VEEEGAAAS!!!

3/23

i almost missed my flight back to CA..i had to seek help from a complete stranger to carry one of my super heavy bags so i can run to the plane gate. the atlanta airport was huge everybody had to ride the terminal train to get to their respective gates. i came from gateC36 & i had to ride my plane for CA at gate A9...in 30 minutes!!! to make it worse, i was the ONLY passenger who has not boarded. crap. muntik na. thank God umabot pa rin.

on my plane to CA

ok...we flew over the grand canyon minutes before we landed. i had the chance to take some shots coz now i was sitting at the left side of the plane (i was seated right on my first flight to CA).

got to LA in a few hours. tita baby was able to fetch me from the airport alone this time. my head's getting all fuzzy because of the time zone changes i got jumping from state to state. to enumerate, i've entered time zones, MNL, TOKYO, Pacific, Central, Eastern, Pacific, then backwards. quite a journey ha! back to LA, tita baby had a new car. she rented a cool hyundai car since she had a minor car accident with her SUV the other day. there's a hitech gadget installed in the car, a speed indicator/controller, w/c constantly & annoyingly beeped & talked!! it was pretty kewwwwl though... ahehe.....

we're actually preparing for our vegas trip that day...which meant no rest for me. good thing i did not have to drive. we headed out at 2pm. coz my head's getting fuzzy, i fell asleep at the back of the car. my tita woke me up for a late lunch at barstow, for a stop over. we ate at the in & out burger. i think that was the 2nd time i've eaten in that food chain, maybe the first was in dallas.

we continued the trip until it got too dark outside. it was a loong stretch of a desert until we hit certain areas w/ buildings, isolated casinos..then blank, sandy land again. we stopped by the las vegas fashion outlet & shopped a little. we drove an hour more, to get to the main Vegas strip.

we checked in at the cancun hotel & resort, near the main vegas entrance. i had my own room & huge bathroom...then thought that that was already the 3rd hotel i've checkin to!felt so big time but..oh, i miss being home...

we settled in & refreshed then off we went to the casinos! we drove past the paris las vegas casino & decided to park there eventually.

we walked through the hotel dupree. it was amazing how they designed the place! it copies the roads of paris, the restaurants, the poles, the atmosphere, the sky!! the sky is always blue in paris! they artistically painted the ceilings with clouds & blue sky so there's always a feel of a beautiful morning...pardon my pics though, they're a little bit dark..

i vote for the bellagio water fountain show as the best entertainment in vegas. it was a familiar setting since the last scene from the ocean's eleven was shot here. the show commences every 15 minutes and as we passed by the hotel, the demonstation was exactly starting. the water fountains danced by the song (i don't know if i remember this right), "raindrops keep falling on my head" by BJ Thomas. it was stunning. if ever i visit vegas back, i'll stop right at that fountain spot & watch all night....my uncle said the song & choreography vary every show..wow....

in a few minutes we entered some more casinos. we went inside the caesar's palace next. there's an aquarium at the center, sat there for a while as we waited for the show named 'Fall of the Atlantis'. It's located in the Forum shops next to the Cheescake factory. the gigantic animatronic statues looked very human it made me scared silly. anyway, the story unfolds when King Atlas tries to determine which of his children will rule Atlantis. i wasn't able to capture/shoot the show coz it was too dark. what i have though are pics of me at the saltwater aquarium behind me, w/ almost 100 species of life. it was my first to see all of those sea creatures & got especially thrilled when i saw a group of mantarays swimming infront of me.

tita baby excitingly asked me to pose in front of elton john's clothing/music shop..so i had to act like a fan. hehe

here's one of the ferrari cars on display inside the caesar's palace. there's a bunch more at the back but an entrance fee of $10 is required to get in.

after caesar's, we went to another hote/casino for dinner. we ate steak at the barbary hotels & casinos. afterwards, my aunt & uncle had the feel to gamble again. they are hooked on playing the slots w/c i did try a bit as well. my uncle was betting on my 'beginner's luck', who i let down after.. :( ...crap...... i enjoyed collecting those poker table beaded necklace freebies though! i brought home about 30 i think. :) .... before going home, we walked past the miniature version of the liberty statue.

i was so worn out (remember i just came from 2 states to CA w/o any rest), i fell asleep quickly at the back of the car & at my hotel room. tita baby woke me up early round 9am for a swim. actually, for a spa. the climate is damp in las vegas so i had no problem dipping in water outside. there were about 5 jacuzzis in the area. i chose the one which was covered. dang...the water was too hot i could not even get myself in knee up!! it was burning my flesh! i moved to the swimming pool & finally wet myself. i moved back to the jacuzzi then i eventually started loving it. we stayed for less than hour then went back to our rooms & prepared for another stroll around vegas.

this time, my chaperones (ahihi), preferred to gamble a little at the harrah's hotel & casinos...while i shopped a bit a block away at the string of outlets. right before the clothing outlets was a harley davidson resto. wonder what kind of food they serve there..

my tita & tito got to gamble some more, while i wait in vain... i did try my luck that day & i won $11 for a $2 bet at one slot machine. that was enough for me... despite receiving a few laughs from my tita (apparently $11 is not a win). hmmp... *:)

we had late lunch at the fiesta casinos then my folks played the slots again trying to win back what they lost....w/c unfortunately, did not happen. this time i got bored so i decided to ring people at home. we drove back to CA by 6PM.