This past week went by like a blur. Played badminton on Tuesday. Glad the rain subsided and the sun was out even though it's nippy out there meaning the yucky aches and pains.

West Coast Chocolate Festival

Played badminton on Saturday and Tuesday last week. Was recovering from the overdose of free maple-leafed shaped sample chocolates from the West Coast Chocolate Festival chocolate factory tour at Chocolate Works and wasn't able to play last night. Then today I had arthritic angst and fatigue so couldn't play. I checked and sure enough the aches and pain index is up which coincides with my arthritis pains.

I enjoyed volunteering at one of the Chocolate Festival events - Chicks & Chocolate on Friday night at the Executive Hotel in Coquitlam. There were lots of vendors giving away free samples and interesting booths and presentations. I ended up volunteering to be a baresuit model. I found out that a baresuit is a bathrobe with legs. Coincidentally I modelled a purple one which is one of their new colours. There were Cancan dancers and then myself, S another Chocolate Festival volunteer and 2 of the people from the pole dancing table modelled the baresuit on the stage. Myself and S wandered around the event modelling the baresuits and also stood beside the the baresuit vendor table where the founders Gordon Lloyd and Suzanne Armstrong were. Gordon wouldn't go up with me to try the pole dancing (he was one of the very few males there) but Suzanne did! It was quite warm swinging around on a pole in a baresuit.

I missed seeing the rest of the dance demos: belly dancing, salsa, line dancing; and the beer and chocolate pairing and the desert demo and sampling as I was helping sell chocolates from Chocolate Works as well as dipping fruit, marshmallows and cookies in the yummy chocolate fountain for the guests. Unfortunately it was quite tempting to help myself to dipping fruit and eating the other chocolate samples we had on the table. There were also other yummy appetitzers: the chicken was great. Dismantling the chocolate fountain was interesting. After it was turned off the chocolate was allowed to drip into the bottom then we had to scrape the excess chocolate with gloves and paper towels.

I feel good!

I went to physio last night and I have felt soooooooooooooooooo good ever since. I was able to sleep without the usual tossing and turning to avoid the back and neck pain. I feel so mellow and relaxed! I don't remember the last time I felt so good after physio! Thanks L! You are the best!

2010 Olympics Ticket Prices Revealed!

How exciting! The 2010 Olympics ticket prices were posted yesterday! Wow! I can't believe the prices for the opening and closing ceremonies! As exciting as they may be I don't know how much I'll want to shell out for the opening ceremonies. It's quite a jump from the "cheap" tickets ($175) to the next cheapest ($550). I'd like to see women's hockey.

With this wet, damp weather comes arthritic angst, pain and fatigue. I was supposed to go to a wedding last Saturday but was unable to go. I made it to 2 family Thanksgiving dinners on Sunday and Monday as I was feeling better but have been a hermit since as I have had too much pain and fatigue. Ahhh, the warmth and pain-free days in California and Vegas seem like such a long time ago now!

I just posted photos from my Anaheim and Vegas trip.

Thursday, Oct. 4/07. Shopping in Las Vegas, flight to Seattle and drive home.

We spent our last day in Vegas shopping at the Outlet Center south of the airport. Ray went shopping for some Dewalt stuff first elsewhere so didn't end up going to the driving range. I hit all my favourite sports stores as I wanted some more of the moisture wicking tops. I went to Adidas, Nike, and Reebok but only ended up buying some more Nike quarter socks. I was disappointed they didn't come in the bulk 6-pack anymore as those are cheaper. They are now in 3-packs but come in a light blue, pink and LILAC swoosh. So the lilac swoosh is cool to have! Plus the quarter socks now have more reinforcement.

The flight back to Seattle was uneventful. We actually made up time and arrived over 10 minutes early even though we took off about 10 minutes late. We were the only car crossing the border around 3am Friday morning.

Wednesday, Oct. 3/07. Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Casino. China Star Buffet. Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino.

We went to the Calloway golf course south of Mandalay Bay as D had mentioned yesterday that he went to the driving range there. Ray wanted to check out the driving range and find out if they rented out lefty clubs. He was going to hit some balls at the range and I was going to go to the outlet mall. We were too late as the guy who did the demos was only there from 9 to 4.

Ray was going to drop me off at the north outlet mall instead and then go to the Hilton but since there was gridlock due to an accident on Charleston we just both went to the Hilton.

We went to the Las Vegas Hilton as Ray wanted to get a Star Trek cap and mug. I wandered around the souvenir store there and then we went to the arcade. It wasn't very big but I played Dance Revolution. It was a newer version so I didn't like most of the songs on it but found a few I recognized.

