Every year on the 25 April in Australia we honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Gallipoli was where the allied troops landed in a vain attempt to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in order that the Black Sea could be accessed by the allied navies. Unfortunately for both sides it ended up being a stalemate after eight months of fierce fighting and significant loses on both sides. Today the losses are honoured by Aussies, Kiwis and Turks in a joint commemoration at what is now known as the ANZAC Commemorative Site (formerly it was held at the Ari Burnu War Cemetery at ANZAC Cove but so many people attend now they moved it.) Though technically my family has its origins in China I can still appreciate the sacrifices that the members of ANZAC made and I was eager to join Rache and Nic on the pilgrimage this year.

I’ve never been to Turkey and I was torn about whether to combine our ANZAC pilgrimage with a bigger and more encompassing tour of Turkey. In the end I decided to focus on the ANZAC part and come back and visit the rest of Turkey another time. Let’s hope I get that opportunity because it is a gorgeous country. During my short time in Turkey I completely fell in love with its people and its beautiful landscape and culture.

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The Experience

We decided to do our ANZAC pilgrimage on a tour, with Travel Talk. Relatively cheap it also took the hassle of getting around out of our hands. I’ve never traveled with them before but was pleased with how it turned out, even if some of the hotels we stayed in were a little bit skanky. The funniest hotel was Temizay Hotel in Canakkale where our “triple” room consisted of one double room and then a smaller side room with a single bed. It was funny because the single room had a door and key of its own. Well, it loses a bit in translation – guess you had to be there!

Day 1 – Istanbul, Bosphorus Cruise

We landed in Istanbul late in the afternoon so that didn’t leave much time for exploring. As it was we had to wait at the airport for over an hour anyway as they were waiting for our bus to “fill up” before we were brought to the hotel. As a result we missed the tour briefing at the hotel (though as it turned out it wasn’t that informative anyway!) We did however arrive with enough time to relax before heading out on the pre-organised evening cruise of the Bosphorus, which is the strait that separates Europe and Asia. Though being on a cruise at night was pleasant enough, because it was night there wasn’t a whole lot to sea (get it, see/sea)! The drinks on the boat were also very limited and, rather cheekily, also scarce so after the first round of drinks they were only selling large ones!

Day 2 -Travel from Istanbul to Gallipoli and Overnight Stay

Day 2 started off fairly early though not ridiculously so (8am start) as we had nearly 300kms to travel from Istanbul to get to Gallipoli and we didn’t want to arrive too late and miss out on the limited spots to lay out our sleeping bags. The area they’d allocated for sleepers at Anzac Cove is not huge by any stretch of the imagination.

But before we even left Istanbul we had a stop at a Carpet Seller! It wasn’t actually too bad because the seller went into great depths to explain what the carpets were made of, what made some more valuable than others, what to look out for when buying carpet etc. and they even gave us some apple tea (though I understand in Turkey it is tradition to negotiate over cups of tea.) I actually expected a much bigger push for us to buy the carpets but they weren’t at all aggressive.

When we finally got to Gallipolli it was nearing 5pm! I don’t know where time went. There was a massive queue to get through security but ridiculously we were split up into males and females. Typically the male line went through quickly and it took us girls over 45 minutes to get through. I couldn’t understand why it was taking much longer for us since everyone had the same amount of gear (overnight bags and sleeping bags in the main.) Luckily the guys on our tour had staked out some space for us where we all just managed to squeeze it. It was well cosy. The Fanatics got the best area though right near the stage which made us wonder just how much earlier they’d gotten to Gallipoli (apparently the gates didn’t even open until just before we got there).

I was actually very surprised at the amenities at the site for us overnight campers. There were giant TV screens, there were food vendors (the chicken kebaby men were hilariously singing out their wares all night) and most importantly there were a lot of porta loos which were quite well maintained and cleaned throughout the night. There was also always plenty of toilet paper and soap for washing of hands. The toilets barely even got clogged up. I was quite impressed.

For those not lucky enough to get any laying down space there was stadium seating surrounding the sleeping sites. What was amazing to me was that all night people were arriving. At no stage did the influx of people stop. I couldn’t even estimate how many were there but surely it was thousands and thousands.

