A long line waited to get in to the doors that was under this sign.

Every year the Adult Entertainment Expo is held in Las Vegas, which is the largest pornography industry trade show in the United States. This year they divorced themselves from the Consumer Electronics Expo and was held a week after. Another thing that was new this year was the venue. This was the first time AEE was held at the Hard Rock Hotel. Years before it was always held at the Sands Expo Center and the AVN Award ceremony (think Oscars for porn) was held at the Palms.

I haven’t read any reviews or opinions of what anyone else thought, so this is coming entirely from the mind of ME. I like the idea of the everything taking place in one location. I honestly think that it all fits perfectly with the atmosphere at the Hard Rock Hotel. Everything else needs serious work.

Let me start off with complaining about the website. It took them forever to put up their new website. A lot of places online was still saying that it was being held at the Sands. Pieces of the website are still broken. They give no schedule, no real information, you have to go through a questionnaire to find out the prices of tickets, and it just overall sucks. Their website achieves nothing at all, and what links they do have that should be to valuable information are either blank or go to broken HTML.

First boob I've ever touched (besides my own).

This year the price of the VIP ticket was not worth having. There was no early entrance for VIP. Pretty much the only thing you got that was special was a t-shirt. The poster I got I saw it being given away for free to everyone on the main floor. You didn’t get any special goodie bag. So I paid $50 extra for a t-shirt that I don’t know if I can wear in public. Can I wear a t-shirt that says “dongs” on it? I might get away with wearing my “Raging Woody” t-shirt, but I don’t know if I can get away with the word “dongs” across my chest. Actually I really like the t-shirt and it has a very witty saying on it that ties to Hard Rock, but I honestly don’t know if I can get away with that one particular word. The line for VIP was painfully long and outside.

There were two porn stars at the bottom of some stairs that the VIP got first dibs on though. Still not worth the money though. Except for the guy in front of me. The one porn star was rubbing on him, mentioned how she could feel him getting … , then told him how she would continue till he was all the way … . The line was painfully slow and I saw a lot of people skip it to head upstairs to the main area.

The whole event was a cluster f*&% and confusing as f*&%. It was hard to tell what sections were for trade only and what areas were for the public. No easy to read schedule. No star schedule, if you would even be able to find that star. Usually there is a breakdown on the days and during which days and what times a star would be available for autographs. None of this was available. I wanted to get a picture of “Nailin’ Paylin”, but how in the world was I going to find her if I didn’t know what booth she would be in, at what hours, and what days. It was so cramped and crowded I would be stuck in one spot for 10 minutes because bodies were jammed in there tighter than a can of sardines.

I know this is going way back, but at one time AEE was a part of CES. They were one show. One day the adult portion of CES decided they had enough stuff on their own, and there AEE was born. A trade show devoted to pornography. My real point – At one time porn was innovative. Sometimes ahead of it’s time. Certain innovations were seen in porn before it hit mainstream. Multiple angle shots on a DVD were definitely used in porn way before mainstream movies. Where is the innovation now? What has happened to the porn industry? Are all those free clips on the internet hurting their revenue? Or are they lacking in imaginative people working in the field? AEE obviously can’t even hire a decent webmaster. They can’t even get their Facebook right. They have two different kinds of accounts and they have maxed friends on the one they happen to update the most. When in reality it is the group wall that should be updated.

I know I took a lot less photos than I did the last time I went. But there was no huge bull riding dong. No oil wrestling. No fun fan contests. Too much congestion, which you expect but it was ridiculous how cramped the space was. And I didn’t win a trip to Mexico this year. Which I’m kind of bummed not to even have a chance. But probably a good thing because I don’t need anymore embarrassing videos of me floating around the internet. I just wasn’t feeling it this year. I’m just plain disappointed with CES and AEE this year.

The gallery of photos are NOT SAFE FOR WORK. I would rate it a soft R rating. It doesn’t show any real nudity, but the content may be questionable for some work places. Think before you click.

I have probably learned absolutely nothing this month from the two cell phone incidents, except that I would probably be willing to let strangers use my phone again. I can’t help it. I just hope that if I am in need and my cell phone is dead or not on me, a stranger will let me use theirs. I do need to think twice about making suspicious phone calls to people with stranger’s phones though. I don’t need to be helping stalkers to hunt down their exes.

The following is the lowdown on how to get the most out of your pass and ways to avoid some possible hiccups. This information is currently correct at the time of this post, but shows and rules may change so it is vital for you to verify that all of the information is still valid.

