Yosemite Ahwahnee/Bridalveil - September 5-6, 2010

I woke to the sounds of people rustling about in the campsite.  We now were a group of 6.  The night before, the gang decided that having Sunday brunch at the Ahwahnee hotel would be a great idea.  Sunday morning, with the 1 bar of cellular service we had on our phone, we called to find out the brunch hours and price.  Once we found out it was going to cost $49 per person, plans changed to stay on-site and cook breakfast instead. :)  The prices definitely went up since the last time I was at the Ahwahnee; I think it had cost $28?  In comparison, the Rio seafood buffet in Vegas cost $39 per person for dinner.  The dining room menus at the Ahwahnee were pretty extensive considering it's located in the middle of a national park, though there didn't seem to be "indigenous" meats offered, like bear or deer.

The day's plans were to visit the Ahwahnee, head over to Tunnel View for some photo opps, visit Bridalveil Fall, catch some lunch, and rent some bicycles and ride around Yosemite Valley.  We drove as not to be at the mercy of the bus schedule.  In order to keep cars off the road and reduce pollution, Yosemite runs free shuttles all around the park.  In hindsight, we probably should've taken the shuttle, as traffic got worse later in the day.

The Ahwahnee hotel is perfectly situated, with beautiful scenic views including Half Dome.  The drive wasn't too far from the campground, and had it been earlier in the year, you could see Upper Yosemite Falls.  The hotel was built in 1927 and much of it still felt like the original design, even though there were many renovations since then.

We took a stroll around the hotel and we saw deer grazing (I'm sure the gardeners enjoy that).  There were bicycle and walking trails all across the serene grounds.  I could see myself relaxing here, if I didn't mind paying $450/night!

We got back in the cars and headed over to Tunnel View, which boasts a spectacular panorama including Half Dome.  Unfortunately, the parking lots were full so we were waved on by rangers to keep driving on the road.  We stopped at the next overlook, which still commanded a great view.  We took some pictures and then drove back to the "real" Tunnel View as parking freed up.  See the difference in vantage point in the first two pictures below?

Bridalveil Fall was next on the itinerary.  The waterfall was named so due to the way the water and wind mix to create a veil-y, wispy sight.  Thank goodness it wasn't dried up like Yosemite Falls.  The trail from the parking lot to the waterfall was a whole 1000 feet.  :)  It was paved but a tiny bit had a slight incline, so there were people huffing and puffing; I overheard one person complain that their leg went numb.  People, you need to get more exercise!!!

People were climbing the rocks to get a closer look.  I didn't make it all the way to the waterfall pool; my legs were so sore that I couldn't get stable footing on the slippery rocks.

We decided to grab lunch in Yosemite Village.  The traffic was horrendous!  I think it took an hour to drive a few miles, which was why I think I'd take the shuttle next time, as there was an express lane for their use.  Babe and I were lucky to find a space right when we arrived at the parking lot in front of the grocery store.  The rest of the gang weren't as fortunate and had to park at the Ahwahnee and walk. :(  It was around 3pm by now and being hungry made the food at the Village Grill (burgers, chicken tenders, fries) taste so good.

By this time, we abandoned renting bicycles and headed back to the campsite.  It took over an hour to drive a couple of miles as one of the lanes was blocked off for buses and park vehicles, plus there was construction along the way. :(  We drove by a sign on a bicycle trail that proclaimed "Curry Village - 1.5 miles".  It would've taken less time to hike 1.5 miles.  Another reason to use the free shuttle, or bring bikes with you when you car-camp.

To get rid of all the perishable food in the cooler, I made everyone eat double turkey burgers with bacon and cheese, along with the remaining short ribs.  We tried to roast some purple yam in the campfire, but the fire was so hot that they cooked way too fast and most of it ended up being burnt to charcoal, save a few tablespoons in the center. :(  The potatoes fared a bit better, but everyone was so full.  (though not full enough to turn away s'mores!)  Amazing how toasted marshmallows and Hershey's milk chocolate smashed between two graham crackers can taste so good.  The campsite to the left of us were roasting marshmallows over their campfire lit by Duraflame logs.  I didn't think that was safe...chemical flames, yum.  I just now checked the FAQ on Duraflame and found this:

Is it ok to cook over the fire of a Duraflame® firelog?