We were really lucky with the weather because although it got fairly chilly I didn’t even need to get into my sleeping bag until nearly 2am. It was apparently fairly mild compared with previous years and additionally the rain, thankfully, stayed away.

Sleep-wise I did manage to snatch probably about an hour’s sleep all up throughout the night. It wasn’t actually the people and laying out in the open that stopped me sleeping – it was the fact that there was “entertainment” going on all night. It would either be live bands or singing on the stage or documentaries on the video screens. They certainly had the volume cranked up so everyone could hear everything. Many of the documentaries were extremely moving but the most moving was the still photos they showed of all the young men who lost their lives in the fight. I couldn’t help shedding a tear, especially when I saw that some had died only a month after joining the service.

The thing that hit me most was how respectful people were. Sure we were searched to make sure we didn’t bring alcohol on to the site but I’m sure if people really wanted to they would have found ways to. For the most part our overnight stay was solemn and of a quiet contemplation. There wasn’t any rowdiness, not sound systems and thankfully no one playing ball. It was mostly card games and quiet talking amongst each other.

Day 3 – Dawn Service, Ceremonies, and Anzac BBQ

I didn’t take any photos during the dawn service so this bit is all about the text. It didn’t seem right to do anything more than listening and absorbing the ceremony. I must admit getting twitchy when they started to lay down all the wreaths along the ANZAC commemorative site wall but otherwise it was an amazing experience to be a part of. Mostly the joint contemplation by the entire site whether they were Aussies, Kiwis, Turks or random nations it was very touching. And when they played the Last Post. Goosebumps much?! Unfortunately our PM at the time, Mr Rudd, didn’t make it to Gallipoli instead sending along Australia’s first female Governor General: Quentin Bryce and actually she was a pretty cool lady and I was proud to have her representing us.

After the dawn service everyone started their trek to visit the respective ceremonies held on separate sites, the Aussie one at Lone Pine, the Kiwi one at Chunuk Bair and I can’t remember where the Turkish one was held. The trek is not an easy one and we were keen to get to both the Aussie service and the Kiwi service (which were also about 3 kms apart uphill!) But we made it.

At both services the reps, Quentin Bryce for Australia and the PM John Key for New Zealand, were really generous with their time – going around to the crowds, shaking hands and even in the case of Quentin Bryce accepting gifts! One girl passed her an Anzac biscuit and she said a polite thank you and put it straight into her pocket. So down to earth it was great to see.

Both services were interesting but it was so difficult to keep our eyes open (not having slept really the night before and it being so hot!)

Because the area was so beautiful it was actually difficult to picture that 95 years ago the whole peninsula was a big giant war field. But what brought it home was something that the MC said at the Australian ceremony. He said something to the effect of “as you walk around today just remember that you are walking on ground where people have died and shed their blood.”

After a long day of ceremonies and memorials we headed finally to Ayvalik where we would stay for the night before heading to Troy the next day. Our hotel was such a stark contrast to the night at Gallipoli. It was a lovely hotel, we all had giant balconies and the pool was gorgeous (though it was too late and cold to have a dip.) Admittedly there wasn’t much of a nightlife (we were the only ones in our hotel club!) but it was nice nevertheless.

Day 4 – Troy and partying in Canakkale

Troy was, shall we say, underwhelming! The history, of course, is fascinating but what remains at this ruin is not a whole lot. The most fun thing is the replica Trojan Horse which you can climb and poke your head out of the windows. Tolga, our tour guide, did his best, however, to impart the history and tell the story of the ruins that did remain.

Later, in Canakkale, there was another replica Trojan Horse – apparently the one that was used in the movie in which Brad Pitt starred. It looks a lot bigger in the movie and this one couldn’t be climbed.

We only spent a couple of hours in Troy and jokingly, but also seriously, our tour guide said that we could now at least say we’d been there for what it was worth! After all the driving to and fro we had about some of the afternoon to spend in Canakkale. We didn’t see too much except for the waterfront, the replica Trojan Horse and an internet café!

