Tips About Where To Go And What To Do In Las Vegas (Part III)

     Today is Day 2 of our tour of the Las Vegas Strip. As regular tourists, we did not go to Vegas to gamble, nor party, but just to see the fascinating high-tech structures that man’s imagination was able to conjure. I, once again, prepared myself for the many wondrous surprises that Vegas had to offer. Loads of energy were needed to make the rounds of Vegas. So, we started our morning with the complimentary buffet at the Venetian where we were staying (below).  We had toasted bread with butter and jam, omelet, bacon and ham and coffee.

Breakfast buffet at the Venetian, Las Vegas.

     Venetian Hotel and Casino. After breakfast, we started a tour of our hotel. Since, we were at the Venetian, seeing this gondola should not be a surprise. But, recreating a river with real boats, and singing gondoliers was really astonishing. Maybe, the passengers on the gondola (below) wanted to feel the romance of riding the real thing, even if it was only in a contrived setting.

Picture of a singing gondolier @ Venetian Hotel and Casino.

     It was still early morning, but inside, the scenery was a copy of a Venetian side street, complete with cafés and street lights to depict a balmy summer night in Venice. The blue sky and the soft clouds on the ceiling (below) made me think for a while if, indeed, we were outside Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy.

Picture of a Venetian side street in Las Vegas.

      Palazzo Hotel. We continued walking: but, lo and behold, we were in another hotel already, the Palazzo (Palace) Hotel.  You’d know you’re in the Palazzo Hotel when you see these umbrellas hanging from the ceiling (below). From The Venetian, you will pass “through a towering octagonal structure and garden with a 2-story fountain topped by a glass-and-iron dome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Palazzo)” to reach the Palazzo. They are connected on the north side.

Picture of umbrellas @The Palazzo Hotel.

     The circular walk of the Palazzo makes possible seeing their ubiquitous umbrellas from all angles. (Upper L: On the background are hotel staff wearing European-inspired costumes, probably to emphasize the European atmosphere of the Venetian; Upper R: A view from the second floor of the Palazzo lobby; Below: Nearing the shopping area of the Palazzo, our double images).

Walking around the Venetian and Palazzo Hotel.

     A favorite past-time among women is shopping; and there is so much luxury shopping that you can do at the Palazzo (Below- upper photo). Lan and I went from shop to shop until she found a black and white, vertical-striped polo shirt with long-sleeves that she really wanted (Below- L). I waited patiently for her to make-up her mind, until, she finally, bought it after a long consideration, at a sale price of $100. Good that the shop has this sofa for this tired shopper to rest in ( Below- R).

Shopping in Las Vegas.

     It took us quite a while to browse around the shops, until lunch beckoned. A good place to dine is the Zine restaurant (Photo below – upper L). The restaurant offers traditional dim sum dishes and high-end Chinese cuisine to the Las Vegas crowd. After lunch, dessert was in order as we passed by this yogurt shop (below - upper R). I was quite shocked by the prices but Lan and Kiko bought me one scoop of gelato ($5.50). Lan had 2 scoops ($7.50). I tried to really like my gelato (photo- below R), because it was the cost of almost a gallon of our favorite local ice cream in the Philippines. 

Dining in Las Vegas.

     Wynn Hotel. Another luxury hotel worth seeing at the Las Vegas Strip is Wynn hotel. Kiko drove us to the hotel, as it is quite a distance from the Venetian. It’s good that Wynn has valet parking, so we just left the car at the entrance. Upon entering, one could see the trees adorned by these round-shaped bouquets. The bright red-fuchsia and orange colors are a refreshing sight and which delightfully contrasted with the lush greenery of the foliage and the trees.

Picture of Wynn Hotel lobby.

     What we came for at the Wynn was their main attraction, the large, curtain waterfall behind a mountain that faces the strip. The water falls into a 3-acre (1.2 ha) lake. “The show can be viewed from the Parasol Up (a lounge and viewing area), and can be viewed through a glass window with no audio. Or, the show can be viewed from Parasol Down, with a larger outdoor view. Visitors can go to the platform at the Parasol Down lounge to view the show with full-volume audio. Those dining at SW or the new Lakeside Restaurant by executive chef David Walzog may also have a full view of the show while dining (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynn_Las_Vegas).”

