travel: las vegas – trip number 8
28 May 2012 1 Comment
in booze & other drinkables, restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: booze, drinks, food, las vegas, photography, the fine things in life, travel
on saturday i returned from my 8th trip to fabulous las vegas.
and dare i say, i think it was my most successful one yet.
we flew with westjet… for a few reasons.
flight time was the main one. we left at 10:15am which really makes the most of your first day there. and coming home, there’s a 1:45pm flight which meshes nicely with hotel check out time.
second, westjet includes a checked bag, which i appreciate because it equals saving at least $50 in bag fees.
and lastly, the overall price of the flight to begin with was the best.
so westjet won for this one.
the flight itself was pretty uneventful… which is how i like my flights.
my mom and i had a spare seat in our row, so i sat in the window and enjoyed the view and she sat aisle and we had the middle seat free. wonderful.
the one place where westjet really falls down is their in-flight entertainment. air canada definitely wins for that. but, its a short flight and i amused myself with my ipad and vodka.
we arrived and grabbed our bags and hopped into a taxi to mandalay bay.
upon arriving, there was a line up to check in of about 25-30 minutes, but it was well organized and there was a guy passing out bottles of water, which was nice.
the front desk lady gave us a high floor with a great view of the pool and we were off to the 30th floor.
one thing that i really liked about our view was that it was easy to keep tabs on how full the pool was and if it was worth trying to get chairs in which location.
this trip was largely focused on checking some chef’s restaurants off my to-do list.
and i’m pleased to say that i accomplished 3 that have long been residents of said list. i’m doing a blog post for each restaurant, so more to come on that. and if you’re on facebook, i did save most of my food pictures for the blog, so there will be new content.
the big success on this trip was the gambling.
not only did we ACTUALLY WIN on the slots… but we won a LOT. well, considering we were playing penny slots – its all relative. when your spins are $0.80 each and you hit $300, it’s a big payoff.
for the first 2 days we were in vegas, we could not lose. we were literally sitting down at machines, playing for 30 seconds and hitting $200 wins. we won at the luxor, tropicana, new york new york and a little at mandalay bay.
total, we won about $1300. but once you factor in the losses, we figure we were up about $1000.
this is amazing to me. in all my years going to vegas, i have NEVER won more than about $70 on a machine. we were so excited at all this, it was hard to absorb. we just could not lose. man, gambling is fun when you’re winning.
so because of this, we decided to up the ante on the trip.
we spent a day at Qua Spa at Caesars Palace which was absolutely out of this world. The baths were incredible and i had a 50 minute body polish and a 50 minute sweedish massage that were delightful. we spent a total of 5 hours there and we were hard pressed to leave. i’ll be back there for sure.
we also check out a show – Zumanity at NYNY.
ummm… so not what i was expecting. i knew it was “sensual”, but i didn’t expect it to be so overtly sexual. it was great and i definitely recommend it, but it maybe wasn’t the best pick to see with my mother, haha. don’t get me wrong, she enjoyed it too, but when the “mistress of the evening” is suggesting that you take your date home to the hotel and fuck their brains out, its possible you didn’t bring the right date if you’re there with your mom.
but yes, excellent show and wow, does cirque ever do an incredible job of making the most insane feats look effortless. absolutely stunning.
besides that, it was food, gambling and pool time…
i did a lot of this:
…and this…
…and definitely a lot of this…
ah drinking in vegas… free in the right places, and totally effed when you pay for it.
that irony never gets old for me.
so there you have it kids!
my totally awesome 4 nights in fabulous las vegas!
upcoming posts include:
- Mary Sue Milliken & Susan Feniger’s Border Grill
- Charlie Palmer’s Aureole
- Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill
- Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood
- Hussong’s Cantina in Mandalay Place
drinks: whiskey sour
25 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in booze & other drinkables Tags: bartending, booze, the fine things in life, whiskey
my husband has taken to perfecting classic cocktails… it’s really quite breathtaking.
