Jen’s Thoughts

Week #277 of the fun Meme.

I say … and you think … ?

1. Concentration :: Focus
2. Relocated :: Moved
3. Clot :: Blood
4. Joints :: Achy
5. Satellite :: TV
6. Money back :: Taxes
7. Kittens :: Underworld
8. Shady :: Slim
9. Drain :: Deplete
10. Stroke :: Hair

I blogged previously about the Freezemont Experience. Ivan and I did the Improv Everywhere event a few weeks ago. Basically, right after the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas, over 150 people stood frozen for two minutes. It was kewl staying frozen for two minutes. But, it was definitely a long two minutes! My mouth was slightly open and I had to close it at one point hehe. Here’s a video with us in it.. we’re at the 16 seconds mark. It’s only the back of us though. There’s a Las Vegas group called Scene City Improv that announces all the missions. Hopefully, I’ll get to check out other missions.

Frozen Fremont Street Experience - Las Vegas Freeze

Week #276 of the fun Meme.

I say … and you think … ?

1. Track :: And Field
2. Snake :: Boa Constrictor
3. Assignment :: School
4. Blockbuster :: Movie
5. Bombastic :: Pompous
6. Adventure :: Fun
7. First time :: Visitor
8. Aged :: Cheese
9. Grip :: Tight
10. Shortcut :: Keyboard

Ivan, Ivan’s friend Ty and I attended the Dr. Scott Lewis show at Riviera on April 28th. Ivan and Ty went on stage to get hypnotized. Ivan was translating Martian, Riverdancing, being mean to Kelly Karl (Dr. Scott Lewis’ assistant) in the Love Connection game and dancing like a Chippendale. It’s always fun to watch Ivan when he’s hypnotized. He’s just so funny.

Ivan and I went to Kung Fu Plaza Thai & Chinese Restaurant on April 29th. We started off with the Papaya Salad with a Hotness of level 3. The salad was a little spicy. We also got the great Fish Cakes. They tasted similar to the fish cakes at Lotus of Siam. We shared the Sweetened Green Curry with chicken. It was a good portion and had great flavor. We also ordered the Pineapple Fried Rice. Ivan and I were both so full from all the food that we didn’t get to eat much of the Pineapple Fried Rice. It tasted slightly sweet. This restaurant has good cuisine with cheap prices.
Next, we headed to the last part of the Self-Hypnosis class. During the class, people talked about their script that talked about their goal. The scripts that were read were pretty good. John Zulli also walked us through another hypnosis experience. The class was really good. I’m definitely going to try out my script and self-hypnosis to accomplish the goal of losing weight.

We went to the Morels open bar at The Palazzo on April 30th. We had some sweet Lychee Vodka drinks and watched the Sirens show at the TI from the balcony. The dress code was dressy casual, so it seemed like a different crowd than we usually see at the open bar events. We had a couple drinks and I was actually buzzed.
We walked to the Wynn to find a nice restaurant to eat at. Unfortunately, Okada was booked up and the outdoor seating at Morels was closed. So, we walked back to the Palazzo. We ate at the Grand Lux Cafe. Grand Lux is an awesome restaurant. The portions are huge and the food tastes great. We shared the appetizer Vietnamese Chicken Summer Spring Rolls. The spring rolls were very fresh. I got the Pasta with Chicken, Sun dried Tomatoes and Mushrooms for my main course. The combination of the cockscrew pasta with the chicken, mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan cheese was delicious. Ivan ordered the Thai Chicken Pizza. I previously thought the Thai Chicken Pizza sounded odd, but it’s actually good.

Ivan and I went to seeYellow Brick Road at Boulder Station on May 2nd. This band is a Classic Rock Tribute band. That night the band was playing a Pink Floyd Tribute. The band played the whole album of Dark Side of the Moon. They did play other songs from Wish You Were Here, The Wall and Meddle. Yellow Brick Road sounded just like Pink Floyd. It was awesome! When they played Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, they brought out about nine kids to sing the “We Don’t No Education” part. Then at the end of the song, a British gentlemen in a judge outfit came to do the “How can you have any pudding, if you don’t eat your meat?” part. Other songs that they performed were One of These Days, Mother, Run Like Hell, Comfortably Numb, Welcome to the Machine and my favorite Wish You Were Here. We’re going to check them out next Friday to see their regular show.

