Las Vegas trip- June 21-24, 2011

Las Vegas, or "the Meadows", is an international tourist destination, and quite popular domestically too. All of the activity, the buzz and hype, is about a 2 mile stretch of the road, called Las Vegas Boulevard. These 2 miles, aka, "the strip", are filled with luxurious hotels, famed for their architecture and lobby designs. There are the old world architecture ones, like Ceasar's Palace,the Bellagio, The Luxor, The Excalibur, and the Venetian. The modern, sleek style is defined by hotels like, The Hilton, Planet Hollywood,New York New York, etc. The Ceasars Palace hotel is one of the most outstanding hotels, with its towering columns, driveway, facade, their statues, the Colosseum(where Celine Dion shows are held). Another hotel i liked was the MGM Grand(of the movie production house-MGM). Since their logo is the Lion, there are huge bas-relief sculptures of lion faces all around the hotel. The Luxor looks like a huge black pyramid from the outside. Its interior designs are equally grand, totally Greco-Egyptian. At night, if one looks up at the sky,and can distinguish two beams of light travelling upwards, you know you are near the Luxor. The beams are projected from huge spotlights on the roof of the hotel, into the night sky.Another grandiose way of attracting the public's attention. One common feature of all the hotels is that, theri casinos, playing stations, are located just off the lobby area, front desk registration. The upper floors have rooms, and then some have roof top restaurants. 

Our experiences: 

This time, the trip was for Uncle's 60th birthday. In his last two trips to US, we had not been able to take him to Vegas. So this was it. Our stay was at the Hilton(thanks to Hotwire.com-- which advertises 4 star hotels at 2 star prices). Really nice hotel,comfortable room and beds. The room we were given on the 7th floor, did not have a coffee maker, or mini fridge. In the Hilton resort we stayed at in Tucson, they had a mini fridge, but it was kept under lock and key. Seems like the Hilton family wants you to spend your money in the restaurants inside its hotels.Any room upgrades will be 20 dollars more, we were told. The Hilton however, has this new Go Green initiative. If you do not ask for housekeeping services, they give you a 410 voucher. This voucher is not given on the nights of your arrival and departure, and is valid at food and beverage places inside the Hilton Hotel. 

Spending Wisely--The good thing we did this time was buy the Entertainment book 2011 for Las Vegas, before we left. It promised a whole lot of coupons and discounts, 2-for-1 entrees in restaurants etc. I had seen the ads for this book, and after a quick perusal on its website www.entertainment.com, we bought the book. Turned out to be one of the wisest things we did. Value for money was proved on our very first night dining out.

Vegas has a lot of restaurants offering Indian cuisine. we tried 3 of them. Tamba Indian cuisine, Gandhi Indian cuisine,and Mint Indian cuisine. 

Dining experiences: Tamba is on the strip, near planet Hollywood. Its a very busy restaurant mainly due to its location. They offer buffet and a la carte choices for lunch and dinners. Waiting time is easily 15-20 minutes, if not more. There were at least 10 people standing when we arrived. After the hostess took our name down and told us to wait for our name to be called, we realized that two tour groups were eating there, hence the delay. This on a week day night. So if you are planning to eat there, arrive early on or be prepared to wait. Thankfully, they have a couple of seating areas where you can sit and wait. Food was really good and tasty.A word of caution for those with visual disabilities. The restaurant is pretty dark, recessed low wattage lights make it difficult. First you get your eyes adjusted to the darkness and find your seat, then you get up to go to the buffet table where everything is brightly lit, and then find your way back in near darkness to your own table.  This transition was difficult for me to some extent, perhaps it may be for others too. 

Gandhi Indian Cuisine- Our next stop for Indian cuisine was Gandhi. The restaurant was featurd on the Las Vegas book kept in our room, so we decided to try it out. The second you enter the door, the magnificent idol of Lord Ganesha greets you near the front desk. Totally amazing,and recessed lighting made it look ethereal. An electric lamp was lit next to it and a small Hundi kept-(a few devotees and customers had dropped some change into it). the restaurant was touted to feature north and south Indian fare, vegetariand and non vegetarian. However, the menu threw us a surprise. The Madras Thali and the South Indian thali both featured Dal Makhni as an item. The manager  explained to us taht he had just kept names of various places in India, so taht new customers know what is where, and are comfortable a new order because it features some well known items. He was also very frank and said everything is made in punjabi style of cooking. Again, we were totally satisfied and happy with the taste of the food. Vegetable Biryani, bhindi masala and raita were items I tasted,and found them to be totally delicious. the pickle tehy served was delicious, home made style. Their decor is pretty old town Punjab style. Unlike the Tamba, their buffet was laid out on a granite encased table. The manager was friendly and attentive, though the staff seemed a little lost. Took them some time to  notice us waiting by the front desk and lead us to our table. 

Our last stop on the Indian food circuit was Mint restaurant. Here, my husband was able to get dosas and onion uthapam, with two chutneys and sambar. much to his delight. The restaurant featuired an impressive Buddha idol, whereas maitre d' was Smeet, a Gujrati. When I enquired about the Buddha statue, he said that the restaurant was originally started by Nepalese, and all the cooks in the kitchen are of Nepali origin. The restaurant however changed owners and is now owned by his relative. So Gujju owners, Nepali cooks, and we get to eat South Indian food. What could be more cosmopolitan than this!!! I liked this restaurant's ambiance and lighting the best. Decently well lit, (unlike Tamba) where one could actually see the food we were eating, comfortable seating, and a touch of humor in the menu descriptions.( A bad headache and dehydration made me ill, so I did not eat anything. Hence I cannot give my opinion of the taste of the food) However, here the service was prompt, friendly, staff were attentive. I recommend a try at this restaurant. 

Our friends who went to Vegas earlier and tasted Indian food, told us to stay away from India Palace. We did so. 

Hotel Buffet:-If you are adventurous and want to try new dishes, then I would highly recommend going for buffets of all hotels. Hotels on the strip and outside offer breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets , starting from  as low as 7.99 per person, to going up to 14.99 for breakfast. Prices vary, but not much, across each meal, and according to hotels and variety offered. However, it makes for good value for money too. Each breakfast entree at IHOP costs 7.49 and up,each a la carte dish at Indian restaurants is easily 9 or 10 dollars, whereas for 7.99 you can get to eat a whole breakfast buffet at a hotel. More variety for the price. This was one good lesson we learnt this time. 

We ate lunch buffet at the Bellagio. $19.95 a person (without gratuity), immense variety for non vegetarian dishes, meats, pastas, pizzas, soups, appetizers, etc. The dessert aisle was also pretty good. My fav dessert here- caramel flan, the best,  lightest, jiggly wiggly flan I have ever eaten. The chocolate Sacher cake was sumptuous. 

In retrospect however, I feel the Carnival World buffet at The Rio had more variety for vegetarian dishes. 

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education and experience

As of June 2011, I have become an "odd jobs" lady around my community. i recently accepted a neighbor's offer to water their plants for them while they are away on vacation. From dog walking, pet sitting, to plant watering, and picking up mail for those away from home, I have done them all. Did I envision this while spending two yres doing MA,and then another 2 yrs in pre Phd? Were all those years of formal education really worth it/ The people whose plants I am taking care of, have left me a note describing how much water to put for indoor and outdoor plants, measurements given in a "cup" and "pitcher" level. The difference{-- is the word "pitcher" is spelled as "pitchure". 

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