The very first step to getting the $99 price (About $116 after taxes) is to get your Total Rewards card. Yet another casino card. But this card can actually be used at quite a bit of the casinos such as Caesar’s, Bally’s, Harrahs, Imperial Palace, Rio, and I know I forgot a couple others. And any of those locations, you are able to sign up for the card. Most importantly, the card is your golden ticket to a lot of shows and some attractions.

So you have your Total Rewards card in hand. Don’t be too hasty now. You want to buy your “All Stage Pass” fairly close to the time of the first show you want to see. Why? Because if you read the fine print, you get exactly 48 hours to redeem tickets. It does say that it is a 2 day pass, but in reality you can actually work it so that you can use it for 3 days. Example – Say I purchase my pass at 7:30pm. I run in and go pick up ticket for 8pm show and slide right in when the show starts. I use the pass all day the next day. On the third day I have the power to pickup tickets till 7:29pm! I would never push it that close, but that still means I can catch an early show on the last day, possibly the afternoon show, and then at 7pm pickup tickets for 7:30-8pm show. Yes the show is past my cutoff time, but I already picked up ticket prior to it. Make sure to read fine print ‘very’ carefully. You are only allowed to pick up ONE ticket every hour AND only up to 2 hours prior to the show. You are never guaranteed seats. So if it is sold out, you are out of luck and you should always have a backup plan.

This is the hardest thing you will do. And out of all my other information, this is the information that may change more frequently. I’m not sure why they make it so difficult, but I’m game for added challenges. It is Vegas. Buying an “All Stage Pass” is the hardest part of the whole thing. Weird, I know. At this current time you can only buy the pass at three locations. Planet Hollywood, Rio and Bally’s. I can only retell you the experience I had at Bally’s. I thought I was on top of my game at the time, but those buggers got me on this one. I already knew of the limited location to buy pass, but purposely chose a location where I could also see a show. Nothing is within easy walking distance in Vegas. I trudged all they way inside of Bally’s, finally found box office, proudly presented my Total Rewards card, and asked to purchase a pass. Thinking that as soon as I bought my pass, I could then get my ticket to Price is Right. (You always have to get ticket to show in location show is at.) Go figure that there is a booth ‘just’ for the “All Stage Pass” and it is outside by Las Vegas Blvd and a booth that is not even labeled in any way that you get the “All Stage Pass” there. A booth that I distinctly remember passing to get in. So I had to trudge all the way back outside. The moving walkway was broken on this day. I purchased my pass and had to trudge all the way back in and through the casino to the box office again to get my Price is Right ticket.

They put the pass on your Total Rewards card. Make sure to keep your receipt, just in case your card should fail! To claim a ticket all you have to do is hand them your Total Rewards card and your ID. I found this fairly common at quite a few of the places I got tickets, the computers were very slow. Don’t cut things too close! So slow that the person helping me would go to another computer to see if it would process it faster. This happened to me in three different locations. Not many people buy the pass. There were a couple of shows you could tell by the expression of the person that it is rare for them to get one.

It is definitely possible to see 8 to 10 shows on one pass. But it would take a lot of pre-planning, good running shoes, and skipping meals.

The best advice I can possibly give is to plan your shows ahead of time. At least have a rough plan, but at same time be prepared to change them at the last minute. Nothing ever works exactly the way you think it will. They will give you a brochure with a list of the shows, days it is done and times. It lies. Don’t believe it. Doesn’t show all of the dark days, I saw shows that had the wrong days listed or times, and it was missing some of the best shows you can use your pass for!!! The best place for that brochure is in the garbage. You are doomed to fail if you follow it. For me, the best thing I did was make a spreadsheet of all of the shows, their location, listed each individual day and then put in it if it is dark or time it was being shown. If for some reason one show took longer than I thought, I could easily look at the spreadsheet and check to see what other show was closer or shown a little later that i could go to instead. “Be prepared, yet flexible” is my motto.

To get the most recent list of shows you have to go into the website and maneuver through that crappy continuously changing flash display. At this time – You will notice that there are different sections, and in each section you can see the shows in that genre. I noticed they have recently added a link to “complete list of shows” in real small print when you maneuver through that amazingly annoying display. To get the most up to date information on each show, you have to go into each show’s page and check their calendar to see what days are dark or if they are on break and the times. This is absolutely the only way to do this. If you try to ask one resort, about another resort’s show, you will most likely get a blank stare and be told to ask them. All they know about is what is there. This is why the spreadsheet is vital. A way for you to have all that information on you so that you can make informed decisions, instead of following what the brochure says and trudging all the way somewhere to find out it is dark and you just walked a mile through the casino for no reason.

