June 24-27 2005 : Las Vegas, Nevada


DAY 1


Papa, Mama and I flew to Las Vegas this weekend. It's my second time in Las Vegas, the first time being my trip with Mama, my Lolas, and Tita Sam in January 2005. This time, Mama will be reuniting with her grade school classmates in Las Vegas, some of whom she hasn't seen in almost 20 years. Her account of the reunion can be found here.


Living in our new home in Louisville has its perks, among them is having a huge airport where a direct flight to Las Vegas is available (via Southwest). Yipee! No lay-overs!

This was taken by a very nice man who volunteered to take our picture. We sure were glad he was on this flight, and not just to take our picture. I'll tell you why in a while.


It was a fun plane ride because the Southwest crew were really entertaining! Normally, when the safety rules are being recited over the PA system, no one actually pays any attention. But who could ever ignore this flight attendant's (FA's) entertaining recitation:


FA explaining the emergency exits: There are 1000 ways to leave your lover, but only 6 ways out of this airplane.


FA explaning the No Smoking rule: As you all know, this is a non-smoking flight. But for the sake of our smoking guests we have made some exceptions. If any of you wish to have a smoke, you may do so at any time. All we ask is that you please step outside.


FA on questions: If you have any questions regarding the safety and security features of this aircraft, please do not hesitate to ask any of the flight crew. If we don't know the answer, we will do our best to make up one for you.


FA on the PA system as the plane touched down (turbulently, i might add) on the Las Vegas airport landing strip, until it slowly taxied down the runway: Whoa, big boy, easy easy (as if calming a raging stallion). Tokotok-tokotok-tokotok-tokotok (FA making horse trotting sounds as the airplane was slowing down).


Papa, despite his nervousness (on the turbulence) couldn't help but laugh.


Anyway, aside from the funny cabin crew and the turbulent flight, the flight also became interesting because halfway towards Las Vegas, an FA inquired quite urgently over the PA if there was a doctor on board. Apparently, an old lady was having a diabetic attack! Our nice photographer guy suddenly stood up. He was a doctor, pala! Needless to say, we arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule because they wanted to turn the lady over to the paramedics waiting at the airport ASAP.


One thing about Las Vegas that day, it was soooooo hot! When we arrived, it was about 100+ degrees. Whew! We couldn't wait to get to our hotel.


Oui oui, gay Paris!


We stayed here at the Paris Hotel. Such a pretty hotel! Also, being located at the center strip, it was very accessible to everything. Unfortunately, they gave us a bad room. The key wouldn't open the door! Oh mama was so mad (she was crankier than I was). The hotel manager game us another room instead. Well, at least we got a bigger room! Still no view, though. They were charging an extra $60 for view. Duh! Haha!


After successfully checking in, we walked to the nearest McDonalds and had "merienda". After all, we just had some biscuits and peanuts on the plane (cheap airfare, can't expect a gourmet lunch). Tummies finally full, we walked the down the strip and proceeded to Bellagio so we can watch the dancing fountains.


On route to Bellagio, this is me and Mama and the Aladdin hotel behind us. (We stayed there on our first Las Vegas trip! Ahh memories :D)


The dancing Bellagio fountains! Nice!


Papa and me after the fountain show.


This time, with Mama naman.


At around 830pm, we proceeded to meet with Mama's friends at Todai restaurant. Despite paying $29.99/tummy, for my Mama, seeing her friends again was priceless!


Photo taken with Tito Jonathan's (third from left) camerafone.


After dinner, mama's friends babysat me at our hotel room while papa met with his long-time friend, Tita Winnie and her husband, Tito Jao, downstairs at the casino.


Meanwhile, mama and her friends caught up with the kwento, while I made my rounds meeting each and everyone of them, my favorite being Tito Jhay!


It's already way past my bedtime but I have to be part of this momentous occasion! Besides, they need someone cute in the picture! (Btw, Tito Jhay is the tall guy in grey.)


Finally, it's bedtime for me!


DAY 2


Breakfast! La Creperie, where else? They boasted of the best crepes this side of the hemisphere. I had to try it!

Yes, they were right. The crepes were excellente!


Everybody met for lunch at the Fantasy Market Buffet at the The Palms Hotel (the hotel, according to chismis, was bought by Pamela Anderson). The buffet here is cheaper but just so-so yummy for me.

