You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Movies' category.
I met Mel and her friend Moe at Goodtimes on August 9, 2008. It’s a gay nightclub normally. Saturday night is an Industrial night called Vector 21. The music was pretty good. I didn’t recognize any of the music though.
Mel & Moe at Vector 21
Mel & I spotted a guy we knew named Chris. Back in the day, we were on a bbs called MC. We knew him from that bbs. We chatted with him. I invited Joseph (the guy who changed my tire) to join us as well. He arrived shortly after with his friend Omar. I was watching a Japanese movie the club was playing on the tv. It was rather humorous to me. The movie is titled The Machine Girl. The main character lost her arm. Later, she installed a machine gun where her lost arm was. She kept killing people. The movie would show the person’s head come off and blood splurted out like a fountain. I just thought it was too funny. I knew the first time that we met Joseph that he liked my cousin Charisse. I know they’ve been hanging out lately. He told me that Charisse encouraged him to go out with me and my friends. I knew that from an e-mail she wrote to me. He said that he finds that very weird. He’s never had a girl encourage him to go out. I said what do you mean. He said I guess it’s because of insecurities. I didn’t figure out what he meant. I asked him if he liked Charisse. He said I like her more than that. I asked Oh, does she know this? He said Yes. I said are you guys together? He said Yes. He didn’t say that they were an item to Charisse.. but when it works out, then both people just know. I didn’t know any of this. I think they look cute together. Joseph is a sweet guy. There was a good number of people in the club. It wasn’t crowded though. Mel really wanted to dance. Mel, Moe, me and Joseph started dancing. The music was actually upbeat industrial and goth music. I was enjoying myself. I kept watching the movie and laughing at it while I was dancing. Joseph said that maybe we should check out Diablo. It’s a goth night over at the gay nightclub Flex. I asked Mel if she wanted to head over there. We couldn’t decide what to do. Mel brought up that we should go to Freezone. The club plays a mix of regular music. Joseph’s friend called him and said that Flex was dead. I told Mel we should go to Freezone (another gay nightclub). Joseph and Omar wanted to stay at Vector 21.
Mel, Moe, Chris and I drove to Freezone. The area where Freezone is called the Fruit Loop since there’s 3 gay nightclubs, one gay bar and a gay bookstore in that area. It was so crowded in all the parking lots. We drove down the street and found a spot in a strip mall. The bouncer checked our id and told us there was a 2 drink minimum. We went inside to get a drink. I bought a rum and coke for me and a water for Mel. We all went on the dance floor to dance. There was a ledge where we could put our drinks. Chris was getting drinks and roaming around the club. Mel, me and Moe were dancing. The music was alright at first. It was a mix of hip hip and top 40 music. Then the DJ started playing Latin music, which I didn’t like. I told Mel how would they track the 2 drink minimum with a club filled with people. A waitress came over and asked if we wanted a drink. We said we didn’t need one. She told us that there is a two drink minimum. We said we already bought our two drinks. We were dancing even more. Then, the bouncer comes over to Moe and says he wants to talk to him outside. Mel and I said to each other what the heck is going on. We went outside to find out what was happening. The bouncer said that we didn’t buy our 2 minimum drink. He said Moe was kicked out because he didn’t buy anything. Mel said we did buy drinks. He said he was watching us and he KNOWS that Moe didn’t buy anything. Mel said can’t we just buy more drinks then. He said no, he can’t come back in. He said Mel and I could stay. Moe seemed mad about it. They wanted to leave. I told Mel that I would tell Chris that we were leaving. I was mad about it. Why were they watching us like hawks? Now, I know how they track the 2 drink minimum. Were they singling us out for some reason? I told Mel we should check out the Double Down Saloon since it was crowded outside earlier. I was mad and saying those rascist mother f’ers as we crossed the street to the Double Down Saloon. I just don’t know why they would kick Moe out. Mel and Moe didn’t really seem that mad. Mel didn’t understand since she’s been there previously and nothing like that has happened before. I’ll never go back to Freezone.
The guy at the door of the Double Down said there’s one more band and they would start in a few minutes. I asked Mel if she ever tried Ass Juice. Mel said she’s never had Ass Juicie. I said You’ve never had Ass Juice and you’ve been to the Double Down? Ass Juice is an original drink at the Double Down. I couldn’t remember what it tasted like. I asked the bartender what was in it. But, he said he couldn’t tell me the ingredients. I asked What does it taste like? He said it’s sweet. We each had one. It was very sweet and it had a kick to it! The band was called No Nothing Party. I think it was the sound setup. I could not understand what the singer was saying at all. I didn’t really care for their music. We stayed for a little while just listening. The Double Down is a kewl bar with artwork on all the walls even the ceiling. At one point, there was a couple dancing to the music. Somehow, the girl fell into a mike stand and fell on the floor. I wanted to go home because I was tired.
