Monday December 21st

I awake about half an hour before my wake up call is scheduled. That seems to be my trend this trip. In any case, I reluctantly pack up my belongings before heading out. I packed the female slippers that came with the suite into my bag. Souvenir shopping for the wife is done!

I had a clerk at the check-in desk apply my gift certificates, so the items I charged to my room were taken care of. I wander through to the lobby, and get a cab. Off to Aria I go.

The cabbie I had on the way over was a nice guy who seemed to be knee deep in the facts about the local economy. We chatted about the condos all over town that aren't selling, and the general way things are. He was a nice refreshing chat despite the depressing topic of conversation. On a $10 fare, I gave him $15.

Check-in at Aria was smooth as one could hope. I requested a high room, and was initially assigned something on the 32nd floor. I asked if they had anything else available, and lucked out when I was given a middle room on the 50th floor. Score! I make my virgin trek to the guest elevators and proudly press the 50 key. In about 10 seconds I was at my floor. Damn elevators move pretty fast.

To my dismay I found a cleaning cart in front of an open door marked 50118. Argh.... That's my room. I asked the maid if she were done in the room. Turns out they were just dropping off the last set of towels, so the room was mine. Needless to say I started snapping pics of everything.

Another angle.

Standard mini bar selections.

On par with Bellagio.

View to my left from the 50th floor.

Straight ahead.

To the right.

Straight down. The "City View"

Valet / taxi area.

I love how I can see over the roof of Monte Carlo.

Bedroom angle from the window.

All sorts of gagetry plugins.

Closer view.

Bathroom entrance.

Tub and shower door.

Robes, but no slippers.

Tea light candle holder.

Clock.

The "Goodnight" button basically shuts down the entire room.

Different corner angle.

The safe. It took me forever to find it.

Can easily fit a lap top in there.

Open says-a-me!

Mini bar and snack prices.

"Movement of items may cause unintentional charges."

$4.00 for a Coke. Typical.

"All items available upon request."

Buttons for the bedroom.

I needed to refer to this pic more than once.

After playing in the room for a little bit, I decided it was time to grab something to eat. I asked house keeping about finding something breakfast related, and they suggested the cafe. Eh, I kinda wanted something more upscale, but in the end, I figured why not.

It was easy to find and nearly around the corner from the elevators. I was seated without any problem and had a rather decent view of the area.

Cafe Vettro

Breakfast items.

More breakfast.

Lunch and dinner.

Salads.

Burgers and sandwiches.

Main courses.

Cocktails.

Beer options.

Desserts.

Final beverages.

I'm not sure what prompted me to take a picture of every page of the menu book, but in any case I did. I requested a watermelon juice, and for $7.50 a pop I figured it'd be worth it since it'd be something new. NOPE! They were out. What the hell? Instead I went with an orange juice since it sounded decent at the time.

That showed up quickly enough, and at times it appeared that I had up to three different people waiting on me at one time. I ordered the breakfast fruit parfait as my late breakfast. It was filling, and the granola was sweet as if coated in honey. The strawberries, blue berries, raspberries, and black berries were fresh and larger than anticipated (as if injected with steroids).

I paid in short order and made my way out towards the front desk and check in lobby. I was looking to get directions to the spa so I could check in for my 1:00 PM shaving appointment.

The concierge desk provided me with a map and an outline of the quickest path to the Spa area. "Basically it's as far away as possible from you right now" was their first response. It was no problem, I easily found the place after a short walk.

I was early for my appointment, so I checked in and took a seat. They asked if I'd like anything to drink while I waited...coffee, tea.....juice. If I would have known they were offering complimentary juice and drinks I wouldn't have paid $7.50 fifteen minutes earlier. In any case I took advantage of their generosity and accepted a nice tall chilled orange juice.

As I was trying to kill time, I scanned over some of their men's shaving products between texts to BeeeJay who was soon to visit the spa. After a while I sat down just to relax and take a load off my feet.

I noticed the security guard playfully making faces at a five or six year old boy walking away with his mother. The boy would make a face, then the guard would return the favor. He looked familiar yet, I couldn't place him. A moment later I see BeeeJay talking him up, and then it clicks. This was Steve, the tall security guard from Encore who posed for some rather interesting pictures with BeeeJay's sister. Small world considering he's now at City Center.