We went to the Pinball Museum on Saturday, May 3rd. We played pinball for almost an hour. I love the games Family Guy, Wheel of Fortune, Lord of the Rings and Spiderman. I wasn’t having much luck though. I kept losing my balls rather quickly during a few games.
That night, we went to go see <a href=”http://www.pennandteller.com/”>Penn & Teller for the second time at the Rio Hotel. The show had three new parts. I’m still amazed at their magic. It’s great that they show how some of the tricks are done. This show is funny and very entertaining.

Ivan and I went to ride the dune buggies with Sun Buggie Fun Rentals on May 4th. Ivan had a free voucher for a 2 seat buggy for an hour and a half. He told our guide that we wanted to go fast. But, for some reason our buggy was pretty slow. The guide didn’t seem to know where he was going. We were going over mostly rocky areas instead of all sand areas. I kept getting bumped up and down.. and that hurt my butt. It was alright time. We’ve had more fun on previous occasions.

For dinner, we went to Quark’s Bar and Restaurant at Las Vegas Hilton. It won an award on AOL for being one of the Most Unique Restaurants. The atmosphere is cool with the stars and Star Trek ship above the restaurant. Star Trek characters (like Quark) walk around the restaurant. They also play Star Trek episodes with English sub-titles. We both had a soup. I got the Clam Chowder which was really big. Ivan had the Grilled Chicken Khan Sandwich. I had the Photo Torpedo Sandwich (basically an Italian sandwich). Both our sandwiches came with cold pasta salad. The food was average. I’m not sure why it’s one of the most unique restaurants.
After dinner, we drove to see Second City at the Flamingo. This show does sketch comedy. Ivan heard good things about this show. It was not very funny. I laughed maybe a few times. Ivan thought it was really bad.

We went to go eat at Kung Fu Plaza Thai & Chinese Restaurant on Monday, May 5th. We had the Fish Cakes to start off with. Then we ordered the Tom Yum soup with chicken. It was just the right spiciness at a Hotness of 2. We got the Sweetened Green Curry with Chicken again to share. We love the food here. Sometimes the service is a little slow though.
That night we met Michelle at Diablo’s Cantina at Monte Carlo. We ran into my friend Alisa and her husband Jay. We had some good margaritas and a few beers. Their margaritas are really good. The bar was giving away a trip to Cabo San Lucas. Unfortunately, we didn’t win. They had a band playing that was alright. There were so many people there. Another band came on later. They were bad.. it was a heavy metal band. My cousin Charisse met us there too. It was a fun night.

I was really tired on Tuesday, May 6th. I went home to get some sleep after work. I took a long nap for a few hours. We had two French couchsurfers staying with us. They cooked us a late dinner. It was crepes with mushrooms, onions, cheese and meat. They tasted great! We had french bread and a nice salad. We also had a dessert crepe with strawberries and honey.

I have been hypnotized many times by Ivan. I’ve also been on stage at numerous hypnosis shows. At one point, just watching a hypnosis show made me want to close my eyes and be hypnotized. I’m a little better now.. I try to not watch too closely when the hypnotist is doing the induction. Since Ivan has hypnotized me so much.. he doesn’t even have to do an induction on me and I do the suggestions he gives me. I forget my name, can’t see Ivan since he’s invisible or start talking like a Martian. I can’t explain why I get hypnotized without actually getting hypnotized. One time we were at a bar with friends. He made my hand get stuck to my friend Alisa’s leg. I was a little drunk. I was annoyed and I was on the floor trying to pull my hand off her leg. It was quite a funny sight. Alisa just pushed my hand off her leg after a few minutes. Sometimes it doesn’t work because I don’t want to be hypnotized at the moment. I don’t understand hypnosis completely. I do know that some people are more suggestible than others. I think since I have a good imagination and I’m able to relax easily, it makes me a good person to hypnotize.