I honestly think that having a car would hinder you. The whole parking, moving car to another location, traffic, and looking for parking spot will take longer than just walking. Majority of the venues are in that hub of resorts on Las Vegas Boulevard and within walking distance of each other. Wear tennis shoes. It is a lot of walking. And sometimes you are running or briskly walking trying to get to next show on time. The only location that will take more thought is The Rio. But there is a free shuttle from Bally’s and Paris, but you have to factor in your time for it. I would group a bunch of shows at the Rio together. Which is what I did.

It is very important to have a map of the Strip on you. Then you know whether Imperial Palace is to the left or right of Bally’s and you don’t have to do any unnecessary backtrack walking because you went the wrong way. Would help to have an idea of where the box office is at each resort. Some of those hotels you can wander aimlessly for miles and still not hit the box office. I did that at Caesar’s searching forever for that dang Box Office, but then to find out that I had to walk all the way back outside because Absinthe had their own box office by the tent. Absinthe was NOT in the brochure. I only knew because of the website.

Eat a hearty breakfast. There are no morning shows. This is your only free time. I made the mistake of not eating breakfast one morning. Next thing I know it is 10:00pm, I hadn’t eaten all day and so hungry I could of licked on the pictures of fruit on the slot machine. Ended up cramming a 6″ sandwich and side of macaroni into my belly, while sucking down a soda in under 10 minutes. I had Jubilee at 10:30pm to see! And I knew if I didn’t eat, I would turn into the most vile and crabbiest monster anyone has ever witnessed.

I have a couple of small added points that can add to your success. Going solo is definitely not a bad thing. You can sometimes get better seating when you are just one. Some of the theaters they will stick you as far back as possible, without being outside of the theater. If the theater isn’t full, they will sometimes move people up. I popped into Jubilee 5 minutes before the show started. My seat was in Siberia, but the usher seated me in an empty seat only a couple of rows from the front. This was also done without tipping or asking. I know that it is more old school Vegas to tip the usher to get seated closer. Time of year and days you go seriously affect what shows are on vacation and the possibility of something being sold out. For me during midweek, nothing was even close to being sold out. In fact, majority of the shows I went to wasn’t even half full. But because I was there between two extremely large conventions, only one show was on vacation.

Hope this helps someone! I think I’ve covered everything. Probably missed something though…

Four guys balancing themselves off of each other.

Absinthe is the best show on the Las Vegas Strip! Okay, I admit that is my own opinion. For the people who aren’t aware of what Absinthe is let me try to give you a quick description. Outside of Caesar’s Palace is a beautiful Spiegeltent (I did not realize it was one word till I looked up the spelling). Inside the tent it is fully decorated in a quirky fun way that takes you back in time. Bar included. Wood folding chairs are lined up in rows in a circle around a small stage. The show itself is a cabaret variety act. There is plenty of female and male eye candy who either sing or perform amazing stunts. Being in Seattle these shows can kind of be a dime a dozen. And I’ve seen quite a few of them myself. But Absinthe is on a completely different plane. Let me break it down for you of ‘why’ Absinthe may be the absolutely best show on the Strip because I know you may be saying to yourself, “There are probably over a hundred shows on the Strip Kim. What makes Absinthe so special?”

Cost

Retail price of tickets is $79 plus tax. Who really pays retail though? You can really work down the cost of your ticket by using an “All Stage Pass“, which I will explain in my next post and give the complete low down of how to maximize savings while minimizing road bumps. Even going by the retail price, it is a shade cheaper than any of the seven Cirque du Soleil shows (yes there are seven Cirque shows on the strip).