No. Duraflame® firelogs are not designed nor intended for use as a cooking fuel. Generally, the types of solid fuel used for cooking produce coals, which emanate heat over a period of time, and cooking is conducted by exposing the food directly to the heat generated by the coals. Our product only burns with flames and does not generate adequate coals for cooking. Since the product was not designed as a cooking fuel we have never completed scientific analysis to determine if there could be any adverse health impacts from cooking over firelogs. Until such extensive scientific analysis is conducted we cannot recommend cooking over firelogs, and at the present time, we have no plans to initiate such testing.

The RV parked at the campsite behind us offered some scary entertainment:  when the parents were out of sight, their young son (about 7 years old) became a pyromaniac, lighting up plastic grocery bags, right next to a container of lighter fluid.  He had ignited the bag so much that he had to fan out the flames.  Eventually it got so scary that we had to go there to tell him to stop and moved the lighter fluid far away.  I think he spoke German.  Later on, we saw the dad come out, and he was doing some extracurricular fire-burning in the campfire himself...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  When we ripped up the cardboard box that contained our firewood and putting into the fire for some extra oomph, the son was watching us, mesmerized, from inside the RV.

The gang woke up really early the next morning to pack up and hike Half Dome, while Babe and I slept in.  We eventually packed up camp by 10am and drove back home without any additional sightseeing, as I didn't want to be stuck in traffic.

What a great trip!  I'm happy that I was able to do Half Dome again without too many aches and pains.  Our annual pass expires next June, so we'll probably hit a few more national parks before then, maybe even Yosemite once more in the spring to see the waterfalls in full force.  Where am I going next?  A gastronomic tour of Napa Valley later this week with cousin Sheri...stay tuned!

*special thanks to Quan for letting me steal some of his pictures :)

Yosemite Camping/Half Dome - September 3-4, 2010

For Labor Day weekend, Babe and I headed up to Yosemite for some rest and relaxation.  Half Dome was part of the plans, so perhaps it wasn't truly R&R.

When the cables are up, permits are required to climb Half Dome on Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays and federal holidays.  ($1.50 per permit handling fee, none of which goes to Yosemite)  300 permits are available up to four months in advance (see the NPS website for the schedule), which meant I had to get up at 6:55am in order to turn on my computer, go to the website, and hover my mouse over the purchase button by 7am on May 1st.  The tickets for Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend were gone by 7:05am.  You could have also called in to order them too.  Either way, you were limited to 4 permits per transaction; if you needed more, you had to start a new purchase online or call again.  If you were unlucky to not get any, I had seen some for sale on Craigslist with a huge mark-up.  I also heard stories of people begging around Curry Village, and people waiting for tired hikers to give their permits away at the sub-dome area.  If you're backpacking, you can also get a Half Dome permit when you pick up your wilderness permit.  If you rock climb up Half Dome (we saw a couple of guys do this), you can go down the cables without a permit too.  So all is not lost if you wanted to hike Half Dome this month or next.

The most convenient campsites to stay at if you're hiking Half Dome are the Pines campgrounds.  There are three of them:  Lower Pines, Upper Pines, and North Pines.  All are within short distance of the trailhead.  You have to reserve them up to 5 months in advance...meaning same drill:  wake up at 6:55am on April 15, turn on computer, go to website, click to purchase by 7am. ($20/night)  All the Pines campsites were gone within 15 minutes.  I managed to snag a campsite in the Upper Pines campground, at the furthest loop away from the road, which happened to be the closest to the Mist Trail trailhead.  It was very convenient to wake up, get dressed, and walk about 200 yards to the trailhead.  This helped get us on an early start to the hike, compared to staying at a campsite an hour away.

The campsites were really close together, and very crowded.  Your neighbor's tent would be 5 feet away.  Hardly any privacy compared to the campground we stayed at last September in the high country, but that is the price to pay for convenience.  Many popular areas of Yosemite Valley were just 1 or 2 miles away from the Pines campgrounds.  On busy weekends, I would recommend walking/hiking/biking to where you want to go, versus taking the car.  It got so crowded on the road due to lane closures and massive amounts of people in the park that it was definitely faster to walk or bike.