After some dinner, drinking games in our hotel lobby (for which we kept getting shushed – heh heh) it was off for a night out at a local bar or two.

Day 5 – Gallipoli again

We spent our next day back at Gallipoli visiting all the sites again sans the crowds this time. Our first pitstop was the Kabatepe War Museum which is worth a look if you’re interested in seeing some photos from the war and bits and pieces such as original uniforms (blood included), bullets, weapons, diaries and letters. There were actually so many bullets in the air that they even hit each other mid-air!

After this we visited all the memorial sites at Gallipoli including Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair, Jonston’s Jolly, North Beach, Ari Burnu, and many more. Visiting the cemeteries in particular were very moving. Seeing all those headstones laid out brought goosebumps to my arms again. At some key sites we were posing and taking photos with our Aussie flags etc. but it felt really awkward. I mean – do you smile for your photo, do you grimace, do you even take a photo?

Mid-afternoon we’d done all the sites and started our long trek back to Istanbul for our final night in Turkey. We were all totally exhausted and there was not really a peep from anyone on the trip back.

In Istanbul our night’s entertainment consisted of some belly-dancing but we ended up there too late and didn’t really see much. Actually, Nic got pulled up to do some dancing so we saw that and then there was this random guy doing the belly-dancing. A cross-dresser! It was strange!

And finally we finished the night with some shisha. Good stuff but went straight to my head with my lack of sleep.

Day 6 – Istanbul

Our final few hours in Turkey was spent hitting a couple of tourist spots such as the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. Both were beautiful but it was absolutely heaving and with so many people about made it a little difficult to enjoy the serenity of the beauty.

At Topkapi Palace which is huge with many rooms and courtyards to explore some of the highlights include the Harem (extra entry fee), the Imperial Treasury (look out for the Topkapı Dagger and is three large kick @rse emeralds and the fifth largest diamond in the world) and the gardens themselves. We had about 45 minutes to get around to everything – impossible when there are hundreds of rooms!

After the Palace Rache and I made a quick drop in to the Grand Bazaar. Now all over Turkey I was expecting the same attitude and pushiness that I experienced in places such as Marrakech and even Dubai to some extent but to my surprise, in the majority, we didn’t really get that. Sure I got a lot of attention from the men, including our tour guide, heh heh, and even many men on the street declaring they were in love with me but their flirtations were harmless and friendly even. I didn’t sense any pushiness to make a sale or any sleaziness or anything and I quite liked it. In fact as a whole the Turkish people, men and women, were very friendly and helpful. The Grand Bazaar, on the other hand, was completely different. They were extremely aggressive in there and once you encouraged them even a little bit they were on you like white on rice!

Last Words

I felt a little sad to be leaving Turkey. Sad because I didn’t feel I got to see much of it (probably a day all up doing touristy things) but only a little sad because I know I’ll definitely be back. The country is beautiful, from what I could tell from the hours spent driving on our tour bus!, and the people equally beautiful. I look forward to coming back and experiencing more. Maybe try some more of that Turkish ice cream:

So Vegas.

An AMAZING city.

There really is no way to fully describe Vegas. It has to be experienced.

Vegas is unlike any other place and I reckon, if you had time and money enough, you could easily spend a few weeks here without getting bored. Very easily. But then again I can be fully entertained by people-watching and with exploring what feels like hundreds of hotels (okay, maybe not that many.)

I think what I like about Vegas is that anything goes and if you wanna do it – you can find a way to do it! You can go and do your outdoor adventure stuff like sky diving, go kart racing, ATV driving etc., do you your by the pool side relaxation, go eat at some of the most fabulous restaurants, go watch a show every night for a month (both PG and of the adult only variety) and I’m sure you’d still have to skip some, explore every detail of every hotel, go shopping, go clubbing and partying, go do a day spa, shoot guns!, and of course … gamble your spending money away! I’m sure there are so many more things too and even simply walking up and down the Strip at night and during the day was absolutely fascinating!

We only had limited time in Vegas – 5 nights and 5 days in fact and though that sounds like quite a chunk of time it was only enough to put a dent into the inner workings of Vegas!