Seating

You will get way more bang for your buck on seating than any other show on the Strip. All you need is a little bit of time and planning. Seating is all General Admission except for a majority of the first row. Majority of the first row is set aside for VIP tickets which runs about $30 more and includes a free drink. It is possible to sit in the first row without a VIP ticket. Right before the show starts they fill up the seats, but when I attended it seemed they put people who were more dressed up front. There is no other show that I know of where you can sit so close without paying over a $100 and still see a drop of sweat roll down someone’s face. I got in line about half an hour before the show started and was still able to sit in the second row. I would suggest at least an hour during peak times though. You have to remember that is was off season when I went and they weren’t sold out. You are so close to the stage the front row can reach out and touch the people. There is no other place where you will get the chance for this. It makes stunts look that more awe-inspiring. You are able to actually view the work that is put into costumes or lack of. It also gives a great sense of intimacy with the people that are on stage. I felt much more connected. Other shows you feel like you are part of the audience, Absinthe you feel like you are part of the show.

Photography

Chairs were added one at a time, till he could reach the top of the tent with his toes.

The only show that I know of that will actually let you take pictures. No flash please. You don’t want to be the cause of a dangerous stunt to go wrong and people getting hurt. I took a lot of photos. All of the other shows I was at absolutely prohibited cameras of any kind.

Humor

The humor is probably not for everyone. But I was laughing so hard, my stomach started to hurt. I haven’t laughed that much and that hard for so long. The host of the show is a Borat like character, who has his own equally outlandish sidekick. I think it might depend on the audience and the feedback he gets from people, but he had the whole audience rolling. He isn’t racist, EVERYONE is made fun of. Beware of sitting where you can easily become the spotlight. He asked everyone to clap, but I don’t know what it is with this one dude, he just wouldn’t clap. Next thing you know, is that he became the brunt of a whole lot of jokes throughout the show. Lesson to learn, clap when the host says clap. He looked like an awkward big guy in hoodie who was very shy. I’m really surprised he didn’t get up to leave. He must of been called a “F*%&’ng Asshole” at least five times. I’m actually surprised the host doesn’t have two black eyes. He made fun of Lesbians, Gays, Republicans, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, French Canadians, and I’m sure I missed a couple of groups.

These are just a couple of examples of some of the offensive material that was said by the Host and his Sidekick. *WARNING* You may cringe. You may actually have to be there to be able to laugh. Everyone was laughing when I was there, but if you can’t at least chuckle uncomfortably at one of these examples then the show is definitely not for you.

This was part of a gag act to make fun of Cirque du Soleil.

• He pointed to a group of Hispanic men and asked them if between the three of them if they used a bottle of hair gel everyday or if they just got that look from oil flying off the lawnmowers that they push everyday.
• His sidekick told a story about a unicorn with a big black male appendage on it’s forehead and how we would all drown from… I am not even going to bother wording it in a way that will be okay on a non X-rated blog.
• He pointed to an Asian and asked them where their camera was, because he thought all Asians were suppose to carry one.
• He called a group of girls in tiny dresses which one of them was the drunkest slut. And it seemed like they were arguing with themselves which one was the sluttiest.
• His sidekick mentioned how she felt like she peed after watching rock hard ab men do a strength show. But then she realized it wasn’t pee when she stuck her hand up her dress, then smelled her hand… But she did finish off by saying how she wanted to leave a snail trail down their abs.

Beauty

There were beautiful scantily clad men and beautiful scantily clad women. One had the voice of an angel while she sang and stripped off the majority of her clothing.

Talent

Talent ranged from amazing tests of strength to keeping the air from escaping a huge bubble while inserting herself inside the bubble. I know I saw a bunch of the same exact acts at some of the other shows I saw, but being so close to it made it 1000 times more amazing.

Make sure to check out all of the photos in the gallery.

Methodical and slow stunts that showed off the strength of these two guys.

During this bus trip I was looking at the time on my cell phone and a guy asked if he could borrow my cell phone. I of course said “sure” and gave him my phone. “Hey man, how is it going?” ”What are you up to? Oh yeah, that sounds great!” “I need my mom to send me more clothes.” “It sucks man, I don’t have a cell phone right now. All the money I have is this change I’m holding in my one hand.” Blah blah blah blah blah. Slowly my insides started to boil. It is obvious that this guy is just carrying on a normal conversation and he is not talking about anything pertinent. I start to give the death stare to this guy. But conveniently for him, he is able to divert it by not looking at me.

Just because I don’t like to talk on my cell phone, it doesn’t mean it is open season for others to use it. I have the senior citizen plan on minutes, which I never come close to using. But this guy was obviously going to try to put a dent into it. 10 minutes in and my blood was boiling. I say to the guy, “Hey I only get so many minutes, can you wrap up this conversation?” He has the nerve to give me the hand. No apology. Just the palm of his hand held up. I’m about to rip the phone from his hand, but in my head I’m saying “Patience is a virtue Kim. Patience is a virtue.” But my other half was saying, “F&%$ patience and just rip the phone from his hand.”