Ivan has taken a few hypnosis classes. I know that if he really wants to, he could create a great hypnosis show. He’s very talented at hypnotizing people. He’s charming and funny. Of course trying to be funny in front of an audience could be a challenge. I’m sure that if he gets enough practice, he’ll be great at it.

Ivan and I went to the second part of the Self-Hypnosis class on April 22nd. Some members of the class talked about their thoughts of the self-hypnosis exercises. I wasn’t the only one who fell asleep during the longer second part. There’s actually two ladies in the class who have never been hypnotized. Last week we were to write down a goal that we wanted to accomplish. This week our homework is to write a script (based upon our goal) that we’ll be reading to ourselves before we hypnotize ourselves. Next week, we’ll be hypnotizing ourselves in class. I have actually hypnotized myself twice before. I like learning more about it. I also like getting an idea of what to say to myself when I’m hypnotizing myself.

Ivan, me, the Manchester girls (Amy & Beth) and Michael went to Todai Sushi on Wednesday, April 23rd. We love this sushi buffet. It has a variety of fresh sushi, crab legs, noodles, shrimp tempura and desserts. We had a good time eating. The girls had never had sushi before. I ate too much as usual.
That night we went to Body English at the Hard Rock Hotel. We love Wednesdays nights at this nightclub since they play house music all night long. There was an open bar, so we got a few vodka drinks. The dance floor was actually busy early. Usually nobody starts dancing until midnight. The first DJ mixed Rocket Man. I kept picturing Stewie from Family Guy being cool saying the lyrics of Rocket Man. Next, Heidi was DJing. She’s plays some cool, unique music. We danced for awhile. I had to go home early since I had to work the next morning. I watched Family Guy when I got home and they played that episode where Stewie recites the lyrics of Rocket Man. How funny!

We met Emily (a French couchsurfer) and Andrea (a local couchsurfer) for the open bar event at the V bar inside The Venetian on April 25th. It was advertised as free cocktails and appetizers. But, it turns out ladies were each given one complimentary drink ticket for a Pomegranate cocktail. If you’re a lady wearing high heels, you would get an extra ticket for every inch of your shoes. We had some egg rolls and a drink. It was taking forever to get served since the bar only had three bartenders working.

We decided to head to Dos Caminos for dinner. We all had the Guacamole. It was so spicy that you couldn’t taste the ingredients as much. Ivan and I shared the Shrimp Empanadas. They were okay, nothing special. We got the great Dos Enchiladas for our main course. It was great as usual.
We all hopped into Andrea’s car to head to our condo. We had a drink and then got ready for the evening. We went to JET at The Mirage. It was really busy, so it’s good that we arrived early. We still had to wait in line for like 20 minutes. Andrea and Emily had met a guy (earlier in the day) who said he could get them in. He gave them wristbands that included free drinks until midnight. When we entered the club, a guy gave us four drink coupons. We had a bunch of drinks and danced for hours.

Ivan and I went to participate in the Freezemont Experience on April 26th. This event was being held downtown in the Fremont Street Experience. Ivan heard about this on the couchsurfing forum. Improv Everywhere has done other similiar events like Food Court Musical, No Shirts and Best Buy. Below is a video highlight of one of their events called Frozen Grand Central.

Frozen Grand Central

A group of people gathered near an area by the Golden Nugget entrance. The plan was to stop moving right after the 8:00 pm show. We were to remain frozen for 5 minutes. Ivan and I froze while holding hands. I was looking upwards at the Fremont Street Experience in wonder. I had my mouth open, which was bad cause my throat was getting dry. It wasn’t too hard not moving. People weren’t sure what was going on. We started moving after the five minutes and people started clapping for us. It was an interesting thing to do. I hope to see the video on youtube soon.
We walked to the Golden Nugget to go eat at the Italian restaurant Grotto. We each got a glass of the Riesling wine. It was really strong and tasted great. Ivan had the roasted garlic chicken pizza. I ordered the Chicken Fettuccine with mushrooms and peas. My dish was tasty with a different type of sauce. Ivan’s pizza was good.
We walked to the Neonopolis theater to go see Harold & Kumar Escape from Guatanemo Bay. The movie takes place after the first movie. Harold is still thinking about Maria. He and Kumar decide to go to Amsterdam so he can find Maria. Unfortunately, they run into trouble on the plane and they’re thought to be terrorists. Harold and Kumar get sent to Guatanemo Bay. All sorts of craziness happen and they escape jail. It’s a funny movie. It’s not as funny as the first one, but it’s still a good movie.

