I Heart Las Vegas

What can I say... three full days in Las Vegas was not enough for me! We were thiiiis close to extending our stay if not for the jerks at Northwest Airlines crippling all thoughts of doing so. The King, in his usual diplomatic style consoled the very annoyed me that since all non-stop flights out to Vegas this summer is going to be cheap (under $250) it's highly possible that we return. Of course, that also means we have to go on another bloody nwa flight - boy do I hate flying with them!

So what did we do besides gamble and of course, not hit any jackpot - I would be writing this entry from my newly acquired condo in LV if I did lol! Gamble we certainly did... after all, I am a true blue Asian. Can't have a casino with no Asians around. The place will go belly-up in a minute lol. But yes, gambling was a pretty major part of the trip - I'd say two fifths of it. So was laying by the pool enjoying the dry dry scorching 100 degree heat by day (no thanks to that I'm now covered in heat rashes lol) and of course, with the Ryans, a trip is never without getting some unbelieavable eats by nights.

Let me preface by saying that I really enjoyed the Signature. Not only is it brand new, it was not at all chaotic or even tacky (like the entrance to the main lobby of the MGM Grand for example). The Signature actually sits across the street from the mgm grand. But, of course, in all Vegas-style, it has a luxurious indoor connection that is air-conditioned, carpeted and equipped with strips of walkalators to take you from the Signature to the main hotel casino, her pools and lobby. So no, there is no casino within the Signature... the lobby is beautiful and modern (like a fancy apartment building)... bell service is prompt and friendly... checking-in easy and quick enough (they did however fail to mention / remind us about our free drinks by the bar lol)... and the rooms... nice! These suites are namely privately owned studio and/or one bedroom suite condos that the hotel manages. You can't go wrong here if you, like me, enjoy Vegas but not the crazy drunk rowdy crowd who might wake you up at four in the morning yelling along the corridor. To be quite honest, I like The Wynn's room better but I prefer how Signature sits at a non-casino lot. Plus... as a Signature customer, you get to use ALL pools around the MGM. ...and since this trip was namely for me to go get some color on my pale skin, we decided to try a different hotel. For the most part, the king and I stayed by the much smaller, uncrowded pool by Tower One where we sipped daquiris and layed out on deck chairs. I kept myself busy with the latest Hollywood gossip and the husband made full use of the wireless access via his Nokia N95. He can go on that thing for hours! I can't even fathom waiting for a site to load much less reading articles and doing research on the bloody cellphone. Also, the pool by the Signature is much more our pace. No kids... mostly couples (young and old) and more then enough space and deck chairs to go around the dozen or so people there many times. I must add, we were there entirely on weekdays, so no idea what the place is like on weekends.

On our last morning in Vegas we also tried the pool on the mgm side... the Grand Pool was voted Best Hotel Pool in the U.S.! Together with the hundreds of morning people (and their kids) visiting Las Vegas, we trotted with our morning Starbucks, magazines and oil & lotion and headed to the much acclaimed backlot river pool. It was a lot of fun to float, swim, walk in that river/pool... it has automated currents - ok not current 'coz that sounds like electric current lol... but yeah, the water here pushes you along once you get into the water... you go through little waterfalls, big ones... lots of palm trees... perfect way to start the morning. We didn't stay that long however. It was our last day in LV and the casino was screaming for our attention lol. I had plans to return to the pool by the Signature but you know what happens when you get sucked in by slot machines... I will see that pool soon I hope...

...and the eats... yum, the food... the husband and I are used to good delicious food. We go through all sorts of distance for good food. In Las Vegas, it seems, good food is not hard to find. Day one, we went out of the strip to Lotus of Siam for Northern Thai food. The nam kao tod (minced sour sausage mixed with green onion, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts, crispy rice and lime juice) and the plar dook yang num tok (whole catfish char-broiled and served with two delicious sauces) were my lunch favorites. Their pad kee mao/drunken noodles was also very good... but since we've had the absolute best by the street of Bangkok, I wasn't as impressed as I would normally be. Lotus of Siam gets a 7/10 from me for food and good service. That night, with still a full stomach but heavy heart (from casino lol), we decided we wanted a light (but good, of course) meal. We figured some sashimi would do the trick. Of course, in all Ryan fashion, we went in and couldn't just have a nice plate of sashimi. A bottle of sake, a big platter of sashimi, two awesome rolls and a dessert later, we staggered our even heavier bodies back to the room and called it a night :) ...Shibuya of the mgm grand gets high ratings from the Ryans. High quality foo, a good wide variety of sake and pretty good service - our first experiance was better then our second. The best meal we had this trip was at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon also at the mgm grand... I will have to blog about it on it's own 'coz it's just not right to add it to this entry lol. By the way, L'Atelier gets a 9/10 from me. Will talk about it more in a future blog...