Just enjoying my kanin and lumpia with Papa and Mama.


Mama's friends decided to go to the new Wynn Hotel. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go with them because we had to pick up our rental car at the airport. Tito Arvin and Tita Judith drove us there.


We needed a rental car because Papa planned some extra activites before leaving Las Vegas on Monday. I'll tell you more about it later.


We caught up with Mama's friends at Bellagio and had our pictures taken. Bellagio is really a beautiful hotel, both outside and inside!

At the courtyard, Bellagio had a replica of the Liberty Bell, the original being in Philadelphia. They also had a giant eagle which was impressive, as well as a nest of baby eagles (which actually scared me).

This is me, hot and cranky!


Bellagio's lobby ceiling was decorated with beautiful glass flowers! Ganda!

Tito Jonathan took this picture from beneath us.


Because it was sooo hot, everybody accepted Tito Jonathan's invitation to hang out at their house. Pool party!! Unfortunately, mama was not able to prepare for this so Papa and I didn't have a bathing suit! Well, that didn't stop me. I went in my nappies! Don't panic, I changed! But I have to tell you, it got really heavy after a while, hehe.

Here I am, playing with Tita Ayee. My papa looks so inggit that I am swimming hehehe.

When we get home, I want a pool! I want one just like this!


That night, Mama went out clubbing with her friends at Club Rio. This time, Papa babysat me.

Party people!


Unfortunately, I gave Papa a hard time because I chose tonight to have LBM, hehehe! Papa and I spent the night changing nappies every 30 minutes. Maybe it was the boiled rice at Palms? On her way home, Mama dropped by at Walgreens to get some Pedialyte.


Finally, my tummy quieting, I fell into a nice deep sleep.


DAY 3


We woke up early to go to mass. Afterwards, we met with my mama's friends again to have their goodbye lunch at Aloha restaurant.

Bye everyone! Nice meeting you all!


Before parting ways, they decided to drop by at the nearest Outlet Store for some shopping. Tito Jhay and Tito Jeng, and Tita Judith and Tito Arvin went ahead because they had a long drive ahead of them. What's next? Frapuccino break! Yehey!

What?? No cofee for me?? It's unfair!!


Tita Bambi, Tito Abner, and Tita Teenah were all waiting for their evening flights. To pass the time, Tito Jonathan brought us to the Las Vegas World of Coke and the M&M Place.

The last people to leave.


As it turns out, Tito Jonathan used to work at the World of Coke, so he treated us to giant Coke floats!! Yummy!! It shows in our pictures that our tummies were happy!

World of Coca-cola Entrance!

Las Vegas, Coke style!

Hey, it's this guy again!


As night ended, and friends parted, Las Vegas fulfilled a lot of our dreams.


But the night wasn't over yet!


For dinner, this time we met with Papa's friend, Tita Winnie and her husband Tito Jao, at Ah Sin, an Asian restaurant located at our hotel in Paris. Mama said it was yummy! (I wouldn't know, I slept all throughout dinner and dessert).




Wow, Tita Winnie is so tall!




That's me, sleeping! (Good thing, Papa and Tita Winnie are seated in this picture, hehe).


Tomorrow would be our last day. As I fall into bed, I look forward to our plans for tomorrow... more pasyal!



Continued here

May 28-30 2005: Chicago, Illinois


We just got back from Papa's work in Knoxville, TN at 1am that Saturday morning. After about 6 hours of sleep, nothing, not even lack of sleep, could stop us from driving to Chicago for the long weekend. We have been planning this trip for a few months already and, since Memorial Weekend was the nearest long holiday, we decided to finally go.


We stayed at The Courtyard (Marriot) in Wood Dale, which is about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. It's quite far, yes, but its also cheaper (hehe) and definitely more relaxing than being in the busy downtown area. Also, our room was really really nice and had free high speed internet! Yey!



Lovin' the Marriot!


After checking in, we drove ourselves to the Navy Pier.



Entrance to the Navy Pier. Papa had to stop the traffic so we could take this picture, hehe!



Now that's a skyline!


Papa nearly had a heart attack when he found out how much the parking fee at the Pier cost: $22! Here's a tip. It's better to park outside the Pier grounds, preferably somewhere in downtown along the trolley route. There are public parking garages which will charge a maximum of $14 a day, definitely less expensive than at the Pier, plus, the trolley ride is free! Anyways...