now that he has the old fashioned down pat…
and the manhattan is pretty solid as well…
now he’s tackling the whiskey sour.
and i dare say he’s mastered it.
he even makes his own simple syrup and has proper garnish for each drink.
he’s found his inner bartender.
one of the things we’ve been enjoying greatly is our new ice cube tray that makes perfectly square cubes. it may seem a little gimmicky and frivolous, but they sure do look sharp.
and they melt perfectly in a whiskey drink.
so they were well worth it.
another thing we’ve been loving in our bar kitchen is these bad boys…
now, i’m a massive fan…
my husband finds them repulsive, but most classic cocktails require them, so he uses them.
and then i fish out his whiskey soaked cherries and happily nom them down.
anyways… here is the recipe…
simple and classic.
enjoy.
tyler’s perfect whiskey sour
- 1.5 oz whiskey (we use makers mark)
- .5 oz rich simple syrup
- .75 oz lemon juice
- 1 egg white
- mix all ingredients in a martini shaker and dry shake. (that means no ice)
- add ice to the martini shaker
- shake again vigorously for at least a minute until egg whites get nice and frothy
- strain into glass with fresh ice
- garnish with maraschino cherry
and now just for fun… a montage. 
travel: whistler
30 Mar 2012 3 Comments
in photography, restaurants & dinning out, travel, vancouver Tags: restaurants & dinning out, the fine things in life, travel, whistler
last weekend we celebrated my husband’s birthday up in whistler.
i absolutely adore whistler… and he has been dying to ski, so it was a perfect fit.
the two of us, my brother and my husband’s best friend packed up and spent 2 nights in a winter wonderland.
we stayed at the delta whistler village suites this time… for no other reason than they gave us a 2 bedroom unit for a very reasonable price considering it was peak season.
the last time we were in whistler, we were at the pan pacific whistler village, which i absolutely loved. the location and the rooms were just a bit better than the delta, but i would definitely still stay at the delta again.
usually though, the bulk of my whistler stays are done at the club intrawest in the upper village, which i also like.
of course, being in the village proper is the best scenario, but i really do love the intrawest property. particularly the hot tubs and pool area.
anyways. unfortunately for us, my husband was just getting over a wicked cold and i was just getting it. so the party factor was a lot smaller than we thought it would be. so what was projected to be a wild weekend, turned out to be pretty tame, but still super enjoyable.
we went out the friday night, to 21 steps attic for dinner and drinks. the food was excellent and the drinks mixed masterfully. we were all about the manhattans and old fashioneds. (there’s been a lot of mad men in my house lately)
i had an appetizer of fried goat cheese with rosemary honey that nearly brought me to my knees. spectacular.
the service was a little spotty… really great until this massive group of people showed up and didn’t have seats, so they were literally hanging over us on all sides while we were eating our meal. they totally obscured us from the waitress, so it took over 30 minutes to get our drinks refilled and it just made us feel like we wanted to get out of there as soon as we could. it was a shame because up until then, we were having a really lovely time… i have no idea what the hostess was doing or why you would bring that many people upstairs with nowhere to seat them.
saturday morning, we were up early and i made the boys breakfast before they hit the slopes. i love having a kitchen in a hotel room. it really makes your stay so much cheaper the have snacks and light meals on deck.
then they were off as soon as the mountain opened.
i decided to hit the gym to try to sweat out my sickness and then i relaxed in the pool and hot tub. i love how whistler pools are like bathtub temperature… and then got ready for some village exploring.
my original plan was to hit the trails like i normally do in whistler… but then i realized that i’m normally not there during ski season and most of my regular trails are closed for cross country skiing. so i gave up on trying to navigate the map and just explored the village.
the weather was stunning. absolutely picture perfect whistler weather. not a cloud in the sky and warm sunshine… no wind at all. lovely. my first stop was david’s tea, where i had the most excellent cup of cold 911 tea to help ease my sickness. it worked like a charm… while i was drinking it. but then it snuck back up on me. by noon i was ready for a bowl of soup.