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When?	Beginning April
Why Go?	See Introduction!
Weather	Hot and sunny during the day, Cool at night and Cool inside the Casinos!
Tips	With a place like Vegas you definitely want to work out a rough idea of what you want to do especially if you want to see any particular show which may require booking way in advance of your arrival. For months I was trying to get a booking to O but luckily we managed to get some pretty decent seats when we arrived in Vegas. This too will help you plan your nights if you plan to hit loads of the clubs. There is a lot on offer and it can be overwhelming in choice with both food and shows so you may also want to have an idea of where you’d want to eat. There are plenty of buffets but you want to save your money for the good stuff.
	A few of us have decided to go around to each of the hotel and collect the Player’s Card as a kind of momento of our visit. A lot of the hotels are, unfortunately or fortunately, linked to the one player card so we didn’t end up collecting as many as we thought. One of the benefits of signing up to the cards is that quite often you get some sort of benefit (other than collecting points) including such bonuses as $10 free play etc. Beginner’s luck meant Mei was able to convert one of these free plays to $50 to take home! Lucky girl. So, any time we went into a hotel often our first port of call was the Player’s Desk.

The Experience

We stayed at Caesar’s Palace which had a great position in the middle of the Strip. Last time I came to Vegas I stayed at the Luxor and though it was a lovely hotel and not too badly located it was situated way at the bottom/start of the Strip so if we wanted to visit anything like Treasure Island or the Venetian which is nearer the top then it was a major hike!

Our room was nice and spacious with our bathroom containing separate bath tub and showers, two sinks and even a little monitor by one of the sinks in the bathroom so you could watch TV!

Our first night in Vegas was the night we drove back from the Grand Canyon and by the time we got settled in etc. it was fairly late (though very early probably from Vegas standards!) We decided to take it easy and take a stroll down the Strip, just in time to catch the Bellagio Fountain show, to find some dinner. Disappointingly, considering all the amazing food you could get in Vegas, we ended up at a food court where I had an average pizza.

Still, I could sense this might be the pattern of the holiday as I don’t think I was really with foodies who would appreciate some of the nicer food. I don’t want to sound like a snob but it would have been nice to try some of the offerings from the likes of Wolfgang Puck, Joel Robuchon, Emeril Lagasse, Thomas Keller (owner of French Laundry), Bradley Ogden, Charlie Palmer and Michael Mina whilst we were in Vegas. On the plus side eating was definitely cheaper than it otherwise would have been which meant more money to be lost on gambling! Ha!

After dinner and a stroll down the strip Jonny, Laney and I decided to hit the tables at Caesar’s. In all honesty I was looking for $5 table because although I’d come to Vegas ready to gamble knowing that we’d most likely hit at least 10 casinos the lower the stakes the longer I was going to be able to stay in the game. Optimists might instead have said that gamble more win more but I’m not stupid – the house ALWAYS wins! Heh heh. Anyway, we didn’t find any so I passed on gambling happy instead to watch Laney demonstrate her newly learned skills in craps. We clearly had a few more things to learn but the atmosphere was great!

The funniest thing about the tables was whether we were simply watching or playing without exception we were all constantly asked for ID. At first I was fairly flattered to think that I might even look under 21 but I found out later that they ask if you if they think you’re under 30! Additionally, being of Asian descent, I guess we always look younger than our age so they probably make it a practice to ask us anyway! LOL.

Day 1

Officially what I’m calling Day 1 in Vegas was started with a bang, literally, with a visit to the Gun Store. I’m afraid it’s a bit of a tourist trap which will suck your money very quickly from you but its fun for kicks. Laney and I opted for The Gun Store package which was $99.95 for 50 rounds on a H/K MP5 SMG, 10 rounds of a semi-automatic rifle and 5 rounds with a 12 guage Shotgun. It sounds like a lot of shots but especially with the SMG they go very quickly! The boys decided to choose their guns individually and Mei opted for the Ladies’ package (which was cheaper than ours with less guns and with a handgun.)

