It's been a while since I had been to Vegas. I decided to surprise
my lady friend with a quick overnight trip to Vegas.
Since we were only going for a day I wanted to utilize as much
time as possible there. So we took the first flight out. It was a weekday so I
was pretty confident that the hotel would have early check in. We stayed at the Aria at the City Center
I always bring my camera with me, but this time I forgot to put my
SD card in it. So I had to purchase one when we got to the hotel. Unfortunately
I missed out on some photos of us arriving and the lobby. Picked up a 4g micro
SD with adapter at the Elements in
Aria. It was about $25 with tax. Just in case anyone needs to find one.
My review of the room at the Aria. We stayed in the
deluxe king. The room was very nice and very spacious. We were given a room
with a view of the pools. There is a daily resort fee of about $22-$24. The fee
includes access to the gym, wifi, airline ticket printing at the front desk,
and some other stuff I forgot, but must not have been important.
Upon walking up to the room the doors no longer have a key card
slot. All you do is wave you key card in front of the black sensor and it will
unlock the door. So you can keep your key card in your wallet and just wave
your wallet in front of the sensor. It makes it so much more convenient than
fumbling for your key card when you're drunk. Or if you're skilled enough you
can just keep your key card in your pocket and just hop at the door sensor.
Good luck with that.
I guess the card or room is programmed so that when you first
enter the room all the lights turn on, the TV turns on and the curtains open
up. It's a pretty nice welcome.
With how the hotel is designed the rooms make it seem like you have a corner room due to the 90 degree window view. It was a nice touch.
Next to the bed is a control panel that you can control everything
from. temperature, curtains, music, TV, lighting, alarm clock, and room
service. Also based on who's key card is used to open the door their name is
displayed on the digital remote. The bed huge and super comfortable and there
are way too many blankets on that thing.
Your normal flat screen TV and there is a media outlet on the
desk.
The bathroom is nice.
The bathtub is situated inside the shower. It's different, but I
guess it's nice that you can do both without leaving one area for the other.
After we checked in, we ended up sleeping. Way to start the trip. We
ended up passing out until noon. I got up and while she was getting ready I ran
out to grab tickets for the Jabbawockeez show at the Monte Carlo
I snapped a few pictures on my way out.
After grabbing the tickets we headed out just to walk around. The
place I wanted to go to for lunch didn't open till 3pm . So we had a few hours to burn. So we
strolled through the Crystals
After exiting the shopping area you end up at the Cosmopolitan
Hotel.
We walked through the Cosmopolitan real quick and next door to
that is the Bellagio.
The garden at the Bellagio was well decorated for the month of
November.
The tree actually moves and talks.
After the Bellagio next door to that was Caesar's Palace.
We were starving. All we had since we woke up was a croissant and
tea. Linda wanted to grab a smoothie to hold her off until lunch.
After the quick snack we were off to the Forum shops.
Linda had been looking for a specific Gucci wallet to match her
purse. She couldn't find it at the Gucci store back at home. So we took a peek
inside...
Fortunately this store had it so I picked it up for her.
I went to check out the old FAO Schwartz store. I know after FAO
was gone it was still a toy store, but when I went to check it out this time it
had been converted to a H&M store.
After the forum shops we headed across the street to the Venetian.
I wanted to make a quick stop at the Christian Louboutin store. My friend had
been looking for a pair of sneakers by C.L but they have been sold out for
quite some time. I thought I would give it a try.
It seemed like the Venetian was setting up for some kind of
Christmas event or something. They had speakers and stages set up all over the
place. You can see the Christmas tree type thingy to the left of the picture.
It wasn't completed yet.
Got to the C.L store and they did not have the shoes, but it looks
like they were going to be doing a restock. So I was able to get my friend on
the waiting list. The shoes he wanted are pictured below. Unfortunately the
black on black is not being brought back yet, but the black with silver is what
I got him on the waiting list for.
By the time we were done it was time for lunch finally. I took her
to a place my friend Pierce took me too back in February when I was here. It's
off the strip a bit located in Chinatown . It's
called Ichiza.
It's a Japanese Tapas restaurant. It's really good and they don't price gouge
like they do on the strip. It's worth a visit.
Sear Ahi Tuna
Check out those specials on the wall.. Don't mind the girl.