End of story. I get my phone back when the bus stopped at the airport and I was standing over him with my hand held out. He talked on my phone for over 15 minutes. That is more time that I put on it in a whole month.

In retrospect. I don’t know why I got so worked up over this guy. He really wasn’t hurting anything. I have plenty of minutes. But his disregard and lack of disrespect towards me still irks me.

In an unrelated matter. I managed to catch the last light rail that goes to Seattle from the airport. Midway a girl boards and proceeds to sleep. She throws up and the rest of the trip was spent in a cloud of puke stench. It was like I stuck my head in the toilet after someone threw up in it. I was too scared to hop off and hop back into a different car, since it was the last train. So I just stuck my nose inside my shirt and counted down till the Westlake stop. At Westlake, the few people that were on that car were pressed on the door ready to get out. Even one guy yelled out “Please open the door and save us!”.

After our late lunch, we hit up the Venetian to do CES there. Did a fairly quick walk through of that. PMA (Photo Marketing Association) took over the majority of the Venetian. Afterwards we walked around the shops and followed the canals of Venice. If they really wanted to make it more true to the canals of Venice, they should really just throw all of the trash from the casino into it.

The Pirate show at the TI.

We had a lot of time left to kill till our show at the Mirage, so we ended up sitting on the most cushy and relaxing bench in the whole world. After all that walking it was just amazing. I think we sat there for at least an hour. With still lots of time to kill, we had the chance to do the Pirate show at the TI. I do not care for the rebranding of Treasure Island to the TI, but the show is pretty cool. I know some people complained that the revamp of the show made it cheesy because of the provocatively dressed sirens. They are suppose to attract the sailors to their death so it all makes sense to me.

After the pirates, we rode the tram to the Mirage. There we watched the volcano show to get some warmth from the flying balls of flame. Music was pretty cool. We still had time to kill before the show… I guess it is better than being late. So we ended up doing a little bit of gambling at the Mirage. I was $7 ahead and didn’t want to lose any so I stopped gambling. Sat next to my friend playing the video poker slot and just watched him for a while. Got bored so started to play on the machine next to him. I never play poker, because I never win. At first I was just playing one hand at time. You can last a long time since you don’t lose much money. But it is so slow going on winning or losing money. So I decided I wanted to try at least a couple of doing the full 50 hands like my friend. I accidently hit the “Max Bet” button. I would of never of did a max bet on that machine, because it is a $12.50 bid in one shot! That one bet won me over $300! Which made up for all of the money I am temporarily losing because of the Stratosphere putting such a huge hold on my funds. Losing those funds was going to put a huge dent on my Vegas fun, but it had all been fixed by that one bet. Pure dumb luck.

Finally it was time to see Love! And it was AMAZING! I am partial though. I just love the Beatles music. The choreography and usage of screens, performances, and props just blows me away. The music alone gives me warm fuzzy feelings. I just wanted to sing and dance along. It was like a dreamlike Beatles world. My friend on the other hand… He just thought it was okay and only recognized a couple of songs. Phooey on him though. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!! I was a little confused about the story they were trying to tell though. That is my only complaint. The added speakers on the back of each seat, seemed to only be utilized for certain things. I’m going to guess it is to give the sound another dimension. It was okay, but not a necessity.

I skipped a night of sleep. I had to do laundry before I left for my trip and my apartment complex only has 2 washers. So I ended up doing laundry at 1am, I wasn’t done till 3am. And since my flight was at 6am I left as soon as I shoved my clean clothes into my bag. Flight was squished and uncomfortable, like it is all the time. My real point to that story is – I skipped a night of sleep.

I hit Vegas on the run. Took the residential bus from the airport to the Stratosphere. They do NOT make it easy for visitors to take the bus from the airport. They have no signs to it and no buses that will go directly to the strip. But lucky enough the Stratosphere has to be one of the easiest and cheapest resorts to reach by bus. Normally it costs $2, but a gentleman gave me his day pass that he no longer needed. The bus that runs along the strip and downtown costs $5 for one trip. They really try to squeeze every dollar they can possibly get from all of the visitors to their city.