Picture of Waterfall at the Wynn Hotel, Las Vegas.

     We concluded our tour of Las Vegas with this last stop at the Wynn. There were still a lot of sights to see and fantasies to explore. Hopefully, we can experience them all in this life time. 

Tips About Where To Go And What To Do In Las Vegas (Part II)

     As a Pinay (female native of the Philippines) adventurer, Las Vegas propelled me several decades ahead of my expectations. Being used to the lush tropics in my rural environs, this is, by far, the most technologically advanced and most modern and creative entertainment strip on earth that I have been to. It houses the grandest hotels and casinos, bars, clubs, and restaurants. Its skyscrapers, neon-lights, water fountains, fire fountains, statues that move, dancers, and boatmen are just some of the appeal of the Las Vegas marvel.

Moon lit night  in Las Vegas.

     The Las Vegas nightlife is famous for its parties, dancing, music and drinks. But if you are not a party animal, you can still go out to walk around Las Vegas at night and be fascinated with what’s in store for you at the Strip below (L- me; R - Lan) for free. The 6.8 km length of the strip may be too much to handle at once, but we did try to cover as much as we could. We just made sure that we were in our most comfortable shoes, as any walking tour of Vegas went.

Las Vegas strip at night.

     Along the Las Vegas Strip, we saw a large billboard announcing the Peepshow, the longest running live burlesque show in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The show ran from April 2009 to September 2013. At the time that we were there (picture below: L-Lan; R- me), Holly Madison was the sole female celebrity lead performer as Bo Peep, along with American Idol alum Josh Strickland as the male lead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peepshow_(burlesque). Holly Madison became famous as the fiancée of Playboy Magazine’s Hugh Hefner.

Peepshow (background) playing at the Las Vegas Strip.

     But watching live shows was not in our agenda so, walked we went. As an added spectacle, two Elvis Presley impersonators are sure to fascinate you along the Las Vegas Strip.

 Elvis impersonators (background) at the Las Vegas Strip.

      Aside from the different shows, it is very easy to be transported to famous landmarks found elsewhere on the planet right here in Las Vegas. Below, we experienced Paris through this half scale, 541-foot (165 m) tall replica of the Eiffel Tower, part of the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. 

Picture of The Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas.

     Further along, was the Bellagio Hotel (below). A Hollywood movie made this hotel famous. Specifically, the Ocean 11 movie, the remake of the Rat Pack movie (1960) of the same name belonged to the highest grossing movie of its time. The movie included the biggest stars of Hollywood, i.e., George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts, among others. The Bellagio fountain (below) was the scene where the cast was seen leaving after the Bellagio robbery.  

Picture of The Bellagio Hote in Las Vegas.

     Not to be outdone is the Volcano Fountain the Mirage Hotel-Casino. As fascinating as the water fountain is this ‘fire’ fountain. “The company that led the design team for the Fountains of Bellagio, led the design team for the volcano. The volcano includes two volcano systems, a lagoon and fire shooters that shoot flame on demand. These massive fireballs are capable of shooting more than 12 feet into the air. It also features waterfalls with surrounding pools including fire and smoke effects volcano. Like the water fountain at the Bellagio, the volcano combines music with choreography that result to a thrilling experience that is free for viewers to see (http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on-the-strip/mirage-volcano/).” 

Picture of The Volcano Fountain at the Mirage Hotel-Casino.

     In between the Bellagio and the Mirage is Caesar’s Palace. Unlike the ultra-modern fountains of the Bellagio and Mirage, the theme of Caesar’s Palace is a throw-back of the Greco-Roman Empire. The fountain outside of Caesar’s Palace features a copy of the statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace (photo below: background – Winged Victory of Samothrace; foreground, L-me; R-Lan). The original is a 2^nd century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). It is one of the most celebrated and described as the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture/s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winged_Victory_of_Samothrace).

Picture of the Winged Victory of Samothrace (background).

     The running theme of Caesar’s Palace is spotted in and around the hotel, as shown in the pictures below. I thought I imagined one of the statues moving (below R). I think it was Bacchus, God of Wine. But indeed, there are mind-boggling and spectacular moving statue shows inside the Palace, and you might just bump into one of them, as we did in this visit.

Pictures inside Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas.

