Las Vegas, NV

[December 18th, 2008]

Vegas baby!!! T-3 for me!

It started off as a pact. My then jobless ex-roomie and me made a deal. If the both of us had secured full-time jobs by the time we graduated, we would go to Vegas. Turns out AMD really liked him and Orbitz really liked me. Yaaay! :)

Our planning was simple, we picked the best air fares about a month in advance and a good hotel on the LV strip. We were all set!... or so we thought. A week before the trip our 2 pseudo-roomies, Underage and Helicopter, informed us that they had added themselves to our itinerary. I was thrilled!! The more the merrier!

Day1:
AMD and I took off early. Helicopter and Underage were flying out a few hours later. I dont remember much of the flight except looking out of the window when i was over Nevada and wondering how such a fun city could be built in such harsh terrain. McCarran International was a welcome and almost familiar sight. A short cab ride later, AMD and I were making ourselves comfortable in the medieval themed room of the 'Excalibur'.

We were starving. We headed out for a small stroll. We wandered into a Chinese buffet which boasted of having 101 dishes on the lunch menu. The choice of food was astonishing. We ate so much we literally had to roll out of restaurant. Just as we were trudging back to the hotel, my cellphone rang. Helicopter and Underage had arrived. A couple of hours later, the four of us were walking down Las Vegas Blvd. The word to describe it is exhilarating.

First stop, the 'Fountains of Bellagio'. A magnificent display of over 1000 fountain heads synchronized with lights and music. Its truly a breathtaking spectacle.

The performance is repeated every 15 minutes so we stuck around for another iteration. Finally, satisfied after witnessing the wet display 2.5 times we moved on to the next street show. 'The Volcano' at the Mirage.

Its a volcano that erupts in a violent explosion followed by 'lava' oozing over and even flows as a fiery stream on the "lake" surrounding the "volcano". It was fun to watch and considering the slightly chilly weather, the warmth radiated by the huge flames was a welcome bonus.

The one quirk we noticed right away was that even though the casinos seemed to be just around the corner, it took much much longer than one would expect to walk between them. Our only disappointment of the day was that one of the better street shows, 'Sirens of TI', was closed for maintenance. We now headed straight for the biggie, Wynn, but paused intermittently to click pictures in front of the Monte Carlo and Paris.

The Wynn is truly awe-inspiring. No cost has been spared in the construction of this magnificent casino. Underage decided to try her hand at the slot machines. She had just about sat herself down on one of the slot machines when she struck gold. On her second pull she hit a combination that spit up $355. Now that's what i call beginners luck!! Extremely pleased and satisfied we decided to call it a day. It was 4.30 AM.

Day2:
Not surprisingly, we woke up late. Very late. We decided to hit the 'Luxor' for brunch. We marvelled at the massive pyramid and the awe-inspiring 'Sphinx'.

A few photos later we were back in our element.. surrounded by food.. glorious food!! Cuisines ranging from mundane salads to exotic lobster tails and everything in between. We ate till we were literally unable to move. Phew!

Lethargically we dawdled towards the reputed Caesar's Palace. Its a very boldly themed casino with every effort taken to reflect its roman influence. The ceiling is painted to look like the evening sky and large shimmering roman statues in marble are strewn everywhere.

The most memorable part of the casino was the show 'The fall of Atlantis'. Its a fight between the god of fire and and goddess of water. Simply put, its ridiculous but entertaining!

Next stop, The gorgeous 'Venetian'. I have to say this is one of the most impressive casino hotels on the strip. Its mind boggling that they actually have a river that flows through the casino. They actually imported gondolas and gondoliers from Italy to recreate the magic that is Venice.

Underage, Helicopter and Me got onto one of the gondolas operated by a scrawny, extremely hyperactive 'gondolier-ess'. She went on and on about her humble beginnings and the intricacies of life in Italy. She was borderline annoying. As a saving grace, she volunteered to break into song and the notes she hit were simply unbelievable. All in all it was a great experience.

We then headed back to the hotel as AMD and I were going to have a boys night out on the town. Lets just move on to Day3 now! :D

Day3:
AMD woke up feeling ill. We had planned to go to Hoover Dam but he chose to sit it out and not stress himself out too much. So the 3 of us got on to a prearranged tourist bus and headed into the arid Mojave. The bus ride was great. It first drove past Vegas' primary water source, Lake Mead. It then continued on past the desert and we caught glimpses of cacti.