Got to the Stratosphere about 9am. Too early to get a hotel room, but at least I was able to go through the check-in process. Unfortunately I happen to get the person that wanted to put a $50 a night hold on my card. I am staying 9 nights here. That is $450 they wanted to hold on my card PLUS the resort fee! Let’s just say I was fairly upset. I sucked it up and continued on.

My friend who was already here for a couple of days  and he let me store my luggage, listened to me gripe for an hour about the charge which he didn’t get and let me shower in his room. Had to of been one of the best showers I’ve ever had. Took off for CES right away. I don’t know…. Maybe because I was tired. Maybe it was because I was catching the tail end. I just wasn’t feeling it. It looked the same as the last time I went. Same push on 3D products, but twice as many iPhone cases. The only main difference was there were a ton of tablet cases now. Why?! Why!? Were there so many dang  cell phone cases. CES in conclusion: Not enough innovation, too much fluff.

I was pretty dang hungry, so we ended up only spending a couple of hours at the Convention Center. After cooing at the lions and the cute lion cubs we ate a late lunch, early dinner at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand. I trained my friend well. He had a coupon for a free appetizer. I ordered the same exact thing I ordered 10 years ago at the Washington DC Rainforest Cafe, the Pastalaya. Just as spicy as I remember it, but they have definitely made the portions a little bit smaller. Used to be well known to serve heaping portions that was enough for 2 people. I do like the fishies in all of the aquariums and the animatronic animals. I know it is kitschy, but I think it is a fun place to eat.

One of the lions at the MGM Grand. Did you know they go home every night to a ranch that is 12 miles away from the hotel? They had a photo opportunity with a lion cub, but the photos cost $25.

The following are a couple of things that I have planned that I’m fairly definite on.

• CES (Consumer Electronics Show) – This is an enormous trade show that is held every year in Vegas. It attracts over 120,000 attendees. That total is just the ATTENDEES!!! Add in all of the vendors and everyone working the show and you have over 150,000 extra people in Vegas. This year should be even bigger since they will have all of the space at the Venetian that used to be set aside for AVN and a smaller photography trade show that was normally held in the Spring is going to be combined with CES. I will most likely spend about 2 days at this.
• AVN (Adult Video Network) Adult Entertainment Expo – As far as I know, this is the largest porn expo in the United States. This year I’m not making the same mistake I made the first time I went. I went ahead and bought a VIP pass so I don’t have to stand in a crazy long line.
• Love - This is the show I’m looking forward to the most. It is my friend’s responsibility to get us tickets for this. If he doesn’t, he will be fired from all future jobs of acquiring tickets.
• Zumanity – My friend’s choice of show. I already got our tickets for this, and got a great deal on good seats.
• Neon Bone Yard – I already have my ticket for this also. They typically sell out and I did not want to miss it this time around. It is where all of the old neon signs go to die and gain the possibility of being brought back to life. It really is an extremely cool dump for neon signs.
• All Stage Pass – This is a $99 pass to see as many shows (there are currently 20+ options) in a 48 hour time period. If you know me and how I like to plan things to the max, you will understand that I have already laid out every show on an excel sheet with location and times, figured out which shows are my must see and then figured out a schedule to where I can maximize the amount of shows that is humanly possible to see in a 48 hour time period. You have to keep in mind that majority of the shows are only at night AND the travel time between eight possible hotels it can be at!!! And after all of my calculations and map studying, I feel I can do 6 shows without a hitch, 8 if the stars are perfectly aligned and absolutely everything runs perfectly. Highly doubtful, but 6 would definitely still be impressive.
• Sterling Sunday Brunch Buffet – They may have to wheel me out of this place. Buffet may be $85, but you get unlimited Pierre Jouet Champagne, caviar, raw oysters, and whole lobster. You know I can drink $100 worth of that champagne. Add in the caviar and lobster and I’ve definitely ate my money’s worth. I’m mostly looking forward to the caviar, it has been close to a decade since I’ve had any.
• Strip Steak – Already have reservations. It is a Michael Mina restaurant at Mandalay Bay and conforms to my friend’s dietary requirements. Cow + Potatoes = Dinner. I think they charge $10 for a baked potato. I don’t even think it has bacon bits on it. Do they know you can get a costco size BAG of potatoes for under $10?!? Actually I have a coupon for this place, much to my friend’s dismay.
• Hot N’ Juicy Crawfish – I’m really hoping that it is half as good as it looks from what I saw on Man vs. Food. I’ve already been to Crawfish King here in Seattle, but this place is suppose to have a special sauce their crawdads gets tossed in. They look bigger and supposedly actually spicy. So I’m definitely down with that.