We went to Tao Beach with Emily and Andrea on April 27th. It’s a topless pool area for people 21 years old and older. It was a little busy. We had a frozen lemonade drink and went into the pool. They have a new stupid rule there where you can’t hold your drink in the middle of the pool. So, you can be in the pool at the side and hold your drink or outside of the pool. Emily and Andrea left early since she wanted to see the Paris and Luxor Hotel before she headed to the airport. They have a lot of reserved chairs and tables at Tao Beach. People start leaving around 4 pm and you can get a better seat. The Sunset Sessions starts around 5:30 pm and they start playing nice house music. We moved over to the big round bed area to relax. We read travel guide books and just chilled out. It was nice. The sun always makes me tired. It was annoying my eyes that day.
Later on, Ivan and I went to see the 3 Redneck Tenors at the Luxor Hotel. The show has the redneck tenors singing opera and television songs. It shows their rise to stardom. They do different shows like Wrestling, Disco, Elvis and dressing up as women. It’s a fun show filled with redneck humor and lots of great singing. At one point, they brought out the guitarist Nicholas Marks from America’s Got Talent. The end of show the cast made noises to the song Beethoven’s 5th. It was so funny.

We went to eat at Ra Sushi on April 14th with a French couchsurfer. We started off with our usual the dengaku tofu. It wasn’t as hot and tasty as it usually is. We also got the chicken yakitori for an appetizer. It was okay. We then shared two sushi different rolls. That was really good. We walked to the Venetian after dinner and ordered gelato in the Marks Square. I had the chocolate gelato. It’s so delicious.

Ivan and I went to a Self-Hypnosis class on April 15th. It was the first of three classes. It’s a class from the International Institute of Hypnosis run by Marc Savard and John Zulli. Ivan took two hypnosis courses through the hypnosis school. We saw Marc at the fair and he told us about this class. Marc introduced John Zulli to the class. Marc also talked about his wife. She had two babies under hypnosis. She didn’t feel pain but felt the pressure. She also didn’t have any pain medication when the doctor stitched her up. That’s just amazing! John Zulli taught the class. He’s a natural speaker and he’s funny as well. The class gave us background on the origins of hypnosis. We were also hypnotized as a group. This has been an interesting class so far. We even got homework. We have to write down a goal we want to accomplish. Also, we were given a CD that we have to listen to one part (or both) at least three times.

Ivan and I met my family for my Mom’s Birthday dinner at Food Express on Wednesday, April 16th. It was nice to see all my family. We had lots of good Chinese food including roast duck, sweet and sour chicken, mu shu pork, egg rolls, pot stickers, fried rice, mongolian beef, noodles and fried crab. It was funny seeing all my nieces and nephews playing with Ivan. They kept poking him and hiding. Of course, my brother and sister kept saying leave him alone, but Ivan enjoyed it. He said he was getting a nice massage.

We went to the Bare open bar event on April 17th at The Mirage Hotel. Bare is a topless pool lounge area. It’s a nice area to just relax. There’s one long rectangle pool and then a jacuzzi on the upper level. They had food from the restaurant Stack. There was vegetables with ranch, different cheeses, Chicken BBQ pizza and turkey wraps. The food was alright. We just chilled out and had some drinks.
We walked to the Bellagio. We ate a salmon sandwich and then proceeded to The Bank nightclub. This was our first time at the nightclub. There were tons of empty VIP tables around the dance floor. It was a good night with house music playing. We liked the fact that there was room to dance. Also, the line to the bathroom wasn’t that busy. We danced for a few hours and then took a taxi home.