Before we knew it we were pulling up in front of the jaw dropping expanse that is Hoover Dam. Its one of the spots i remember seeing in a movie. 'Transformers' is shot all over the lower dam. No second guesses as to why they picked this location to shoot the movie. Its an awesome view.

The viewing area was extremely windy. Helicopter and Underage were struggling to hold on their jackets as I clicked a few snaps.

We also go the chance to take an elevator to the bottom of the dam and see the pipelines and generators. It was a worryingly long ride to the bottom and Helicopter pointed out that there were small streaks of water running down the walls of the tunnels. We were beneath a LOT of water and just a wall separated us from being crushed. It was a rather eerie feeling and i was extremely relieved to take the elevator back to the surface.

We made a beeline for the bus and headed back to Vegas albeit a quick stop at a chocolate factory which was a little too commercial for my liking. I made a silent protest by not buying anything. Imagine that... Me not buying chocolate.

Back in Excalibur, AMD was still not feeling too good. Helicopter, Underage and I took a much needed timeout and snoozed for a good 2 hours. After a much needed shower the 3 of us headed out towards downtown Las Vegas or Old Las Vegas. Our plan was to gamble a bit and then witness the infamous 'Fremont Street Experience'. The cab ride was short and it dropped us off in a gaudy and loud part of Vegas. Images from movies flash before your eyes. Familiar neons, familiar billboards and familiar streets. We gambled for a bit, picked up a yard Margarita and waited patiently for the show to begin. It was spectacular!

Millions of LED's synchronised to form moving images. The entire street was lit up in a dazzling display of dancing light and colour. It was truly an experience we wouldnt forget in a hurry.

Day4:
Helicopter and Underage left early. They were headed towards LA for another 2 days. AMD and I tried to salvage what was left of the day. We strolled around aimlessly taking in all that was Vegas.

We marvelled at the luxurious MGM Grand and couldn't help but have a parting buffet. :D
We also caught glimpses of the magestic white tigers which are so integral to the image of MGM.

We checked-in at the airport and put in our last quarters in the slot machines. Yeah! Thats right! Slot machines in the airport. LOL!
We flew back recounting the many many memories I cherish to this day.

Seattle, WA

[April 18th, 2008]

All it took was for an ex-roomie to move to Seattle on a project through his consulting firm. My travel radar locked in on the opportunity to spend a weekend with him and the dame from Microsoft. I had just about given this a thought and a clown friend of mine decided to tag along. That all but cemented the trip.
Before we knew it, Clown and I were on a westbound flight on a late Friday afternoon, looking forward to a respite from the the cold unforgiving Chicago winter. We spent the time on the flight very productively, watching videos on my trusty PSP and talking trash.

Day1:
The flight touched down early evening, Pacific Time, and our ex-roomie was right outside in a retro-looking Mercury Grand Mariner. He inevitably turned into our official chauffeur for the trip. With no delay we headed straight for Microsoft's crib. A good 20 minutes later we pulled up in Redmond and Microsoft greeted us with a smile and warm hug each. She whipped up some chips n dip and coffee and smoothies for us (slurrrrpp!). We also had the pleasure of meeting a couple of Microsoft's friends who seemed to be ardent Clown fans.

Dinner Time! Microsoft had reservations at a Moroccan themed restaurant called 'Marrakesh' which incidentally had belly dancers on Friday nights. Clown went PINK in the face when the dancer came up to him and he had to put a $ on her hip. :P

The food was unique to say the least. We had a 5 course meal consisting of a soup, a salad, a phyllo-pie appetizer coated with powdered sugar (which I absolutely devoured, much to the amusement of the others), a main entree and finally ending with fruit salad and mint tea.
We decided to call it a day and retire early so that we could get an early start for the next day. Clown hit the bed the moment we reached home. Chauffeur and I decided to watch a movie 'Apocalypto'. I think we lasted a full 20 minutes.

Day2:
I was up by 8am and a good 45 minutes later, we were back in the Grand Mariner headed towards the city. After picking Microsoft up, we went to have brunch at 'The original pancake house' which served baked 5 egg omelets with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and cheese served with pancakes and house potatoes. BURRRRPPP!!!!