It was a good night. I wished we stayed at the goth club where the music was good.
I met Alisa and her sister Beazus at Stratosphere on July 24th at 11 pm. It was Beazus’ birthday.
We were going to the nightclub Polly Esther’s. Alisa’s sister was in town for a few days. I invited Charisse. I told her to bring a friend if she wanted to. She was running late, as usual, since she had to pick up Victoria. Alisa had a friend who had a hookup with the club. Charisse told me she invited Joseph and he was going to be there soon. So, I thought we were going to get in for free and the wristband (for the $40 all you can drink for the whole night). Alisa met up with her friend (I forgot her name) and she had a friend with her. Alisa’s friend had a friend at the door so he waved us in. I told him my cousin Charisse and her friend were coming as well. He said it’s fine for her to come in for free. We went inside. I love the Brady Bunch display where you can be Alice in the middle square.
Alisa’s friend was talking to her friend about the wristbands. We went to get money for the wristbands since we would have to pay. We figured we’d get one $40 wristband and then just buy drinks for the other people. We go back inside the club. It turns out the wristband was going to be $20 each and we had to buy five of them since we told them how people we had in our party. Joseph (the guy who changed my tire) met us at the club with his friend. He was going to buy one wristband. I was a little peeved because I thought it would be free or we’d only have to buy one. The guy who was selling it was being a jerk. Alisa kept apologizing. I know it wasn’t her fault since she didn’t know. I was just mad at the situation. We find out that we only have to buy two wristbands since Joseph bought one. Alisa and I bought one. So, Charisse finally arrived with Victoria. We told them that we’d buy them drinks and they could just pay the tip for each drink. We were at the bar waiting to get served. The lady at the bar ignored us and kept helping all the men. I was mad. I said just coz we’re not a guy, this stupid lady (I know I said something more colorful haha) isn’t serving us right away. I was in a bad mood. It was great to finally have a drink. I got a Blue Hawaiian. I just needed to relax.
We danced a lot. It was a mix of pop, hip hop, 80’s and rock. The DJ was playing some good songs. Beazus met a cute guy and they were chatting all night. Victoria also met an Irish guy. It was a great night. Alisa, Charisse, Beazus and Victoria are all so fun. Alisa’s friend was so standoffish all night. She looked really manly in her shirt. Charisse had a hat on. Random people kept wearing her hat.
Charisse & an Australian guy wearing her hat
I kept trying to take the hat back. I was thinking I hope she doesn’t get lice. Hahaha. Charisse was trying to find Victoria outside of the club. Joseph and I went to meet her. We were thinking about getting some breakfast. It was 4 am in the morning. We went to the Stratosphere cafe. Thank goodness for 24 hour cafes. I invited Alisa and her sister to go. Beazus actually needed to get to the airport by 5 am. Charisse, Joseph and I went to the cafe. We were waiting for Victoria and the Irish guy to come. We weren’t sure if they would make it or not. We were just chatting and trying to decide what to order. Victoria and the Irish guy arrived. I ordered some pancakes and bacon. I was craving some bacon for some reason. We had a great time chatting about life. Joseph really likes to talk. He had some great, interesting stories to tell. The food was really good. I didn’t get home until 6 am.
I met up with my friend Robert on July 25th to have dinner and go watch a movie. I hadn’t seen him since October 2007. We met at the Cannery Casino & Hotel. We at the the Italian restaurant called Vino’s Ristorante and Deli. We chatted and got caught up with each other’s lives. We both ordered the Chicken Vesuvio. It was so tasty! We hurried to get our tickets for X-files: I Want to Believe. Originally, we were going to watch The Dark Knight at the Imax. But, I forgot to buy tickets early and the theatre was sold out. I liked the movie. It had a good plot and some action. I think I missed some stuff because I was confused on Mulder and Scully’s relationship. Robert thought there would be aliens. I wanted a spooky movie, but it was a little twisted.
I went to Alisa and Jay’s house for a BBQ on Sunday, July 26th. I got to meet Alisa’s dad and her parents-in-law. There was also her friends and Jay’s friends there. We were watching great shows on the Travel Channel. It reminded me how I’d love to see the Angel Falls sometime in Venezuela. The food was really good. There was a great 3 layer dip with chips. There was also beef ribs and burgers. I ate so much food. It’s great to hang out to chill and chat about life.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer
Here’s the new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer. I can’t wait!! I wish it was coming out sooner!!
