vegas recreated.

eating, shopping, gambling, and eating again. spent over $300, consumed over 3000 calories without a doubt.

started with a lunch at a korean bbq restaurant in oakland: yuna, ferris, and I. it was pretty confusing on what we should order. we were ready to do an "all you can you eat" special. but none of the selections for the "all you can eat" offered short ribs. particularly the gal-bi. and even the LA gal-bi. the waitress was annoyingly strict and didn't allow substitutions (even though the restaurant had done so before). so we were left ordering a large combo with every kind of meat possible, which I'm sure serves 4 people minimum, in addition to an additional side order of gal-bi. our own "all you can eat". we finished it all. I was full, and we all smelled of beef and charcoal from grilling the food. too full to eat dessert, we had some of yuna's extra dessert delights chewing gum -- key lime pie and strawberry shortcake. mixed both in my mouth together and it tasted of strawberry limeade. but I then got chewing fatigue and had to spit it out.

it was raining outside, we wanted to chill for a little bit but had no idea what to do. we didn't want to run into anyone because of how we looked and smelled. (I dressed down significantly, knowing the clothes would go straight in the wash afterward.) and we didn't want to walk since it was raining. so yuna suggested the north face outlet. they definitely had some sale going on. some items carried additional discounts, and others had small defects and were heavily discounted. it was kind of a fun game to try to find what was wrong with a particular item.

overall though, this was a bad idea. spent over 200, but I'd argue that it was a good deal, given that I walked away with three jackets. still, I told myself monday, I was going to start saving. FAIL. poor yuna: not only did she spend about 600 between this trip and the one she did the day before buying lot's of heavy coats and jackets, but also she couldn't possibly fit it in her suitcase. she'll probably have to wear it through security and take it off on the plane. 

on the drive back to the peninsula, ferris had a feeling we would win at artichoke joke's playing blackjack. I trusted his gut, so we went in hoping to win $20 each and then walk out. we were set to walk away after a $10 loss. ended up losing only $12.50. they moved so slowly dealing, collecting,counting, and paying out. it was painful. makes me appreciate just how fast they move in vegas.

split aces and got 21 on each hand and pushed. just our luck.
another hand: we hit on 14 with the dealer showing a 5. the table was mad when we "screwed it up" and the dealer ended up getting 21. whatever. (still learning the chart)
gotta go back next time to win our money back.

the next bad decision was going for dessert with kim. we still weren't all the hungry. I was hoping we could find a cafe or yogurt shop or some sort. ferris suggested a restaurant setting and we settled on cheesecake factory. we sat down and ended up ordering entrees. no dessert. worst of all, they screwed up ferris's order and ended up giving us both entrees. I had half my burger, and half of ferris's order.talk about caloric. and this was past 11PM. I defintely ate the worst out of the group.

I had set to start my 30 day kick yesterday, but clearly that didn't happen. I cheated enough for a whole month. and now I'm starting today. first, by slightly starving myself a bit due to yesterday's flop.  maxing out at 1000 calories. burning off 800. here we go.

new rule: stay in. watch tv. workout. don't eat. socializing is very expensive and very fattening.

core.

thanks to ferris, went to the youtube gym to workout last night. I had a couple protein bars and a protein shake during the workout. probably not the smartest thing to do. (I felt a little sick after the workout)
but thanks to this ab roller, I can strengthen my midsection.

I want to buy one asap. tried it for the first time yesterday. they're pretty cheap and supposedly very effective if one wants to work his/her core. it's pretty difficult to get low, and I can feel its effects already. I didn't even do that many reps. that's how out of shape I am.
going to set some new weight loss goals (short term of course), as I have been seriously slacking. it's hard to get back on track these past few weeks. too much snacking -- err.

in other news, I'm going to try to be a serious saver and cut back my spending. not going to be easy, but I know I will have to. I have been doing way too much shopping. I'm sure I've tried this before, but failed.

season finale for a bunch of my monday shows. this gives me time to catch up on others!

thanks steve.

I did a workout on exercise tv the other day. this one was led by steve maresca, one of my favorite instructors.

it felt pretty good afterward and was a nice change from the treadmill. I perspired quite a bit -- wet head, wet back. about 20 minutes of intensity. I was was actually proud of myself for following it exactly as instructed and not needing to take an extensive break. I did fail however when it came to the pushups with the hands close to the body. I can do pushups, but not like that. I guess I still have weak upper body strength.

the real pain came when I woke up this morning. all those lower body exercises took quite a toll on my body. aching buttox and legs. it was such a struggle to get out of bed. I cannot bend down and even just squatting into a sitting position hurts. walking so stiffly makes me look constipated. clearly I am very out of shape because this is not normal. can't wait to heal so I can go back to working out. especially with what appears to be a +.5 gain. doesn't help that I had chipotle for dinner. but man those burrito bowls are so good -- high protein at least!

can't wait for the voice to come on.

round 3.

let me say, success. it was such a good trip. and needed to be longer. now all I can think about is going back and playing roulette. how this trip differs from the other trips? I didn't have a burger at every meal, and I came out a winner.

even though most of the people that read my blog were on the trip, I'll document as I remember anyway.
went on thursday morning with ferris and did lunch at grande luxe (a better cheesecake factory for those who don't know), followed by the first game of roulette.

 

 

I didn't play my number, 29 black, and sure enough it hit 29 black. ferris up 35, I was up 5 from playing the color. this was the first regret. back to the room for a much needed afternoon nap before a little caesar's to get the party going. a little more gambling and then shopping at fcuk, the closest one on the west coast, now that the one in sf closed down. a little pricey but it was a really well-worth the impulsive splurge. kept thinking about how I couldn't return it, unless by mail, and that was a cause of short-lived concern.

kim and sid arrived, and we headed to the bank at bellagio with leftover free passes.