    Walking on the Las Vegas strip is a daunting challenge. But with the extremely entertaining acts outside the different grand hotels and casinos, you wouldn’t feel that much aggravated. Be sure to bring a good pair of walking shoes. Another trick is to rest at different stops along the way. The best time to walk is at night for better appreciation of the fountains and the glittering light shows, and to escape the very hot Las Vegas weather during the day. Make sure to bring a jacket as the wind could be very strong and the temperature could push down to 17°C at night. We ended our walk for the night, tired but exhilarated to see what’s in store for us tomorrow.

Tips About Where To Go And What To Do In Las Vegas

     Las Vegas was our next tourist destination following our Los Angeles visit. After about 4 hours by car from LA, “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” (signage above) greeted us. The sign, like most of the Strip, sits in the town of Paradise and is located roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the actual city limits of Las Vegas. On December 6, 2013 the State Historic Preservation Office for the State of Nevada announced that the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign had been added to the State Register of Historic Places (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Fabulous_Las_Vegas_sign). 

Picture of Las Vegas welcome sign (background).

    The Venetian Hotel. Kiko, our designated driver and photographer, Lan, and I stayed at the Venetian Hotel (below) . It sits on the Las Vegas Strip, where some of the biggest hotels, resorts and casinos in the world are found. The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, approximately 4.2 miles (6.8 km) in length, located south of the Las Vegas city limits in the  towns of Paradise and Winchester.

Outside the Venetian Hotel. 

     We were able to pay for only a fraction of the cost of the room because Kiko and Lan, as frequent guests, were entitled to discounted rates at the Venetian. Like most 5-star hotels, opulence can be felt in every corner of the room. This Bella Suite (below) is approximately 700 square feet with two plush queen-sized pillow-top beds with sheets of Egyptian cotton.  Notice that this suite had a sunken living room with L-shaped sofa-sleeper (https://www.venetian.com/bella-suite.html).

Pictures of Bella Suite, Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas. 

      Among the amenities in the suite, the bath room was the first room that I checked. I was not disappointed (photo below). The view from the door of our room did not show the bathroom located left of the door and has the following features: 130-square-foot bathroom; 17 inch flat-screen LCD HD TV; Roman tub with separate glass-enclosed shower; adjacent water closet with telephone; and double-sink vanity.

(Photo: https://www.venetian.com/bella-suite.html)

     Since, it was almost dark, we thought it best to see the strip at night. But first, the essence of the Vegas experience is to try your luck in one of their ‘tables’. So we did try our luck at this slot machine (below, L-Lan; R-me)). We did not stay long, though, because we did not get lucky, and our tummies were almost empty.

L-R: Lan and me, trying our luck at the Venetian Hotel Casino.

     Margaritaville. Walking along the road from the Venetian, we spotted this bar, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. “Jimmy Buffett  is an American singer–songwriter, author, actor, and businessman best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Buffett had recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Buffett.) Margaritaville is actually part of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, but has an entrance right on the Las Vegas Strip. Margaritaville is a tropical hideaway in this concrete jungle. Inside were scenes culled out from an exotic-island-adventure. There were so many things going around that we were not able to finish the Volcano Nachos and drinks that we ordered (below, R). (http://www.margaritavillelasvegas.com/events.html#sthash.Zwiek6Kn.dpuflow).

Pictures while dining in Margaritaville, Las Vegas.

     The sights and sounds inside this paradise were so enthralling. If I remember right, there were great live music, an LA Lakers game going on TV, stilt walkers and balloon artists, but what caught our attention was a “ Las Vegas Cutie” sliding in and out a volcano into a Margarita glass (below).

Las Vegas 'cutie' sliding in and out a Margarita glass.

      On our first night in Vegas, we secured our tummies and our beds. Later, we strolled around the strip and saw what the ‘action’ was. More on this in a separate article.

The 3 Biggest “Dampa” Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

     Trina (my daughter) came home to the Philippines from Oregon for a short Christmas break. She brought an American friend (Tyler) to show him the best that our country could offer. “First impressions last”, so we thought that the best way to welcome Trina and Tyler would be to take them out for lunch to ‘Dampa’. Dampa means hut made of dried grass, symbolizing the Filipino’s humble abode but welcoming visitors and giving all the best that could be offered. Little did we know that our intention to impress would not materialize because we committed three avoidable mistakes: we were duped and went into the wrong restaurant, the sea foods were not fresh,as a result, Tyler became sick from the oysters that he ate, almost ruining his Philippine vacation.

