Thur 16_07_09 – Las Vegas, San Diego, Tijuana

A big breakfast, after big packing, was the first agenda item today.  We had a huge amount of credit in the restaurant, so we ordered everything which was a big mistake because Americans expect possibly two-three times the serving size we are used to.  We had to use up some credit so our host organised some club sandwiches for us  “to go”.

We picked the car up from valet after some very basic LV souvenir shopping.  After a lesson in fueling the car up with “gas” at the service station we were on the I-15 (Interstate 15) heading south and towards SoCal – or Southern California to those who aren’t hip enough to know that.  We got off the I-15 onto the I-215S and somehow ended up back on the I-15 before merging onto the last leg, the I-805.  After a massive sh!*fight avoiding the Mexican border-crossing we eventually got our car into a secure car park.  After parking and restroom stops, we were notified the shuttle to our destination, Playa de Rosarito, was not running today.

Walking across the border we were wondering when we were going to cross passport control.   But before we knew it, Apart from the machine-gun armed immigration officer hiding in a bush, we were already on the streets of Tijuana (roughly pronounced tee-wana) and being harassed.  We got in a cab and travelled at breakneck speed whilst dodging potholes, the 18mi through the hills to the playas – beaches – of northern Baja (ba-ha).

Recepcion over and welcome margaritas down we enjoyed a sunset on the penthouse pool deck.  Getting a shock from the sharp drop in temperature from the Mojave Desert, a room party ensued followed with some after hours shenanigans. . .

Wed 15_7_09 – Circus Circus, Hooters, Crazy Horse

Another early morning start, saw me and Clif traversing the strip northbound with eventual destination Circus Circus with a quick stopover at The Flamingo.  You may know Circus Circus from the film Fear & Loathing, and it is every bit hallucinogenic as it is in the movie.  Circus Circus is connected to a sister casino called Slots-a-fun.  Slots-a-fun is one of the cheapest dives in Vegas and their specialty is 75c beers and hotdogs.  We had a quick stint there.

After brunch at Four Season’s Verandah, where we all had excellent breakfast – with morning themed cocktails, Me bloody mary, Clif bloody mary, Kiri bloody mary, Jade bellini.  I had the famous mexican breakfast called huevos rancheros, basically two fried eggs with beans, salsa and tortilla.  Verandah is particularly well know for this breakfast and it was really good.

After brunch the girls did some shopping, while we went to a few more casinos and ended up at Hooters Hotel & Casino.  We had an abrupt departure from there after some blackjack woes.  Onto the Luxor Pool, where it was all happening with daquiris all round (and sunburn, it was 43C).

For dinner, included in our Crazy Horse ticket package, we had modern Italian at Fiammo.  Everything was good and we had a conversation with the sommelier about Australian wines.  We headed over to the Crazy Horse theatre which is located within MGM Grand.  The show was excellent and we had reasonable seats so all was good.  The night ended with a big “comp” at the Luxor, our casino host told us “you guys must’ve been busy” when we asked him to review our reward points.  He organised a full spread for breakfast at their restaurant for the following morning and enquired about us having a complimentary return stay.

After a few more “comps” at the slots, we headed to bed – with a quick stop-off at Nathans for a Philly Cheesesteak. Recommended.

Tue 14_7_09 – Luxor, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Clif and I set our alarms and got up to check out the “early morning crew” in the casino. We were expecting to see a lot of seedos, but the place was full of , relatively speaking, normal looking people. I think Clif and I probably stood out the worst. We played a machine called Pompeii and had a bit of a win.

After a fair old morning session, we attended the Luxor Buffet for lunch with Jade. Jade and Clif spent some time at the pool, and Kiri and I slept off some jetlag.

We went to a fairly famous restaurant called L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in the MGM. This is the exhibition kitchen and an offshoot of the main restaurant – the chef who owns the restaurant was rated as “chef of the century”. You sit at the counter and watch the chefs in action. Kiri noted that you can always tell a good place by the calmness of the staff, these guys were cool as. The food was modern French and excellent. Some of the things we had were foie gras stuffed quail with truffled mash, seabass with baby vegetables and fennel foam, hanger steak with confit shallots, egg salad with iberico ham and asparagus, and spaghetti l’atelier. Excellent…

Mon 13_7_09 – The Strip

Started out this morning with a quick cab ride up The Strip to Paris Casino (Jade got rebuked for being too frugal with her tipping by the cabbie). Our main reason for heading to Paris Casino, was for early lunch at Le Buffet. More lining up and we were in the main restaurant area and sampling the food. The food was from all regions of France and was average-good.

We crossed over to The Flamingo.  The Flamingo is regarded by Lonely Planet as “a classic dive”, so we loved it.

After that, straight across the road to Caesars Palace. Caesars is huge and had an even longer check-in queue than at our hotel. We got a cab back down to The Luxor for a bit of a relax.

Dinner was at a restaurant in Mandalay Bay casino named Shanghai Lilly. The girls ordered a-la-carte and Tony and I ordered the shabu-shabu. The food was good and decor excellent. Back in the Luxor we had a big party after we all had a win on some fishing poker machine, we were all reeling in the big ones.

Late night snack at Nathan’s Hotdogs. Not recommended.

Did I mention drinks are free if you are playing a machine…

Sun 12_7_09 – LA to Las Vegas

After picking up the car, we headed out on to the freeway. I’m pretty lucky it was a Sunday morning and not really busy, because it was pretty hectic on the roads anyway, not to mention adjusting to driving on the wrong side.

The terrain is very interesting on the drive from LA to Vegas and I’d recommend doing the drive to anyone, just to check out the desert and hills. We stopped at a small truckstop town named Barstow and went to the renowned greasiest McDonald’s in US and A. It was pretty bad.

The last two hours into Vegas, you hit the Nevada border and the casinos commence. Driving back down the strip to our hotel The Luxor, we started to understand the size of the place. When we got out at Valet to get our bags, the heat hit us 108 deg F (42.2 C). Desert heat is so dry, you have to experience to understand what I’m sayin.

Check-in was a madhouse and we got our first taste of partylife in Vegas. Everyone in the check in line – which was amazingly long – was drinking beer and cocktails (well, not everyone), the machines were clanging away and people were just partying in general. After check-in we (Clif and I) went straight down to the casinos and hit it pretty hard. The girls came down later and we had dinner at T&Ts – Tacos and Tequila – which was awesome, bring on the Dos Equis.

We walked out into the heat and over to Excalibur and NY NY casino, and then crossed over to MGM.  After having a bit of a look around we headed back to the Luxor for a bit of gambling and cocktails.  Ended up at the pizza parlour for a late night snack.

Did I mention booze is free if you are on a machine…