I think it’s safe to say I’ve had my fill of Las Vegas for a while and definitely don’t plan on heading back anytime in the foreseeable future. Every time I visit, I always feels like I’ve been taken advantage of, and each time I paid a hefty premium for the pleasure of it. The price for food, drinks, accommodations and transportation are all inflated. Everyone’s got their hand in your pocket and they’re not ashamed to admit it – What did you expect? It’s Vegas.

You have to go in knowing you’re going to be spending a lot. If you plan on gambling, you have to set aside an amount you expect to loose. Because you will. Sure, there’s the off chance you might win, but I wager the amount you spent trying to win will surpass your actual winnings.

It’s actually quite sad when you come to think about it – every preconceived cliché you have about the people you’ll find in a casino is absolutely true. Rows upon rows of older, overweight, rough looking people sitting in front of hundreds of slot machines, with a cigarette in their mouth and an overflowing ashtray by their side, hoping the next spin will be the Big One®. You don’t even have to pull the leaver if you don’t want to… just push the button and watch the wheels spin.

It’s actually quite amazing how quickly you loose track of time in Vegas. All of the hotel/casino’s are designed to keep you inside. It’s quite possible to check into your hotel and never actually go outside for the duration of your stay. Restaurants, buffets, shopping malls, theaters, arcades, clubs, bars, slots, cards, aquariums, spas… you name it, it’s accessible within the confines of your hotel. And if you do go outside, it’s usually to grab a taxi so you can be shuttled to another hotel where you’ll quickly shuffle back inside.

We did end up catching a show while we were there. We saw Cirque du Soleil’s O, which was quite interesting to see… if not completely random. I’ve never seen a Cirque show before, but I’d love to know how they come up with some of that shit. There’s people running around, contorting their bodies in ways I didn’t think were humanly possible. _“Ok, you in the green unitard. Sit in that chair and set yourself on fire. You in the red unitard. Dance around him for a few seconds and then dive into the water.”_ I’m sure there was a deeper meaning to it all… perhaps multiple viewings will reveal what I missed.

Anyway, that was Vegas. It was great to see Jaimie and Josh. Dinner was great (thanks again!), but I think I’m all Vegas’d out.

Ah the memories…. It seems like only yesterday that I had almost lost my voice from screaming at the craps tables and found myself wondering around at 3am looking for food to soften the hangover that was soon to follow. Oh, those were the day… and I may be up for a repeat as Jess and I are heading to Vegas this evening for the US long weekend.

We’ve been invited by Jaimie and Josh to join them in Vegas while Jaimie attends a trade show (the name of which escapes me at the moment) and we’ll be staying at Mandalay Bay while we’re there. I haven’t been to Mandalay yet, so I’m excited to see what all the hype is amount – my guess is that it’ll be a lavish hotel atop a massive casino. I could be wrong, but judging from the other hotels I visited there, I don’t think I’m far off.

I don’t believe any dinner reservations have been made as of yet, nor do we have tickets for any shows, so I’m not quite sure what all we’ll be doing (beyond the expected drinking and occasional gambling). What I do know is that that we’ll be having one hell of a time!

I’m going to bring my camera with me again, only this time I think I’ll actually use it. Look for some photos when we return.

Long nights, too much alcohol, a bit of gambling, and a lot of gadgets – Welcome to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas was exactly as I expected – completely over the top. The whole city is geared around mass consumption; be it food, smoking, alcohol, sex, drugs, gambling or shopping. If you can spend money on it, it’s available. Each hotel is a completely self-contained oasis of adult entertainment; complete with a range or restaurants, shopping malls, performance theaters, casinos, roller-coasters, etc. The idea is that you stay there and never leave. Of course I didn’t stay put, and I ended up checking out a variety of them. I’d say my personal favorite was The Venetian – it was the only one I walked into and actually said “holy shit”... A technical form of measurement indeed.

I suppose the highlight of each night was dinner. I honestly never considered the culinary options in Vegas – I just assumed you ate foot-long hot dogs while wondering from casino to casino. Oh, how wrong I was. My culinary adventures unfolded as such:

1. Bouchon at The Venetian on Wednesday
2. Postrio at The Venetian on Thrusday
3. SW Steakhouse on Friday at the Wynn

1. Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House on Saturday at the MGM.

   Beyond the excesses of Vegas itself, I spent the rest of my time at CES. For those who aren’t aware, CES is the Consumer Electronics Show that takes place every year in which 150,000 people descend upon Las Vegas. TVs, cellphones, mobile video players, mp3 players, videogame consoles, DVD players and car stereos. Microsoft, Sony, Motorola, Intel, Samsung and Pioneer. It’s a geek paradise. Every gadget from every company in the electronics space was there – with the exception of Apple. We have to wait until tomorrow morning to see what new stuff they’ve got for us.

   I suppose I should have expected this, but I just spent 5 days in Las Vegas taking in everything the electronics industry has to offer, and all I really want to do is sit at my desk tomorrow morning and watch the webcast following Steve Job’s Keynote

So I’m back in North America again, and I’m happy to be back. I can honestly say that Hong Kong isn’t my cup of tea. While it was definitely interesting to visit, I’m not itching to go back. Perhaps I didn’t have enough time to visit more of the country, or maybe I needed a better guide book – but all in all, I wasn’t all that impressed. That said, here are some interesting observations.