 

 

 

 literally in there for only 45 minutes. good thing we didn't have to pay, especially with some drinks costing $17 -- ridiculous. I was not really feeling it and avoided this group of meek asian girls. could be those self confidence issues that I didn't anticipate. we all were showered with foam, then got out.

 

 

we were all hungry and ready to dive into those nachos at margaritaville from the first trip.

sat down at 1:05 but the kitchen closed at 1:00. fail. went to burger king for a whopper, fries, and the new nuggets (plus 1 of each of their 7 sauces). had a gross feeling afterwards, but I actually enjoyed. some gambling at flamingo, and we were all "up". I spotted a $5 chip on the ground, and kim and I pulled a diversion to pick it up since it was near the blackjack table. she sat down to watch, while I picked up a napkin to blow my nose. Dropped the tissue, and picked it up with the chip in hand. Then got out of there. it was hard to split the $5, so we played it on red in a game of roulette and won! turned $5 into $10 -- $5 each. actually found a second chip, but this time it was directly under someone's chair. this made it harder to "snatch". so we waited around like vultures for a little bit, hoping he'd leave, while sid went to the virtual blackjack machine to gamble. sid lost and the guy at the table never got up. so we turned in for the night.

jocelyn and andy arrived and we all went to serendipity for lunch.

 

 

 

 

an hour wait, but worth it. treated a bit like second class citizens; a plate dropped by andy but no free meal for us. the other table next to us on the other hand was compensated. plus, free frrrrozen hot chocolate with a coupon from the hotel.

 

 there were two groups -- group salads and group non-salads. of course, naturally I was part of the non-salad group along with the kim and jocelyn.

 

 

 

 

then watched andy do some bold gambling before going to the hotel to move our stuff and lounge around for a second nap.

 

 

 

the salad group was hungry while the non-salad group, not so much. ended up at wolfgngpuck for pizzas. sooo good, especially the mushroom one with broccolini and leeks. (I want some now.) surprisingly, it was two members from the salad group that didn't finish their slices, while the rest of us did!

 

 

 

 

 

 then we gambled before heading up to shower. played some games, and headed down. we were excited watch the lion's habitat (which was empty since the animals were asleep) before running into a group of investment bankers from the UK.

 changing into comfortable shoes, mid-casino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 they were in vegas for 10 days, staying in the sky lofts. the ones with the butlers. all of them were pretty weird unfortunately. one of which was wearing a "belly shirt". but they got bottle service at studio 54 and let us in. on the way, we ran into a passed out dude, so we took some pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

overall pretty good experience and the dj was better here than at the bank. one of the pasty UK dudes was really drunk and dancing awkwardly with our group. he gave andy awkward looks and random high fives. the crowd was hungry after so we went to macdonald's. I took a nap in the booth.

day 3: pool time for half the crew, while the rest of us just lounged poolside. it was pretty relaxing.

 

 

 

went to the bellagio for their awesome buffet before finding out how expensive it was due to easter. so we ended up at paris with an all access pass. pretty good, but man was I full -- bloated full. uncomfortably full to the point where it was hard to breathe. and then I was just tired. why did we do the picture after the buffet?

saw some white trash like this dude pictured below. walked through caesar's to shop. also discovered that some of the peter lik "prints" cost around 80 grand -- who would pay that?!

 

 posed like an asian tourist.

 

followed again with some gambling at a ghetto casino of course. we ended up at bill's where we all lost to this dealer named chanly, playing blackjack. she got 21, probably nine times. it was ridiculous. I didn't want to play with scared money, so I decided to go all in with a $20 hand, and my second $20 bill. I didn't hit on 16 when she showed an 8. this is regret number two. especially when seeing that the next card to be dealt was a four. which would have put me up to 20. I will always hit on 16 when the dealer shows that 17 or higher. better yet, I should memorize the "hit/stay" chart. then, we ate again before coming back to bill's to play. but quick pit stop at this "arcade" where we spotted an elephant that looks like kim's stuffed animal edward.

the original for those that don't know.

this time roulette. ferris and I were on a roll, riding that wave. I think we won something almost every time. we got the right number at least 4 times, and on the split between two numbers, almost every other time. and then the set (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) every time. I think were were at our highest with around $180 between the two of us. for perspective, we started with $10 each. not bad! I was really excited every time and jumped up and cheered at every win, even with only $4. I probably cause a buzz and looked like a loser. winning means knowing when to stop, so we headed back to the room to rest before playing again. according to andy, you're always winning when you aren't gambling. a few card games upstairs using teabags, sugar packets, and powdered creamer as "chips." the girls changed into outfits specifically for vegas, while the rest of us just dressed down. I was so cold I had to put on a fleece jacket. this is basically a photo dump of sisterly love. including a pose as snails. too bad ning wasn't there. next time -- when we do it big.

when we got down, sid was bold enough to play $15 blackjack, but unfortunately lost $140. ferris and andy played roulette and won a little bit. best part of the night? I actually found a $100 chip on the floor and will never forget it. I picked it up, made sure it didn't belong to anyone immediately beside me, before power walking to the cashier to cash out. I felt like such a winner, even with team andy and jocelyn up almost $400.

sunday is the worst day to leave because the next day is monday. goodbyes are no fun either. off to the airport for overpriced food before jetting off home. burger king for all of us, save for ferris.

 

 

I can't wait to go back already. the feeling and sound of clay chips in ones hand. kim said it earlier: #VegasWithdrawals

 one of the best trips ever.