We parked near the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows which gave us the opportunity to browse around and take some pictures. Btw, admission is free!



Just a bit of history.



Wow, how intricate!


We then walked to the Food Court to have a quick McDonald's lunch. What's different about this McDonald's store is, it features hourly laser light shows, videos and electronic gadgets that were really fascinating! There's also a retail store that sells McDonald's novelty items and clothing. Also, it's the first time Mama allowed me to eat my first McDonald's hamburger! Mama almost never allows me to eat fast food, so I was really happy to actually have my first happy meal which included a Crash Bandicut happy meal toy! Yipee! :D


After lunch, we went up the the second level where we lined up to ride the world famous Navy Pier Ferris Wheel.



It doesn't look too scary from down here.


For a charge of $5 each for Papa and Mama (kids like me could ride for free!), we were able to view the magnificent Chicago skyline, as well as Lake Michigan from the top of the wheel. Great great great experience!



Top of the world!


Aside fromt the Ferris Wheel, there are other rides at this level of the Pier such as the Wave Swinger, Miniature Golf, Cliff Climb, and the Musical Carousel.



Carousels make Mama dizzy and me scared. It's harmless as a background, though, so here we are!


Down below were some attractions for the older kids like the Funhouse Maze and Time Escape. Over to the entrance of the Pier was the Chicago Children's Museum. Mama wanted to take me there but the Museum closed as soon as we got there. Sayang!


We strolled along the Pier and took more pictures.



Anchored!


We also watched some magicians and jugglers perform on-stage. Mama and Papa enjoyed themselves while I people-watched and ran around as free as the gulls on the harbor.


In honor of Memorial Day and the Pier's 10th year anniversary, a Fireworks Show was scheduled for that night. What better way to enjoy the fireworks display than on a boat over at Lake Michigan? We reserved a boat trip for 9pm that night with Anita Dee.



Trying to find my sea legs.


The quiet waves, though, rocked me to sleep in my Mama's arms as soon as Anita 1 hit the water. I was sooo tired! It was a good thing, though, because Papa and Mama took the time to serenely revere the beauty of it all, without my constant likot.



A perfect night.


