Saturday, December 31, 2005

Our flight to Vegas was supposed to be at 2:15 via Philippine Airlines. It was coming in from Manilla. I checked the website and called when I got up. Online said the flight was delayed to 4:15 and the phoneline said 3:45.

We had a free week of Park and Fly with valet service so we didn’t even have to park our own car. Cool! It’s worth $69.95 for 1 week so we just have to pay for one day @ $13.95. The regular long term parking is $7.50 per day. I won the gift certificate at the Ronald McDonaldhouse Gala by looking under the table where I was sitting.

We checked in at the airport about 2:00 and then found out that the flight was further delayed until 5:00 pm!!! This was the time we were originally supposed to arrive in Vegas L We each received $12 food vouchers so we whooped it up at the sit-down restaurant beside the food court. $3.50 for OJ – what a rip-off! Watched some of the World Juniors Hockey game Canada against the US.

Once we arrived in Vegas it took forever to get to the rental car area. We had a reservation with Dollar. The signs for where to wait weren’t good so we ended up waiting at the wrong spot and watched a Dollar bus go by. We finally found the right bus stop and then another Dollar bus came by which was full! The 3rd bus came and picked us up. We rented a Chrysler Sebring. By the time we checked into Desert Paradise Resort it was 10:00!!! I called Sharon and she and Ross had already eaten. Sharon said it was too busy on the strip to go outside and too late for us to come down as there wouldn’t be any parking. Ray and I ate some instant soy rice bowls I brought from home then went out about 11:30 pm to find a spot to watch the fireworks. We ended up on the top of the 5th level parkade of the Palms and had an awesome view of all 10 hotels shooting off fireworks!!! Other people had the same idea too but it wasn’t too busy with a security truck driving around. The fireworks lasted about 10 minutes. They were all synchronized and the same design. Very spectacular.

We went to Chinatown and Ray had won ton noodle soup and I had Horlicks.

Sunday, January 1, 2006

Woke up about 3pm so had about 12 hours sleep. We were going to go to IHOP on Tropicana but when we drove there it was gone and another restaurant had taken over. We decided to go to the China Star Buffet on the strip by Polo Towers where we were last year. It took forever to get there as we were crawling on the strip. By the time we finished eating and got to Mandalay Bay to go to the Shark Reef it was about 8:00 pm. The Shark Reef was excellent. Crocodiles, fish, and lots of different types of sharks. The highlight was the 2 sea turtles. I was surprised that none of the sharks ate the turtles. Spent a few hours in the Shark Reef and a long time watching the turtles J It was so exciting seeing the turtles as it looked like they were flying by with wings. I had seen shark tunnels and exhibits in Houston and Oregon but never seen big sea turtles except when snorkeling in Hawaii.

We went to Albertson’s afterwards to get some groceries.

The weather has been cool and super windy with some rain. Wish I had brought my toque. I only brought one fleecy but it’s not my thick one. Luckily I brought my gloves.

Monday, January 2, 2006

Woke up about 1:30 and had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and soy milk. Had some OJ too. Ray had Cheerios and soy milk. Our suite is very spacious with a king size bed, tv and huge walk in closet in the bedroom. The bathroom is separated into different rooms. The sink and bathtub are in one room with a door to the bedroom and another door to the toilet. The toilet room has a door to the sink/bathtub room and another door to the laundry room with washer and dryer. The laundry room has a door to the toilet room and a door to the living room. Including these doors and all the other closets in the kitchen and living room there are 10 doors in this one bedroom place! The living room is big with a sofa bed, single sofa, coffee table, tv and vcr/dvd machine. The dining room has a round table and 4 chairs. There’s a breakfast nook and 2 tall chairs. There’s a full kitchen, with stove, microwave, dishwasher, dishes etc.

Ray took forever to get up so I ended up taking a nap on the couch. We went to Chinatown and Ray had shrimp fried rice and we shared tofu and spinach soup. Was very salty.

Went to Treasure Island to watch the new Sirens show outside. But it was too windy that day so it was cancelled. We played 5 cent poker slots for a while at TI. We went to a restaurant in TI called Kahunaville. I had veggie teriyaki stir-fry. Ray wasn’t hungry yet so just had a milkshake. The music was really loud in the restaurant and is a nightclub on the weekends. There was also an oxygen bar there.

