Gene, one of the Christmas boys (the group of friends I always spend Christmas with), came to the US a few weeks ago on businesses. He was a busy bee going all over the country, from DC to Phoenix to LA and finally Las Vegas to visit me! He stayed at our house for a few nights and we hung out – well, he didn’t have a valid driver’s license and I didn’t have a car, so he rented a car so that I could chauffeur him around for work (and then play). My new life here is a far cry from a few months ago where I was busy at work almost every day of the week. I loved going to the office to socialise. I love having something to do. I love talking to people, listening to their ideas and experiences. I actually think I love deadlines and a bit of that stress! While the pace here is a much needed break from the hectic lifestyle that has consumed about 1/3 of my life so far, I do miss having someone around to talk to in the day (I talk T’s ears off when he gets home from work!)
I love guests at our house and so far we’ve had my good friend from Primary School G, her husband and son Conrad stay with us in May and then T’s Dad and Stepmom stay 2 nights in October when they attended our wedding. I think I make a decently good host. I enjoy having people at our house! Usually I busy the few days before their arrival and clean the heck out of every corner, wash the bed linens, vacuum the rooms, fluff out the new towels etc. It makes me feel like a good Susie Homemaker!
On this trip, Gene said he fell in love with Nevada and is considering moving to Las Vegas permanently. In fact, he was looking at offices and potential areas to purchase a home! We did a mix of the serious work stuff, the crazy neon lights and gambling at the Las Vegas Strip and sight-seeing the natural beauty of the desert (OMG! I can’t believe I’m actually saying that! Singapura Sunny Island set in the sea, I still love you though… don’t worry)
I took Gene to Cactus Joe’s, we drove along the part of Blue Diamond Road that cuts through part of the Red Rock Canyon (and because it was so quiet, I made Gene take a bunch of photos on the road itself), we visited Summerlin (potential office and home?), we went to the Strip and had dessert at the Venetian, Gene gambled at Caesars Palace and was even convinced in no time at all, to put down money for 2 nights’ stay at the Luxor! (The Luxor deal was a timeshare thing which sounded quite cool. You pay USD99 upfront for 2 nights for 2 pax. If you come back within 365 days (call 2 weeks in advance to confirm your room), your USD99 gets returned to you in cash or back to your credit card or as food/gaming vouchers. So the 2 nights are essentially free-of-charge and you need only pay for room tax which is about USD25 per night. The catch here is, you must remember to come back, it’s also not inclusive of flights and people living in Clark County (me!) are not eligible. Also, keep your fingers crossed that the timeshare company hosting this is not going to run with your money!)
The day before Gene left, we bought tickets for a guided bus tour to the Grand Canyon West Rim (another post on its own for another day). We got up at the buttcrack of dawn (5am) and got to the meeting point by 6.15am. The drive was long but worth it! We got back to the Las Vegas Strip at 6.30pm and headed for one of my favourite places to eat – The Cheesecake Factory! By the time we got home, all we wanted to do was Zzzzz… Gene had originally planned to stay out at the Strip all night till he had to catch his 6am flight! It was a whirlwind 3 days and I guess it just tired everyone out! There’s so so so much more we wanted to see and do but I guess we’ll save it for another time.
Las Vegas is a great holiday destination for gamblers and party-goers but there’s so much more. Come visit me and I’ll take you places!!
An Exercise In Trivial Pursuits 