Viva Las Vegas!
DAY ONE
So...the day began at 6:45AM when my alarm clock went off, which aggravated me to no end, because I’d been up the night before reading Fred/Angelina fics from the Harry Potter fandom of fanfiction.net. Yes, I am SO dorky that I read fanfictions at around 3AM. Anyways, I turned off the screaming pastor that wakes me up (it’s supposed to be KYSR 98.7, but my clock radio has TERRIBLE reception so usually the only thing I get is the guy who I dubbed the screaming pastor), then sleep for another hour or so until I jump out of bed (er…sleeping bag? I’m still sleeping on the floor…) because my mother had told me that we would be leaving for Vagas at 8AM and I should be ready fifteen minutes prior. So I rushed around getting ready, throwing anything else I needed into my bag, and zooming out the door at exactly 8…
To find my mother outside gardening. She looks up at me and is like, “Would you rake the leaves?” So, kind of confused, I start raking leaves, wondering why she isn’t going into cardiac arrest because I was like 2 minutes late or whatever. But then when I complain about getting up so early, she looks at me as though something just hit her and she goes, “Oh! Well…actually, last night when your aunts and uncle and I were talking and you were packing, we changed the departure time to 9. Sorry, forgot to tell you.”
I finished sweeping and passed out on my sleeping bag for another half hour.
So…when we finally decide to leave, my mother drags us all to this Chinese restaurant to eat breakfast, except it’s closed so we go to ANOTHER Chinese restaurant, only this one’s totally dumpy and the food tasted a little off, but it wasn’t that bad. Now, I had my laptop with me in the car so I could listen to music on the way and write or whatever, and since there were six people going in a seven seat car, I asked if I could have the two back seats to myself, because of all my computer equipment and whatnot. But once we get out of the dumpy Chinese café place, my mother informs me that my Aunt Julia wishes to stretch out her legs in the back, so I get to sit in the front. Great. So THEN when I sit in the front middle seat, the seatbelt is TOTALLY screwed up. Like, we had to fold the seat next to it in order to carry it over, and then we pulled too far and it locked, and then my Aunt Julia was trying to “make up” taking my seat or something like that by assisting, but all she did was get it locked again. But by that time we were all frustrated and my mom was just like “You know what? It’s locked, but I’m sure Andrea’s fine.” So we start off on our merry way to pick up my cousin with the seat belt depriving me of oxygen. But hey, as long as the aunts are comfortable, Andrea is perfectly FINE (according to my mother). Luckily when we got to my cousin’s house, my other aunt Miranda said she’d sit in the middle…because she doesn’t use a freaking seatbelt anyways. So we’re all stuffed in the car for FOUR FREAKING HOURS. I do NOT like sitting in a car for that long. I mean, it was okay at first because I had music, although I couldn't write because whenever I tried my aunt would READ WHAT I HAD ON MY COMPUTER OVER MY SHOULDER, but when my laptop battery died halfway through the trip?
Ew.
Then my butt started getting numb, and soon I was trying to lift myself up off the seat just to keep it from being so freaking SORE. You’d think on cushy seats like those, it would be comfortable, but nope. It hurt like bloody hell.
So, we finally reach the strip and check in at the Belagio, which is every bit as pretty as I thought it would be. The bathroom is especially nice. ^_^ And there are lots of blown glass figures on the roof, and there’s an awesome chocolate fountain that I just have to stop and stare at every time I pass it. So, now I’ve officially stayed at the MGM Grand and The Belagio. Just one more hotel, The Mirage, and I’ve hit each casino from Ocean’s Eleven. Sadly, this is a life goal of mine, and I’m happy to hear that getting a room at The Mirage is like getting a room at a Holiday Inn. Not too difficult.
So, we’re all checked in and whatever, but then my uncle calls and he’s hungry. It’s 4:00. And he’s hungry. Which, I guess, I can understand, as we haven’t eaten since the dumpy Chinese place, but can’t he just wait one or two more hours? Maybe I’m just trained in the whole “wait for the specific food time” thing, but I just can’t see how waiting is that difficult. But no, he wants food and he wants it now, so we go to the café downstairs and eat. But apparently we should all order light, because we’re going to have a BIG buffet for dinner at 5:30PM-ish.