Also, there’s a Harry Potter Fairy Tales book coming out. I wish it was a Harry Potter novel. It’s called The Tales of Beedle The Bard: A Wizard Classic from the World of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. You can pre-order it here
Ivan and I went to Company American Bistro at The Luxor on May 28th. The manager and the hostess promised that it would be no more than 20 minutes for a table. It was slow in the restaurant but it seemed that they were short on help. We went to the lounge area to sit and checked out the menu. Ivan went to the bar to order us drinks. He wanted this Banana drink but they ran out of bananas. I had the Company Perk and Ivan got the Pomegranate Martini. The bartender, Jade made the wrong drink. Ivan told her this and she said sorry and made the right one. Then she handed us the bill. Ivan noticed that there was sales tax on the check. He complained to the bartender. She said I don’t know, I just typed it in. The receipt even says on the bottom that Sales Tax is Included on Alcoholic Beverages. She tried to argue about this. Then she told the manager that Ivan didn’t understand the bill. He told the manager and he fixed it. I don’t know if the bartender was just stupid or trying to get a bigger tip out of it. She got no tip for making the wrong drink and not putting the right amount on the bill. We kept waiting 10 minutes for the table. Ivan went to ask about the status of the table. They said it would be even longer. Ivan said why did you promise me that it would be no less than 20 minutes if that wasn’t the case? The manager (the one who fixed the drink price at the bar) said that she would never promise something. So, right there he was caught in a lie.. coz he promised earlier that we would be seated in 20 minutes or less. If he said you might be seated in 20 minutes, that would have been acceptable. But, when you promise something and then it doesn’t come true.. I think there’s need for an apology. But, nooo the manager picked up the phone and called Security saying that Ivan was irate and making a big scene. He said to Ivan Well now it’s going to be 30 minutes wait. I don’t know but he might have been mad since we stiffed the waitress out of her tip. Well, it’s her own fault for being greedy or maybe just plain dumb. Three Security Guards came. Ivan talked to them. The guy he talked to understood.. and really didn’t care. We left there.. hungry and annoyed. We walked to Mandalay Bay to find something to eat.
We ended up going to eat at Mix at TheHotel in Mandalay Bay. This was our second visit to this cool restaurant. It’s a lounge and restaurant on the 64th floor. In the restaurant part, there’s this big glass sculpture that spans a huge big area in the middle of the dining room. It’s really cool looking. We ordered the Spicy Crab Salad for the appetizer. It’s a cold salad with mango, cucumber and papaya. It was a good mixture of flavors. Next, we shared the Free Range Chicken. It came with two portions of chicken on top of farro and some great sauce. It was so delicious! I wish that it came with more farro and the sauce. It never seems to be enough when you get a chicken dish. We ordered two desserts.
Almond & Mixed Berry Napoleon
We had the Almond and Mixed Berry Napoleon and the Strawberry Composition “Frasier”. Wow, they were both delicious and creamy. I really enjoyed the Napoleon.
Strawberry Composition “Frasier”
They also brought over hazelnut in a small cup with fresh out of the oven little pastries. It was really tasty as well. This was an awesome meal.
Ivan and me at the restaurant Mix
After dinner, we wanted to have a drink at the balcony. It has an amazing view of the Las Vegas Strip. The area with the tables was closed to bottle service only.
Strip view from Mix
So, we headed downstairs. We walked to Red Square. We were thinking of getting a drink but decided not to. Red Square has some nice decorations in the restaurant. The bar is made out of ice.. well not the whole thing but the main strip at the top of the bar… where you place your drinks when you’re seated at the bar. We headed home to get some rest.
We went to go see the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Thursday, May 29th. I really enjoyed the movie. It was interesting practically the whole time. It had a nice story and lots of action. The ending was a bit weird. It was a good movie.
We walked to Todai to have dinner. This is our favorite sushi buffet in town. It’s reasonable in price and the food is so fresh. They have tons of sushi, chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, noodles, crab legs, fried rice, fruit, crepes, and cute little desserts. I ate so much. It was a good dinner.
Ivan and I went to Daniel Boulud Brasserie at the Wynn Hotel on Thursday, May 8th. The view was beautiful on the balcony. We could see the waterfall at the Lake of Dreams. We ordered from the Prix Fixe Menu that contains three courses. Ivan got the Chilled English Pea Soup while I got the Caesar Salad for our appetizers. Ivan ordered the Salmon with Mushrooms for his main dish. I got the Chicken Poullis. The dish came with two drum sticks and two chicken breasts that were so tender. For dessert, Ivan got the Warm Pear Clafoutis. I got the Chocolate Hazelnut Fondant It was really rich chocolate. Each dessert dish was average. It was a nice meal in a cool setting.