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

My alarm went off around 6:15 am but I didn’t get up for about half an hour. Ray took a while to get up as he went to sleep later than I did. But the time we got on the road it was close to 9am – 2 hours behind schedule. The line up for the Ellen Show was to start at 11am. It took about 4 hours to get to Burbank so we got in line at 1:00pm. #188 and #189 in line. Up to # 157 was guaranteed to be in the studio audience and the rest in the Riff-Raff room unless some VIP’s didn’t show up then we had a chance. Ray was too tired and wasn’t very keen on staying so he left to take a nap. #187 in line was a woman named Pat. She was wearing a fushia top and we hung out for the rest of the day. She’s from Chatanooga Tennessee and was in town visiting her son. She had gone to the Rose Bowl Parade (had $60 tix) with her son the day before. It was pouring and everyone there got soaked but they stuck it out. There were a lot of stars in the parade such as Leanne Rhimes, Toni Braxton and Vegas magician Lance Burton to name a few. The line-up started moving about 1:45. We went through security and a metal detector. We waiting in the area outside the building. There were long benches with backs and tv’s showing the previous day’s taping of Ellen with Tom Selleck and a 6 year old boy who plays guitar. The seating area was covered with a tent and if necessary there were plastic curtains. But we were still outside and it wasn’t very warm once the sun wasn’t there. Luckily it was a sunny dry day unlike the day before. People were herded in groups to the wash room. There was also a concession where I bought a tuna sandwich on brown. I was pretty cold as I left my jacket in the car. We were told about some rules and the about 4:30 started going inside!!! Only up to # 160 got to go into the regular studio audience and the rest of us had to stay in the Riff-Raff room L where there were flat-screen tv’s and we could hear what was going on as the room was right behind the audience. Pat and I and the 4 women wearing (I danced with Ellen shirts) were all dancing. The others were just sitting there. They called a few at a time to the audience – singles. Then to our surprise the rest of us got called in !!! We were so excited we were screaming. They set up portable chairs for us in the back row!!! Yee ha! Melina Kanakaredes (CSI New York), Anthony Anderson and 16 year old singer Chris Brown were the guests that day. There was so much energy in the room. People in line had filled out surveys before we got there and they picked some of the audience to talk about their New Year’s resolutions. Also there were some who had hidden talents. During commercials we danced and clapped so much. My hands were sore. The show was on the next day. We got a bonus as Billy Crystal was in town and Ellen and Tony got changed for a show that was to air with Billy on Friday, January 6. Everyone in the audience got a free Chris Brown CD. The ones with New Year’s resolutions got IPODS. During commercials singers and dancers got t-shirts.

We finished about 6:30 and I walkie-talkied Ray who was waiting outside.

Wednesday, January 4, 2006

Got about 12 hours of sleep and got up at 2pm. I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and OJ. Ray just had OJ. We went to Dennys where Ray had the Lumberjack Slam and I had chicken noodle soup and sausages.

We went to the Las Vegas Hilton so Ray could pick up his CES (Consumer Electronic Show) badge holder. They were charging a ridiculous price of $25 for parking so I just waited in the car outside the hotel for him. It was so busy there. So unlike the last time we were there.

We made it to the 7:00 show of the Sirens at Treasure Island. It is not a family oriented show anymore as the women were scantily clad in lingerie-type costumes and the men were topless.

Went to Ben and Jerry’s in TI where I had yummy Oreo ice cream!

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Got up about 1:30 and watched my taped Y&R. Have been keeping up to date! Not feeling very well today. Have some bad head aches and neck pain. Feverish. Was supposed to drop Ray off at the CES today and either go shopping or to see the Titanic Exhibit at Tropicana, but wasn’t feeling well enough to go anywhere. Ray went by himself. Ray got back about 7 and we ordered take out at about 7:30. It took about an hour to get here. I ordered angel hair pasta and meat sauce and Ray ordered a plain bacon cheeseburger. Then we watched tv for a while. Ray’s bad knee got sore from all his walking.

I did my first session of Turbo Jam. Week 1 Learn and Burn. Good workout. I was sweating and tired afterwards.

Friday, January 6, 2006

Did my 2nd session of Turbo Jam’s Learn and Burn about 11:45 am. Got another good workout and sweat. Had my last banana in a peanut butter sandwich. We went to the Sands Convention Centre and Ray went to the CES. The CES was there as well as Alexi Park, Las Vegas Hilton and the Las Vegas Convention Centre. I went shopping at the Las Vegas Premium Outlet mall. Bought 2 tops at the Levi’s Outlet and an Adidas tank top and shorts.

I picked up Ray at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel at 6:30 pm. We went to Chinatown to the Shanghai Noon Restaurant. It was packed and we had to wait for a table. Most of the people there were other conventioneers. We went back the resort. Ray’s knee was sore so he wanted to rest.

The weather was warm today. Didn’t even need a jacket. Actually starting Tuesday it was sunny without any wind.