Mummy's entry - Las Vegas

This is going to be a long post (with heaps of pics)! :D

We left LA 12 plus in the afternoon, the girl woke up late. We had to wake her up as we didn't want to be too late. Afterall, the drive will take 4-5 hours at least with stops in between. She behaved pretty well in the car, surprisingly. She did get bored which I let her play with her toys or gave her some snacks. She also slept for over an hour, perhaps 2 in the ride (she's getting more sleep than usual and adjusting very well to all the changes).

was kept entertained in the car with her toys

about to reach LV

reaching towards our hotel

We arrived Las Vegas 5 plus in the evening. The hotel we stayed in, Monte Carlo Hotel, was very nice and the room we had was also very nice. It was a bedroom suite since there were 3 of us adults and one kid.

After we checked in and settled down, we took a stroll along the strip, this is the main or happening area at Vegas. The place is huge!

We realized that each hotels have its own theme and all of them will have the usual casino inside, with a shopping lobby, restaurants or food court and other entertainment stuff. Our hotel has all these too and even if you don't leave the hotel, you will be just fine.

We were looking for a place to have dinner but we couldn't decide so we walked and walked. Luckily, the girl was alright with her stroller (if not, I'll surely be suffering from sore arms and back aches now!). We walked all the way to Caesars Palace Hotel, went through it...saw some interesting stuff and decided to head back. By now it's 8pm and we still haven't decided on what to eat. We saw some nice eateries on the way back but we noticed there were all adults and we thought having Rye Li around would be more of a nuisance to them so we walked on. In the end, we settled on McDonalds. Haha.


The weather was hot when we reached there, became cooler when we had our walk but after our dinner, it became colder (maybe coz I had ice cream!) but bearable. When we got back to the hotel, I called room service to get some hot water for the girl to make her milk (the room do not have coffee/tea maker facility - the first I came across for such a nice hotel!) and they wanted to charge me US$4-85 for it! I said it's alright and they suggested I go downstairs to the McDonald's to get some which I did. The girl there was surprised that I asked for some and said it will costs US$0.65 and I agreed (I got no choice!). But in the end, she said it's alright when she passed me back my hot flask, think she didn't feel right charging me. We realised then that everything in Las Vegas is about money....and definitely not baby friendly. Well, at least they have a play pen for babies to sleep in.


Hubby had to work the next 2 days (this was why we planned this trip) so it was just me, the girl and sister-in-law (sil). Thank God that I had sil around or else I will go mad with the girl alone. Haha...I shouldn't be complaining as the girl is pretty well behaved already but she became very attached to me at times and insisted that I do everything for her only, like push her stroller, carry her, change her, feed her, etc so it can be pretty tiring. And when sil tried to intervene, she protested. This girl bullies her Ah Mai at times and when she wants something, she can be so nice to her Ah Mai.

While hubby was working, us girls walked and walked again along the strip. We didn't go that far, just through the shopping malls. Out of all the hotels we went to, I love the Bellagio the best. The decors inside is beautiful and the garden they have inside is really pretty (they change it throughout the year to suit the season and it was autumn and halloween theme). But the best of all is their musical fountain outside. I don't mind just hanging out there the whole day - we managed to catch 3 'shows' while we were there....each time to a different song and different patterns. And it is free to everyone...I was telling sil that I'm surprised it's free coz if it would be back home, we definitely have to pay to watch it. She said that the casino makes loads of money which was why they don't mind spending so much to please it's customers! Makes sense!

the biggest chocolate fountain in the world in Bellagio Hotel

the flowery ceiling at the lobby of Bellagio Hotel

At the center court of Bellagio Hotel....with its Halloween theme

real apples flowing out

at night, the musical fountain is even more beautiful!

our first time trying out this ice cream, nothing to shout about but we found out the girl prefers choc to strawberry

We also shopped in Vegas surprisingly. Hehe...they have outlets too and we got some stuff...I'm so grateful that it's not summer, imagine the summer clothes that I would buy!!! You definitely need loads of money to come to US, I'm already thinking of the big debt I'll be in when I get back from this trip! sigh!

playing around at the Levi's outlet, not easy shopping with a toddler




posing with her new shoes

On our second night, we had dinner without hubby (he was having dinner with his boss) in the buffet restaurant in the casino of our hotel as we had free coupons for 2. Hubby was joking that we probably have to pay for Rye Li since everything needs money (even the gym) but luckily, kids under 3 years eat for free. Anyway, not that she ate that much also.


On our way back to our room, I took some pictures of Rye Li in the casino, something we will not be able to back home. This girl willingly posed for me with a smile too...by the 3rd picture, the security guard came and I apologized to him (he said it's alright) and we quickly got out of there. I think he was there to say that we are not allowed to loiter about rather than taking pictures since there were no signs saying that we can't take photos. This is also another interesting fact I noticed at Las Vegas. There is no dress code in the casino and anyone (even babies and kids) can walk through the casino but they are not allowed to loiter around at the games area. I had to be 21 to enter Gentings back home! Also, the casino was not as smoky as I thought it would be. I was warned that it's very smoky and it's not a place for kids so I was expecting Gentings kind of smoky but compared to Gentings, the casinos at Vegas can be considered very mild already. Haha. Anyway, as much as we had to go through the casinos at times, I made sure it was very quick (except for that photo-taking session) for the girl's sake.

On our third night there, we had dinner with hubby's boss at a very nice Italian restaurant at Mandalay Bay Hotel. I was worried initially that she would misbehave and spoil our dinner and again, she surprised us by behaving very well (I under-estimate my daughter at times). She sat in between sil and I on the couch and let her play there, giving her things to play with and bread to munch on. I think she was very happy with the fact she doesn't need to sit on a hi-chair and she can do whatever she wants there. We ordered a child's meal for her, chicken fingers and when her dish came, we were shocked with its size. It's more like an adult's size back home! This girl only had 2 little bites of the chicken but happily helped herself to the fries. And we introduced her to ketchup this trip and she loves it! She would ask for "sos" (sauce) and dipped her fries in it and just licked the sauce off. She gained a few bad habits from this trip!

trying out the long breadstick

the girl's meal!

helping herself to the fries and sauce only

a picture with the boss at the Shark's reef aquarium

We drove back to LA the next day, stopping by another outlet on the way and the girl was alright with the journey again. Of course, she did get cranky when she was tired and especially towards the end after the long ride which I had to result in tempting her with sweets which worked! ;)

this was how I kept the girl quiet in the car....a lollipop! ;)

would you believe that this is the biggest thermometer in the world? it's on the way to LV! if hubby's boss didn't mention it, we wouldn't even realised what it was!