We went to the Hard Rock open bar at the pool on May 9th. It was an event with Eek-A-Mouse. We stood in the long line to get a drink. It was filled with a lot of people. We walked around the pool area to check it out. There wasn’t much going on, so we left to get some dinner.
Ivan and I wanted to eat at Firefly but there was a long wait. Ivan suggested Marrakech which is in the same shopping center. It’s a Moroccan restaurant. The bread came out first.
This restaurant has belly dancers dancing to great music. The girls were twirling around and dancing around the room. I don’t know how they move their belly that fast. The first course was Shrimp Scampi in lemon, wine and garlic sauce. The sauce was great with the shrimp and bread. Ivan didn’t like the shrimp. We got Harira Soup next, a traditional lentil soup. Ivan ate the soup. We received the Hummus with vegetables. It had onions, cooked carrots, red beats, cucumbers and red peppers. We got a tasty Shrimp Kabob next.
The Main course was a Cornish Game Hen with Cous Cous. It was a pretty big dish. Our dessert was B’stilla. It’s a huge filo dough pastry filled with nuts, sugar and fruit. It’s topped with sugar and cinnamon. It tasted so good. We were also served a sweet Moroccan mint tea with our dessert. The tea had a great flavor. It was a great meal.
Ivan and I went to see Yellow Brick Road at the Boulder Station. The band played great. They performed songs from different rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Rush, Aerosmith, Queen & David Bowie. We saw the first half of the show and then went home.
We went to my niece Anissa’s 6th birthday party on May 10th. It was at the Little Pastry Chefs place. It’s where kids can create cakes, cookies and pizzas. Her classmates, sister, and cousins were there creating different things. Ivan wanted to make stuff, so he helped out my niece Maria.
The first thing they created was small pepperoni pizzas. Ivan saw pictures where the kids wore chef’s hats.
He looked around the place and found a hat to wear. Later, my brother saw an apron and told Ivan he should wear it. I guess it completed his chef’s outfit!
Then, they were practicing using frosting to make pictures and decorations. The kids each got a cake and were allowed to decorate it. The kids all got to keep their cake and take it home with them. It was a fun time.
Ivan and I went to Tao Beach on May 11th. We met up with two Polish couchsurfers. It’s always nice to chill out here. It was only a little busy. They have a big jacuzzi there. It’s great sitting and talking. I was reading a travel book and Ivan read a magazine. We chilled for a little while. But, we were both hungry so we decided to leave to get some food.
We went to Grand Lux Cafe for dinner. Ivan ordered the Seared Rare Ahi Tuna Salad. I got the Portofino Chicken Salad. My salad was really good with chicken breast, glazed walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, red onions and different types of lettuce mixed in the House Vinaigrette.
Ivan and I went to Salo Salo Grill on May 12th with my family. We were celebrating Mother’s Day. We had some great food such as Crispy Pata, barbeque chicken, noodles, egg rolls, Chicken and Beef BBQ, Inihaw na Hito (grilled catfish) and Korean BBQ Beef Shortribs.
Ivan booked tickets for Nathan Burton. His show is usually at 4 pm, but it was 8 pm on this night. It turned out to be Press Night. We saw lots of celebrities there such as Lance Burton, Robin Leach, Penn, Criss Angel, Mac King, Wee Man, and the girls from the X Burlesque show. This is a good comedy magic show. The last trick made somebody appeared behind a curtain. It turned out to be Emmanuel Lewis (who’s an actor who starres as Webster in the 1980’s).
We went to Kung Fu Restaurant on May 13th. We ordered our usual appetizer, the always tasty Fish Cakes. Our main dish was the Sweetened Green Curry with Chicken. The service was pretty fast on this night.
We went to go see the movie What Happens in Vegas. This movie starrs Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Joy is dumped by her fiance while Jack loses his job. They both fly to Las Vegas with one of their friends. Joy and Jack meet each other in Vegas. They have a fun night out. They end up get married during their drunken night. Jack wins a huge jackpot with Joy’s quarter. You can not win a progressive jackpot with only one quarter. They’re back in New York a judge orders that they should try to live together and work it out. The person who doesn’t cooperate will not get their share of the money. It shows all the dirty things they do to try to sabotage the other person. The movie was good.
I met Ivan at Wet Republic after work on May 14th. This is the new adult pool located at the MGM Grand. The main pool is pretty big. They also have a medium sized pool that has a volleyball net. Then on the side there’s two narrow jacuzzis. The pool is filled with salt water. Ivan had been previously and knew there was speakers in the pool. So, if you went underwater you can hear the music. That’s pretty kewl. We shared the Kung Pao wrap dish. It was a decent size. The dish came with shrimp with bean sprouts, peanut sauce, mushrooms, lettuce and wraps. They recently added really big speakers. The music sounded distorted. We swam around for a little while then headed home.