We went to the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino (formerly Aladdin). There is still construction being done there and the self-park entrance still had the Aladdin sign. There was a mall surround the casino called the Miracle Mile with a lot of stores and restaurants. It seemed newish. There was a free rainstorm show that was on the hour but we missed it as we parked at ph so that we could meet D for dinner at China Star Buffet. The parking spots that used to be closer to the restaurant had disappeared. D was already there when we got there. He had text-messaged me earlier as he had been on time. My first round I had brocolli, string beans and beef and onions. The 2nd round I had salmon and lean sweet and sour pork (without the fattening batter part). The 3rd round I had soft chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake. Everything was deeeelicious! D paid for both of us as he had made quite a profit from gambling at craps. Thanks D! After dinner we just wandered around the ph casino and then through the mall. D left to go to New York New York to ESPN and I paid $10 for a 5 minute neck and shoulder massage in the middle of the mall. Ahhhhh, it felt so good. Will tide me over until I go to physio next week.

Tuesday, Oct. 2/07 Titanic Exhibit - Tropicana Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

We went to Circuit City as Ray wanted to check out the electronics and computer stuff. Then we ate at IHOP. I only had a bowl of vegetable soup as I had eaten a peanut butter and banana sandwich earlier.

We went to the Tropicana Hotel and Casino to see the Titanic Exhibit. Ray went there kicking and screaming :) It was there the last time we were there for New Year's 2006 but we never got around to seeing it. There's also an exhibit currently in Victoria but it's ending Thanksgiving weekend. We got to the exhibit around 9:30 and had until 11pm to finish. The exhibit was excellent. It was so cool to see all the items that were recovered from the wreck after being under water for at least 75 years. The first recovery of artificacts was done in 1987 and the sinking was in 1912. It was heartwrenching to see a lot of the items as they were named and a lot belonged to those who perished. There was a replica of the grand staircase, as well as an outside deck. There was a mock iceberg to touch to feel how cold it was. After the Titanic sank it became mandatory to have enough lifeboats for all passengers aboard boats. The Titanic only had half the # of lifeboats. It was also heartwrenching to know that a lot of the passengers aboard were only on board due to being transferred from other ships that weren't sailing due to a coal strike. At the beginning of the exhibit we were each given a card with the name and description of someone who was aboard that fateful trip. At the end of the exhibit all the names were listed by passenger class as to who survied and who died. Both of the people Ray and I were survived. I read every single thing during the exhibit. Ray was bored silly and just walked through most of it without reading anything. He was probably as bored silly as I was when I went to the Star Trek exhibit with him a few years ago :) We went the the 24 hour Garden Fresh Cafe to eat afterwards in the hotel and I had a Denver omelette.

Coincidentally a coworker was also in Vegas so he popped by to visit us afterwards at the resort. He is staying at a friend's place. While I was waiting for him I rode around with one of the security guards on his golf cart. He saw me on my walkie talkie to Ray so wanted to look at it.

For some reason I'm not able to post any photos in any of my blogs. Oh well, I'll just do a mass upload onto Flickr.

Monday, Oct. 1/07 Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, Arcade and Lion Habitat at the MGM Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

I was having a great birthday week so far and had an excellent birthday dinner at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill. I had the beet and arugula salad. It was deeeelicious. Besides the typical red beets there were candystriped beets and golden beets, both of which I'd never had before. Ray asked if they did anything for b'days and the waitress said that they could do a cheesecake. I asked if they had anything chocolate and she said she would bring out the chocolate mouse tart. Yee ha! It was the best chocolate desert I've had - it was sooooooooooo good. I savoured every taste and flavour of it.

After dinner as I was trying to find the Lion Habitat Ray got a Superman cap at the CBS store of all places. Still trying to find the Lion Habitat we ended up at the arcade there and I played 3 of my favourite games. 2 oldies: Area 51, Centipede and Dance Revolution. I only play Dance Revolution when there isn't anyone around to watch as I'm not very good at it. But it's a good workout and I haven't been brave enough to try anything past the beginner or easy level.

I finally asked someone where the Lion Habitat was and it turned out we were on the wrong side of the building. We had seen the lions before so I just looked at them for a bit and then played a 5 cent poker slot machine with Ray. Shortly after a large crowd had gathered around the habitat so I went back to see what was going on. The lions in the habitat were brother and sister. Two guys inside were throwing some sort of ground meat on the inside of the windows and the lions would go up to the window and eat it off. Very good Kodak moments for all concerned. I watched for quite a while and then the guys started playing catch with the lions. That was interesting as the male one was on a high ledge and when the guy threw the ball the lion would try and catch the ball with it's paw and then let it go to roll back down to the guy.