It was a 4 hour drive to the campsite via Hwy 16, Hwy 49, and Hwy 120 through the Big Oak Flat entrance.  Took advantage of the annual pass!  It would have been a $20 entrance fee per vehicle, good for 7 days.  Setting up camp was easy and we grilled up turkey burgers for dinner.  I like to bring my Weber Q100 grill as it is lightweight, compact, heats up fast and uses inexpensive blue welding propane bottles from home improvement stores.  I wasn't the only one with this grill...the neighbors to the right and left of us also had the same model!

The squirrels at the campground have no fear, and I could take a picture inches from its head.  One of the squirrels tried to pull my cookies off the table!

Our neighbors to the right, Ed and Connie, came over to introduce themselves and offered their hospitality.  I have never seen anyone bring so much alcohol to a campsite, and it was only their stash!  (they also had friends at nearby campsites with their stashes)  They said that this year they decided to stay at a campsite versus the usual backpacking trip carrying up alcohol and Connie's favorite jumbo margarita glass.  How is that possible?

We went to bed early in anticipation of our Half Dome hike the next day.  Unfortunately, quiet hours didn't start until 10pm. (which really meant closer to 11pm by the time the rangers policed their way up the campsites)

The next morning, we slowly made our way out of the tent and onto the Mist Trail by 6:45am, though I had hoped to start at 6am.  But this is better than normal, since most people don't start the trail until several hours later, after they've cooked their bacon and eggs and had their coffee.  The Mist Trail is a doozy.  It's deceptively steep approaching Vernal Fall, even though it is paved most of the way.  Then the stone steps towards Nevada Fall are grueling.  I had to catch my breath at several spots between Vernal and Nevada Fall.  There wasn't much water flowing, but at least there was some, compared to the bone-dry Yosemite Falls.  There were beautiful views at the top of the falls.

A few miles past Nevada Fall, we saw a mama and baby deer foraging off the trail.  The baby deer was also suckling.  As we were lightly treading past them, the deer weren't too afraid of us, but were on alert.  Once we got closer to Half Dome, panoramic views opened up.

Around 10:40am, we made it to "sub-dome", which I had also heard hikers on the trail refer to as the "evil stairs" and the "stairs of despair".  This was the last bit before the Half Dome cables.  This was also where a ranger was stationed to take your permits.  There was a group of about 8 people waiting there, who only had one permit amongst them from a tired hiker earlier in the morning.  We overheard the ranger telling them that since there weren't a ton of people passing through, that he would let them go around 11:20am, which was really cool.  Babe and I hardly saw anyone from Nevada Fall onward, and only a handful had overtaken us or passed us in the opposite direction.  I don't think 300 people went up that day at all.

The ranger tore our permits and we were off to conquer the evil stairs.  These stone stairs felt worse than the ones between Vernal and Nevada Fall, and exactly how I had remembered them.  My calves and quads are still aching as I am typing this.  Almost as bad as the Picacho Peak hike a few months ago.  Since I was an old fart, I had to stop several times to catch my breath while Babe waited patiently, such a good guy.  We saw a couple of mountain climbers come down.  At last, we reached the base of the cables.  Piles of used gloves were strewn about, same as the last time I was here.  This time, I was smart enough to bring my own to avoid wearing a just-worn, warm, sweaty, ill-fitting pair with holes in it.

