BIRTHDAY PARTY IN LAS VEGAS: PART 2
(*Introduction: This trip was taken last year.)
Finally, the day of our departure for Las Vegas arrived. Since T’s husband instructed us to arrive early in the morning at his home, I bunkered at L’s place that was close to T’s home and chatted late through the night instead of sleeping. Like, two little girls, we were too excited to sleep. Unfortunately, L’s cat kneade d me while I was sleeping and startled me during the night (although it felt good). Eventually, after sleeping for about three hours or so, I had to be up to get ready.
I jolted out of bed and rushed the process of getting ready like a determined soldier. L was taking more time to prepare than me, so I decided to expedite the process by throwing our bags into my car. And as expected, L had packed everything into her bigger luggage, which weighed a ton as I dragged it down the stairs. I cursed myself for not having helped her pack for I would have made her pack less. After throwing the heavy luggage into my trunk, I moved my car right up to L’s front door to save time and to make L feel the urgency. Since I am the hyper one out of us four, I can push them around when it was necessary to get things done and fast. Seeing that her luggage was already taken out and my car parked right at her entrance, she walked leisurely like her cat and said, “Oh, you are good!” Satisfied that we were not late, I drove in a flash to T’s house while it was still dark around us.
After the excitement of going away together, we were soon carted off to the airport by T’s husband. Once we arrived at the airport, T had a surprise for L. She presented her with a pair of Gucci sunglasses (not the usual party favor). L was so delighted that she could not stop smiling (who can blame her). Seeing her so happy, I took a picture of them.
Finally, we were settled in our airplane and tried to invite sleep. Since we took the earliest flight, I heard people snoring around us. Unfortunately for us, we could not sleep. Coach flights are never comfortable. Besides, we had to transfer so we were rushed again to catch our connecting flight in Atlanta. We grabbed some food to eat and was glad to see our luggages entering our connecting flight. L was rather smug because her rose luggage could be seen right away; it was so “loud” that it was impossible to miss. All of us laughed that the non-conspicuous bag served a good purpose. I was rather nervous about mine, but my luggage too entered our plane. Unlike L, I didn’t pack as much. My bag was a small duffle-bag, and I regretted that I didn’t just carry it on to the plane.
Once we landed in Las Vegas, T moved like lightning. L and I could barely catch up with her. Like an Amazonian, T strode past everyone and almost knocked them over, and she was clueless to all that. L and I were huffing and puffing and looked at each other in amazement. Normally I am too am fast but T was so much faster. Since L and I were short, unlike T, our short legs could not keep up with her. We looked like little children, trying hard to keep pace with their mom. L and I were so glad that T finally slowed down when she had to rent us a car. However, we argued about which car to rent and I’m sure that T was annoyed. I wanted a dependable car while L wanted something fancy I’m sure.
T’s husband had reserved us a room at the Hard Rock Hotel. The sound of the slot machines was incredible; it truly felt like Las Vegas. However, I was bothered by the cigarette fumes inside the hotel. It was strange seeing people smoking indoors. I don’t mind people smoking, but the smell of the cigarettes gave me headaches. However, our room must have been a non-smoking room and I felt better. I loved the Gothic-like colors of our room—grayish purple, which was rather tranquil. We drew back the curtains and were pleased to discover that we could view the pool beneath us. Our floor was on the tenth floor or so; thus, we had total privacy, which was a good thing because L went wild and crazy when she saw the people flirting and acting racy. Almost everyone was “twerking” in their teeny bikinis. I never knew that our sweet and caring L could take so much delight in mocking other people. When a scrawny young man was admiring a largish behind of a twerking, young woman, L laughed so hard that she fell backward onto the bed. T and I were laughing too, but we were surprised to see L in a different light. Truly, you can never know about someone until you go on a trip together.
After all the laughing, we became hungry and went out to KoMex Fusion restaurant to eat. The restaurant served fusion fare that consisted of Korean and Mexican flavors. When we entered the restaurant, all eyes were directed toward us (we are rather a unique group). When we were directed to a table, we ordered more than what we could handle, but our foods disappeared anyway. It was better than what I had expected it to be. What they served were not only tasty but healthy as well. I really enjoyed their healthy lettuce wraps. I especially loved the calamari lettuce wraps. If I were to visit Las Vegas again, I would stop by KoMex Fusion. If you are on a gluten-free diet, KoMex Fusion is a great place to eat.