That night we went to Rao’s at Caesars Palace for the second time. The first time the food was really good. So, we both were looking forward to a good meal. We wanted a booth so we waited at the bar. Ivan ordered us two pear martinis. They tasted really good. We were seated at the booth. The area is nice with pictures of celebrities on the wall. Ivan and I shared the Mini Ravioli Soup. It was horrible. The broth tasted like water and the raviolis were supposed to have three different cheeses inside. The raviolis didn’t have much of a taste and you could barely taste any cheese. Ivan complained and it was complimentary. Our main course was Uncle Vincent’s Famous Lemon Chicken. I’m not sure why this dish is famous. It was actually quite ordinary. It was part of a chicken with lemon sauce. We decided to order dessert since we were still hungry. We got the Crostata di Mele which is a Granny Smith apple tart. The dish was sweet and tasted good. We were very disappointed with the food.
Ivan and I went to my brother-in-law’s sister’s wedding shower on Saturday, May 17th. His sister Rosemary is getting married next month. It was being held at my sister and my brother-in-law’s house. It was a pretty hot day. There was so much food there such as tempura shrimp, noodles, rice, chicken bbq, chicken fingers, pork BBQ, vegetable eggrolls, fruit and chips. I ate too much chicken bbq since I haven’t had it in awhile. The backyard is really big and it has a playset for the kids with a climbing area, slide, money bars and swings. Ivan and I played with my nieces and one of the little girls at the party. We both went down the slide. I climbed up on the play set. We were pushing the girls on the swing. Ivan was helping the girls with staying on the monkey bars. I was swinging high on the swing trying to go higher than my niece Maya. We had fun at the party. We had to leave early since we were going to see O at the Bellagio.
We went to see “O” show. It’s a Cirque du Soleil production. It was the only Cirque show that Ivan hadn’t seen in Las Vegas. So, he was looking forward to seeing it. The show was decent. I found it really amazing the first time I saw it. But, that was years ago when I’d only seen a few shows including Mystere. I didn’t think it was spectacular this time around. Ivan was bored during the whole performance. He thought it was crap. It’s odd to know that this show still sells out weeks in advance.
For a late dinner, Ivan and I went to Casa di Amore. It’s an old school Italian restaurant located a few minutes off the Strip. There was entertainment there with George Bugatti singing and playing the keyboard. He was pretty good. We started off with two appetizers Roasted Peppers and Sauteed Mushrooms. Each dish tasted good. The waiter kept singing the songs when he brought the food to the table. We ordered the Chicken Francaise. It’s chicken with sauteed mushrooms, garlic and a lemon sauce. The main course dish was delicious. This is a cool restaurant with great food.
We headed to Michelle’s Graduation BBQ Party on May 18th. Michelle graduated from UNLV majoring in Advertising. Some of her friends, family and family friends were there. There was
good food to eat like burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, fruit and vegetables. Ivan and I put on our bathing suits and went in the pool. The pool is five and a half feet deep. So, I couldn’t stand up in the middle of the pool. The pool was a good temperature. We had a few drinks. We chatted with everybody for awhile. Then Ivan hypnotized two girls. One of the girls got distracted though. Joel’s girlfriend April was hypnotized but she was really shy. She didn’t seem to want to talk at all. It was still amusing though. We had a great time at the party.
We were planning on eating at N9NE at The Palms on May 19th. But, unfortunately the restaurant didn’t have an opening until late. So, Ivan suggested we go eat at Simon restaurant at Palms Place. This is the new restaurant by Kerry Simon. The bread basket had some awesome breads. It had a few crackers. There was a cheese cracker which so tasty. Also, there was a nice garlic roll. Ivan got a Zen drink and I got the Watermelon Martini. Both drinks tasted nice and were refreshing. We got the Colossal Crabcake for an appetizer. It was crunchy on the outside and had big chunks of crab inside. It tasted good. Our main course was the salmon topped with pineapples with couscous and a mango sauce. It was delicious. We got a side order of sauteed mushrooms. It was the best sauteed mushrooms I’ve ever had with a taste of garlic. We ordered dessert. The waiter suggested the Dark Chocolate Cake with caramel. It was a little cake with chocolate and caramel inside. This cake was heavenly. The waiter also brought us a complimentary bowl of cotton candy. This was a wonderful meal.
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.
We stopped by to eat at 24/Seven Cafe at the Palms Hotel on Thursday, March 22nd. We shared the Kung Pao Chicken and an Asian Chicken Salad. They both tasted really good. Next, we went to see the movie Funny Games. It’s a thriller. A family is tortured by two gentlemen who make them do disturbing things in order to stay alive. It’s a messed up movie. It was very tense throughout the movie since you weren’t sure what could happen next. If you want to see a twisted thriller.. go watch it.
