The trip to Vegas

It's now time for a little reminiscing. A 3-day holiday to Vegas during the Christmas weekend...

Day 1

When we took off in the air for Vegas, it felt like I was taken back into 1992, my last flight in an airplane. I was going on a trip with my mom to see my relatives in Pembo, Fort Bonifacio, Makati. Anyways, after my first taste of tonic water and Terra Blues, I tuned into ZZ Top, listening to bookend favorites such as Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man, and the like.
As we were about to land, I saw the Strip. It looked like the same old Strip from last time I visited. Only change I could see was that there was a new hotel and casino, the Wynn. More on that later. Also, Westward Ho was shutting down and would be imploded in January. It’s like I was just here yesterday. Though the shuttle took too long to get us to Stardust, I finally got to savor what I always wanted to do: play the slots. The last two visits here, I couldn’t play it, and they had to babysit me. That wouldn’t be the case this time.
After I quick change, it was time to take care of business. First thing me, mom and dad did was check out the Stardust slots. The paybacks were good for a few machines, but a lot weren’t that friendly. After a quick stop at one of the restaurants, we went to Circus Circus. Slots were nicer this time, and I nabbed $500 or so, while Dad netted $300. A number of slot machines had longer playing time. I call those machines “fighter slots,” because they fought to prevent the house from gaining the advantage.
My Cheez Whiz jar was almost full, and I got $53 in my wallet (pennies if you ask me, peanuts if you’re Supreme like McGriff or Irv like Gotti), and some confidence for tomorrow.
At the Stardust, there was a karaoke contest. One of the contestants sang like she was drunk. Think Jonathan, a female version (not unlike Jona-ko).

Day 2
To make a long story short, I gained 27 dollars. Now to make it long.