1. The buildings are so tall and densely packed together, from the ground it actually feels like you’re walking around in one large indoor space. There was also a cloudy haze hanging low in the sky that defused the sunlight, making it feel like everything was lit from above by a single neon light. Yes, it was an odd feeling.
2. There are a lot of people there. To put it into perspective, you need to imagine that it’s the day before Christmas and everyone in the state of California is out trying to finish their Christmas shopping. At the same mall. At the same time. Walking in the same direction. Now, picture yourself at that very mall, trying to walk against the flow of people … and you stand about a foot taller than everyone else. That’s what it was like for me to walk down the street in Hong Kong.
3. Everyone seems to have a cellphone there – I know this because everyone hangs them on a string around their neck.
4. I saw 5 overweight people. Yes, I was counting.
5. Smoking is still very common there. In cabs, restaurants, hotel, busses… pretty much everywhere. You can’t avoid it. There’s a veritable atmosphere of cigarette smoke that lofted above the crowds – and being that I am at least a foot taller than most, I got to enjoy it firsthand. I now understand why a great number of people wear surgical masks. Actually, the best was when I saw a guy pull down his mask so he could light up a smoke. Classic.
6. Shopping appears to be the official pastime in Hong Kong. There are stores everywhere, and they were all packed with people. They don’t seem to have huge “shopping malls” as we know them here, but rather smaller “mini malls” – each with only a handful of stores. They do, however, make up the difference by having a different mini mall every other block.
7. The food is far more adventurous. I’m not sure what “bird nest” is, but it looked like a soup of sort. For dinner the first night, I had fish… but before it was presented on a plate, it was presented in a bag for my approval – flipping around violently, clearly pissed off that it was about to be steamed up. It doesn’t get fresher than that.

1. Hong Kong isn’t an architectural marvel. Sure, there are some interesting buildings there, but for the most part, it’s definitely quantity over quality.

   So that was my trip. Hong Kong and back in 4 days.

So I’ve arrived safe and sound after my 15 hour flight. As the photo above reveals… I’m a bit tired. I’m going to stay up as late as possible in an attempt to get myself on HK time, even though my body is telling me it’s 6:30am and I should probably go to sleep.

It was a little touch and go when we arrived at the airport. We flew Cathay Pacific and apparently our tickets were booked as “employee class” tickets – which basically means we were standby. We get to the check-in counter, and of course our plane is getting close to the weight limit and they won’t know if we’d be able to board until everyone else has cleared. Everyone I spoke to said it wasn’t looking good, so I just assumed we weren’t making our flight. Luckily that didn’t happen, and we eventually got on.

While we were checking in, I had inquired if we could be moved to bulkhead seats, and unbeknownst to us, we were upgraded to business class. Sweet! You just can’t complain about free champagne, actual meals and a seat that fully reclines into a bed. I’m actually amazed how quickly the time passed – I ended up working for a good portion of the flight, watched a few movies and slept for a bit. It didn’t feel like 15 hours, that’s for sure.

So now I’m in Hong Kong. I’ve got a 2 hour presentation tomorrow at 2:30, and I’m free to explore until Sunday afternoon thereafter. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do yet – I’ve got a guidebook and a few maps… that should be enough to get around. It looks as if the majority of signage is in English as well, so hopefully my exploration will be relatively painless. Regardless, you can expect to see a ton of photos when I return.

Speaking of which – Jess and I spent the Thanksgiving long weekend up in San Francisco. I managed to take 487 photos while we were there (thank god for digital photography) and have uploaded a bunch of them here if you’re interested.

We are off tomorrow for Thanksgiving in San Francisco. We are super excited to have the weekend exploring the city and will take a scenic drive back along the coast on Sunday, stopping in at a winery for lunch. Stay tuned for details and of course pictures.

Jeremy just called to say that the RFP they submitted for Cathay Pacific is a hit, so he is off to Hong Kong on Wednesday to present their concepts in person and meet the potential client. First Singapore Airlines, now Cathay Pacific. I think my husband is planning a hostile take over of the Asian airline business.
Anyways, once again I am very proud as the RFP was more than impressive. It should have been, the damn thing cost $1200 to print at Kinko’s !!! Yet another example of how your hard work and dedication payed off. I think you may be on to something.

Sometimes I just love a grey, rainy day – and today is just that day. It’s cold and dreary outside, and has been raining all day… well, at least I think it has. Jess and I haven’t left the couch since we woke up (and Jess is actually asleep again on the couch next to me), but I have the window open, so it sounds like it’s been raining all day. This is actually the first day that it’s rained for any considerable amount of time since we got here, and I think it’s a sign that winter is on it’s way.

I’ve been completely consumed with work since we got back from Singapore, so I was looking forward to the day off. We had originally planned to go the beach and maybe into Laguna so I could try out my new camera lens, but it started raining and, well… VH1 is running the 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders and I haven’t been able to turn the channel in about an hour. Sad, I know.

Since our Singapore trip, I’ve become completely infatuated with photography. I’ve been interested in it for a while – Jess even bought me a digital SLR camera for my birthday last year – but I really didn’t know how to use it beyond the point and shoot mode. I decided to experiment with it, and finally figured out how to use it while we were in Asia. The camera I have is an Olympus Evolt E-300. It’s an excellent camera, and the only thing I don’t like about it is the lens it came with. The standard lens is basically a wide angle lens and doesn’t allow me to get the style of shots that I’d like – which are usually a much closer and tightly framed shot. So I decided to bid for a new lens on ebay. I ended up getting the Zuiko Digital 40-150mm, which I’m itching to try out.

In retrospect, I think I could have taken some nice shots out in the rain, but seeing as it’s 7:15 now, I think it’s a bit too dark. I guess I’ll have to give it a try tomorrow.

Jess will have to fill the rest of you in with the meaning of this inside joke… ‘cause honestly, I have no idea what it means exactly. I was asked to post this photo, and post this photo I shall.