i read the menus at a few places and eventually decided on the little eatery, as they had a selection of 6 different soups. i ordered a bowl of the thai chicken, which was spicy and exactly what i needed. very yummy. unfortunately, i found the service to be a little lacking. i was left at the entry way for a while and ignored and was just about to leave when finally someone talked to me and seated me. then my order was taken, dropped off and later my bill brought. i definitely felt a little neglected by the “bare minimum” service i received. while it technically wasn’t “bad” service, it just didn’t make me feel like they cared at all about my business or experience. but i’m sensitive to that sort of thing.
after my soup i had to retreat back to the hotel… the sickness was creeping up on me and despite the phenomenal weather, i just couldn’t hold it together anymore.
around 4pm the boys came back and we hung out in the room all night… watched 2 hockey games, drank some drinks… i made chicken wings and lasagna (thanks costco) and we just talked and laughed and had a great time.
the next morning we hit up the dub linh gate pub for breakfast. i had a gift certificate for $50, so it seemed like a good time to use it. the breakfast was super average. my husband’s smoked salmon benny was good, but my omelet was pretty much inedible with leathery eggs out of the carton. they also served the breakfast french fry. which i’m not really a fan of. if you call it a hashbrown on the menu, it should be hashbrowns, not cubed french fries. but the service was really good and the irish coffee very irish, so i give it an overall “okay” stamp. probably a better place for lunch/dinner or just drinks.
so that, my friend, was my whistler adventure.
and now, i leave you with the greatest picture anyone in my family has ever taken.
my brother on top of the mountain, tebow-ing.
travel: italian adventure
21 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in travel Tags: italy, the fine things in life, travel, wine
well, it is with GREAT excitement that i can say that my italy trip is officially booked and confirmed and paid up in full.
so what does this mean?
well for one, we’re now BROKE, lol. but it’s all good… so worth it.
but most importantly as of september 26th, we are off for almost 3 weeks to explore italy.
our tour is called “the best of italy & sicily” and it starts and finishes in rome… and goes a little something like this:
we arrive into rome 2 days before it starts and depart when it ends… i am ridiculously pumped about this.
this will trump hawaii as my longest trip ever – and also will be the furthest away from home that i’ve ever traveled.
and while i’m on it… it’ll also be the most expensive trip i’ve ever taken.
we really debated between the itinerary above that includes sicily and one that includes more of the north.
but my assistant manager has traveled extensively in italy and said this one would be better because if we return to this area of the world, we’ll probably do france, germany, switzerland ect and its easy to dip down into the north of italy when you’re in the neighbourhood so to speak.
in any event, we agreed.
and we were both pretty keen on the idea of including sicily on this trip.
i also absolutely love the idea of taking the “overnight cruise”. it includes dinner and should be pretty beautiful… i love being on the water. i hope the weather is good.
we’re going to eat and wine our faces off… i’m especially excited about this in particular: Dinner with wine at a Sicilian agriturismo winery.
ummm… okay!
the one thing thats really blowing my mind is the absolute value of this tour.
yes, its a lot of money upfront, but now we’re done. every breakfast and 4 dinners with wine are included. so we have to budget for lunch & a dozen dinners.
but our accommodations, transportation, sightseeing and everything else is done and dusted.
we’ll have this trip paid off before we depart on it. and thats exciting. especially for my husband, who is much more of a money watcher than me.
also, having someone else take care of our luggage and checkins to hotels ect is really going to free up our days to SEE more. we won’t be mucking around dragging bags to and fro train stations. and that was important to me. while this is a longer trip for us, it’s not a “long trip” to europe by any means. so we have to maximize our time on the ground.
i bought this book at costco to help:
it’s really interesting and they break down a lot of cities with “if you only have one day – do this” kind of mentality and include walking maps.