Now for some sightseeing. We headed to a simply breathtaking location called 'Deception Pass'. Back in the day, explorers didn't know that this channel of water existed. Its one of the most beautiful views of nature I have ever seen. The ocean, pebble beach, cliffs, trees, islands and the sky seemed to blend in a perfect recipe. For the first time since we had met, the 4 of us were quiet.

We were going absolutely camera crazy and with good reason. We decided to trek down to the bottom of the pass. It was a short hike down. The trail was covered with lush trees. The all-too-familiar smell of wet earth was a welcome addition to the experience.

The pebble riddled bank had logs strewn around. We spent a good hour skipping flat pebbles along the water, throwing stones over a hillock, climbing over the logs and other such cliche activities. Of course, the cameras never stopped clicking.

We were pooped. We headed straight back to Seattle albeit a pit stop for coffee and biscotti.

Microsoft's friend had a post wedding party. After a lot of debating we shamelessy tagged along. The food was brilliant. Paneer, Pulav, Pakoras and a load of other indian dishes. I met a guy there who i could have sworn was familiar. To everyones amusement, he looked at me and said i looked familiar as well!! Finally we concluded that each of us had look-alikes in each others cities!! A few photos later we excused ourselves and headed to 'Lucky Strike'.

Lucky strike was FUN! We played half a frame of pool and 2 games of bowling. Chauffeur and Me scored highest and Microsoft managed to retain her 'Gutter Queen' crown. We decided we were hungry again and headed to a burger place that Microsoft suggested. The cashier/chef was kinda rude so we stole his pen and pulled the classic ketchup lid unscrewing technique on him and left in a hurry.

We were tired from all the walking and decided it was time to get back home and get an early start to the next day. The drive back was fun. Clown and I fell asleep in the car. Every time i got up, I could hear Chauffeur swearing as he had skipped a RED. We got home in one piece though. Clown collapsed on the bed the moment we reached and began to snore like a lawn mower. Chauffeur and I made another earnest attempt at continuing 'Apocalypto'. This time we lasted 10 minutes tops.

Day3:
Getting up was hard. It was a Sunday. Surprisingly Clown was the first to rise and hit the showers. Chauffeur and I exchanged a few movies each.
We drove to Microsoft's for a surprise breakfast. She had made hot idlis and sambhar. They were DELICIOUS! We polished off half a dozen idlis each.

We then headed to the heart of downtown Seattle to see the Seattle Space Needle. It is a majestic and very unique structure. We went up to the top in a capsule elevator and took in the magnificent views of Seattle and its neighbourhood.

I bought myself a customary magnet in the Space Needle store which now adorns my freezer door.

We drove a couple of miles to the 'Pike Place Market' which is a flea market of sorts. Men and women selling fish, flowers, fruits, curios and a whole lot of chaos. Reminded me a lot of the markets back home in India.


We bought some citrus fruits and strawberries from a really wild farmer who was running on Energiser or Duracell. He was all over the place. We also got our daily horoscopes from a fortune-teller in a box!

We also had the opportunity to visit the first Starbucks store ever. It was a little place right in the middle of Pike market.

Chauffeur bought himself a Starbucks sipper and we left the little, over-crowded store to get some grub. We ended up at this quaint Bolivian restaurant which had a little balcony overlooking Pike Market. We seated ourselves outside on the balcony, ordered wine and food. We ate slooooowly, enjoying the excellent location and the atmosphere of the whole place. We were really hesitant to step out of there as we knew the next place we would be going was the airport and back to Chicago.

It amazes me how attached the 4 of us got in the 2 days we spent together. Bidding adieu at the airport was definitely my least favourite part of the trip. I actually found myself tearing up a little. I was really gonna miss Chauffeur and Microsoft. A glance at Microsoft's misty eyes and i knew she shared the sentiment. We exchanged warm tight hugs and 'miss you's and split.

An hour later Clown and I were 35,000 feet high headed eastward. We slept through most of the flight.

Reminiscence

Well... I've been flirting with the idea of blogging my modest travel experiences for a bit now.

I just returned from a rather rejuvenating weekend on the west coast with some of my closest friends and it provided me with just the right impetus to finally put pen to paper... errr.. fingers to keyboard?!...