Leaving Las Vegas

Sunday April 18, 2010

Malibu, California

Glorious Blue Skies

Got back from Vegas Thursday late afternoon to a whirlwind weekend and am now bedridden with fever and massive headache on a beautiful Sunday in Malibu. My head hurts while writing this but there is only so much TV one can watch in a day. So how was Vegas? Here's the low down.

The Damage:

Gained 3 kilos in a week! That's in addition to the 6 kilos I gained since coming back from Japan
Swollen left eye lid which shows no sign of recovering
Right ear ache that is better today (perhaps the massive doses of Advil I'm taking is helping)
Sore feet from standing for 10 hrs a day for 3.5 days
Major damage to the bank account
- meals were SO EXPENSIVE that the company per diem does not cover it
- Encore Hotel is a major rip off
- - Charged me 25$ a day for storing my yogurt in the refrigerator in my room
  - 6$ "handling fee" for each Fedex pkg sent to me
  - 175$/hr to "sit" in the business services center to have a meeting (we sat in the corridor instead)
  - 13.95$ for 24 hr Internet access PER DEVICE!!! So I got charged 28$ a day because I was using my iphone AND work PC

The Benefits:

SO GOOD to see friends from all over the world.
Meeting new clients and getting to know new colleagues
Girls dinner nite
Il Mulino's!!!!

But I still dislike Vegas with a passion. Don't get me wrong. I love the desert. It is quite beautiful and serene. Just don't like the town. Although I told myself, I'll take a day trip outside Vegas to explore, it didn't happen due to work. Hopefully next year I will and will have a blog on the beauty of Nevada outside Vegas. I feel for my European colleagues who are stranded in Vegas due to the volcano in Iceland. Gosh, I think I will lose my mind if I were stranded in Vegas. Hopefully, air travel to Europe will open up on Monday and they can finally make their way home from that city.

Postrio: One of the many fabulous restaurants where I had dinner. But Il Mulino's was the best.