which is perfect, because in most cities, our coach will arrive, they do a spin around the city to orient you and then you do one major sight or activity and then you’re free for the afternoons.
i also like that we get a local guide in Rome, Florence, Assisi, Pompeii, Palermo and Agrigento.
very cool to be shown a city by a local… and i’m looking forward to seeing what they call their “hidden treasures” which is something unique to each guide that they show you that you won’t find in the lonely planet book.
anyways. clearly i am very excited.
i’m currently making my “to do still” list which includes: getting transfers to/from the airport in rome, booking our 2 nights hotel for before the tour starts, extending our insurance coverage to cover the length and cost of our trip and getting a book on learning italian. yey!
188 days seems a lifetime away…
travel: las vegas hotel picks
06 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in travel Tags: las vegas, the fine things in life, travel
*this blog is pure personal opinion, so please take it as such. people’s views on “the best places to stay in vegas” vary wildly depending on personal preference*
a very large chunk of the business i do is selling vegas.
and a very large chunk of the travel i do, it to vegas.
so it stands that i spend a lot of my time thinking and talking about what hotel to stay at when in fabulous las vegas… so i’m going to share some nuggets of my wisdom that usually people have to come see me for.
i have a personal goal to stay at all the strip hotels.
the cool part about this goal is that the hotels themselves are always changing. even in the 6 years i’ve been going, i’ve seen at least 4 hotels go and about 7 new ones pop up. not to mention all the ones that stayed and kept their names but have revamped their images and refitted the hotel.
i have personally stayed in the following hotels… in this order:
- the monte carlo – deluxe room stripview
- the bellagio – deluxe room poolview
- the flamingo – neapolitan suite
- mandalay bay – penthouse suite
- the hotel at mandalay bay – standard suite
- the wynn – panorama room golf course view
- mandalay bay – regular room stripview
- vdara – regular suite aria view
- the mirage – deluxe room volcano/strip view
there’s a few things i’ve learned about staying in vegas and how i like my trips to go. almost every hotel has a positive to choosing it and every hotel has their own vibe.
for me the biggest factors in choosing are: who im going with, what we’re planning on doing, restaurants, pool area and location. pretty much in that order.
for instance, i am a loyal hardcore lover of mandalay bay. but many people would never dream of staying there because they find the location to be too far. my response is always the following: first off, all you do in vegas is walk anyways. so does it really matter if i’m always walking in one direction? not really. second, there’s a free tram that takes you from MB to excalibur and that shortens your walk considerably. often if i’m doing a late night strip stumble, i’ll just walk all the way down and taxi back to MB from the flamingo-ish area. it’s under $10. really, not a huge deal to me. but, i also am mobile, wear sensible shoes and love walking. i’m not the girl in high heels teetering around nightclubs. but if i was, or was traveling with those girls, we’d probably stay at the hotel that had the nightclub we’d be going to most often. ya dig?
for me, mandalay bay has so many other massive positives too. the restaurant selection is top notch. my absolute favourite; border grill is there. they have many super high end choices and tons of great casual choices. i could happily eat from only their restaurants for every meal and have nothing but success. even the buffet, while not one of the high end buffets available, is always good and has ample options for a good price.
the pool area is hands down the best on the strip and they have the house of blues, where i’ve seen a couple great shows. its like if the commodore ballroom was in your hotel and all you had to do after was stumble upstairs. that shit is worth every penny. also, i like how it’s connected by a mall to the luxor. i’m not a big luxor fan, but i like shopping sometimes. and that mall has some solid choices.
that being said, despite my mad love of MB, i wouldn’t stay there EVERY time. in fact, on my last stay at the mirage, i didn’t even set foot inside mandalay bay. we never made it further down the strip than monte carlo. which, actually marked my very first trip to vegas without eating at border grill. i feel like i let myself down with this choice. but thats a whole other restaurant blog, lol.