Okay, so we’re eating an hour and a half before a big huge buffet dinner? I just can’t do that. But, then I’m told (because everything is being said in Chinese, a language that I’m getting REALLY sick of after a car ride and several meals of it nonstop) that because we (we?) decided to eat so late, we’re gonna skip the buffet, head down to MGM Grand, and see a show called KA. But then they keep rambling on and on in Chinese after we’re fully done with the food and the bill (I hate when that happens), so I ask if I can walk around. But my mother gives me this LOOK and is like, “No, because Las Vagas has crazy people that will kidnap and rape you. International people.”
Okay, so does that mean that there are no kidnappers/rapists in San Gabriel? And what the hell does “international people” mean, exactly? Because they’re international, they’re automatic rapists/kidnappers? I don’t really know how to figure that, and for God’s sake we’re inside a hotel, but whatever. I’m told that I can go up to the room if I want to, but that’s my only option. So…I do. I take the room key and head up to the room…
Loitering in a shop or two along the way.
So I sat around the hotel room after that watcing Maury (where they were showing a bunch of women saying that they cheated on their husbands and that the baby wasn't theirs or whatever), Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and a bunch of other crap. Twas actually rather nice, except I couldn't find the internet hookup for my computer. And being an internet addict, well...yeah.
Walking to MGM Grand for dinner and KA was...awesome. The strip is amazing for those who like to people watch, such as myself. I've always found people to be fascinating, and Las Vegas strip has a plethora of weird and interesting people to see. Lots of girls with excessivly large boobs hanging out of their tops.There were guys standing on the sidewalks with cards that depicted hookers and call girls pretty much undressed. They were kind enough to not give me any of these cards as I am only 15. I thought that was nice of them, even though giving a card to me would probably make what they were doing MORE illegal than it already kind of was. There were a lot of tortured artistic looking emo boys hanging out on a street corner smoking, which I know Diana would've found pretty smexy. ^_^ Awesome little side shops lined the street too, but my mom wouldn't let me go in.
So we got to the MGM Grand and it's humming with throngs of people as always (I nearly died from second hand smoke, I freaking swear) and OHMIGOD THE LIONS!! I have a thing for those lions, I swear. I love looking at them. So pretty. And they were sitting right on top of the observation tunnel. Unfortunately, my mom was flipping out because "If we don't eat soon, we'll miss the show" and all that crap, so we went to eat dinner, which was just okay. Noodles or whatever.
Now KA...KA was fantastic. The ticket takers were all in character...very stiff and warrior-ish. It was amusing. And then we got in...and the set had me in awe. Guys were swinging around...it reminded me of the inside of a boat or something. Overall, KA was a really good show. I did have some nitpicks, like how they dragged some of the fight scenes out for SUCH a long time, and how they didn't make the female twin's love interest the badass (like I'd wanted) but the random fairy guy who's arms she fell into and was instantly smitten with. Other than that, though, I really enjoyed the show.
So, afterwards I got a keychain from the KA store thingy. And then...okay, this is going to sound so odd, but we were walking back through the casino to get on the strip again, and I was walking about...10 feet ahead of my aunts and my mom because I was getting really sick of listening to them babble in Chinese, when I pass this guy who's probably around fifty. He looks at me very carefully, and then is like "Hello" in this REALLY creepy voice. And so I'm thinking that maybe he was talking to someone else, so even though I pass him I turn around and look back...
And he's stairing. Straight. At. Me. But he's keeps walking in the other direction.
Now, this is the part where I think I helucinated because I was so freaked out or something, but I noticed that I was WAY far ahead of my mom and her sisters by this point so I started heading back to them when I THINK the SAME GUY passes by me AGAIN, going in the direction from which I'd just come, and leans in and says "I said hello."
Now, I just kept walking and didn't even TRY to look back this time, but I was SO freaked. Which is why I think I might've been hellucinating. But...but...but...my mind is totally convinced that it happened. Which is like...eh. So that had me truly spazzing the rest of the night. The walk back was pretty unevenful; my head was too busy buzzing nervously to watch any interesting people, although I did notice the floor was littered with many more hooker cards than before. Oh, and my ever-so-practical Aunt Miranda, who's wearing CORK WEDGES that are THREE INCHES HIGH to tramp up and down the strip, stepped on a katchup packet and it squirted on her shoes and jeans. I really wanted to laugh.
But I didn't.