Studio 54 is on the same side of MGM as the Lion Habitat. Perhaps I will check it out some time if I go to Vegas with N in the future.

Sunday, Sept. 30/07 Cirque du Soleil "O", Las Vegas

We arrived around 9:50 pm to see the 10:30 show. We got into the lobby of the theatre but the doors into the seating area weren't opened yet. It was strange to be so early for an event. We had so much time to kill. Our seats were really good as they were in the bottom of the 2nd level of the orchestra. I'm glad S told me about her experience at the show in the balcony. She said that it was difficult to follow everything from the height of the balcony level. It was cool as the clowns did a bunch of skits in the area right below us as did other cast members throughout the show.

The show was excellent! So spectacular, different, graceful, and amazing. There were so many different kinds of performances in and out of the water stages, acrobatic and non. There were high dives and so many different stages in the water that were moved around. These were awesome athletes! The singing was good too, it was so powerful. What a difference from the other Cirque show Mystiere that we saw a few years ago. This one was so much better. No comparison.

Sunday, Sept. 30/07 Wynn Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

We ate in our room. I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and Ray had leftovers from Chinatown. We went to the Bellagio and picked up our "O" tickets then went to the Wynn hotel/casino as it's the newest hotel and we haven't seen that one before. The halls and ceilings were beautiful with all sort of different ornate items lining the display cases and sitting on various display counters. Everything was expensive there. We had snacks in the Sugar and Ice cafe where there was a high waterfall outside but the patio was closed for maintenance. I had a Chinese chicken salad which had cabbage, won ton crisps, snow peas and some other veggies in it. There was no chicken to be found in it though, or at least not that I could tell. The spicy peanut sauce was good but by the time I finished the salad I realized that it was too rich so got some green tea. $4 for tea! And Ray's milkshake was $7! Egad! We wandered around the hotel admiring all the inticately-designed hallways and ceilings. We went to the highlight of the hotel which was a restaurant beside a huge waterfall that changed colour and a mechanical 2-flower show. I heard someone say it was supposed to be Adam and Eve as there were male and female statues at the bottom of the falls. The mechanical flower show was cool as they flew around and bloomed like umbrellas. The theme just inside the viewing area were umbrellas.

Saturday, Sept. 29/07 Anaheim to Vegas

Checked out at noon and drove back to Vegas. I think it took about 4 1/2 hours including bathroom breaks. Checked in to the timeshare in Vegas and then went to Sam Wu in Chinatown to eat and then went to Food 4 Less to get some groceries. Our place in Vegas is big with one bedroom, a full-size living room, kitchen (with a stove, microwave, all dishes, pots and pans, cutlery, kitchen utensils, bakeware, blender etc, dishwasher) and breakfast nook. The walk-in closet is huge with lots of shelving and space enough for a bed in there! There is a separate room for the toilet and one for the sink/bathtub. We also have a washer and dryer so it was nice to do some laundry in the suite. Since I always spot bugs when no one else does I spotted a small spider on the pantry door, a huge beetle scurrying around one one of the closet floors and a silverfish on the wall. These spottings were not all at the same time - whew. Luckily, Ray, my hero nabbed all of these and flushed them down the toilet. There are sooo many doors in here! The closet door by the main door entrance. We also have a sliding glass door onto the balcony. There is a pantry door in the kitchen, another closet door between the living room and bedroom. A door to the washer and dryer room which connects to the toilet room via another door. The toilet room has 2 doors - the one going through to the washer and dryer room and then one to the sink/bathtub room. The sink/bathtub room also has 2 doors as the other door goes into the bedroom. The bedroom has a regular door plus one that goes to the walk-in closet. 9 separate inside doors is a lot for a 1 bedroom place!

Ray and I played foosball in the activity room. I was spinning the handles so fast and working up quite a sweat while playing. It was quite a workout as I get quite excited at trying to beat Ray (which I never do) . There was one game where I only lost by a few points :)

Friday, Sept. 28. The Marketplace Tustin and Irvine, California.

Went to the Marketplace in Tustin and Irvine and spent time wandering around Best Buy and Circuit City. We at the Macaroni Grill. The simple salmon I had was deeeeeelicious with little chunks of tomatoes on top. One of the best salmon dishes I've had. Mmmm, mmm, mmm.