The cables were held up by pairs of poles, and a wood stud was attached between each pair.  They aren't exactly 2" x 4"s, more like 1" x 4", so it was hard to rest your foot entirely on it.  Some upper body strength was required as I had to pull myself up in several places where wooden boards were missing.  There were also people coming down the cables, so sometimes I'd have to hang on to one side of the cables while the other person passed.  I did not look down too often, and if I did, I'd only focus on the previous pole to alter my perception.  Had I looked for the base of the cables, it may have revealed the steep angle!  Some people had tied themselves with rope with carabiners hooked up to the cables just in case.  We spent more time than expected on the cables since the guy near the top was experiencing leg cramps and had a hard time moving from board to board.  His friends were cheering him on and did not want to pass him.  I wanted to pass, but I stayed patient in order not to jinx the good hike vibes.  The guy behind me remarked, "Are they having a picnic up there?"  But we finally make it to the top!  Yay!  Awesome views!  It's hard to capture the magnificence of the surroundings with a camera, so here are some pictures contrasting tiny human with nature's grandeur:

We spent about an hour on Half Dome, eating lunch and enjoying the views.  I wanted to head down the cables before the leg cramp guy.  Going down was so much easier...if you faced the right way.  Most people were going down face first.  That is scary, and conducive to falling.  Babe and I climbed down facing the rock wall, just like going down a ladder.  Babe pretty much slid his way down.  I was getting tired, plus my gloves were very grippy, so I couldn't slide down, but I moved quickly like a monkey.  There were a lot more people coming up the cables as it was later in the day, and most were tired and/or freaked out.  As I passed them, I told them how far they were from the top, and that it was very easy to come down as long as they faced the wall.  A lot of them were relieved to learn this.  That's me in the middle of picture, making my way down:

I made it to the bottom, looked up and saw the leg cramp guy going down...face first.  It probably took a long time for his group to get down. :(

Taking the trail downhill was a lot easier, even on the stairs of despair, though my legs were aching.  We saw a trail runner sprinting down.  You'd have to be in great shape to run the trail!  By the time we reached Nevada Fall, the Mist Trail had gotten very busy and the foot traffic slowed us down considerably.  I didn't mind the slowness too much at this point, as the steps were killing my knees.  I was amazed to see a mother carrying what looked to be a 3 month old on the Mist Trail.  You could trip and fall on the pebbly rocky steps.  I was glad that there wasn't a lot of mist in the air, else the steps would be really slippery.

We made it back to the campsite by 5:15pm, still daylight and made pretty good time despite the slowdown on the Mist Trail.  The last time I descended from Half Dome, it was in the dark (started late though).  Grilled up some short ribs for dinner, lit a fire and made s'mores, yum!  Babe is an expert at toasting perfectly caramelized gooey marshmallows.  Ed came by and invited us over for tri-tip, but we had already eaten.  They had grilled three tri-tips for their group and had way too much food.  (and too much alcohol, hehe)

We drove to nearby Curry Village (I was not going to walk two miles roundtrip after doing Half Dome!) to take a well deserved hot shower ($5/person).  There was a long line but the wait was only about 15 minutes.  I was so tired, I went to bed early, around 8pm.  Babe's friends joined the campsite later in the night...they had camped in Bass Lake the night before, and planned to hike Half Dome on Monday.  Sunday would be a leisurely day.

Time Machine: Solo Mileage Run to Tampa, December 12, 2009

United had a promotion where if a 1K member flew 125K miles by the end of the year, s/he would earn two additional SWU's, good for international upgrades worth thousands of dollars.  Since I was so close to 125K and had no other flights planned by the deadline, I booked a cheap overnight flight from San Francisco to Tampa with only one stop in each direction (IAD and ORD).  This wasn't the first time I did a mileage run alone, but it would be my first solo overnight run.

Since the flight left from SFO (too expensive from SMF), I drove to Sheri's house to crash Friday night.  She took me to the airport early Saturday morning.  What a great cousin!  She had to go running in the morning anyway.

As I had bought the ticket 11 days before departure, I could only find a middle seat in the 5-seat center section of Economy Plus on a Boeing 777.  I tried to upgrade my flight to Washington DC with 500-miler coupons but there was no immediate availability.  I saw on SeatCounter that there were first class seats available, so it would come down to the day of departure.  This is where it helps to check in at T-24...makes a huge difference 99% of the time when upgrades come down to the wire.  At departure time, priority for upgrades are given to (1) status, (2) fare class paid, and (3) time checked in.  Since I'd be fighting with other 1K's and most probably paid the lowball fare I did, the main differentiation would be time checked in.  My efforts paid off.  There were a ton of people crowding around the podium and I thought I had heard my name called just as I arrived at the gate.  Sure enough, I got a seat:  row 1 window bulkhead (not my favorite as I enjoy underseat storage but I'll take it).  A couple of guys that I had to go around to get to the desk were remarking, "Wow, you're lucky!"  Well, it's not totally about luck as I did everything I could to keep my name high on the upgrade list, but I did wear my Lucky sweatpants. :)