Jalapeno fried rice. It was awesome and spicy
pictured below is Fatty Yellow Tuna sashimi on top and the bottom
octopus in ponzu sauce.
a closer picture of the Fatty Yellow Tuna. It was amazing and I
hate fish. Almost as good as Toro (Blue Fin Tuna Belly)
fried shrimp with mayonnaise.
Grilled squid.
Sauteed spinach and mushrooms.
Tuna Tartar.
Seared oysters.
I think that's it. We ate a lot and were stuffed. Everything was
amazing. I wanted to have the honey toast, but didn't have the room for it.
They are quite known for that dessert.
After the late lunch we went downstairs and had some milk tea
at Tea Station while we waited for our taxi to come. I
originally called Yellow Checker Star. We waited about 30 minutes and no one
arrived. I called them again to check on our taxi. They put me on hold which
ended up hanging up on me. I called again and this time no answer. WTF! I ended
up calling Desert Cab Inc. I waited a bit and they showed up right
when I was about to call them again. Just look at the reviews on yelp. Stay
away from Yellow Checker Star. They suck!
We got back to the hotel and took a quick 30 min nap. Then we had
to get ready for the Jabbawockeez show. The rooms looks a lot better at night.
Vegas in general looks better at night.
Night view from our room.
We got all fancied up and headed out the door.
Snapped some nice night shots on our way to the Monte Carlo
Snapped a quick photo of the stage at the show. The show was
awesome. I'm was a fan ever since I saw them on America
The show was 1 1/2hrs long. We were out by 9pm . The show seemed longer than that though.
I had plans for a nice dinner, but we were still stuffed from our late lunch.
So we just headed out for drinks.
Our first stop was The Chandelier at Cosmopolitan. Marquee the
club was open that night so we assumed it would be busy at that hotel. We were
early and it was slow.
After a drink at the Chandelier. I wanted to check out other bars
at other hotels to see if anything else was busier. So we walked next door to
the Bellagio. We stopped off at the first bar we saw which was Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant and Lounge. It was dead here
too and it looked like they were about to close. We had a drink here and
chatted with the bartender. She told us that the palce to be on a Monday was
Cosmopolitan. So we headed back after finishing our drinks.
Back at "The Chandelier"
We ended up staying at The Chandelier. We chatted up with the
bartender there. Found out that one of the bartenders (Derek). Does magic tricks
and he was quite good at it. He did some pretty awesome card tricks. We were
both pretty buzzed but he did his tricks just inches from my face and I
couldn't catch the slight of hand. It was really awesome. It was like watching
street magic live. Some of the memorable tricks were the balloon trick where
Derek stuck my cell phone inside an inflated balloon. Another one, he bent and
creased the card that I chose and stuck in the middle of the pile and some how
made it warp to the top of the deck. That was pretty awesome and one trick he
had Linda holding the deck of cards and was somehow able to switch it out of
her hands in exchange for a plastic cube. That was pretty cool. If you ever get
stop by The Chandelier for drinks ask for Derek. He is there Fri-Mon nights.
Great Drinks and free magic tricks.
Here's a picture of the plastic cube that Linda ended up with.
After watching this video I can see where the slight of hand
happens, but when I saw it in person I didn't catch it. Still awesome free
entertainment. I can't complain. Plus I had been drinking. LOL.
After being at the lounge for a few hours we called it a night and
head back to the room.
Woke up the next morning and packed our stuff. Checked out and
headed out for lunch before our flight.
We ate at Lemongrass at Aria. Thai food.
Nothing like fresh coconut juice to help with a night of drinking.
Tom Yum soup.
Basil Mushroom steamed rice.
Curry Duck. This was amazing!
The restaurant was good. It was a bit pricey for casual dining and
Thai food to say the least, but then again it is Vegas. We had about 15 minutes
to kill before leaving the hotel. Linda had been eyeing "The
Hangover" movie themed slot machine the whole trip. So I told her she
should play it. Next to it though was a Star Wars slot machine and she loves
Star Wars. So she decided to play that instead.
She ended up turning $20 into $80 in a matter of minutes. It's not
a million bucks, but all the lights and sounds made it exciting. To bad we
couldn't add a zero to that payout. I was more excited than she was. LOL and it
was only a few dollars. I'm easily entertained.
Got to the airport and we were hungry again. So we had nachos.
Then hopped on our flight. A quick flight and we were back home.
It was a fun and quick trip. Definitely would do it again.
It was not enough time to do everything, but was enough to give
you a teaser of Vegas. Las Vegas