And so ends our first day in Chicago.


~~~


After hearing mass the following day, Papa drove us around downtown in search of the famous "Barrio Fiesta", a Filipino buffet restaurant that Mama ate at once when she worked in Chicago for a while. After getting lost a couple of times, we finally asked directions from Panciteria Mabuhay over at N. Central Ave. (tel. no. (773) 7368426). To my Papa's disappointment, and no wonder we kept missing it, we learned that Barrio Fiesta has been closed for some time now. We were directed, instead, to Ruby's Restaurant at Montrose avenue, which was a relatively newer Pinoy buffet resturant that the former Barrio Fiesta patrons now go to. We found it easily enough and Papa was so happy! Mama was too dyahe to take pictures so we didn't have any souvenirs that we ate there, except for our happy tummies. For $6.95 plus tax per person, we got our fill of kare-kare, lechon kawali, pinakbet, pancit bihon, dinuguan, ginataang munggo and palitaw for dessert. Yummy!!! Mama was so busog and slightly amazed at the thought of where the owners found the right ingredients for all these authentic food! :D


Now that we have recharged, we headed on over to the Sears Tower to visit the Skydeck.



Picture first, view later.


However, Papa decided that we should go back later because the line entering the building was so long that it extended around the block!! We were told that it would take about 3-4 hours wait to reach the skydeck from there. Mama would gladly fall in line if it were a roller coaster ride, but since we did not want to waste our precious time, we decided to take a walk along Jackson Street to the Union Station and take pictures.



Behind us is the old Union Station.



Union Station from another angle.


Seeing no improvements upon our return to Sears Tower, we instead inquired with the Double Decker Bus company (just in front of Sears Tower) about taking a ride around the city. Instead of paying $25 per head to ride the bus, we ingeniously followed the bus in our car! Haha! We were able to drive through the theater district, the shops, offices, and landmarks without spending a cent. That was our main advantage. For another, we had the luxury of being able to stop at a site longer, whereas the bus only stops while the recorded tour voice shares the important information. We would wait until the next bus comes in, and follow that one to the next stop. The disadvantages are, sometimes, we don't even know what we are supposed to be looking at/for! That was funny! We also had to find our own parking space, and there's really not a lot of that. Good thing it was a Sunday and parking on the streets of downtown was free! Also, the buses come at different intervals so we lost some time waiting.


When we got tired of following the rear end of the bus, Papa decided to stop at the new Chicago Millenium Park, as both Papa and Mama have never been there before. (The park is actually located right across the Philippine Consulate). Unfortunately, we couldn't get any parking space. I guess, all of the people of Chicago decided to spend their afternoon there and at Sears Tower like us, hehe. After getting too frustrated, we decided to forgo the Park and drive to the United Center instead. Anyway, we can come back to it later on our way to the Skydeck.


By the way, it's not Chicago unless you take a picture here (mama was so excited!):



Harpo! Hello Tita Oprah!


We accidentally stumbled upon Tita Oprah's studio on the way. Mama wanted to get tickets to the show beforehand but Papa wasn't interested. What if we won a car or something?!


Moving on, we arrived at the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks. It's Papa's turn to get all excited.



The United Center.



Jordan's long lost twin.


Being on the Sports Mode and all, we then decided to drive to Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Fortunately (for the fans) and unfortunately (for us), there was a game going on and we got stuck in really heavy traffic! And so, we said goodbye to our hopes of seeing Wrigley and just drove ourselves back to Sears (yet again!). This time, we decided to line up (how ever long it took) and make the Skydeck our last trip for the day because we were all so tired. For $12 (me, free again!), we were able to view a short film on Seeing Chicago from the Top, and then was able to finally (finally!) go up to the top deck.



The 3-foot expert Chicago tour guide.



Mama is not afraid of heights at all!



Looking through Papa's eyes.


Mama and Papa allowed me to run around the deck this time and I had so much fun! Up there, there was an exhibit about the people and things that best showed-off the city. The bottom part of the exhibits were interactive things for kids like me. This is Mama's fave 'kalokohan' of mine:



Cracker Jack beckoned me. I thought he wanted to make 'apir' with me, so I indulged him. Needless to say, I cracked Mama up!


And so, our second day ends. But not before we had some Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Not just any pizza, but Gino's East (the original, is always dabest, so they say), as seen on the Amazing Race.



The harmless-looking pizza box.


Mama clearly instructed Papa to order a Small pizza, Papa said 'but i'm hungry na', so Medium it is (and mama shrugs one 'bahala ka' to Papa). As soon as Papa had the pizza in his hands, in a sudden flash of realization, he wondered desperately how he could possibly fit a 4 pound pizza inside our tummies. Yes, the pizza itself weighed like four huge pounds, it was so heavy! (but yummy!)


Have a look see... yes, we still had some left for breakfast.



Ang makamandag na pizza.


~~


It's our last day in Chicago and there were only two activities planned for the day.


Plan 1: Visit Kuya Jason


Papa's nephew, Kuya Jason, lives in the Chicago area so we visited him. I looked forward to this meeting because I would finally be able to meet my niece, Jamille. Yes folks, I have a niece who is actually 8 days younger than me! We had so much fun playing and eating lumpiang shanghai together that I didn't want to leave. She's so cute, she takes after me! :D



My favorite Chicago moment: being with Jamille.


Plan 2: Shopping!


Question: where is the best place to go for shopping in Chicago?
Answer: The Magnificent Mile


I bought a swimsuit from the Disney Store, and Mama bought a new bracelet for her watch at Neiman Marcus, and Papa cried from the gastos.


We also dropped by the American Girl Place, which sold the most beautiful dolls, books, clothes, accessories, and furniture! They even sell clothes that would match you and your doll. They also have a theater, but we didn't go to see it because we didn't have much time to spare. It was such a fun place! However, I was not able to convince my Papa and Mama to get a doll for me because Mama said I was too young and would not be able to take care of my doll very well (and besides, she said I'm not American girl, hehe!). Maybe I'll just ask Santa to get me one this Christmas!


Before we left the Mile, we took some more pictures of the other famous landmarks along the strip, such as:



The Water Tower



The Water Tower Place, which housed two big department stores: Lord and Taylor, and Marshall Fields.



And finally, the John Hancock Center, which is second to the Sears Tower in dominating the Chicago Skyline.


This ends our weekend getaway in Chicago. It was such a good experience being here. I'm sure we will be back soon!