I sat next to the CEO of a company whose name I forgot, who spent the flight time reviewing his son's high school football recordings.  His son had been selected to play for a college football team (forgot which college as well).  Breakfast was served, which was a disgusting omelette filled with an unrecognizable herbed cheese and not worth photographing.  I'd stick with the fruit and yogurt plate next time.  I watched a movie but I don't remember the title; it might have been "500 Days of Summer", which was cute but slightly sad.

I had two hours to kill in Washington DC before my flight to Tampa, so I grabbed a foot-long Subway sandwich (priced at $5 even in the airport!) and had half of it as an early supper.  My flight to Tampa was non-eventful, and I didn't bother upgrading as I had the exit row all to myself.

I used Priceline to snag a great deal at the Quorum hotel (now called the Wyndham Tampa Westshore) for $40 plus tax.  The hotel had a complimentary airport shuttle, which I called for via the hotel information kiosk inside baggage claim.  The agent described very clearly where I was to wait for the shuttle, which was very helpful as there were two areas on opposite sides of the terminal where shuttles picked up.  The shuttle arrived after 20 minutes and it was full of pilots and flight attendants.  They certainly are much different when off-duty with their loud banter and all the jokes/innuendos they threw at each other. 

I only used the hotel room for 6 hours of sleep, but I didn't want to sleep in the airport. (though you can...there is a website that tells you the best places to sleep)  The hotel room was nice and clean, stocked with Bath and Body Works products in Coconut Lime Verbena, and it was the first time I'd ever seen a make-up remover towelette included.

Since I was leaving very early in the morning (before 6am), normally scheduled shuttle service was not provided, but since shuttle service was included in the hotel amenities, the front desk offered to hire a taxi at no charge to me!  I get to the lobby at 5:45am and inquire about the taxi, which hadn't arrived yet.  A few minutes later, one of the shuttle guys waves me over.  He arrived early to work as he had anticipated a demand for shuttle rides; he was right, and the hotel saved a taxi fare.  A shuttle had already taken off carrying a bunch of flight attendants.  I got the whole shuttle to myself.  The driver shared that flight crews didn't like to share shuttles with other hotel guests when heading to the airport (it was okay when leaving the airport).  Maybe the flight crew didn't want to be delayed by stopping from terminal to terminal?

The Tampa airport had a musty sour smell to it, like humidity meets carpeting.  I definitely wouldn't have wanted to sleep here if I didn't have to.  The 3 hour flight from Tampa to Chicago was uneventful, and I had an exit row seat.  I was waitlisted for an upgrade on the flight from Chicago to San Francisco, and I had a very tight connection (40 minutes!) from "landing" to "departure".  Landing time doesn't really mean the time you step foot into the terminal, and boarding usually starts 30 minutes before departure, so really I had NO time to get from gate to gate.  I was very fortunate that my next flight was only 5 gates down, and did not need to switch terminals!  When I arrived there, I saw my name on the TV monitors very high up on the upgrade list with enough seats available to get one. :)  This was thanks to Babe, as he was nice enough to wake up Saturday at 7:44am to check me in T-24 Chicago time, as I had no access to online check-in while on airplanes the day before.  Sure enough, my name is called and I got a seat in the center section of first class on the 777, which is configured 2-2-2.  If I'm traveling alone, I like to sit in the aisles on long hauls for easier bathroom access.  What's nice about the center section was that they were pretty much all "aisle" seats and I didn't have to get up for anyone, as opposed to sitting on the left or right sides.  The gate agent shared that she didn't know why people wanting aisle seats always end up choosing the left or right sides, versus the center section.  Maybe they needed to see out the window?