On March 21st, we had two Austrian couchsurfers staying with us. We took Julie and Kathy to Dos Caminos in the Palazzo. We all shared the Guacamole. It’s certainly the best guacamole I’ve ever had. It’s has fresh ingredients and it’s just so creamy. Mmmm! Ivan and I shared the Cazuela De Queso Fundido with Roasted garlic, artichoke hearts and spinach. You just pile the fundido onto a tortilla and eat it. It’s quite good. Then we had the Roasted Plantain Empanadas. It was tasty. We had two red Sangrias. We shared the Grilled Shrimp Quesadilla. This dish had shrimp, cheese, and spices on a tortilla. It was fried.. wow, it was a delicious entree. The girls went to see La Reve. Ivan and I chilled at Blush inside the Wynn. It was an open bar event for an hour so we had a few drinks. It was nice since they weren’t being strict about people sitting at the VIP tables. We met the girls after their show. We stopped by Diablo’s Cantina at Monte Carlo. We met my cousin Charisse and her friends there. We had a Strawberry Margarita. There’s a balcony on the second floor of Diablo’s. There’s a dancing area and lots of couches to sit at. You can also sit at the bar. It’s really loud here. They play mostly r&b, rap and pop. I don’t really enjoy all the music. The margaritas are really good at Diablo’s.
We went to the pool in the afternoon on Saturday, March 22nd. We swam a bit and then laid out by the pool. It was a little chilly at times since there was a breeze. There was a lot of people at the pool. The jacuzzi was packed. There was only a few people actually in the big pool.
That night, Ivan and I went to Trattoria del Lupo at the Mandalay Bay. The appetizer dish we had was the Roasted Peppers and White Anchovies. It comes with bruschetta and you put the red and yellow peppers and anchovies on top. I don’t like anchovies.. but it’s great with only the peppers. We shared a Marinara Pizza. This had a nice marinara sauce with cheese. We also had another dish the Atlantic Salmon. The salmon was perfectly cooked. I loved it since it was crunchy on top. It was accompanied by spinach and roasted potatoes.
After dinner, we headed to the Events Center to see Fergie. She sang a few of her songs, some Black Eyed Peas songs and a bunch of covers. She sings alright.. but she still looks like a man to me. We left early to head to karaoke.
We met Michelle and Clark and their friends at Kelley’s Pub. Ivan sang “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” with Michelle and Joel. It was quite funny. My friend Alisa came too. Karaoke is always fun. We have some drinks, sing, and laugh. Ivan and I went up to sing “How Much is that Doggy” in the Window? Ivan sang while I did the barking sounds. I didn’t want to do it at first.. but it was actually fun doing the dog sounds. I like listening to people sing.. it’s always funny when they can’t sing. I hate hearing the country music. I just make funny faces during the country songs. Ivan was getting tired so we were going to leave. I told the host Lesley that we would be making an exit. She said we could sing our last song next if we wanted. So, we decided to sing. We sang Sonny and Cher’s I Got You Babe. But, Ivan did the Cher part and I did Sonny’s.
Ivan took a stage hypnosis class this last weekend (March 6-8). So, he invited me to go to three Dirty: Hypnosis Unleashed shows (Thursday-Saturday) with him. I enjoy going to hypnosis shows. Even if I’ve been to the hypnosis show before, it’s never the same show twice. The hypnotist may do the same things.. but there’s always new people and everybody reacts differently. The only complaint I have is the small venue. It’s not set-up for a hypnosis show. So, it’s hard to get a good seat. We saw Michael Johns on Thursday and Friday. He likes to tell funny jokes and call the volunteers rock stars.
I woke up about 5am on Friday, March 7th with a painful leg cramp. I had to massage it, but it still hurt. I had to go get ready for work so I didn’t get a chance to massage it much. I was limping a little at work. I went down some stairs and that would hurt as well. I haven’t had a bad leg cramp in years. I was reading up on it.. and I should drink more water and stretch my muscles more.
Ivan and I had dinner that night at Ah Sin at the Paris Hotel. We had a dragon roll sushi and lettuce wraps to start off with. Then we shared the vietnamese glass noodles and Thai chicken entrees. The Thai Chicken was pretty good. The Vietenamese glass noodles were bland. We did have a nice view outside of the Bellagio fountains though. After dinner, we walked to the Bellagio for gelato. We watched the fountains again while eating our delicious gelato. My favorite show is with the song Con Te Partiro (Time to Say Goodbye) sung by Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman. I didn’t mention before how high the water goes. The water jets can go up to 240 feet. It looks like the same height as the Bellagio building. I’ve seen it numerous times, but it’s still amazing, beautiful and romantic.
