Friday, January 25, 2013

How to Win a Million Dollars (but lose your phone) in Vegas

First post of the New Year! I hope everyone is having a fantastic January :) Have you been keeping up with your New Year's Resolutions?

Whew, it's been such awhile since I've had the time to sit down and write.  Since we've been back from break, we had a whirlwind of a first system, and now we're already two weeks into Hematology!  Last weekend, I went to Vegas with my roommate!! So I didn't actually win a million dollars in Vegas, but I did win at roulette (close enough, right?).   Here are some of the places we went:

     - Friday: we left from LA right after class got out at 3pm, and made it to the strip a little before 8pm.  We stopped by our hotel (at the Venetian) to get ready, then it was off to Marquee (Cosmopolitan) where Dirty South played that night. I really liked Marquee, although I was really sad they closed off the pool area since it was cold outside.  The cool thing about Marquee is that the go-go dancers are on a platform behind the dj that spans the entire stage, rather than a single podium, so that the dancers can walk across the top of the stage and interact with each other.  I wasn't really paying attention, but I noticed them walking across the platform at some point during the night

     -  Saturday: after coming back from a fail of a trip to the AT&T store, I wandered around the strip for a little bit, mostly looking at the fountains and the displays outside of hotels, and window shopping, then I met up with some friends at Bills Casino for a bit.  Just fyi, it is JUST Bill's Saloon next to Flamingo.  Don't let anybody tell you they are at Buffalo Bills, because that is a casino at the CA-NV border.  JUST Bill's.  For dinner, we went for sushi at Goyemon (http://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-house-goyemon-las-vegas).  Although I wan't hungry enough to go for the AYCE option ($27 for dinner, $20 for lunch), I had a really delicious sashimi platter.  I think next time, I'll plan ahead for it, as there are probably like 50 options that you can order for the AYCE, from sushi to sashi to lychee ice cream for dessert.  For the night, we went to XS (in Wynn/Encore).  I really liked XS, although it was WAY TOO CROWDED.  Some large man definitely jumped on my foot several times- ouch!  I need to practice my biceps strength so I can push people out of the way and clear some breathing space.  FYI, It can be very hard for short people to breathe in crowded spaces sometimes.  Despite the crowdedness, the space is really nice!  Some of our friends got cabanas outside, which are really nice, and each has a tv screen that shows the DJ and you can adjust the volume in each room.  Afrojack was really good!  I was kind of bummed that he didn't really play any of his old songs (ex. Take Over Control) though.  Anyways, the cabanas were awesome, we ended up chilling in one at the end of the night, and when they closed down the outside, they ended up moving us inside to the floor!

    - Sunday: was kind of painful waking up, but got lunch and watched the Niners dominate (sort of) over the Falcons @ Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria (Aria).  Afterwards, we went to Todd English's Olives (Bellagio) for dinner, and then headed over to my first Cirque du Soleil show! O (in the Bellagio), was amazing!  The friends I went with actually said they were underwhelmed by the quantity of the acrobatics, but for a first timer, I was so impressed by how they used the water as the stage.  I can't figure out how they get hire all of these performers who are so multi-talented (acrobats, trapeeze artists, synchronized swimmers, AND olympic level divers??) and especially, how they get people in and out of the water so flawlessly!! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this if you have any.


UNFORTUNATELY, I also said goodbye to my phone in Vegas, so I don't have any pictures to upload :( I borrowed a classmate's spare iPhone, and have definitely been introduced to the wonders of iMessage.