Vlogmas Day 4 | Las Vegas Trip | Christmas Display, Patisserie & Temaki

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Vlogmas Day 3 | Las Vegas Trip | Bouchon at The Venetian

 

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Vlogmas Day 2 | Las Vegas Trip | Bellagio Hotel & Casino Tour, Brunch @ Sadelle's, Cirque du Soleil

 

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Aboard the World's Tallest Observation Wheel

Move over Singapore Flyer.  At 550 feet, the High Roller is the world's highest observation wheel as of this writing.  I remember a decade ago, when we hopped at the London Eye at the bank of the River Thames,  it was the record holder.  In a couple of years, a new one will take the stage as they keep on building higher and higher Ferris wheels.  

Let's go up, up and away!

Autumn Harvest at the Bellagio Conservatory

Back at the Conservatory to see the talking tree, the pumpkins, the animated squirrels eating acorns and the Autumn flowers.

Blog and snapshots from our first visit here

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill

Another favorite celebrity chef - Iron Chef Bobby Flay.  We're here to get a taste of his Southwestern cuisine.

On the table..

• Roasted Corn Soup

• Tiger Shrimp Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale

• Spicy Chicken + Sweet Potato Hash

• Ancho Chile - Honey Glazed Salmon

• Cocktail Drinks

Cheers!

Le Rêve - The Dream

A visual masterpiece! The lighting, the talented acrobats flying through the air and diving into the water from unbelievable heights, the incredible stage that can transform from a pool to a multi-platform tower,  the red-heeled synchronized swimmers, the choreography, the magic tricks. 

Oh, what an impressive show from start to finish!

Dessert at Terrace Pointe Cafe at Wynn

Caramelized banana, ice cream trifecta, toasted almonds and chocolate sauce on a waffle bowl. I'm a happy camper!

Wynn's Whimsical Atrium

At the stunning atrium of the Wynn to see the impressive 20-foot-high hot air balloon created out of more than 50,000 flowers, the animated carousel with white horses and the floral sculptured balls hang from the trees with twinkling lights.

Giada at The Cromwell

Got to meet one of our favorite chefs -- Ms Giada de Laurentiis!

The restaurant was spacious with high ceilings. We passed by the bar and lounge as the hostess walked us to the main dining room to a corner table.  

What we had...

• A bread basket filled focaccia, lemon thyme flatbread and parmesan breadsticks

• Marinated olives with herbs and citrus

• Orzo meatballs with parmesan pomodoro

• Margherita pizza

• Waldorf panzanella

• Baked pasta

 
Hands down it was a delicious brunch and service was top notch.
 

 

The Venetian

Plop, he falls. Then he stands up.  Not a word is heard.  Then he continues running.  He falls again and stands up again.

If you saw a toddler on the loose and a mom running right next to him at The Venetian... that must be us.

The plan was to watch Cirque du Soleil with our friends until we found out that we could not take the Little Guy (below the age limit), so we ended up meeting for dinner at The Venetian.

While husband and friends were still chatting at the restaurant, the Little Guy started to grab stuff on the table, so I excused us. I thought I'd carry him and walk around.  Oh, no no... he wanted to run... so off he ran for like an hour.  I tried to pick him up several times but he cried so loud like he's being kidnapped.  I called the husband, he carried him and we walked around. Had gelato and listened to the Venetian Trio performing at St. Mark's Square.

 

 

A Visit at the Shark's Reef Aquarium

When  you have a toddler in tow, the casino floor is off-limit -- you can walk through it, but you can't stop.  So what to do?  Watch a show?  Under 5 year olds are not allowed in the shows.  Walk on the Strip? It's too hot and I don't think it's a good idea to have a toddler on the loose at the Strip.
 
I was browsing toddler friendly places to visit in Vegas when Shark's Reef Aquarium came up. We have brought the Little Guy to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach when he was eight months (photos here).  But we thought he would enjoy the marine life more now that he is a bit older. So off we drove to Mandalay Bay.  Admission is $18 per adult.

Right by the entrance is a Komodo dragon. Weighing up to 300 pounds and growing up to 10 feet in length, Komodos are the world's largest lizards.

Then there are turtles, and piranhas and stingrays.

And, the sharks.  Different species of sharks from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans-- bamboo sharks, Galapagos sharks, zebra sharks, whitetip & blacktip reef sharks, sandbar sharks, sandtiger sharks among others.
 
Little Guy calls them (fish)  "shish" :-)

Yes -- shish, shish, shish everywhere! We definitely had an awesome time with the shish... big and small.

The Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at Bellagio

To walk off the calories from all the crab legs we devoured, we strolled at the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.  

This year's theme is Autumn Harvest and it just opened a couple of hours ago.  On display were thousands of flowers, pumpkins of different sizes and shapes, a windmill, a 28- feet talking tree with moving eyes, a papa bear & a baby bear and two animated squirrels eating acorns. 

So magical!

Autumn is definitely in the air -- the scent, the colors and the pumpkins.  But once you step outside you realize that Summer continues to linger and warm weather is still upon us.

The Buffet at Bellagio

When in Vegas eat buffet.  

Snow crab legs, king crab legs, pastries and more crab legs! A not-so-heavy eater like me should just eat all crabs in a buffet to get our money’s worth.  Just saying…

The Long Drive

Signed off my work laptop. Packed our stuff. Then we hit the road.  Had to beat the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic when vehicles are moving at a speed of 1 mile an hour or in worst cases not moving at all.

We took I-405 to I-5 to SR-14 on to the Mojave Dessert on a scorching triple-digit weather. Temperature display on the dashboard said, it was 103 degrees outside.  

While looking at the Joshua trees scattered on the side of the road, I wondered… how did the American Indians, the pilgrims and the pioneers crossed this dessert thousands of years ago?

From SR-14 we took I-15.  Then on we drove for hours while the Little Guy, cuddling his toy truck, was snoring in the backseat.  He woke up a few miles before the California-Nevada border.

We stopped by at the Gold Strike to stretch our legs.  Husband went inside the casino, played for about ten minutes and walked away 100 bucks richer. He smiled and said, “told ya, there’s a better chance of winning outside the Strip.”

Then on the road again… Vegas seemed as far off as ever.