We saw the Hypnosis Unleashed show again on March 8th. This time it was Terry Stokes performing. He’s very funny. He does different bits with individuals or in pairs. I like seeing the individuals and pair parts since it’s usually people who are very hypnotized After the show, Ivan and I went to meet my friend Alisa and her husband Jay at Tommy Rockers. It was really loud in this bar. There was a live band playing. It was nice seeing Alisa again. I hadn’t seen her since December.
We went to the Mega Bubble Show in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood on March 9th. The show is Fan Yang creating a variety of bubbles. He created big bubble structures and bubbles inside a big bubble. He would invite kids up on stage and put a big bubble around them. I liked when they had smoke rings flying in the air and he would attach a small bubble to the smoke ring. At one point, the whole theater was filled with bubbles. This is a good unique show that’s suitable for kids.
For dinner we went to Diego at the MGM Grand Hotel. We started off with the guacamole. A guy created it tableside. We also got salsa which included mild, medium and hot. It also came with three types of salt. The mole salt was the best. Ivan and I shared the Ensalada de Verduras Asadas. It’s a salad with squash, mushrooms, dried tomatoes and black beans. Ivan really enjoyed the salad. I thought it was a weird mixture of ingredients. My main course was the Pollo al Horno con Mole. Wow! The mole sauce was really good. It tasted great all mixed together with the rice, little fried onions and the chicken.
We were planning to see a movie. We had plenty of time to waste. So, we walked over to the New York, New York Hotel across the street. We ended up at the Nine Fine Irishmen bar. Ivan ordered two Magners Irish Cider. It was smooth and had a great fruity flavor. Good stuff! It certainly gave me a nice buzz.
Ivan and I went to see the movie The Bank Job. This is based on a true story that happened in 1971. Terry (played by Jason Statham) was convinced by an old friend Martine to rob a bank in London. She has information that the bank’s vault won’t have an alarm for a week. This was a great action movie with some twists to the plot. I must have really enjoyed the movie since I dreamt that Ivan and I were robbing a bank.
Ivan and I agreed that we would both go on stage at the Dr. Scott Lewis hypnosis show. I wonder if Ivan picked this show since one of the smallest theaters for hypnosis shows. I’ve been on two stage shows and hypnotized numerous times by Ivan. Ivan had never been hypnotized before. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to be hypnotized. So, we went to the show at the Riviera on March 10th. We both went on stage. It was a good, funny show. Ivan seemed to be hypnotized and was pretty funny on stage. I haven’t been hypnotized on stage in awhile.
We went to go eat at Fellini’s inside the Stratosphere Hotel on March 11th. We shared the Fellini Salad with Raspberry Vinagrette, pine nuts and raspberries… It was so good! We didn’t get napkins or knives. The food was taking forever to come out. Ivan complained and the host said it would be out in 4 minutes. Our waiter said it was coming out. I know it was busy, but nobody even came over to say sorry. I had the Three Cheese Pizza. My pizza was creamy with mozzarella, ricotta and romano cheese. Ivan ordered the Chicken Parmigiana. He enjoyed it. The food and atmosphere was good.. but the service was bad.
Oh February 25, 2008 we watched Saw IV. I’ve enjoyed watching the Saw series. Ivan had watched this one before. He told me I MUST read up on the first three Saw movies to remember all the things that happened. Saw IV is just as disturbing as the previous films. It had a lot of information regarding the past movies. It takes place during Saw III. I didn’t get confused but it was a bunch of information to process. It really helped reading about the movies to refresh my memory.
On Tuesday, Feb. 26, Ivan and I went to go eat at Nove Italiano at The Palms hotel. We had a big appetizer with the Lobster pizza. It had so much arugula on it. It was really tasty and bigger than the waiter said. We shared some Cheese Ravioli as well. Next, we went to the Moon nightclub to go see Paul Oakenfold. This was our fourth time seeing Oakenfold. He’s just awesome to see. The kewlest thing about Moon is that the ceiling retracts and you can see the sky above. It was great feeling the fresh air while dancing hard to great house music. We had a great time.
We went to go check out Marriage can be Murder on February 28th. It plays at the Four Queens Hotel downtown. I’ve never been to a murder mystery dinner before. The show includes a three-course meal. Basically, there’s murders that happen throughout the show and you have to figure out the motives of each murder. The hostess, Mimi, keeps the show going. There’s opportunity to mingle with the other guests and learn more about people. It’s fun looking at other people and thinking that they look suspicious. I was never good at the board game Clue, so I knew I didn’t have a chance at solving this murder. The dinner consisted of a salad, chicken shish-kabob with rice and a chocolate cake for dessert. The show was good and fun.