We were also convinced that we should opt for a private bay, at a premium of course. Between the five of us we also had a couple of instructors but I’m presuming that they would have them anyway with each gun to ensure that guns are not used incorrectly. Surprisingly the rounds went by really quickly – even five of us and about 12 guns to go through! The good thing about the range is that they are pretty casual with allowing cameras etc. inside the bays though we did feel a bit rushed.

After the Gun Store it was off to find the Las Vegas sign. No trip to Las Vegas is complete without a visit and photo with the sign. Clearly other tourists had the same idea with a giant queue forming in front of it. Most people were pretty good about only taking a few shots … except Laney and Mei! Ha ha! They must have got about 10 shots each. Cracks me up.

The we started what we thought would be a journey through all the hotel casinos all the way up the strip. The only problem is we kind of got settled at the Luxor for a few hours and didn’t end up leaving there until early evening! We had a really good blackjack table and though we ended up down (remember – the house always wins) we were very entertained by our dealers and got very cheap drinks (basically $1 a pop as all casinos give them free to players and the only money you hand over is a tip!) We had two dealers who swapped every 20 minutes or so – the first guy, Ralph, was this 70 year old Filipino lounge singer who was incredibly slow at dealing but serenaded us girls with love songs in between hands, the second guy, Bob, was this super quick dealer and, because he could see that we kind of knew what we were doing, just automatically played our hands for us! It was really good when we were on a winning streak but not so good when we were on a losing streak. Poor Mei was the only one of us not playing so hope she wasn’t too bored at the table with us.

After Luxor at about 7pm we were all still pretty full from our late breakfast/early lunch so we decided to head back up the strip towards Treasure Island to catch the Sirens of TI. Las Vegas is great like that with loads of free entertainment around the place. This show is a new one that replaced the previous Pirate Show. As can probably been deducted from the title it’s a lot saucier and sexy that’s for sure with loads of scantily clad women and men!

And back our hotel we discovered the Pussy Cat Dolls Lounge … shame they’ve stopped the show for the moment!

Day 2

One of the key techniques to saving time and/or money in Las Vegas to have one massive meal that’ll do you for the day. Day 2’s massive meal was at Hash House A Go Go – we only knew about it because Mei, Jonny and Kwok saw an advert for it on TV and were impressed by the portion sizes. Heh heh. Hash House A Go Go’s tag line is: Twisted Farm Food and twisted it is with offerings such as Sage Fried Chicken stacked with bacon waffle, hot maple caramel reduction and crowned with fried leeks (my brunch), Roasted Chicken Pot Pie upside down crust stuffed with house roasted chicken, red potatoes, veggies, and pan gravy served with mashed potatoes (Mei’s brunch) – this may sound ordinary but the upside down pie crust was like a giant sombrero and even this bacon drink thing – gross concept but I’m sure someone must order it if its on the menu!

We literally staggered out of there with none of us finishing our meals. Most people, upon observing the dining room, were lucky to get through even 30% of their meal! By the way don’t mistake giant portions and this casual atmosphere for non-quality food because it is surprisingly very well presented and good quality nosh.

Having such full bellies we decided it would be a good idea to walk off the calories we’d just consumed so we decided to explore the top half of the strip which included visits to the Venetian, Wynn, Encore, Riviera (I was hoping that rubbing the bottoms of the bronzed ladies up there would give us some luck)

and Circus Circus. It never ceases to amaze me the characters that you encounter on the strip. There was this one girl, from Israel, who was manning the temporary tattoo stand. Unfortunately no one could be convinced to get one (and I didn’t bother since I’ve got a realy one) but that didn’t stop the girl trying to convince me to get a tattoo on my boobie! She was really really funny and actually quite sweet. It was hilarious how she was fixated on my boobies though!

Wynn and Encore are two of the new hotels on the strip. Very beautiful and grand these are amazingly opulent. There was a quiet sense of peace when we visited these hotels seeing as there was a lot less people around as they are fairly away from the main hubbub of the Strip. Lots of photo-taking opportunities however with the Mountain Waterfall and the man made lake at Wynn, the butterflies adorning the roof near the theatre and the green oasis inside.

