Gringo Tour 08/09 - Part 14

After the oversized lunch - we headed through the Venetian - thinking - is this the biggest casino in Vegas?? However we were mistaken as we walked through both the Venetian and its sister Casino - the Palazzo.

Our next stop was the Wynn Hotel and the Encore Hotel - which looked like an exact replica of the Wynn. Both felt pretty upmarket and were probably the closest thing to "classy" (without a K) that we had seen on the strip.

The weather started to turn and it was getting on in the day so we decided to head home. The weather got so bad in places - we had to take shelter in the Mirage Casino (former home of Siegfried and Roy - those wacky magician and lion tamer double act... and luvers...I think it was Roy who was attacked by a lion or something - and then the hotel axed the show). There was a tacky huge statue out the front of the hotel to honor Siegfried and Roy (with a tiger in the middle)... Klass. There was some dolphin exhibit in the hotel - but you almost got drowned by the torrential rain - so we gave that a miss.

We managed to make it back to the hotel (my umbrella almost didn't make it) - and we chilled for a bit. We had a bit of a wicked idea to do the Luxor's Buffet for dinner (as it was Xmas night and they were putting on a special xmas spread at $20-something a head plus a glass of champagne). Although we realised that the buffet was closed after 10pm after we rocked up about 9:30pm (latino dinner time) and there was a massive queue to get in. We both decided to give it a miss and attempt to go to the Excalibur Buffet instead (which was a bit cheaper). The Excalibur all you can eat buffet was a bit cheap and nasty - where quantity overruled quality. There was a pretty diverse set of food (everything from mexican to roasts to pasta to chinese food with toxic looking purple sauce (ungodly I tells ya) - all reminded Ant of College food at Uni. It was a little bizzare that you were expected to tip at a buffet (stewpid US minimum wage for everything!) but the woman who served us was pretty friendly so we didn't mind too much.

After dinner - we headed downstairs to the Excalibur sideshow game alley thingy - where all the games were crooked and nothing is what is seems to be... We had a go at a "spray water in a hole to make your ship win a race" game - where I was sure I had won it... but it was totally rigged and some little 7 year old winning it instead (despite the fact that I had continually sprayed water into the hole for the whole time - never missed - and my boat looked ahead of the little brat's). Grrr... But Ant had a bit of a revenge at a "throwing darts at balloons" game where he won a small teddy bear. I had a go at a "magnetic fishing game thingy" and won a mutated orange bear. I think we had both done enough gambling for one night.

We wanted to go out clubbing on a Xmas Night (as you do in Vegas) and the only gay club we could find on the net was one called "Krave" which was next to the Planet Hollywood hotel midway down the strip. We arrived at after midnight and you couldn't really make out of any of the club from the outside. Ant and I did our trademark patented "we are shy and will just stand around for 10 minutes before we enter the club" routine - then we finally decided we will take the plunge and go in. The cover charge initially seemed steep ($15USD) - but then we soon realised that it was all you can drink local beers and wines for the night... Yay. Xmas has finally arrived.

The club itself was a bit reminiscent of the old "Med" club in Canberra (which was like the Blue Oyster in the Police Academy movies) and Cube mixed up into one... eg - sort of lame. We were told by locals that normally the club is twice the size - but it was in a fairly cramped space with a stage with go-go dancers who occasionally popped out - but shamefully there were no poles! The DJ was a bit odd - he played a few songs more than once (Beyonce's Single Lady and Britney's Womanizer were a couple of examples) but then he went into this weird gangster rap mode for about an hour which cleared the floor... The crowd was a bit mixed too - there were these bizzare (what appeared to be straight group) who kept taking pictures of themselves (who brings cameras to nightclubs??... losers!) and we befriended a few people including a group of Swedish engineers working in San Diego taking a break in Las Vegas over Xmas, a couple from Florida and a couple of friends from Texas. After they started to charge for drinks at the bar - the club cleared out. I had jumped up onto the empty stage and started to convort around the place like Nomi Malone and then was told off by the woman bouncer who said sternly "Don' do that again!". Not to worry because Ant and I then left the club... not wanting to stick around.

I took a pitstop at the Golden Arches (and ordered a happy meal) - where we met up with the Texan couple. One was the son of the guy who invented white board markers - so he was pretty set (in terms of $$). His friend seemed equally as reeech... We had a bit of an insider joke where we would scream out "The Mac Ribs are Back!!!" (as that what the posters at the counter stated) which startled most guests at Mc Donald's. I also played a trick where I locked one of the entrances to Mc Donalds. I was quite shocked that the people working there put up with us - but they get paid so little and probably don't care too much about the restaurant or business...

We decided to follow the Texans to the MGM Grand (which has a lion cage thingy in the middle of the casino - would someone call PETA!) - where one of them proceeded to bet $500USD worth of chips on the Blackjack table. Although I don't gamble - it was really exciting to watch at the table. Because you have to be over 21 to gamble/drink/have fun/breath around gambling tables in Nevada - we all got carded before the started the game. Jordan (the guy gambling the $$) did quite well to begin with then started to flake. He managed to get out at $500 so he was even for the night...

Anyhows - by that time (5am) - it was time for some beauty sleep... Until next time...