Another breakfast flight and I stuck with the fruit and yogurt.  My seatmate kept to himself so no introductions.  The featured movie was "It Might Get Loud", a documentary on three guitarists (Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White).  I liked the movie a lot, and it was really cool to hear how they made music with guitars and effects in addition to learning their life stories.  It's amazing how one guitar can sound like a whole band with the right equipment.  It definitely piqued more of my interest in making music.  I own a bunch of acoustic electric guitars (owning isn't a measure of proficiency!), but never any pedal effects or other equipment, since I just play rudimentarily for fun.  I'll have to try getting some in the future.

Once in San Francisco, I called Sheri to pick me up, and we hung out at her house for a little bit before I drove back home.  Solo mileage run complete...it wasn't scary at all.  I enjoyed having time to myself completely cut off from the world, though airlines have been experimenting with wi-fi for the past couple of years.  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be connected...then I could update this blog in real time. :)

Time Machine: San Francisco, New Year's Eve, December 31, 2009

For New Year's Eve, I wanted to do one of those big bashes in San Francisco, and fortunately I found some willing participants to go with me:  my cousin Sheri and my friend Megan, whom you've already met in a previous Time Machine entry for Waikiki.  Partners in crime we are.  The year before, I was in Las Vegas with my parents and thousands of other people on the Strip (in the middle of the street!), counting down to midnight.  We'll save that for a future Time Machine entry.  Here's a teaser:  my dad says at one point during the night, "It smells like marijuana!"

Of course, we researched where to go.  There were many choices, ranging from nightclubs, bars, and hotels.  There was even a party offered at the San Francisco City Hall, which has the most beautiful rotunda.  But it didn't sound as cool as the one at the Westin St. Francis hotel, sponsored by "A-list".  (note, link will probably update to the latest NYE party)  There were rooms with different themes, plus a fashion show and live music, so we opted to go there.  Tickets were sold on A-list's website, but you know me, I had to look for discounts since it was T-minus one week and prices had gone up.  Using San Francisco's craigslist, I found a pair of tickets from one person, and one ticket from another.  Sheri was sooooo nice to go and do the transactions in person, with cash!  We ended up paying ~$100 for each ticket, 50% off "face value", not too bad for last-minute.  The tickets included admission and all-you-can-drink.

New Year's Eve was a work day, boo.  I left work in the afternoon and Megan and I set off for Sheri's house in San Francisco.  When we arrived in town, Sheri was in the process of picking up the NYE party tickets.  The Westin wasn't too far away from where she works.  Sheri texted me that the line was full of people in their 20's, and no Asians.  This doesn't faze us in the least.  We're ecstatic because we'd be the "hot Asian chicks" at the party!

We picked up drive-thru McDonald's and scarfed it down at Sheri's before changing into our party dresses.  I had brought several with me as I was indecisive about what to wear.  Thank goodness I had brought a "younger"-looking dress to blend in with the 20-somethings; the rest of my dresses had heavy beading and/or sequins on them.  They would have been perfect to wear on a cruise or even a work-related evening party, but not at a place where young people were going to be running around and getting wasted.  Sheri and Megan's dresses were perfect for the venue...my dress reeked of "not-a-spring-chicken" since the hem went past my knees!  I had Sheri take a picture of me on my iPhone so I could send it to Babe, who was attending a NYE party at his friend's house.  He texted back "wow".  Such a sweetie.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) offered special NYE service to downtown San Francisco until the wee hours of the morning, so we opted to do that instead of chancing our life on the road after the festivities were over.  Parking was free at the BART station as it was after-hours.  We saw many other people doing the same thing, all dressed up to party, waiting for the BART train to come.  The ride to downtown SF took 15 minutes or so.  We walked several blocks to the Westin, which flanked one side of Union Square.  The doors had already opened at 9pm; we got there around 9:30pm and the line was snaking down the side of the hotel.  Hardly any Asians in line.  We eventually make our way to the entrance, protected by several big bouncers who were checking ID's.  I chatted with a cute African-American and he told me that they made $300 for the 6 hours of work.  Not bad for standing in front of a door and kicking drunkards out.  He also mentioned that he'd be around after the party. ;)

We got inside, traded our tickets for wristbands, and did a coat-check for $4.  Too bad there wasn't a purse check as I hated carrying my bag around.  Next thing we did was explore all the different rooms and get a drink.  The party theme was "Passport to the World", so the ballrooms were decorated to represent Europe, Asia, and USA.  There were smaller rooms with other themes, like the North Pole.  The Asia room was filled with a ton of individually-wrapped fortune cookies, bleh.  As the night went by, these cookies would eventually disappear, as drunk people get the munchies.

