Plain Can Be Lovely

I’ve been meaning to recap my trip to Vegas for a while now. There was no running involved with this trip (though we were training for the Disneyland Half at the time and brought our running stuff just in case). Who were we kidding though? We were in Vegas! So instead, this post has a lot of food. Brace yourself.

Anyway, last year Dan and I celebrated my birthday in Vegas. The first time we went to Vegas in 2008, we explored the entire strip and also took a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. This time around our trip was a little different. Without the pressures of having to see everything, we were determined to eat everything we could, relax and enjoy. I had also recently upgraded to an iPhone and learned how to make my own music videos, so this trip was the first of many vacation music videos. We had a lot of fun finding different places to film and dance around to “Feel So Close” by Calvin Harris.

I kept telling Dan I didn’t remember seeing this at the airport last time. Then we found out that we had landed in the new terminal.

My birthday started with a breakfast buffet at Treasure Island, where we were staying. I was really fond of the omelette bar.

Afterwards we lounged about at the pool where I had a pina colada. It was the perfect start to my birthday.

After changing we headed out and after some exploring went to the Lotus of Siam. It’s located in a strip mall but I had read that it was named best Thai restaurant in Vegas by Gourmet Magazine, so I had to try it. The food was amazing. It had just the right amount of spice and the flavours were fresh and delicious. The scallops were perfectly cooked and probably my favourite dish at the restaurant.

tom yum gong

Seared scallops topped with home made Thai chilli and fresh basil.

garlic prawn

This restaurant was in the same strip mall. We had to get a picture and since the Olympics were on, Dan did the Bolt.

Next we hopped into another cab and went down to Freemont Street. I should add that it was really hot in Vegas that summer. It was so hot that people who live in Vegas were telling us that it was hot (I think we were averaging more than 40C every day). I thought about doing the zip line but it was so hot that we decided to take a walk and check out The Golden Nugget instead.

Hanging out with Vegas Vic

The Hand of Faith golden nugget in the Golden Nugget.

After exploring Freemont Street, we caught another cab and went up to Stratosphere Tower. We have a thing for visiting tall buildings and towers on vacation. There are a bunch of rides that you can ride at the top of the tower (outside) but I wasn’t interested. First of all, it’s really high and you end up dangling in places and secondly, it was ridiculously hot out.

One of the many views from Stratosphere Tower.

Stratosphere Tower

After finishing at Stratosphere Tower we went to celebrate my birthday with dinner and the Cirque du Soleil show Ka. The first time we went to Vegas I desperately wanted to see Ka, but it wasn’t showing on any of the nights that we were in town, so it wasn’t meant to be. This time it all worked in my favour.

First we had dinner at Diego. The atmosphere was great, our server was attentive and excellent, but the food was ok. I loved the appetizers and the table side guacamole but the rest of the meal was pretty forgettable. It wasn’t terrible. It just wasn’t memorable.

Table side guacamole made by Trina. The salsa and chips were excellent and so was my mango mojito.

I had the beef short ribs braised in New Mexico Chile with Red Bean Maneados and Crispy Potatoes. I can’t remember what Dan had. It was good but not memorable.

After stuffing ourselves we went to the show. I loved the atmosphere in the lobby.

Cirque performers were above us playing instruments as we walked in.

I’ve seen four Cirque shows now and Ka is definitely my favourite. We were lucky and got upgraded to better seats. The cast of Ka was incredibly talented and the stage (made up of moving platforms) was breathtaking. It was amazing to see the physicality and beauty of the Ka performers, and I loved the storyline. I would definitely see Ka again.

Walking up the strip after Ka

On our way back to our hotel we stopped to admire the world’s biggest chocolate fountain in the Bellagio and eat ice cream. Dan had pistachio ice cream and I had the oreo ice cream.

The next day we had breakfast, went to the pool and then went to pick up our tickets for our next Cirque show, Love.

Dan at breakfast the next day.

We couldn’t resist.

Another thing I had always wanted to do was visit the famous Las Vegas sign. We battled the heat to get to it.

We took the monorail. The station had water/mist spraying out to help cool us off.

Armed with a huge bottle of cold water we walked over and had our picture taken with the famous sign. I love the back of the sign too.

My weather app agreed that it was pretty hot.

That night we had the most amazing dinner at Alize, the beautiful restaurant at the top of the Palms Hotel.

Gorgeous views from Alize. We could also see the balcony pools!

In honour of what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday they had a special 7 course dinner. We decided to do the dinner and just made one substitution. The dinner was one of the best dinners of my life.

First course: smoked salmon parfait, egg yolks capers, buckwheat blini, creme fraiche

Second Course: Foie Gras Terrine, Port-poached Figs, Toasted Brioche

Third Course (non-Julia Childs item): heirloom tomato salad with feta cheese and cantaloupe

Fourth course: sauteed dover sole meuniere

The sun started to set, which added to the atmosphere.

sorbet to cleanse the pallet

Fifth course: Beef rib eye chasseur, potato galette, buttered asparatus

Sixth course: Tete de Moines, Apricot Confiture, Aged Balsamic vingegar, Date Bread

We seriously loved the view. This is the best way to dine in Vegas.

An extra pre-dessert dessert because the chef felt like it. Panna cotta with a balsamic vinegrette foam and cherries. Like everything else, it was delicious.

Seventh course: Grand Marniere Souffle

dessert pecans to end the night

My mouth is watering thinking about this meal. I will definitely go back to Alize the next time we’re in Vegas. In fact, I’d be willing to plan our next trip around a reservation to this restaurant. After dinner, we saw the Cirque show Love, which is based around the music of The Beatles. I love The Beatles and the show was very beautiful.

The next day started with another big breakfast.

I have my game face on for breakfast.

On our way back from the pool I played a Ghostbusters slot machine (because I love Ghostbusters) and I won $75! I knew Ghostbusters was the way to go.

Who’re you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

We had a buffet lunch at the Bellagio. Dan said they have the best buffet in Vegas and it didn’t disappoint. I also had all you can drink mimosas. I love mimosas.

A sampling of what we ate at the Bellagio buffet

beautiful Bellagio

After lunch we did some shopping and saw David Copperfield. His show was a lot of fun (and also pretty funny). We also went to the M&Ms store, which is always a highlight for me.

Red and I reenacting the picture of Dan and I with the sign.

And with that our Vegas trip was over. I have to say, I was really impressed with the new terminal in the airport.

The gates in the new terminal at Vegas show the flight number, the destination and a picture of the destination! I’m easily impressed.

There was a little bit of running on this trip, even if I didn’t actually do any running. I got to watch the men’s marathon for the Olympics on the plane on the way home! That’s something right?

I watched the men’s Olympic marathon on the plane.

Next up, my Disneyland Half Marathon recap!