What Happens In Vegas.....

So the wedding is now creeping up on us at a break-neck speed, and with the recent stress of a last minute venue change and a bout of bronchitis, a break from reality was sorely needed.  So this past weekend I got just that when my bridesmaids took me to Las Vegas for a bachelorette weekend!

4 of us girls departed late Thursday night, avoiding traffic on the nearly 4 hour drive to the Nevada border from my home in Escondido, CA.  That first night we crashed at the Primm Valley Resort, a cheap, minimal room (only about $50/night) in the "resort" that is attached to the Premium Outlet mall there at the border.  That way we could tumble out of bed Friday morning and head straight to the outlet for a shopping spree.  A few hours and several full shopping bags later, we emerged with outfits for the bridesmaids and various clothes, shoes, & even kitchen gadgets.

From there, Vegas is less than an hour away, so we checked into our hotel on the famous Las Vegas Blvd. "Strip" in the late afternoon.  This was my first time to stay at the Planet Hollywood hotel there, and I was impressed!  Our room was huge, with 2 nice big queen-sized beds and furnishing, and a view of the Strip & Bellagio Fountain!

Fountain Show by Day

Bright Lights of the Strip by Night

After freshening up, we cabbed it out to Chinatown for something a little different from the usual Vegas dinner-fare.  Since we don't have any Malaysian restaurants in San Diego, we decided to check out Island Malaysian.  Between the four of us, we were able to share a few key dishes - roti bread with curry, char kuey tow noodles, mango chicken, okra with shrimp paste, & rice steamed in both coconut milk and chicken broth.  All up to the standards I was used to from my Malaysian friends' home cooking and the restaurants I've tried in LA.

After we were thoroughly stuffed, we cabbed it over to Fremont St to walk around and check out some of their entertainment.  As usual, the area was buzzing with crowds of people enjoying the various laser shows, live bands, street entertainers, and even newly added zipline across the length of the streets.

light show projected on the ceilings, coordinated with music

the force was quite strong throughout Vegas all weekend

the things they have for sale around here.....

The highlight for us girls was when we came upon a booth of sexy Chippendales dancers posing for pictures.  Though we took many more shots, some darn right scandalous, we purchased just one that featured all us girls together.  This is a photo I took of the actual print photo they gave us, but yes the guys are real and not cardboard cut-outs!

After we had our fill of Fremont St., we headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and get ready for some nightlife.  We decided to stay around the Planet Hollywood for that night, and wound up at the Koi Lounge there in the hotel.  The place was tiny though, and we paid $22 each for open bar but weren't able to really get much to drink due to the crowd.  After only a little while there, we left and ended up going our separate ways, all wandering around the casino and various bars for the most part of the night.

The next day, after just a few hours of sleep from wandering around the hotel drunkenly and not winning any money, we walked across the street to the nearby Cosmopolitan hotel.  This is another one of the nicer, newer hotels on the Strip, and their buffet brunch at their Wicked Spoon restaurant has been voted best buffet in Vegas multiple times.  There was a bit of a line to get in, and seems several other bridal parties chose this as their brunch destination because there were several other girls in their matching shirts and tiaras.  One group was even there on a scavenger hunt and asked me if I could pose in a picture with them since they needed to find another bridal party as part of the hunt!  The food was worth the wait though, all very high quality ingredients and beautifully prepared, with something for everyone.  Oh and the dessert selection.... major gourmet stuff that you can't find just anywhere.

My Bride's Tribe

After lunch a couple more friends who were in from San Diego joined us and we made plans for the night.  So after some rest and refreshed-primping for a night out, we headed over to the Rio hotel to have dinner at their 51st floor VooDoo Steak & Rooftop Nightclub.  While waiting on our food, I sipped a pineapple mojito and thoroughly enjoyed the view.  Clear desert night, no cloud in sight, and gorgeous panorama views of the Las Vegas Strip.

The menu was pretty pricy but could be considered worth it for the atmosphere and quality.  A friend and I split a dish called the VOODOO MÉNAGE À TROIS (6 oz. Petite Filet, 6 oz. Cold Water Lobster Tail, Jumbo Shrimp) for $66 since neither of us can eat much, and it turned out to be perfect.

drool-inducing, even just half the dish was plenty!

Too full to even glance at the dessert menu, we headed back downstairs to what else - the Chippendales Showroom! I thought I had enough at Fremont St. the day before, but the girls weren't having none of my excuses.  They have a nice little lounge with a waiting area and bar for you to wait for the show to start, and the showroom is actually smaller than I expected so they can keep the show interactive and close enough for everyone to see.  But seriously?  There are a lot of crazy, hormonal bitches up in there!  Not even a gay guy in sight the day we went, anyways.  Just birthday parties and bachelorette parties for a bunch of excited drunk females!  And their wild energy is absolutely infectious!  As shy and hesitant as I was at first, I was on my feet yelling and clapping along with the rest of them a quarter of the way through.  The show was actually much more entertaining than I had expected, with singing, dancing, and even some laughs.  And yes, plenty of hot, semi-naked guys. I was glad I wasn't one of the audience members called on stage though, I don't think I could've handled that much dongage flying at my face. 

2 hours of man candy was enough, I had my fill for at least a couple years.  The show let out near midnight so we all headed back to VooDoo for some dancing.  And for me, anyways, they were playing the best music!  A lot of my favorite hip-hop and R&B jams from the 90s through today.  Decent crowd and good vibe there up on the 51st floor rooftop.  Wonderful way to end the night. 

We hit the road fairly early the next day so we could avoid the traffic that builds up in LA in the evenings, so we were home by 2 in the afternoon.  As much fun as I had, I was so happy to be home again with Stephen and Kona.  Super huge thanks to Junko for all the driving and putting everything together with all the reservations.  And of course another big thanks to Mija, Marlena, Krista, & Mayra for all pulling me out of my shell and making this such a fun trip.  What happens in Vegas, doesn't just stay there - it winds up on my blog! :)