Ivan and I went to the Bodies exhibition on April 18th. The bodies are preserved through a process called polymer preservation. The exhibit has whole body specimens and organs. It is a bit weird since it makes you see what our bodies look like inside. It’s also educational showing how complex our bodies are. It’s a good exhibit to visit, but it’s a little creepy to see.

We walked across the street to the MGM Grand to see the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The movie is about a guy named Peter. His heart is broken when his girlfriend Sarah Marshall breaks up with him. He decides to get away by taking a vacation in Hawaii, so he can forget about her. But, unfortunately he bumps into Sarah and her new boyfriend. He ends up staying at the same resort. He tries to keep busy by doing different activities. He keeps running into Sarah though. It’s a funny movie.

We went to the Valley of Fire State Park with Vivi (a German couchsurfer) and a local couchsurfer Frannie and her friend Rob on April 19th. We drove around the park and stopped a couple times. It’s really beautiful out there. There are numerous big red rocks. We saw petrified wood as well. The petrified wood was just old wood in the ground.. which is really boring. Ivan and I joked that they were scared wood hehe.

We walked around and saw lots of rocks and climbed some. The weather was in the 80’s.. so it wasn’t too hot outside. We had a good day taking pictures and walking around.
Ivan, me and Vivi went to Nove Italiano for dinner at the Palms Hotel. We started off with Crudo, which is a selection of raw fish like tuna and yellowtail. The Crudo was really small with just four small pieces of fish. Next, we all shared the Chicken Pesto Pizza. It was good. Ivan and I shared the Chicken Marsala. The sauce was really good and it also contained mushrooms, shallots and lemon. The dish was really good.

Ivan, me and Vivi at the Playboy Club

We stopped by the Playboy Club to have a drink. Then, we headed up to Moon nightclub. It was packed in the club. The music was a nice mix of pop, r&b, rock and 80’s music. I still love it when the roof retracts letting in the fresh air and a view of the sky. We didn’t get to see the moon though. It was hot dancing so it’s nice when the air comes in. We had a good time dancing for a couple hours.

Ivan and I chilled by the pool at the condo on Sunday, April 20th. We did some reading and then went inside the jacuzzi. Later, I listened to the first part of the hypnosis CD. It was short and I listened to the whole thing. I decided to give the second part a go. The second part is longer at 27 minutes. I was really relaxed and fell asleep. I woke up and there was no sound playing.
We went to the Lotus of Siam with Vivi and the two Manchester couchsurfers that night. Ivan and I had the tasty Fish cakes (Tod Mun Plar) for an appetizer. Ivan ordered the Tom Yum Kai soup with chicken while I had Tom Yum Kung with shrimp. My soup was a 3 Hotness and it was spicy.. I couldn’t drink all the soup since it was burning my mouth a little. Ivan got the Musaman Curry with chicken. I had the Red Curry with chicken. My dish was a bit spicy and tasted great. The food is always delectable here. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations on the same day. It’s wise to make a reservation since it’s always busy.

Week #273 of the fun Meme.

I say … and you think … ?

1. Questioning :: Inquiring
2. Immunity :: Exemption
3. Online dating :: Match.com
4. Calcium :: Deposits
5. Dressing :: Ranch
6. Bucket :: And Pail
7. Stain :: Grass
8. Advanced :: Technology
9. Dramatic :: Actor
10. Self-medication :: Over-the-counter drugs

Ivan and I went to Ago at the Hard Rock Hotel on Friday, April 11th. There was a special 944 event there. It was slow though since it had just recently started when we arrived. We each had a drink and relaxed by the pool. We were both hungry so we decided to go inside the restaurant to be seated. We ordered a special salad which had arugala, caramelized walnuts and bits of cheese. It was really good but a little too salty. We shared the Trofie alla Genovese. It’s twist pasta with pesto potatoes and green beans. It was really tasty. We also got the Tonno Scottto con Caponata di Verdure. It was two big pieces of ahi tuna on top of an eggplant. The tuna was good.