DAY TWO TO COME
So...the day began at 6:45AM when my alarm clock went off, which aggravated me to no end, because I’d been up the night before reading Fred/Angelina fics from the Harry Potter fandom of fanfiction.net. Yes, I am SO dorky that I read fanfictions at around 3AM. Anyways, I turned off the screaming pastor that wakes me up (it’s supposed to be KYSR 98.7, but my clock radio has TERRIBLE reception so usually the only thing I get is the guy who I dubbed the screaming pastor), then sleep for another hour or so until I jump out of bed (er…sleeping bag? I’m still sleeping on the floor…) because my mother had told me that we would be leaving for Vagas at 8AM and I should be ready fifteen minutes prior. So I rushed around getting ready, throwing anything else I needed into my bag, and zooming out the door at exactly 8…
To find my mother outside gardening. She looks up at me and is like, “Would you rake the leaves?” So, kind of confused, I start raking leaves, wondering why she isn’t going into cardiac arrest because I was like 2 minutes late or whatever. But then when I complain about getting up so early, she looks at me as though something just hit her and she goes, “Oh! Well…actually, last night when your aunts and uncle and I were talking and you were packing, we changed the departure time to 9. Sorry, forgot to tell you.”
I finished sweeping and passed out on my sleeping bag for another half hour.
So…when we finally decide to leave, my mother drags us all to this Chinese restaurant to eat breakfast, except it’s closed so we go to ANOTHER Chinese restaurant, only this one’s totally dumpy and the food tasted a little off, but it wasn’t that bad. Now, I had my laptop with me in the car so I could listen to music on the way and write or whatever, and since there were six people going in a seven seat car, I asked if I could have the two back seats to myself, because of all my computer equipment and whatnot. But once we get out of the dumpy Chinese café place, my mother informs me that my Aunt Julia wishes to stretch out her legs in the back, so I get to sit in the front. Great. So THEN when I sit in the front middle seat, the seatbelt is TOTALLY screwed up. Like, we had to fold the seat next to it in order to carry it over, and then we pulled too far and it locked, and then my Aunt Julia was trying to “make up” taking my seat or something like that by assisting, but all she did was get it locked again. But by that time we were all frustrated and my mom was just like “You know what? It’s locked, but I’m sure Andrea’s fine.” So we start off on our merry way to pick up my cousin with the seat belt depriving me of oxygen. But hey, as long as the aunts are comfortable, Andrea is perfectly FINE (according to my mother). Luckily when we got to my cousin’s house, my other aunt Miranda said she’d sit in the middle…because she doesn’t use a freaking seatbelt anyways. So we’re all stuffed in the car for FOUR FREAKING HOURS. I do NOT like sitting in a car for that long. I mean, it was okay at first because I had music, although I couldn't write because whenever I tried my aunt would READ WHAT I HAD ON MY COMPUTER OVER MY SHOULDER, but when my laptop battery died halfway through the trip?
Ew.
Then my butt started getting numb, and soon I was trying to lift myself up off the seat just to keep it from being so freaking SORE. You’d think on cushy seats like those, it would be comfortable, but nope. It hurt like bloody hell.
So, we finally reach the strip and check in at the Belagio, which is every bit as pretty as I thought it would be. The bathroom is especially nice. ^_^ And there are lots of blown glass figures on the roof, and there’s an awesome chocolate fountain that I just have to stop and stare at every time I pass it. So, now I’ve officially stayed at the MGM Grand and The Belagio. Just one more hotel, The Mirage, and I’ve hit each casino from Ocean’s Eleven. Sadly, this is a life goal of mine, and I’m happy to hear that getting a room at The Mirage is like getting a room at a Holiday Inn. Not too difficult.
So, we’re all checked in and whatever, but then my uncle calls and he’s hungry. It’s 4:00. And he’s hungry. Which, I guess, I can understand, as we haven’t eaten since the dumpy Chinese place, but can’t he just wait one or two more hours? Maybe I’m just trained in the whole “wait for the specific food time” thing, but I just can’t see how waiting is that difficult. But no, he wants food and he wants it now, so we go to the café downstairs and eat. But apparently we should all order light, because we’re going to have a BIG buffet for dinner at 5:30PM-ish.