next topic… high end hotels.
it’s no secret that i love luxury. and here’s the reason why. i can’t afford to live that way in the rest of my life.
vegas is a magical fantasy world where you touch down and immediately feel like a rockstar. i get off that plane and i’m a freaking millionaire. so i splurge. because to me, i don’t want to count my pennies in vegas, i just want to live.
and there’s no where else on the planet where you can stay at a 5 star hotel for under $100 a night. end of story. so, why on earth would i waste that opportunity? to me, this is a gift that should be welcomed with open arms and sincere thanks. thank you vegas for letting me stay at a 5 diamond property with an exceptionally stunning view of the strip for a ridiculously cheap rate that wouldn’t even get me into a motel 6 in most cities. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
sure, i could go with a basic accommodation and think “oh, i’m never in my hotel anyways”… but i actually *am* in my hotel. i use the facilities, like the pool… i inevitably spend more time in the restaurants and casino than anywhere else… i like my room to be nice and posh and welcoming, not so barren that my first morning thought is “let’s get up and get out of here”. in a city where all you’re doing is going from hotel to hotel day and night, why wouldn’t you choose one for yourself that you actually enjoy spending time in?
again, that’s not to say that i’m staying at the wynn every time… but i’m reasonable. even when i’m on a bit more of a budget, i’ll always find the extra few $ a night for at least a mid-range property. there are a few properties that i sell a ton of that you would never see me at….
imperial palace – this one i actually kinda like as far as the casino goes and hanging out in. good location, but for just a few dollars more per night (literally) i can stay next door at the flamingo, which IMO is far superior and has a spectacular pool area. i sell a TON of this hotel. people LOVE it. the budget conscious people love it. the people that honestly do wake up and get out of the room as soon as possible and don’t care about hotel facilities. this is the perfect hotel for those people. those people are just not me.
excalibur – never ever in a 100 years. i’m sorry, but its just not happening. i’ve never walked in there and thought “gee, this is a great casino with a nice feel, lets stay a while”. as soon as i walk in, i can’t wait to get out. it generally has more kids than anywhere else on the strip, it’s hideous in decor, run down and so trashy. theres no fine dining, everything is cheap cheap cheap. it’s like if walmart had a hotel. but you know what? a lot of people shop at walmart and a lot of people go to vegas for a cheap vacation, not to do fancy stuff. so it works for them.
circus circus – yaaaa. i’ve set foot in here once, to see the carousel bar from fear and loathing. and while i kinda dig the old school dirty smoky vegas feel of years past, at the end of the day, it’s just too far down the strip with nothing around it and the circus theme is vaguely creepy and unsettling to me. and i think i can find more than $29 a night to spend on where i lay my head. but if all you care about is the lowest price possible, this generally is it.
the last thing i wanted to touch on today is upgrades & suites…
this is what i like to think of as the win/lose. sometimes i’ll stay in a hotel that’s not quite as nice as i’d like because i’ll pay to be in an upgraded room or a suite. because let’s face it, a suite is always kickass. now, not everything is going to be my penthouse suite at mandalay bay (aka – nicer than my house will ever be) but even a suite at the flamingo can feel pretty swanky.
it’s a good thing to price out when you’re shopping for vegas… sure you could stay in a standard room at the wynn, but you might be able to get a suite somewhere less fancy for the same price and that would give you an overall more enjoyable experience.
also, once you’ve ventured into suite territory with a hotel, they’re more likely to consider you for an upgrade. simply put, if you’re already in a higher room category and they have something else available, it’s really easy to bump you up one more level. if you’re in a standard “cheapest possible” room, then the best you can hope for in most places is an upgrade to a strip view. ya dig?
drinks: the joy of coffee
04 Jan 2012 3 Comments
in booze & other drinkables Tags: coffee, insomnia, the fine things in life
i started this post yesterday, but now i find it rather fitting that i’m finishing it at 5am, clutching a cup of coffee like its my lifeline after an absolutely terrible sleep consisting of a whopping 2 hours of actual snoozing.
