Non-gambling fun at the Entertainment Capital
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Answer to Vegas teaser: That was the second floor of the FAO Schwartz in the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.
We drove to Vegas after church on Sunday and got there after dark. Not our original plan, but our friends at Sonai are just too fun to hang out with, so we left after a late lunch of Korean tofu soup. Checking in at our hotel, the Signature at MGM Grand, was a breeze. The guy was so nice, Dave and I felt embarrassed; we’re not accustomed to such nice service.
The front desk:
The elevator area:
We had our bags brought up by a bellman, and Dave tipped him $10 for lack of smaller bills. The bellman said, “Thank you!” very enthusiastically. A few minutes later, we called for our car from the valet and asked for directions to the nearest gas station from the bell desk. Our bellman was there, and he got out a map and marked on it. He seemed really eager to help. Then we got in our car and were about to drive off when the bellman ran out to us and handed us another map, a “better map,” he said, with the locations marked. We marveled at how helpful he was being.
Well. The next day, we searched online for how much tip to leave housekeeping. It exposed our utter ignorance. Maybe it’s because we’re Asian, but from Dave’s and my experience traveling with family, we always self-parked and carried our own bags. It must stem from the fact that service, i.e. at hotels and restaurants, is not valued in the culture, nor are tips expected in Asia as far as I know.
Oh, the things you learn online. This page explained why our bellman went out of his way to give us a better map. (Though, it seems a bit extreme.) And we also learned that you’re supposed to tip both the valet who takes in your car and the one who brings it out. While in Kauai for our honeymoon, we only tipped the one who brought our car.
Our suite was sweet. We spent hours at the glass table in the foreground, me journaling, Dave blogging and reading design blogs:
One of 3 TV’s, rising out of its hiding place:
Half of the bathroom (to the right is another sink and counter). That’s a jacuzzi bathtub:
Nice hotels like the one we stayed at take notes on their guests, too. We were late coming down to get our car once, and it resulted in no attendant being at our car, so we opened the car doors on our own and drove off without tipping anyone. The next time I called down for our car, they asked when we would come downstairs.
After a horrible first night’s sleep due to the sound of cars and trucks off the 15 Freeway amplified by the cold night air and our 29th floor height, we requested another room. The original room was supposed to have a view of the strip but we couldn’t see much since there was another tower in the way. Our new room was on the 10th floor and facing the other way, “mountain view.” The Strip is so spread out that we could see lots of hotels from this view too.
For meals, we planned ahead and decided to eat one buffet per day and cheaper meals in between. Our first one was the Paris buffet for lunch. It was delish!
And crowded:
View from our table:
Since I’ve never been to the real Paris, this will have to do for now – a Little Prince display:
I had a massage in the afternoon (deep tissue is the only adequate choice if you want a lot of pressure), and we ate comfort foods at a cafe for dinner for Dave’s 29th birthday, which was Monday. He wrote an interesting list of 30 things he wants to do before he turns 30.
The next day, we decided to hit a supposed Zappos.com shoe outlet we’d seen an ad for in the free Las Vegas Magazine. It was so disappointing. There was barely any selection. The only thing that redeemed the 15 minute drive away from the strip was the Lamborghini dealer next door. We’d never been to one and weren’t about to set foot inside that day either… we felt too unworthy. Can you believe the tiny stature of this car?
Then it was off to the Wynn and its much-touted buffet. Though I hadn’t been to Vegas in over 5 years so a lot of things were new to me, Dave’s been a lot so he was mainly interested in seeing new sights, such as the Wynn and the addition to Caesar’s Palace, which is now enormous.
I like the Wynn’s design, both inside and out. One day we’ll stay there:
The buffet was pretty good. I especially enjoyed the desserts:
I was obsessed with these giant lanterns in the Wynn atrium:
After lunch we browsed around the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. We stumbled upon the coolest store entrance – the FAO Schwartz:
At the other end of the mall was a giant circular aquarium with mesmerizing stingrays. This was the biggest stingray and quite the attention-monger, being fed by a diver:
I also enjoyed the fountain with the shifting lights:
On our last day, we ate lunch at Todai at the Desert Passage Shops at the Aladdin, after some shopping at the 50 percent off sale at Benetton. I was happy, as you can see:
It was a great trip and I can’t wait to go back. Maybe next time we’ll try our luck at slots or the blackjack table. I’m not morally opposed to gambling, just risk averse…