Okay, so we’re eating an hour and a half before a big huge buffet dinner? I just can’t do that. But, then I’m told (because everything is being said in Chinese, a language that I’m getting REALLY sick of after a car ride and several meals of it nonstop) that because we (we?) decided to eat so late, we’re gonna skip the buffet, head down to MGM Grand, and see a show called KA. But then they keep rambling on and on in Chinese after we’re fully done with the food and the bill (I hate when that happens), so I ask if I can walk around. But my mother gives me this LOOK and is like, “No, because Las Vagas has crazy people that will kidnap and rape you. International people.”
Okay, so does that mean that there are no kidnappers/rapists in San Gabriel? And what the hell does “international people” mean, exactly? Because they’re international, they’re automatic rapists/kidnappers? I don’t really know how to figure that, and for God’s sake we’re inside a hotel, but whatever. I’m told that I can go up to the room if I want to, but that’s my only option. So…I do. I take the room key and head up to the room…
Loitering in a shop or two along the way.
So I sat around the hotel room after that watcing Maury (where they were showing a bunch of women saying that they cheated on their husbands and that the baby wasn't theirs or whatever), Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and a bunch of other crap. Twas actually rather nice, except I couldn't find the internet hookup for my computer. And being an internet addict, well...yeah.
Walking to MGM Grand for dinner and KA was...awesome. The strip is amazing for those who like to people watch, such as myself. I've always found people to be fascinating, and Las Vegas strip has a plethora of weird and interesting people to see. Lots of girls with excessivly large boobs hanging out of their tops.There were guys standing on the sidewalks with cards that depicted hookers and call girls pretty much undressed. They were kind enough to not give me any of these cards as I am only 15. I thought that was nice of them, even though giving a card to me would probably make what they were doing MORE illegal than it already kind of was. There were a lot of tortured artistic looking emo boys hanging out on a street corner smoking, which I know Diana would've found pretty smexy. ^_^ Awesome little side shops lined the street too, but my mom wouldn't let me go in.
So we got to the MGM Grand and it's humming with throngs of people as always (I nearly died from second hand smoke, I freaking swear) and OHMIGOD THE LIONS!! I have a thing for those lions, I swear. I love looking at them. So pretty. And they were sitting right on top of the observation tunnel. Unfortunately, my mom was flipping out because "If we don't eat soon, we'll miss the show" and all that crap, so we went to eat dinner, which was just okay. Noodles or whatever.
Now KA...KA was fantastic. The ticket takers were all in character...very stiff and warrior-ish. It was amusing. And then we got in...and the set had me in awe. Guys were swinging around...it reminded me of the inside of a boat or something. Overall, KA was a really good show. I did have some nitpicks, like how they dragged some of the fight scenes out for SUCH a long time, and how they didn't make the female twin's love interest the badass (like I'd wanted) but the random fairy guy who's arms she fell into and was instantly smitten with. Other than that, though, I really enjoyed the show.
So, afterwards I got a keychain from the KA store thingy. And then...okay, this is going to sound so odd, but we were walking back through the casino to get on the strip again, and I was walking about...10 feet ahead of my aunts and my mom because I was getting really sick of listening to them babble in Chinese, when I pass this guy who's probably around fifty. He looks at me very carefully, and then is like "Hello" in this REALLY creepy voice. And so I'm thinking that maybe he was talking to someone else, so even though I pass him I turn around and look back...
And he's stairing. Straight. At. Me. But he's keeps walking in the other direction.
Now, this is the part where I think I helucinated because I was so freaked out or something, but I noticed that I was WAY far ahead of my mom and her sisters by this point so I started heading back to them when I THINK the SAME GUY passes by me AGAIN, going in the direction from which I'd just come, and leans in and says "I said hello."
Now, I just kept walking and didn't even TRY to look back this time, but I was SO freaked. Which is why I think I might've been hellucinating. But...but...but...my mind is totally convinced that it happened. Which is like...eh. So that had me truly spazzing the rest of the night. The walk back was pretty unevenful; my head was too busy buzzing nervously to watch any interesting people, although I did notice the floor was littered with many more hooker cards than before. Oh, and my ever-so-practical Aunt Miranda, who's wearing CORK WEDGES that are THREE INCHES HIGH to tramp up and down the strip, stepped on a katchup packet and it squirted on her shoes and jeans. I really wanted to laugh.
But I didn't.
DAY TWO TO COME