Circus Circus was in direct contrast to the richness offered by Wynn and Encore. Decidedly “cheaper” than the other hotels its one of the more family friendly hotels and includes regular live performances of circus performers.

By the time we were done with Circus Circus it was reaching about just before dinner time so we decided it would be a good time to head up to the Fremont Street Experience. However we made a brief pitstop (a couple of hours!) at the Premium Outlets which were also in that direction and the Golden Nugget (hotel). The Golden Nugget is known for being the home to the world’s largest gold nugget on display, the Hand of Faith, hence the name I guess. It was pretty gigantic and weighs the same as two-three one year old babies! (27.21 kilograms). The other reason I wanted to visit the Golden Nugget was for the shark aquarium which is surrounded by a swimming pool also has a slide through the shark tank! It would have been cool to hang out there but at $20 for non-hotel guests it wasn’t really economical for us.

Finally we made it to Fremont Street and the light show, the Fremont Street Experience where it turned out we spent the entire night! The light shows started at 8pm and were broadcast every hour – each light show was unique from the last and in between enjoying the free live concerts and waiting for each broadcast we ended up at Fremont Street until past midnight.

But the real show was waiting for us when we got back to our hotel. We were heading for bed when I noticed at the craps table that one side had been reserved. This peaked my curiosity – and it turned out it had been reserved for this high roller. Now watching how high rollers play is entertaining enough but this guy, a Spanish dude, also had with him an escort. And she was absolutely stunning and gorgeous and he was, shall we say, not attractive at all. Unless you go for the older, fatter, out of control drunk this guy clearly was becoming. Laney, Jonny and I couldn’t help but hang around for a few more hours just to watch this man and the girl and it was only once my back started to ache with pain that I could even think about leaving. It was very interesting to watch. Everytime he won a roll he would try to kiss her but she’d subtly duck so that his kisses landed on her check or forehead. I think she was a little embarrassed about the whole thing but as it was her job she couldn’t act offended. Laney also met this guy at the craps table – who also happened to be a high roller – and he wouldn’t let her leave with us because he claimed she was his good luck charm. Laney told me that later on the Spanish dude, who’d already been dropping about $2-3k a roll, started to lose big time (when we were there he must have called on two $10k markers at least), and apparently he went totally crazy and asked for all the staff at the table to be changed and even the pit boss. It was all rather fascinating.

Day 3

Day 3 was both a quiet day and a long hard day. We started with a visit to MGM Grand for brunch and to watch one of the free pre-screenings of a TV show at CBS Television City. It was cool as we got to watch and rate the show but unfortunately we were so exhausted we all practically nearly fell asleep! Still, it was something different for everyone. At MGM Grand they were also showcasing the new Sony 3D television. I can’t really see it being a big until they find a way to remove the need for 3D glasses … and actually watching the TV I was getting a bit dizzy from it. But not sure if that was because we were so close!

It didn’t seem like much time had passed before we three girls, Laney, Mei and I, were heading back to the hotel to get ready for out night out – first stop, Chippendales, second stop Voodoo Lounge!

Chippendales are hosted at the Rio which also has a free show which rocks every hour until midnight on most days. This show, Masquerade Show in the Sky, is very cool and involves dancers gyrating in various carriages in the sky. They also through out mardi gras type beads which apparently was hot commodity with the way people were desperately snatching them out of the sky and out of people’s hands! The best thing about the show was that there was this one guy that apparently liked me as he made an effort to spot me and wave at me! Even when his carriage rotated he ran around or when the show was finished he jumped off and was waving at me.

Shame I couldn’t go find him and instead had to head into Chippendales …

To be honest the Chippendales were more for Mei’s benefit, Laney and I thought it would be a nice birthday present for her – heh heh, but it was fun to see them. They were surprisingly modest – I was expecting a lot more skin! They did however come out into the crowd and hug people which was pretty cool. The best part was that after the show you all go into the Flirt Lounge and they all come out one by one so you can take photos with them. Shame they were dressed though …

Conveniently with the Chippendale tickets we also had free access to the club at the top of the Rio – the Voodoo Lounge. Now on the night we went I must say there wasn’t must talent out on the dance floor but we didn’t really care because the location of the club was just unrivaled. On the rooftop we had amazing views back to the strip and we were luck enough to get a position right near the railings so we could lap it up. At one stage these ‘ho’s (they weren’t really but I choose to call them that as they were nasty) actually physically muscled in on our territory. Laney said one girl even farted on her. Classy! Anyway, we outlasted them eventually. Biatches!