Other possibilities dependent on time – Shark Reef, ziplining through Downtown Fremont, Ichiza has AMAZING sushi, Sylvia at a theater in Chinatown (loved the one that played at the Rep here.), Dolphin Habitat, Adventuredome, Minus 5 bar where everything is made out of ice and they give you boots and fur coats to borrow.  If I should win a couple hundred at the money sucking machines I’m going to try my darnest to get a seat in an exclusive dining room at the Jaleo restaurant at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Only 8 people are served a pre-fixe meal in a hidden dining area of the restaurant. Very intimate and ecclectic, since you are suppose to be dining inside of Jose Andres’ mind.

Busy? Heck yes! I always over plan. I don’t like to go somewhere and not know what is available for me to do.

I have received a clean bill of health from my hosting company and worked on clearing my name with Google. Looks like they have reviewed the site again and has brought me back into their fold. If they hadn’t you would be getting a big security warning that my website may be harmful if entered. I’ve tested in a couple of browsers and computers and it looks like everything is back in working order. Two thumbs up to me!

What is doubly amazing, I fixed it all by myself. I walk a narrow balance beam of idiocy and knowledge. I know just enough to know that I’m not the brightest brick on the wall.

I was also able to replace an LCD screen of a laptop, even though someone prior opened it without a clue on how to fix it. They unplugged the video cable from the main board. Do you know what that means!?!? What could of been an extremely simple job, was made challenging. I’ve also wiped the computer and did a clean install. Now computer is purring like a kitten. Broken laptop cost me $150. LCD set me back $50. I know I can turn it around and make double my money back, but I’m happy with the purchase and it will make blogging on the go 100x easier. It is probably 1000x faster than my throwaway netbook and has a full sized keyboard. Typing on that little thing was more than a challenge. And I couldn’t even view my whole WordPress Dashboard on that itty bitty screen.

I think that is the extent of my amazing feats for the month of October. It pales in comparison to parting the Red Sea, but I will still gave myself a pat on the back.

I ordered the Escargot a la Bordelaise, Roast Marrow Bones, Garlic dish. I was surprised how earthy in flavor the Escargot was. If I had not expected it, I could of honestly mistaken it for mushrooms. The dish came with a tiny fork to scoop out the bone marrow, which is not how I would do it at home. At home I’m picking up the bone with my hand and sucking it out with my mouth, while making a lot of unattractive noises. First time I’ve ever eaten it in a refined way. Whole cloves of garlic were floating around the sauce, which I did eat and hopefully didn’t breath on anyone too closely after my meal. The Bordelaise sauce was extremely rich and flavorful. I used the encrusted brioche to soak up every bit of goodness that was on that plate.

Bordelaise, Roast Marrow Bones, Garlic served with herb crusted brioche.

For my second dish I settled on the Crispy Sweetbreads with Braised Pork Belly, Grilled Peaches and a little bit of a greenery salad. This was my first time eating Sweetbreads. OMG… Yes, the second OMG of the trip. They had been dusted in a thin coating and then fried, so not to hide it. They were nice and crisp on the outside, but creamy and soft on the inside. The flavor was a very mild liver and creamier in consistency. With the addition of a small braised piece of Pork Belly just pushed the dish to the edge. To cut all of that richness the greens were a perfect addition, as well as the Grilled Peaches to add sweetness.

Crispy Sweetbreads with Braised Pork Belly, Grilled Peaches and a little bit of a greenery salad.

The thing that gets me with both dishes is the combination of the ingredients on the plate. It was perfect and complete. Addition of grilled peaches really made that plate. Without them it would of been lacking and not as stimulating. Each of the components on both dishes were vital to the experience. I felt a lot of thought went in to aesthetics as well as the items that are needed to take the dish from okay to amazing.

I wanted to end my meal with dessert. A warm Chocolate Souffle Cake with toasted hazelnuts and honey-vanilla ice cream was my happy ending. It was delicate on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside rich in chocolate flavor. The ice cream was a perfect accompaniment to the souffle, sweet, cold and creamy. while the nuts were the perfect accompaniment to the ice cream. The last surprise after my dessert was one small piece of Meringue.

Link to gallery of more pictures from this post.

A warm Chocolate Souffle Cake with toasted hazelnuts and honey-vanilla ice cream.