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/Seaside Dampa Macapagal Boulevard.

    Our driver brought us to Macapagal Avenue where rows and rows of Dampa-style restaurants could be found. Upon entry to the compound of restaurants, men swamped us, offering their restaurants. Of the many voices shouting at us, what caught our attention was this guy in yellow shirt (Mark) who offered free ‘glutathione’ from their air conditioner (First mistake). Provincial that we were (having come from Laguna) we were duped. We just thought that skin whiteners were expensive that having them for free was a big bonus hahaha.

  

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/Seaside Dampa Macapagal Boulevard.

  

      We were not impressed by the restaurant. There was no customer in sight and the air conditioner was not working. This should have alerted us already, meaning no glutathione to whiten our skin. But we still wanted to impress Tyler. We were given a menu to choose from. We thought that we would be asked to buy our stuff from the market and they would cook the food the way we wanted them to because this was the practice in these Dampa restaurants. But we were informed by Mark that it would be more expensive to buy from the market than ordering from their menu. So we just ordered from their menu (Second mistake). Since, the market was beside the restaurant, we went to see the 'fresh' produce, anyway.

L: Mark (yellow shirt), Tyler, Trina and Tisa in the market.

     I was not impressed with the sea foods in the market because they did not look fresh at all. The colors of some shell fish were orange already, indicating that they were previously cooked and not fresh at all.  Shell fish are usually gray or black in color.

Rows and rows of sea foods are found in the market beside the restaurant.

Upper photos: L- Crabs that are black and orange beside each other; 

R: Orange lobsters are either of the rare species or not fresh anymore. 

Lower photos: L- cracked shells; R- only these shrimps look fresh.

     Finally, our food arrived. First on the menu was Chicharon, deep fried pork skin with fats. I was watching my cholesterol and triglyceride intake, so I just took a bite. It was crunchy as expected.

Chicharon or deep-fried pork skin with fat.

     We also ordered ‘Halabos na Hipon’, half-cooked shrimp in boiling water with salt. I was looking for the crunch of fresh shrimp, but some were soft already. These were not the freshest shrimps that I have ever tasted.

Halabos na Hipon or half-cooked shrimp in boiling water.

     Next, we had baked Lobster topped with cheese sauce. The topping tasted just right, but I doubt if there was lobster meat because I did not see any.

Lobster topped with cheese sauce.

     For our vegetable, we ordered ‘Lato’ or grape-like sea weeds with sliced boiled eggs, onions and tomatoes. We were lucky that this still tasted fresh. This went with vinegar dressing to take away the fishy smell and taste of the sea.

 Lato or grape-like sea weeds.

     Lastly, we had steamed oysters, which we shouldn’t have ordered (Third mistake). I had a bad experience with oysters that I ate in Boracay, so I just had one piece this time. Tyler ate most of the oysters. That same night, he went down with flu, threw up a couple of times and had LBM (loose bowel movement). He was the only one among us who fell sick. It took a couple of days for Tyler to recover after taking some medicines. Hopefully, this first impression did not last. 

 

Photo: http://www.google.com

   When the bill arrived, we were shocked that it was more than ₱4000. We were expecting it to be less. The (missing) lobster cost about ₱1500. With the total bill we could have had lunch in one of the more expensive eat-all-you-can restaurants nearby, like Mall of Asia, and had our fill of the most popular local and international cuisine in one restaurant.

L: My eldest daughter Tisa (blue blouse), adventurous-Pinay;
R: My youngest daughter Trina, Tyler .

     Anyway, to avoid the mistakes that we committed, do not be duped by the shouting men in the entrance. Specifically, do not eat in a ‘Dampa’ if you are not sure where to go. There are lots of restaurants in the area that serve fresh and cheap sea foods. Second, always remember the name of the restaurant that you went to because we completely forgot. All we remembered was that it was the last restaurant if you went straight inside the compound, right side.  Remembering helps to remind your relatives and friends to beware of that restaurant. Lastly, be careful of oysters, specially if you have a sensitive tummy. Among the food trips that I embarked on, this was the most unforgettable and shameful because we had a guest that we wanted to impress. And we were not able to do that. We will never eat in this restaurant again.