I was just on the phone earlier with my friend Kim when she casually mentioned this blog. She said that she misses my diary-type telling of events with the sole intention of simply documenting my "clumsy reactions to life". And guess what, she has a point! Today's post would just be a long narration of one of the trips I went to last 2018. Also, it's because I miss my cousin Alissa. We were supposed to be reunited in 2020 since my family's Christmas vacation was supposed to be in Canada but alas, it's also among the trips we had to cancel because of the ongoing pandemic.
For the 1st time, I celebrated the Christmas Season without my parents. They had to stay behind to sort out important business matters while everyone else flew to Canada to spend the 3 week 2018-2019 holiday there as planned. Ever the opportunist, my cousin and I took this circumstance to book our very own "holiday within the holiday". Thus our quick 5-day Las Vegas trip was born hahahahaha
Knowing that my Dad would've never agreed to this plan, Alissa and I planned the quick 27-31 Dec trip in secrecy. We only revealed our plans to the adults a week before the entire holiday began. At that point, they couldn't do anything anymore since everything had already been pre-paid. Disclaimer: I've done similar actions in the past with my friends and on those 3 occasions, my plane tickets, hotel bookings, visas, etc were all wasted because my Mom didn't let me go. I suppose it's because it's with my cousin this time and we used the "we haven't seen each other in a long time" card (despite going on another adventure just 6 months prior) so the parents eventually relented. See the lengths I have to go though just so I can get things done my way? I'm kidding!
Our entire trip could be best described as spontaneous and funny ; from the 1st day where we arrived at the airport 15mins pre-boarding time to the last day where we had to rush to the airport to avoid the barricades in time for the New Year's Eve celebration. On the 2nd day of the trip, I had to wake up at 5AM because I had decided to go on an adventure alone. I was already in Vegas so I might as well see the Grand Canyon. I booked a tour through Viator which included hotel pick-up and drop-off, meals for the entire day, and the highlight of that adventure, a helicopter ride. The only thing that I failed to check prior to leaving my room was the temperature. I assumed that even though it's winter, it wouldn't be too cold since I've always associated the place to a desert. I was surprised to see snow on the way to the destination. I was only wearing a wind-breaker on top of a thin sweater. Thank goodness I at least brought along a neck warmer scarf otherwise I would've probably stayed behind in the cozy van.
I was seated next to the pilot so I had a front-view of the entire scenery. The Grand Canyon was magnificent!!! I enjoy going to new places because I'm in constant search for the feeling of being overwhelmed. I find comfort in knowing that I would never run out of things to marvel at, to be curious about. Traveling overwhelms me. It doesn't happen all the time but when it does, I get too stunned and glad that something as dazzling existed the same time that I did. Grand Canyon was simply beautiful. It should be included in everyone's itinerary. Although, the couple whom I shared the same van with from and to Vegas, said that only those who rode the helicopter saw the places that I've seen. It took more than 4 hours to reach Arizona from my hotel plus another 4 hours going back, all within the same day. Pick a comfortable tour package from the plenty of available choices because it would matter.
My uncultured self made the stupid mistake of not making a reservation at Hell's Kitchen before going there when it 's been my task to make the reservations whenever we eat at restaurants here in Manila. I have always wanted to try Gordon Ramsay's food so Alissa and I agreed that no matter what happens, we would eat at any of his restaurants scattered in different The Strip hotels. My 1st choice was Hell's Kitchen. We were already inside when the receptionist asked us if we have a reservation. She said that because it was the Christmas Season, bookings were usually made 1-2 weeks in advanced. Perhaps she saw my disappointment and my desperation so she mentioned that the nearby Gordon's Pub & Grill inside the Caesars Palace is on first-come-first-served basis. Off we went to the restaurant. We waited for an hour before finally getting a table but at that time, no one could stop me from eating there, not even my stomach which was begging for food already. Once seated and our orders arrived, an attendant came and routinely asked how our food was. I didn't know what came over me but for someone who's been a Gordon Ramsay fan after years of watching his Master Chef shows, I only came up with "it's well-seasoned". Mind you, I was pointing at the fries that we had for appetizers. When she asked for how the salmon or the chicken or the chicken tikka massala were, I still chose "well-seasoned" as my answer. My brain failed me at the worst time hahahahaha
Our choices of hotel accommodations were also out of a whim. Granted that we had limited budget since we couldn't have asked from our parents, we chose to split the 4 nights into 2 places. The 1st choice was Luxor Hotel & Casino along the Strip. She described the room that we got with "2 queen-sized beds for 2 queens". The 2nd room that we got was in Palms Casino Resort. It was bigger and had better amenities but it wasn't along The Strip anymore. This time, the room had 2 televisions and a very nice view of the entire city.
Now, the best part about being in Vegas was that, no one would bat an eye if you go drinking at anytime of the day. I ordered a margarita to drink while watching Cirque du Soleil but I wasn't expecting to be given a 1L tumbler. All the drinks came in extra-large sizes so we didn't have a waking moment when we weren't tipsy. There's also this huge red tumbler which can be refilled at the stations located in all the hotels along The Strip, at a cost of course. These red tumblers were our everyday companion. In one afternoon, after proving our bad luck at the slot machines, we decided to ride the Linq High Roller. We convinced ourselves to make the best out of the 30min ride by ordering as many drinks as we can. Suffice to say, we got off the the ride giggling and slightly more tipsy than the previous days. So when we saw a make-shift tarot card reading place upon alighting from the High Roller, Alissa and I launched into long discussions about our future with them. Alissa even paid extra just to hear options B and C of her immediate future.
We met a lot of people too, tourists like us who were out to have fun and to experience the crazy Las Vegas vibe that those who've been to usually rave about. We had so much fun and it was the best celebration to end 2018 with. Our return flight was on the 31st. We tried our luck when we booked our flights but pushing it even further by staying behind to join the NYE countdown would've been too much. Let me end this post with, I only posted about 3days' worth of stories. You can go as crazy as you want but what happens in Vegas HAS to stay in Vegas.