L was content and looked as if she did not want to go out for dinner after shopping at the outlet stores, but T insisted that we should have dinner at Sweets Raku, a dessert restaurant. I will admit that it was my favorite restaurant out of all the restaurants that we had visited in Las Vegas, and I am planning to visit Raku restaurant as well, which is owned by the same owner, I believe, if I ever visit Las Vegas again. Sweets Raku was a small restaurant but sweetly elegant and cozy. While you sit at the marble bar, you get to watch how the Japanese chef makes the desserts—the experience was kind of like a sushi bar.
As we sat at the white, marble bar, L touched the marble and said, “Oooh, it’s so cool.”
So, I replied, “Yes, it is cold.” Which made L explode with laughter. She had meant that the marble looked cool and not cold. She told me that I was a riot. I tend to make people laugh when I didn’t mean to. I felt like an idiot but didn’t care when I saw the heavenly desserts. The gourmand in me came alive and active. My eyes were sparkling as I looked at the candy-like confections. Surely, I was in heaven I thought.
After glancing the menu, we chose the 2-course set per person and paired it with wine. The wine was delicious and had a single blueberry inside it, but it was stuck and refused to descend into my mouth. Since I loved blueberries, I was tempted into fishing it out with my fingers but decided against it. I didn’t want people around me to exclaim, what a peasant! Or worse, if the Chef should become angry, she might say, no dessert for you! Worried that we might get hungry, we also ordered croquettes. I ordered two croquettes while the girls ordered only one. Japanese croquettes are so delicious that I could not help myself (OK, call me a “piggy” if you like). And when the croquettes came out, I was in heaven. Then the desserts were served, and they were so pretty to look at that I was hesitant about eating them. We were so giddy from all the sugar and wine that we chatted with our neighbors and shared how we enjoyed everything. It’s fun to be in an intimate restaurant because you get to meet and chat with new people.
Just when I thought that nothing could excite me further, L whispered into my ear and said, “Check out the bathroom, it’s really cute.” Cute? A bathroom looks cute? I was intrigued so I went to the bathroom and tried the “throne” by sitting on it and discovered that it was heated. After my buttocks were nicely toasted, I was greatly surprised by the little frog in the sink. L was right. The bathroom was cute and unexpectedly different. After we all had the chance to see the froggy, we finally left. We were full and tired. We hadn’t had much sleep and we needed to call it a night.
When we were getting ready for bed, we were suddenly feeling a bit awkward. We had never slept in one room together before. I never went anywhere without makeup and felt shy about taking my makeup off for I looked bland without it. T also looked stiff. However, L did not seem to care at all (so typical of her). She was ready for bed in no time while T and I had to go through the long rituals of getting ready for bed. I took forever to take my makeup off and applying night creams while T was busy slapping her face to make it firm, a practice that I quickly adopted when I came back home. As we were washing, rubbing, and slapping away at our faces, L grinned behind her glasses as she sat in bed reading, wearing leopard print pajamas. Unlike her, I wore yoga pants and a teeshirt. She had a cap on her head to keep her hair in perfect condition, which made her appear like a granny in the book Little Red Riding Hood. I will admit that she looked rather cute. I never deduced that my friend would turn into a character of a book at night. Even if she didn’t say anything, I knew what she was thinking, what a lot of fuss they are making to get ready for bed while I’m comfortably settled in. Her skin was so nice that all she had to do was brush her teeth unlike us (lucky girl).
After our faces were beaten enough and makeup-free, we were ready for bed. L may have looked like a character from a book, but I resembled a football player because I had a nose-tape on my nose (due to allergies). I felt bashful about the nose-tape and worried that L would begin mocking again, but L was asleep already. Not only was L asleep, she did not stir or make any noise. I’ve never seen anyone sleeping so soundly before. Suddenly I was uncomfortable about sharing a bed with someone. I became worried that I would slap her with my arms or kick her with my legs during sleep. I tended to flop around when sleeping. Since our birthday girl should have the bed to herself, I placed pillows in between L and me like a divider. We were rather squished but there was nothing I could do about it, and I hoped to God that my stomach would behave and not give me any trouble during the night. Our first day in Las Vegas was over and we—the three little piggies—fell asleep.
(Birthday Party in Las Vegas: Part 3 will soon be posted.)