In our position we were also right next to the DJ who actually told us we were inspiring her and gave us free drinks! I think we were the only ones dancing. I must say she mixed a mean set of decks but not a lot of people were actually grooving! Ah well. We appreciated the free drinks! The Voodoo Lounge is supposed to also have flaming bar tenders – so I thought we would see the bar tenders mix drink with flair and fire. Sadly we didn’t really see this – guess they were too busy!

It was a great night out finished with a ride in a limo back to our hotel! Nice! This was thanks to Kenny, the high roller that chatted Laney up at the tables the night before. Though most of us made sounds of protest about getting into the limo, except Kwok who for some strange reason was into the limo like a shot!, we were I think internally grateful for the ride home!

Day 4

Friday was kind of a chilled day as it was everyone’s last day, except Laney and I as though we were flying out the next day it wasn’t until nearly midnight that we were flying out wheras Mei and Kwok were flying out at the crack of dawn and Jonny just before lunch.

Strangely this was the first time we’d really explored our own hotel! We hadn’t even gone to see Caeasar’s Forum, basically a load of shops and their legendary sky roof and cool aquarium, nor our own pools. The pools were gorgeous and I wish we’d had more time to just laze around the pool. Ah well, next time!

Taking advantage of the Victoria’s Secret we girls also went and got fitted for some bras. Man – they were full on in there. First we had some lady measure us in the store, who then passed us to a lady in the dressing room who also then measured us, gave us a box of bras in our size and then when we’d selected a few to buy, passed us on to another lady who directed us to where the stock was before passing us on to another lady who actually got the bra we wanted in our size. It was hilarious. The funniest thing was that the ladies kept trying to give me push-up bras and I was thinking – I’m already pretty big and I don’t need to be p*rn star big! *giggle*

To get in our day’s gambling we then headed up to the Mirage. They must use the older near retiring people for the $5 tables because once again we got this guy who was practically 70 dealing for us! I didn’t mind though as he was very lovely and clearly knew everyone around him. Apparently he’d been working there since the hotel opened in 1989. Cool huh? I was happy anyway as he was a good luck charm for me – first time I walked away from a table in Las Vegas this trip being a little bit up! The surprise of the day was when this guy who had a mega crush on Mei (we met him at Voodoo Lounge) managed to track us down and find us at our table! Though he brought his crew with him he ended up hanging with us the rest of the day. Bless.

This was one of the days we actually did dinner – and it just had to be at the Cheesecake Factory. Everyone was mega full from the dinner part of dinner but Mei and I just had to go for dessert and get a cheesecake – why else would we have come to the Factory! I should have just had the cheesecake for dinner because it was MASSIVE. I got a red velvet one and though it was delicious it was the bigger than my rubik’s cube. Actually even the whipped cream that came with it was as big as my cube. Fair to say I didn’t finish it. 🙁

And finally, on our last night in Vegas, what I’ve been waiting for since I couldn’t see the show when I last visited Vegas, was O. We spent ages trying to get tickets for the show and it was so totally worth it. Even if we could barely keep our eyes open during the show. Damn – we must have been exhausted because the show is simply stunning and fabulous. Its hard to even describe but most definitely the star of the show just had to be the stage. How they turned water into wood into water at the drop of a hat I’ll never guess. A marvelous piece of engineering – this was one technical show. Just imagine one wrong button pressed or a lever pulled at the wrong moment could mean a performer was paralysed or killed. Oh sure the acrobats etc. were also brilliant and they were amazing divers not even barely making a splash, they all as a cast had incredible timing and I think overall were a very strong cast. No one act really stood out though I was impressed with the girl who balanced on her head on a swinging trapeze. How she didn’t fall off I don’t know. The ship act in the air was cool also.

