was over, we had our first degusation course by the "Chef of the Century" at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon where the chefs prepare your meal right before you! At US$148pp I reckon this was far more enjoyable than a show!

Searching for proper coffee, Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden, Blue Man Group,

Today, we walked north up the Strip from Bellagio ... taking some touristy shots at Caesars Palace ...

 

And then ducking into the "only Illy store in Nevada" for our strong lattes / flat whites.

 

On the way to pick up tickets for Blue Man Group (which wasn't ready) we came across Indiana Jones ...

After lunch in the food court in Palazzo (I had a portobello burger, while Muffin had a chicken caesar salad), we picked up the tickets and headed over to the Mirage to check out Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat (US$15pp). Unfortunately we didn't see Siegfried or Roy, the dolphins were swimming around in a boring fashion, and the big cats were all snoozing ...

 

It was soon time for the Blue Man Group (at 4pm, US$142pp!!) which I thought was too expensive (I'd rather dine at Joel Robuchon again at the same price!) and wasn't enjoyable unless you're under 10 years of age (and easily entertained by lights and sounds). I also hate audience participation -- I paid good money so that I can sit back and be entertained, not the other way around!

Feeling unamused, we headed off to Encore for dinner at Society Cafe Encore ...

Grand Canyon helicopter tour, Tournament of Kings

We woke up to yet another gorgeous sunny day in Las Vegas, bought our lattes from Jean Philippe and then hopped onto the van which took us to Maverick Helicopters near the airport.

 

After a safety briefing, and obligatory photo shoot with our pilot Rich (which Muffin bought, even tho my eyes were completely shut), we were strapped into our seats for the best ride and best views ...

 

Because I had a fear of heights I had to sit the the middle and at the back, and pretend I was somewhere else when we did sharp turns, etc ...

 

After a while I managed to relax a bit and take in the excellent views ...

 

Back on the Strip we were greeted with the familiar sights again ...

 

Later that night we managed to catch a glimpse of the Bellagio fountains before we headed out to Excalibur for the Tournament of Kings dinner show! (US$61pp)

Christmas Day! Red Rock Canyon, Joe's Seafood Prime Steak & Stone Crab, Cirque du Soleil: O

We picked up our hire car from the Dollar car rental company downstairs in Bellagio's car park, and headed out to Red Rock Canyon.

We stopped in a large supermarket which was open (on Christmas day) to pick up some supplies (water, fruits and ... beef jerky!) and then drove to the Red Rock Canyon scenic route ...

 

We decided to do a long-ish trail (10+km) ...

 

We were cold and hungry when we got back to Vegas, as we ate nothing but two satsumas and a pack of beef jerky all day. So we decided to reward ourselves with crab and steak at Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in the Forum Shops.

After a satisfying dinner we headed back to Bellagio for a spectacular show by Cirque du Soleil's O.

Hoover Dam, Jerry Seinfeld, The Buffet @ Wynn

We had a brekky of Maccas (I had a Big Breakfast with Hotcakes -- too much!) and Starbucks (tastes gross) before retrieving the car and heading out to Hoover Dam.

We paid $5 and took the scenic route ...

 

The scenic route allowed us to jump most of the huge queue of cars going to the dam. After a snack of Beef Jerky (teriyaki flavour, this time!) we headed into the dam for the powerplant tour ...

 

We headed back to Vegas, hoping to squeeze in a buffet at Wynn's just before the Jerry Seinfeld show at 7:30pm. Alas after 1.5 hours of queing we we still less than halfway there so decided to refuel the car and find a drive-thru Maccas ...

Muffin found the bummiest Maccas with bums outside AND inside and had his Big Mac. We sat in traffic heading back along the Strip, and got back just in time to see Jerry do his thing.

Jerry didn't disappoint! Tickets were pretty cheap in comparison to the other stuff we've seen so far (US$95) and we were 2nd from the front on the balcony.

After the show we decided to give Wynn's buffet another go (it was nearly 10pm) and this time we skipped the long queue by paying extra to get in the VIP line ...

The food wasn't THAT great -- except we enjoyed the long crab legs. There were no sashimi! And dessert was so-so. Maybe it was coz it was closing time and all the good food was gone? At US$55 we felt it wasn't as good as a sit down restaurant (and I got a tummy ache to boot) :( Nevertheless, of all the buffets in Vegas, this seemed to be the least dodgiest. And the flower arrangements were nice ...

 

Shark Reef, Bodies: The Exhibition, home time ...

We had a slow leasurely morning. Muffin dropped off the car keys and brought back some coffee and snacks from Jean Philippe. We checked out of Bellagio via the TV, then dropped off the bags at the Bell desk (we realised after watching other people, that we forgot to tip the guy!). Then we caught the free tram to Vdara and walked to Excalibur, then caught a monorail to Mandalay Bay.

Luckily we bought the multi-passes, so didn't have to join the queues ... and went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.

 

The fish looked healthy and the tanks were well maintained.

We stopped in Border Grill for lunch, before continuing on to Luxor for the Bodies Exhibition.

 

Somehow we managed to keep our lunch down during the Bodies Exhibition -- we got pretty queasy as they had body parts with partially filleted bones on display!

We then headed back to Bellagio to pick up the suitcase, and then caught a taxi to the airport. While checking in we discovered our flight was delayed again (by two hours due to some crazy guy trying to burn his underpants while wearing them on another plane elsewhere).

At the airport: a word of warning -- there's nothing decent to eat. Your options are Burger King and Pizza Hut! The only entertainment there is a row of poker machines ...

Safely back in LHR, we zipped past the queues at customs by using the trusty Iris Scan and then we were back home sweet home!