In short order my barber makes his appearance and introduces himself as Brian. The shave begins like most others. Scorching hot towels followed up by some warm shaving foam and the barely noticeable tickle of a razor blade against your skin. The fifty minute experience seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Brian's service skills are top notch, however his shaving skills leave a lot to be desired. At the conclusion of the experience I could easily see the five o'clock shadow left in some places on my skin. Sure, I had all sorts of creams, lotions, and other manly concoctions applied to my skin, however that didn't make up for the grain left on my face. It almost saddens me to say this was the worst shave I've had in Vegas. I shouldn't have to fix someone's lack of thoroughness, especially at their prices. I don't see myself going back.

Once the shaving debacle concluded, I wandered back to my room for a few moments of relaxation. Checking out the TV and other gadgets in the room killed a few minutes. While texting BeeeJay it was determined he and I would meet up with Alexanbo for dinner around 5:00.

Let's see what one can do with the TV.....

TV knows the temp inside and out, and that I locked the door. Nice touch.

Wanna adjust the temp? No need to get up.

Need to check on your flight status?

Want the lights, temp, and music set to a particular selection at a certain time?

Setup your own custom wake-up call.

Open your curtains from your TV.

I had some time to kill before out 5:00 meeting, so I wandered down through the casino. I figured "what the hell" and used BeeeJay's Sky Suites card to get past the security guard to grab myself a free coke. I felt sort of awkward about the situation, but soon got past that once no one immediately questioned why a tall fat ugly white boy was in the area. There was a server setting up the night's snack selections with whom I made some small talk with. I gave her a quick tip as she handed me my diet coke. I stole a chocolate covered strawberry on my way out as well.

Once back outside I send BeeeJay a text telling him of my small conquest. He actually mentions he's on his way down, so we meet up a few minutes earlier than planned. It was decided to try some luck at some video poker. I don't know how BeeeJay does it. He managed to hit a few hands while yours truly was constantly dealt....what's the technical industry term? Oh yeah, "a bucket of fuck" was what I'd see in front of me hand after hand. He managed a quick few hits and then pulled quad queens out of the air. His credits ran up into the $750 region, but cashed out a few hands later with a $700 ticket. I managed to cash out with exactly $700 less than he. Grrr...

About this time we've meet up with Alexanbo and it's not too long before we decide to hit up the blackjack tables. We buy into a $25 a hand table and let the cards fly. Things are moving along in the typical downward direction, and the gambling trend for this trip continues. I get down to about my last $50 and get fed up with the way things are moving. I shove it out there, and the hand actually wins. I press my bet with the neatly stacked four new $25 chips. The dealer gives me a nine-teen which is just enough to give me a glimmer of hope. Nope, she managed to deal herself the same hand. It pushes. I let it ride one more time. First card.... King. Okay, this is looking alright so far.... Second card comes out and it's an ace. I nailed a blackjack on my Benjamin bet. I take it and run.

After a quick cage visit, it's about time for us to check in for our 5:30 reservation at Blossom. BeeeJay tried to put the reservation under the name "Gaggles" but that proved to be more difficult than it should be. The three of us were seated, and the restaurant seemed rather quiet at the moment. I asked for a drink menu, but instead was handed a binder of wine selections. Pbbbbtttt! No thanks. They didn't offer any specialty cocktails, so we landed on just a simple round of Asahi.

The tablescape at Blossom.

Cheers!

A bean....compliments of the chef. So generous.

Some pot sticker appetizers.

Soup.

A few rolls to start the night.

To tell the truth, I forgot what we all ordered.

Yeah, another one I forgot.

Family style ba-by!

Parting dessert, compliments of the chef.

To tell the truth, I'm not sure what everyone ordered. We each basically picked an appetizer and an entree, and we passed everything around. I know BeeeJay ordered some lobster fried rice, I went with some sort of mongolian beef selection, and there were a few miscellaneous plates floating around out there. The service was fine, but the food was....well something you'd expect from a PF Changs. If you literally put the same dishes from both restaurants in front of me, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Blossom is just triple the price for the same quality.

The restaurant picked up when we were about halfway through our meal. It was dually noted we were nearly the only caucasians in the place. Well...at least 98% of 'em were at our table. BeeeJay was cool enough to charge the total to his room, while Alexanbo and I picked up the tip.

We soon stand up to leave and wander across the hallway and into the Sky Suites area. We once again grab a cocktail before heading for the elevators and finally landing on the 52nd floor.

At this point in time, we have BeeeJay, Alexanbo, myself, Mr. Scotch (and party) upstairs and getting ready to pop open a few bottles of chilled Cristal. When MikeE was 2 minutes late, I sent him the colorful text of "Get up here, fucker." He's soon enough in the suite with the rest of us degenerates, and we get the party started. We easily enough pour out the contents of one bottle, while BeeeJay goes "gangsta" style on the bottle he requested for himself.