O is simply unxmissable. Sell a kidney to see this show.

Day 5

Saturday was a day of goodbyes. Goodbye first of all before dawn to Kwok and Mei. Goodbye to Jonny after lunch in the food court. Goodbye to Kenny, though that was more accidental then anything. And finally goodbye to Vegas.

I was very sad to be leaving Vegas but Laney and I didn’t waste the remaining time we had left in Vegas. After visiting Victoria’s Secret again to top up our underwear stock we went over to Aria, another new hotel on the Strip, for a lovely massage and use of the facilities. It was divine and though the massage wasn’t particularly hard or taxing I was so totally relaxed after it I’m surprised I could still walk around. Mmmm ….

With a few hours to kill we spent some time at the Pleasure Pit in Planet Hollywood. Actually, I think we were mainly checking out the action at the tables (the dealers are supposed to be sexy scantily clad ladies …) or hanging around pokie machines waiting for the free drinks as the stakes for the tables were higher than we wanted. Lushes!

And the moment or two moments that will stay with me for quite some time now. Because we’d left luggage behind at Caesar’s Palace somehow we were able to skip to the front of the queue with our luggage to get to the airport. This was a great thing as the queue was mega long. A New Zealand couple came up to us and wanted to share a cab and it wasn’t going to harm us so I agreed. Turns out they’d only come for the night to see Cher! Wow. Admittedly they’d planned a US tour around the visit but still. But the moment which will remain with me was the taxi rider saying that he was very hard for me. What the! I didn’t even think he could see me as I was at the back of the cab and away from his mirror. Once he’d broken the ice with that comment he kept turning around to look at me. Then he kept asking if my boobies were real. To say that the entire cab was cracked up by this was an understatement. He made a lot of very inappropriate comments. Probably some girls would be offended but it just made me laugh so much. Laney, who was at the front, tried to pimp me to get the cab ride free but clearly my boobies wasn’t good enough for this as we still had to pay the fare! LOL.

Last Words

Basically, you either hate Vegas or love it. I’m definitely well into the Love It category and I can’t wait to come back and do more!

Leaving on a very early flight this AM from Toronto Laney and I arrived in Vegas just around lunch time. A quick dash for (some expensive) Burger King and we were set for the long drive to the Grand Canyon! Yippee! We picked up the rental car and went to pick up Jonny, Mei and Kwok who had flown in direct from London last night. Thankfully we had our GPS system to get us to where we needed to be!

Photos photos photos.

The drive was relatively smooth until we hit Hoover Dam where the traffic slowed to a standstill! Which is to be expected as one of the major tourists destinations coming out of Las Vegas. Parking wasn’t easy to find but eventually we managed to sneak into a spot. By this time it was 2pm and the weather was absolutely glorious. Obligatory photos were taken and then we resumed our journey after about half an hour which is all you really need!

And yes Rubik’s made the journey with us too!

The rest of the journey was pretty smooth after we left Hoover Dam but unfortunately we just missed the sunset. Amusingly the receptionist at our hotel told us that there wasn’t much nightlife in the Grand Canyon and that not many things shut by 9pm so here we were at the Grand Canyon at about 6.30 with not much to do! Ha ha! We ended up having dinner in the hotel’s bar (where we made a friend), heading across the road to another bar and then coming back to our hotel to play some pool. It was a bit bizarre.

This should have made getting up the next morning before dawn easy but it wasn’t! We still hit the sack pretty late and ended up getting only a few hours of sleep before getting up at before 5 to get ready to go catch sunrise on the Grand Canyon. Which we only just missed! Still got some beautiful photos though!

There are free shuttle buses which operate from sunrise to sunset on the South Rim (as its inaccessible by car.) The round trip is about 75 minutes and has about 9 stopping points. They came pretty regularly so that was quite good and we got around to a good few of them. They recommend Hopi Point as being the best one but some of the others weren’t too bad either.

The Grand Canyon was as magnificent as I remember it. Of course viewing it from the ground like we were was nothing like the experience from the air but still it was just breathtaking and I could have sat out there looking out all day long!