My uncle was getting married in Calgary at the end of May, so since we were already out west, my parents decided to go to Las Vegas for a quick vacation as well since it's only about a 2 hour plane ride between the two cities. We planned to go to Vegas first so our flight was scheduled right after Anime North was over...that's why I had no time to do a con report right after. Originally I didn't want to go to Vegas with my parents (and I still don't recommend traveling with your parents, especially when they force you to plan the entire trip) but as I research more about things to do in Vegas, I really wanted to go myself so I tagged along... =w= We only stayed for three nights but I had a lot of fun and would really want to visit again!
We stayed at New York New York (which like the name suggests, is a little piece of New York in Las Vegas... the hotel has a Statue of Liberty, making it the third I've seen aside from the real one in NYC and the one in Odaiba) Our room had a view facing the roller coasters but I found that the noise (ie. people screaming) didn't bother me that much as rides died down after 11pm. If you plan on staying at NYNY, I definitely recommend trying the fish & chips at the food court stand. It's really yummy and made in the way that resembles the fish and chips I had at the England part of Epcot in Florida (the ones in Epcot was better but it was still so good!) Also try the clam chowder too as it's served in a bread bowl. Aside from eating and walking a part of The Strip, we didn't do much on the first day.
For the next day, I booked a tour to visit the Grand Canyon beforehand. It took me a while to find a tour that didn't include the Skywalk since my parents didn't want to go on it. I found a motorcoach tour by Grayline through TripAdvisor and it was one of the best bus tours I've ever been on, and I really dislike bus tours (or tours of any kind) to begin with. It was super chill, and our bus driver was amazing... he was so funny and made sure everyone had a good time. The coach bus didn't smell weird and was super clean and was air conditioned. Most of all, there were no kids and nearly everyone was on time so we were pretty much on or ahead of schedule! Our first stop was the Hoover Dam. The view was pretty amazing from the bridge but also kind of scary since it was on the highway and it was really windy.
I picked the West Rim tour because it was closer and there was no hiking involved. It was pretty relaxing... There were three checkpoints when we actually arrived at parts of the Canyon. I would recommend anyone who picks this tour to skip the first point, which was the native indian ranch because there was really nothing interesting there. It was basically a mock up of a western ghost town, like the kind you see in old cowboy movies. The ranch looked like a low budget movie set... they also had mule rides but I didn't see anybody doing that... Anyway, the next point, Eagle Point is where you want to spend your time. This was where the Skywalk was. You can see the shape of an eagle spreading its wings in the rock formations, so that's how this point got its name.
The Skywalk is that horseshoe shaped glass bridge in the background. It's $35 to get in and according to the lady who sat next to me on the bus, it wasn't worth it because there was an hour wait in line just to go on it, despite the fact that our bus driver said that we wouldn't have to wait in line because we were on a special tour or something... Plus you weren't allowed to take photos while on the bridge. Anyway I'm really glad we didn't go on it!
The weather was really nice... blue skies and lots of sun, every day. The air was also really dry, since it's in the middle of the dessert.
The rock formations were really breath taking to look at it and I definitely recommend visiting here to see it in person!
It's also a bit scary since there are no safety lines or borders or anything near the edge. If you walk too far out, then it's automatically a very far drop right down below...
You can also do helicopter and boat tours too, but that was a bit too adventurous for us and I didn't hear many good reviews about the helicopter rides...
We also got meal tickets with our tour to redeem a free lunch but the food at Eagle Point didn't look so good so we moved on.
At the last point, Guano Point, there are even nicer views! There weren't that many people here so it was nice to take photos. The lunch was alright, but I don't suggest drinking the bottled water. Bring your own. The cookie that they served was also really tasty--it was like a smore, there was some marshmallowy bit in the center and I'd never eaten anything like it! Not sure if they made it themselves or if it came from a store...
After this, we were dropped off at The Strip so overall it was about a 12hr tour. We went back to the hotel to eat some more. I swear I love how everything was so close and you could just get many kinds of food right at your hotel! Of course, being Las Vegas, casinos were everywhere but we ignored those since we don't gamble.
On our last day we went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and also ate at the buffet there. The buffet was pricy (at nearly $30/person for breakfast only) but my gosh... it was amazing!! *__* So much nice food!!! I wish I could've eaten everything! I was stupid and didn't notice that the desserts had a separate island away from the rest of the food, so I totally didn't see it until the end and I was already a bit full from the other foods...
They didn't have macarons but they had a variety of delicious little cakes and tarts, even cake pops and gelato and towers of creme brulee and made to order crepes!! They had really interesting cakes like passion fruit cheesecake and pandan tiramisu and gelato flavours like red bean and thai tea. I want to eat there again.... ;___;
After breakfast/lunch we walked around to visit each hotel.
The famous gondola rides at the Venetian. It was kind of a let down because it was so dark inside and the canal was kind of small. And there were also a lot of people on the sides watching the rides too so riding the gondola didn't offer any romatic privacy at all, it felt more like you were zoo animals lol... The ceiling was really neat though, and reminded me a lot of how Venus Fort in Odaiba looks like.
I took a panorama of the lake outside the Bellagio hotel. I booked tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show 'O' at the Bellagio, and being Cirque newbies, I was pleased that my parents really enjoyed the show! I wanted to see more than one Cirque show but this was all we had time for so I splurged on the more expensive one... even though I got the cheapest seats at the back (which I don't recommend, pay the extra money for better seats). There was a beam of light that was annoying from the back seats but then again, we had a really nice view of the stage which I'm sure would have been different if we sat at the front. Overall, a very impressive show, as usual Cirque does not disappoint! We missed the fountain show, which I think that's why there were so many people crowding around the lake.
Next stop was Calgary! I was asked to be a bridesmaid at my uncle's wedding. The ceremony and reception dinner was downtown so while in the car I had a nice view of the Calgary tower.
To be honest, I always hated attending weddings... and I guess I still do. I had to help out with making the bouquets of flowers and setting up. Granted I didn't have any other major role but I did have to tag along for photos at a near by park and got bitten by mosquitoes cause I was wearing so little.. T_T
The dinner was so-so, food is of course better in Toronto but it was nice to see some old faces like my Grandpa and seeing some distant cousins who are around my age. We somehow ended up talking about cons and they mentioned Otakon, which I had heard of. I would be tempted to try and get a table in the artist alley there if it weren't for the air fare which I know I probably won't make back since it's not a large con... but it'd be nice to visit a con out west since my plans for Anime Revolution in Vancouver fell through...! Who knows xD
I have to admit though, me and the maid of honor did a pretty decent job arranging the flowers into something presentable, considering we both had no idea what we were doing and basically referred to Google and Youtube on flower arrangement and how to make corsages and stuff. Considering the flowers all came from Costco and we had to cut and put everything together ourselves! The arrangement we put together for the top of the cupcake stand turned out rather well instead of a wedding cake, imo. I'm glad I didn't go ahead and make wedding cake toppers (which was what I originally planned as a wedding gift because that's what I made for another family wedding last year).
I guess this whole ordeal was a learning process for me too if I ever decided to DIY my wedding, LOL!
Overall it was an exhausting week away from home but I had fun. Now that I'm back, summer is in full swing and I just feel so sleepy and lazy all the time... I hate it. I'm trying to find that motivation again to make things in advance before winter hits and I don't have the time to be so carefree... Well, this concludes my trip report! Hope you enjoyed reading :)
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