We drove out to the Clark County Fair in the early afternoon on April 12th. It’s an hour drive to Logandale from the Las Vegas Strip. We noticed a long line for the Logandale freeway exit. I squeezed the car in at the beginning of the line. Otherwise, we’d be sitting there forever. There was still a long wait for miles after getting off the freeway. We later noticed that there was a accident that caused the big delay. We were trying to make it to the fair by 1 pm so we can catch Marc Savard’s first show. Marc Savard is one of Ivan’s hypnosis teachers. Ivan and I both wanted to go on stage to get hypnotized. Marc’s show was family oriented since it’s at the fair. The show was really funny. We saw about half of the first show. We went to check out the food stands. We got some Chinese Food. We each got the dish that came with an eggroll, fried rice, noodles and a chicken shish kabob. It tasted good. Ivan and I both went on stage for the second hypnosis show at 4:30 pm. We ate some roasted pecans and funnel cake. The fair had a variety events like Wild about Monkeys, pie eating contest, small animals display (pigs, roosters, rabbits, goats, etc.), bands, comedy magic and retail booths. I had a gyro for dinner. It was pretty big and tasted good. There was also a carnival. We only rode one ride at night. It made me a little nauseous. We had a good time at the fair.

Ivan and I went to go watch No Country for Old Men in the movie room on Sunday, April 13th. The movie was alright. The ending didn’t make sense to me though. We were both confused on what exactly happened at the end. I really have no clue why this movie won an Oscar for Best Movie.
That night, we went to see Wayne Brady at the Venetian. His show is called Making $#It Up. The name fits since he combines improv, comedy and music into his show. He makes up a song with an audience member. He also pulls out four people from the crowd. The people create props for the scene that Wayne and his friend Jonathan create. Wayne dances, sings and tells jokes. He’s very entertaining and funny.

Ivan and I went to Origin India on Wednesday, April 9th. It’s a small restaurant but has nice decor inside. I thought the menu was pretty. We started off with the Aloo Mattar Tikki. It’s a small dish with two lovely potato patties stuffed with peas. I got the Chicken Haryali Kebab. The chicken is marinated with spinach, mint and coriander sauce. It’s really good. Ivan got the Chicken Makhani. It’s basically a tasty chicken with tomato sauce. This is a good restaurant with delicious food and decent prices.

We went to Dos Caminos for an open bar event on Thursday, April 10th. We had some El Camino Margaritas. The drinks were strong and tasted great. The restaurant was pretty packed. Ivan and I went to sit down to eat. Of course, we got our favorite Guacamole.

We got the Tuna Ceviche for an appetizer. The ceviche was very fresh and light. Our main course was the Dos Enchiladas. Each chicken enchilada contained a different sauce on top. The darker sauce was mole poblano. The Mole Poblano was a little rich but still tasted good. I preferred the Tomatillo Verde sauce. We ordered the Crepes De Cajeta for dessert. The dish came with two warm triangular shaped pistachio crepes with bananas inside. It has vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. It’s a lovely dessert.
Next, we headed to Body English at the Hard Rock Hotel for the Masquerade Ball. Ivan received an invite to the private event. The event was advertising a new drink from Jose Cuervo called Platino. At the door, there were a variety of masks to choose from on a big table. They had zorro type masks for men, masks placed on a stick or masks held with an elastic band. Ivan picked a pretty black and silver mask that had lace on it and feathers attached to the top right side. We both wore the same mask and then went inside.

This was another open bar party. I kept thinking of the episode “Underground Terror” on the anime Big O. The guests were given masks to wear at a masquerade ball. But, unfortunately the mask hurt the person wearing it and made them commit suicide. It was only a little busy inside the club. We kept getting drinks but they didn’t taste good. I really didn’t like the drink with grapefruit in it. They had appetizers on trays, but I was so stuffed from dinner. I wasn’t feeling good. I didn’t feel like drinking much or eating any food. Nobody was dancing. We danced a little and then left shortly after.