so yes, i appreciate coffee right now like its nobody’s business.
so.
i love coffee. i mean, who, over the age of about 25 doesn’t?
it’s delicious and comforting as only a warm beverage packed with caffeine can be.
it saves lives in the morning. mine and the lives of those around me. because without it, i may find myself in a murderous rage.
there is a marked difference between a good cup of coffee and a bad cup of coffee. and no, that difference usually has nothing to do with price.
it’s the beans & the brewing technique.
i’ll admit, while my favourite place to get a cup of coffee is from cafe artigiano, probably 95% of my coffees purchased come from a starbucks these days. starbucks makes a good, consistent cup of coffee. and if it sucks, they’ll make me a new one without much fuss.
my drink of choice is the americano. it’s basically like a regular cup of coffee, but because it’s espresso & hot water instead of drip coffee, i can be guaranteed its freshness. and in the coffee world, fresh makes all the difference.
also, americanos are cheap. and so am i.
but every now and then i am happy to splurge on something exciting and different. for example, if i see that a restaurant has vietnamese coffee on the menu, well, that’s what i’m getting. because when coffee meets condensed milk, the magic happens.
in my house we have 3 coffee makers. a regular drip, an espresso machine and a bodum. all 3 get regular use.
for flavour, the bodum just can’t be beat. and when a place serves me coffee in a bodum, it’s a simple thing that says to me that they care about the quality of the coffee they serve. premium beans would never be run through a drip maker. it’s just wrong. and a waste.
but with a bodum there’s no disguising what you’re getting. the beans have to be good or its just not drinkable.
anyways, to the point. i’ve visited some places with good coffee. in jamaica the blue mountain coffee is world class. in hawaii there’s some fabulous coffee from kona and up and coming coffees from maui.
and if you’re a coffee lover, you know the peaberry coffee.
simply, the peaberry kona coffee is the champagne of coffee. now, like champagne, you pay a premium price for it, but its oh-so worth it.
we came across a coffee shop that was serving it for $7 a cup. not bad, i’ve paid $10 a cup for it in vancouver, so me & my brother were in.
this gentleman was pleased to hear thats what we were after and brewed us up our own bodum of it.
after 4 minutes of perfect brewing, it was ready to drink. no milk or sugar needed, it was perfect as is. – also the mark of a premium brew.
so, naturally, we had to buy some. we debated back and forth over how much to buy… it was $40 a pound, but that was by far the lowest price we’d seen it for… but it was on a particularity big spending day for us, so i opted to just buy the 1/2 pound at $21.99
then, later on in the week we took home another $100 in coffee and tea from O’o Farms and our bounty was complete. the “mokka” from O’o is very comparable to a peaberry. when you look at the beans, they are about half the size of the regular sized ones. it’s very interesting (should have probably taken a pic – sorry)
from Aina (O’o Farms) we took home the following beans:
YELLOW CATTURA : MEDIUM ROAST – Taste of honey, caramel, very full bodied, smooth, perfectly balanced with a sweet buttery finish. Pair with light, fruity desserts.
TYPICA : DARK ROAST – Refined acidity, perfectly balanced, a complex coffee with notes of cedar and walnut. It is a wonderful coffee with pastries. Same varietal found in Kona coffee farms.
MOKKA : DARK ROAST – This rare heirloom coffee presents big body and exotic flavors of baker’s chocolate, almond and caramel – with a lingering buttery finish. Pair with chocolate & berries.
all 3 of these have proved to be exceptionally delicious and lovely in their own way, and yes, all 3 are best when done in the bodum and not sugared & milked.
for my coffee loving friends, i highly recommend trying a bodum at home with a primo bean. you’ll be able to tell the difference immediately and even those that load up their coffees with all sorts of flavours & cream will be able to drink it black, as intended.