Once the Cristal was nearly finished, we were paid a visit by Darko who we haven't seen since MikeE's Skyloft party years ago. That was our indication that it must be time to pop open the prize of the night. The premium scotch today was going to be a Johnnie Walker King George V. The fascinating history of this particular bottle is that the batch features only whiskies from distilleries operating during the era of King George V. The decanter comes in a lockable, silk lined box which doubles for a display holder. Even the reluctant BeeeJay tried a small sampling.

We also partook in a tasting of a Laphroaig 18 year old. The party continued on and we mainly sat around discussing Vegas architecture, gambling, and other Vegas related material. We posed for a few pictures and then decided to make our way downstairs to the near by baccarat bar.

It was deemed a good idea to once again stop at the Sky Suites lounge for a free drink before heading twenty feet over to the Baccarat bar. Alexanbo decided to take the bull by the horns, and opted to pour everyone a drink. Within the blink of an eye, he had three tom collins glasses out on the counter, and the newly opened liter of Grey Goose in hand. He poured some generous drinks for everyone, and also gave the granite countertop a generous Goose shower as well. I'd say each glass was at least three fourths full of pure vodka, without any ice. We could only shake our heads while thinking "let's get the hell outta here." We grab a few mixers, our glasses of vodka and head for the door just after handing the attendant a quick $10 spot for our boisterous appearance. On our way out I notice the bottle of Grey Goose is now about a fifth full.

We settle in at the baccarat bar and light up our cigars and attempt to mix our vodka with some other suitable libations.

I managed to salvage a screwdriver.

Puffing away.

Feeling okay....

Us riff-raff with the cocktail waitress.

MikeE, me, Mr. Scotch, BeeeJay, Alexanbo, and Darko.

Smokin' a cigar...

Mike has that "who farted?" look on his face. (it was me!)

Lots and lots of smoke in the area.

Darko's selection.

Smoke is in the air...

There's not really Cristal in that bottle! I call BS!

BeeeJay manages to make Alexanbo a "drink" which he says has alcohol in it, yet is more pristine than the Mother Mary herself. It seems to do the trick and buys us some time. We talk for a good while about everything under the sun. That's a great thing about Vegas. Where else in the world can you hold a conversation with people from all different areas of the world, holding such diverse jobs, yet we're all having a cigar and sharing laughs. Gotta love Vegas.

Alexanbo seems to have wandered off at this point, and we decide it's time to do some gambling. MikeE and I make a quick hit at a Pai Gow table, and I luckily come out in the black this time. (finally!) Before long Darko decides to retire for the evening so we bid him a farewell. We're left with MikeE, Mr. Scotch, BeeeJay and myself. We settle in at the City Bar and Mike and Mr. Scotch order a watermelon juice. BeeeJay opts to keep drinking from his Cristal bottle.

We then decide to see if we can check out some of the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Turns out we wouldn't have much luck, but did get some decent shots of the view from a lobby area. Feeling slightly defeated we wander back to Aria for a round of craps.

Watermelon juice at City Bar.

A bad pic of towers at City Cinter at night.

From Mandarin Oriental.

Artwork at Mandarin Oriental.

Another view picture.

Artwork when walking back into Aria.

The four of us buy into the closest craps table and let the dice fly. Wow, I have never been crushed so quickly in my life. Point made, odds laid down, seven out! That seemed to be the theme of the trip.

Within only a few minutes I'm down to my last few meager chips. I throw them all out on the field and luckily it hits. I press my bet and luckily it hits as well. Doubled up again. I contemplate going for the triple, but decide to scoop my chips and walk away. Good thing too, since the next roll would have cost me.

MikeE and I then decide to sit down at a mini baccarat table on the floor. Over time our bets were winning and I made up my losses from the previous craps session. The game was slow paced, but I was more than fine with that especially since the dealer was pushing chips my way instead of the other way around. We opt to cash out and find BeeeJay playing a rapid session of video poker at the City Bar. We agree to call it a night and we separate ways.

I did do a few laps around the casino to see what was happening but the place was becoming quiet. I did manage to see Alexanbo sitting in the poker room being shoved a large pile of chips. By the looks of it, I'd assume it was a $3/$6 table. He seemed to be less obliterated and more focused, so instead of stopping in, I let him continue his winning streak. I opted for a few glasses of ice water from the bar before retiring to my room on the 50th floor.