The weekend was relatively slow since Ivan had his hypnosis classes. I watched the first two Harry Potter movies since it was Harry Potter weekend on the ABC Family channel. I love watching Harry Potter! I opened one of my birthday gifts early that I got from Violet. It was Super Milk Chan Volume 2. This anime is just so silly and funny. I didn’t know that the DVDs have a few different voice actors than the Adult Swim version. It’s very similiar and still makes me laugh. I have yet to watch the Japanese version with the subtitles. I’m sure the Japanese humor will be different.
We went to see two matches at the Tennis Channel Open on Monday, March 3rd. Ivan picked the front row seats. We didn’t know that the court was actually really small. The first match was Ginepri against Malisse. This was a good match since it was a close match. They also had a lot of rallies. It was a cold night. Ivan let me wear his jacket. He also bought a big blanket so we’d be warm during the second match. The next match we saw was Hewitt versus Safin. Hewitt is a strong player and beat Safin pretty fast. It’s exciting watching tennis since there’s lots of action.
Ivan took me to The Country Club Grill at the Wynn on my birthday, March 4th. It has a gorgeous view of the golf course and the waterfall. Ivan had the Free Range Chicken Palliard. I had a huge tasty Angus Beef Burger. We were going to see the Mega Bubble Show. But, unfortunately the guy was sick so it was canceled for the day. That night, we met my family at Salo Salo Grill. It’s a Filipino restaurant. We had a lot of food like Pancit, chicken shish-kabobs, Crispy Pata, Sinampalukang Manok (Chicken Soup), eggrolls and deep fried fish.
We went to the new Mexican restaurant Dos Caminos in The Palazzo on March 5th. We started off with the Guacamole with tortilla chips. What a treat! It was so creamy and fresh. We got the appetizer Cazuela De Queso Fundido (cheese fondue Mexican style) with wild mushrooms, huitlacoche and fresh epazote. It’s served with warm tortillas and you pile on the cheese fondue. It’s really good. Then the main course we shared the Avocado Leaf Crusted Big Eye Tuna. It was good. It came with rice that had a nice papaya salsa on top. Oh yah.. the drinks – we got a white and a red sangria. The red sangria was better.. more flavorful with a kick to it. The restaurant is huge inside with cool and unique decorations.
I haven’t posted much lately. Ivan was gone for 2 and half weeks. He went to England, Finland and Estonia. He did some dog sledding, snow mobiling and skiing. It was really lonely in the condo without him. Thank goodness I got to talk to him through Skype. I was able to catch up on Bleach episodes.. watch Derren Brown’s Trick or Treat, a few Fawlty Towers episodes, some Penn & Teller Bullshit! episodes, most of the Witch Hunter Robin series, and Extras second season. I didn’t go out much. I got sick for a week. That was bad. We have a roommate Michael, but I kept to myself while Ivan was gone. I don’t think I could live by myself.. it gets too quiet for me.
On Friday February 22nd, Ivan and I went to Satay to go eat. We started off with our usual appetizers Chicken Satay and Roti Canai. I love that Roti Canai. The bread is just so good with the curry dipping sauce. Ivan had the Char Kueh Teow for his main course. I had the Malaysian Chicken Curry. It was a yellow curry with chicken and potatoes. It was a bit spicy and tasted great. I really love curry now. Years ago, I had curry at a Thai restaurant with my friend Violet. I didn’t like the dish and didn’t have curry for years. I was telling Ivan that I didn’t like curry. He thought that was absurd since there’s so many types of curry. So, I tried some.. and now I love it! I’ve tried red, green and yellow curry so far. I can’t wait to try more!
I went to go see Inland Empire today. It’s a filmed written and directed by David Lynch. I’ve been a David Lynch fan since Twin Peaks. He always has weird films that sometimes don’t make sense. This was definitely one that confused me. It’s about an actress Nikki Grace, played by Laura Dern, who gets a part in a movie. Co-star Devon Berk (Justin Theroux) and Nikki find out that the film, On High in Blue Tomorrows is actually a re-make of a movie. The original Polish movie called 47 was never finished because the two main stars were murdered. Nikki starts to get confused at one point and doesn’t realize she’s reading lines from a script. I got real confused when they were showing all the things from the movie. I wasn’t sure if it was just Nikki going insane. I guess she was deeply getting into her part throughout the filming. All sorts of weird things happen.. and I really wasn’t sure what to make of them. The final scene of the movie is played and then I realized it was all the scenes from the movie. This movie was a really strange movie. It was almost 3 hours long and didn’t have a coherent storyline. I couldn’t make any sense of it all. I think if you’re a die-hard Lynch fan, go see it.. but maybe go read this page, if you want to figure it all out.