At 7 in the morning, I woke up, spent 9 bucks on breakfast from McDonald’s, much to the chagrin of my parents. Me, with my green scarf on and my hat, which I would lose later in the day (rats), went with my mom and dad to the Wynn. Now, here’s the thing. The Wynn is just like the Bellagio, only better. The food here is amazing, and the rewards card I got looked sexy like Haine. Red. Sleek, sexy red. The type of red Haine would look like a goddess in. The bane of my existence as a shoujoholic along with Sailor Moon. I treasured it. And the point are accumuilative and do not expire. Unfortunately, it was under my mom’s account, but I still treasured the card as a souvenir.
And even more so, it paid well. We got enough credits to get us one of the best buffets in Vegas. But we stopped there for a light breakfast. I grooved to Haddaway while snacking on a pancake. Ah, Steve Wynn. Your expertise and professionalism would make Bill Gates cry.
After rolling up the credits, it was off to Caesars’ Palace via Bloc Pary and “Helicopter.” This, though, did not pay well. Though I had a Players’ Club card as a souvenir, `the house was too strong. My parents bought some stuff at Abercrombie & Fitch, located in the Forum Shops. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything relevant to my interest. I’m stunned they didn’t have any LA Galaxy gear. Pete Rose was there to sign autographs, but I’m an LA Angels fan, and I could care less about buying Cincinatti Reds merchandise, and I still think Pete Rose is a cheater. Me, mom, and dad hightailed for the Bellagio. They didn’t pay well, either. The house was again too strong.
ZZ Top took over on my iPod, and as we ixed the Rio for the Tropicana, my mind began to wander about understanding Las Vegas. I came here to spend all my money on Vegas, to help make the dreams of the people who strived hard to work here come true, in my own personal way. It didn’t matter that I had money. I wanted to get rid of all of it by tomorrow. It wasn’t my own money. It was my mom’s, specifically made for Vegas. It would have been so easy for me to save the money, but this being the first time I could play the slots, I wanted to go ahead and get rid of all of it. This was my personal baptism into being a regular visitor to Las Vegas who can gamble.
I also observed one thing about Las Vegas people. They are hard-nosed folks who are frank, to the point, and won’t hold your hand. They’ve been that way for 100 years. Why should it change?
At last we headed to the Tropicana. Excitedly, I got my own account. And then it was back to the slots. Now, Tropicana had a lot of fightin’ slots. Meaning, they fought to prevent the house from gaining the advantage. No sooner has I gotten back from getting my account that to see my dad hit the jackpot. 135 dollars, to be exact. There was an instant swagger in my step.
One of the nickel slot machines, called Island Getaway, fought like crazy. I had spent an hour on this machine, gaining credits as I went along. Another slot machine, called “Go Big Money” paid well. All in all, I had over $120 bucks. After making up the blunders by getting back $5 from Winners Club, I was ready to treat my parents. But wait. The bag containing my mom’s Abercrombie gift for my sister was missing. My mom was panicking. I knew, though, that Tropicana’s security was paid tomake sure it was safe. After Mom rejoiced, I said to the security guard, “You rock!”
The Island Buffet wasn’t too bad. Granted, it was just a few selections, but the pasta was Aramark-quality. The pasta chef, coincidentally, was from West Long Beach, my neighborhood. Naturally, I tipped him, in hopes that he makes it big down the road. If people’s dreams are realized, I hope they maintain it.
As I got dessert, a shattering of ceramic could be heard across the buffet room. I thought it was bad luck for us. Actually, that wouldn’t happen until tomorrow, but Mom said it was bad luck on them. Whoops.
With the buffet down, it was ti0me to wander off to the MGM Grand Hotel, the City of Entertainment. Here I got another account, but only two cards.[ P+ayout was decent, but not as strong. We savoured the Star Wars slots.
We then decided to go to the Las Vegas Monorail. This was the first time I would go on a Monorail since Disneyland. But we had to go through something. There was not a crowd, or a mob, but a SEA of tourists from Asia flocking into the MGM Grand to celebrate the New Year. As a side note, in January, there will be a rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales. I would place my money on Pacquiao to set the judges right. That fight will be at the Thomas & Mack Center. But back to the sea of tourists. They just kept on heading towards the casino, There were so many of them, I swore I was in Tokyo or Singapore. It was unbelievable how many were coming in. It just didn’t stop. An endless sea of Asian tourists.
The Monorail ride was a bit bumpy, but I got to see some very good views of the Strip. King Kong and D. Jungle Girls provided background on my iPod. The problem was, we stopped at the Hilton Station, and it was one mile to get back to Stardust. While we haqd to trudge though a junkyard/contruction zone to get there, we stopped by the Riviera.
At the Reel Em In slots, my mom hit the jackpot, and on the same machine, I caused it to tilt. I savored my new winnings, in spite of the casino unable to convert dimes.
By the way, Nevada outlasted UCF in the Hawaii Bowl, 49-48. Lucky Reno stiffs.

Day 3
We slept like babies checking out of the Stardust. We returned for the buffet at the Wynn, but the line was ridiculously long. So, we left. I got so excited, I yelled at my dad for no- apparent reason. He got mad for no apparent reason either. I probably shouldn’t have taken my medication, cause it made me sober that morning. But my dad will get over it.
So after eating at the Harrah’s buffet, I got another account there, but after seeing low payouts, we decided to go to Casino Royale. I got my last account there, and tinkered with the Reel Em In slots. At that moment, I decided to go ahead and spend it all.
We then took a taxi from Stardust to the airport, where I finished off my supply of cash on the airport’s Wheel of Fortune slots. But by that time, I was elated and happy. I didn’t care about the cash-I didn’t need to anyway; it was my mom’s-I just wanted to finally do what has been 21 years in the making-play the slots.

Now that Vegas is finished, I can now focus on the Winter Session and Spring Semester at the Beach. I understood that what I’ve wanted to buy is not in Las Vegas, but in Los Angeles. Home. I’ll have to see tomorrow if they have any Galaxy gear available, so I can buy some. But, it was apparent that it was Mission Accomplished.

Viva Las Vegas indeed.