Reflections: Sifting Realities

Las Vegas was awesome! KT and I went there for Spring Break. It was our early graduation gift to each other. Some have asked us, why not go after graduation? The reason is because afterwards, we'll be busy with job hunts, which may come with a possible relocation. Plus, we really needed a vacation...like now, not later!

We flew there on a Saturday and got on a shuttle. Since we were staying at the Stratosphere, which was at one end of the Strip, we got to see all the big hotels on the Strip as people were being dropped off. I don't think I've seen such a cluster of hotels of magnificent size before.

The Stratosphere is like...wow! The hotel claimed to have the largest observation deck in the tower of the nation. It sure doesn't feel like that to me. Anyways, the hotel was nice with friendly staff and a plethora of casino games. We liked everything about the hotel (they even provided the "Deaf kit", with a TTY, flashing box to attach to a lamp for the front door, fire alarm, etc.), except two things. Their TV's had limited channels. You had about maybe 10 channels to view and two of them were about how to play certain card games and a "tour" of the Strip. The other thing was that their pool had limited hours. The pool was closed at 6pm. We found this to be a similar closing time of pools in other hotels. That is such a bummer.

Overall, Las Vegas is nice with plenty of things to do. We walked the whole 4 miles of the Strip, almost everyday, and checked out many hotels. Mandalay Bay was just elegant! Luxor was interesting with Egyptian motifs. I just know Rachella would just have a blast here. The Excalibur and Treasure Island were cute hotels. I found MGM to be interesting because it wasn't as nice as everyone, who have been to Las Vegas before, portrayed it. Wynn was elegant as well. New York-New York was eye-catching as there were many things to check out. The Venetian was interesting. Inside, the ceiling was painting to make you feel that you were outside. For a moment, it actually felt real. You could tell Frontier was one of the oldest hotels there, although popular. Circus Circus was cute, although Slots A Fun was cheaper to play.

Tuesday night, we went to see Zumanity, an erotic show by Cirque du Soleil. We were told previously, by a Deafie, that this show was ok. We asked if he had an interpreter and he replied no. We called ahead and got an interpreter. It does make a difference! The show opened with some of the casts interacting with the audience. Dildos were shown. Boobies were flashed. Sexual innuedoes here and there. The people there were just really open about sexuality. One of the cast members came up to us with the interpreter. He saw us and asked if we were together. We replied yes. He then gestured who was the spanker between us. We replied. Then, he said to call him if we wanted him to join us and left. Silly guy. Another cast member came up to me. He was dressed in a really interesting black costume. He had me stroke his leg, covered in tights, and spank his fanny before moving on.

Zumanity is awesome! There were various "episodes" throughout the show. Some of them were mesmerizing. There was one homoerotic episode with a group of men. The focus was really about 2 men in the group. These 2 men were fighting, yet desiring, each other, while the other men were egging them on to take down the other. If you hadn't researched beforehand, you would not know that these 2 men are real-life partners.

You should definitely check it out if you ever get to Las Vegas!

We like the show so much that we wanted to check out another show by the Cirque. We really wanted to see O but that was sold out. We were told that Ka wasn't all that great. So, we bought tickets to Mystere.



Mystere was cool with various acrobatic shows. The costumes were eye-catching. The stage design was really interesting. There was also a homoerotic episode with 2 guys doing "edge of your seat" acrobats with each other.

Overall, it was worth seeing it.

Being in Las Vegas just means you need to be smart about things. It's a good idea to stroll throughout the Strip and become familiar about things and prices. Drinks are free in the casinos...as long as you're playing. Heck, I had been drinking all day, each day. Imagine the amount of money I would've been spending on the amount of drinks I had. I was drinking margaritas for 75 cents. Other people were drinking margaritas between $3.75 to $20, if not more. The reason for this is because they wanted those "foot/yard long" plastic containers for their drinks. I didn't get one because I knew they would end up in the trash. I opted for the 16 oz. lime margaritas for just 3 shiny quarters each.

Oh yeah, Las Vegas has one of the most flexible laws on alcohol. You know that if you were drinking alcohol in public, you'll be arrested. This is not so in LV. I remember when I first saw one person drinking in public, I nudged KT and said that I couldn't believe that this one person had the guts to drink in public. Then, I noticed that everyone else was also drinking in public. People were drinking on the sidewalks, in the malls, everywhere! The same went for smoking. Heck, some of the restrooms had ashtrays next to the urinals and in the stalls. Heck, you could smoke in the malls, which is something you'll never see elsewhere.

Oh yeah, take advantage of the reward/comp program wherever you play games. Each time you play games, you'll be rewarded points. These points can be applied to various "prizes" offered by the casinos in the hotels. We had our meals taken care of for most of the week.

Yeah, we played the slot machines and card games. We won and lost some money. The money won were spent shopping, the Mystere show and of course, more games. It's addicting! Again, it just pays to be smart about games.

We had a grand time in Las Vegas. Already, we need another vacation!
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