There was a room that was showcasing pop hits, so we stayed in there a while to dance.  It's a challenge to dance and hold a drink at the same time.  The dance floor was already starting to get wet from spilled drinks.  We shimmed off our double cheeseburger dinner.  Around 11pm, we head over to the USA ballroom.  A catwalk was set up for the fashion show, which was so-so.  The fashions were okay but I think the models were pulled from the crowd, not exactly supermodel-types.  After the show was over, the catwalk was dismantled, providing more space to dance.  The dance floor got more crowded as the night went on.  I saw huge nets hanging from the ceiling, filled with hundreds of balloons to fall on party-goers at the crack of midnight.  The dance floor was getting sopping wet.  A guy came over from one of the VIP tables with a bottle of Grey Goose in hand and started dancing with us.  He wanted to free up both hands to dance with us, so he put the bottle down on the floor.  I was worried that someone was going to trip over it as the dance floor was packed.  Eventually, this girl picked up the bottle and goes 'Yeah!' and chugged.  The guy was a bit dismayed (since he probably paid $500 for table service!), but he was having a good time dancing with us.  There was a screen with a digital clock projected on it, counting down the time to midnight.  (the picture is showing 9+ seconds, with what seems to be hundred-thousands of a second accuracy)  It was very hard to take iPhone pictures while moving and in the dark.  I wasn't really looking forward to midnight, as I knew that there'd be people looking around for someone to kiss, and I wasn't wanting to kiss a stranger.  Once the clock struck midnight, balloons were pouring down and everyone was screaming "Happy New Year!"  I texted a kiss to Babe and tried to look busy on my phone, avoiding eye contact with people.  Eventually, the guy who was dancing around with the bottle came over and gave me a wet kiss on my cheek.  I think he also gave Sheri and Megan wet kisses too, bleh.

I wasn't getting my money's worth at the party...I only had a vodka tonic that night, and had Sprite the rest of the time, so that I could watch over my girls.  (I'm good at that!)  I didn't mind as I was not in the mood to get smashed that night.  Sheri and Megan had several drinks and were very happy at this point.  Lots of young people got their money's worth and were running around the hallways, screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs.  A fight almost broke out on the staircase while we were walking upstairs.  Eventually, we managed to stumble over to the "North Pole" room to dance.  Since we were a group of girls without partners, three guys came over to dance with us.  I was paired up with a guy that looked Middle Eastern.  He was pretty harmless, so I danced with him the rest of the night to stop other guys from approaching.  The time was around 1am and I was getting tired.  I told the girls that I wanted to leave, so we got our coats and headed to the BART station.  It was a slooooow walk as everyone's feet were hurting.  We headed back to Sheri's BART station.  I was getting the munchies (surprise surprise), so I convinced them to go to Denny's.  It was packed at 3am, and there was a long line of people waiting to be seated.  Fortunately for us, it was a big group that was waiting; we were seated within 10 minutes since we only had 3 people.  Why does a Denny's breakfast taste so good after a long night?  What was cool was that I had updated my status on Facebook, and my friend Sandy added a comment that she and mutual friend Melissa were also at Denny's at the same time, but back home in Sacramento!  It was like we were virtually together, hehe.  After our post-party eats, we went back to Sheri's and crashed until noon.

In summary, I don't think I will go to another one of these local hotel NYE bashes unless I was with Babe, or a big group of friends.  I'd also try a different venue, perhaps SF City Hall, as I am impressed with the architecture.  If I was looking for a good place to party on NYE, I'd do Las Vegas again.  Maybe for NYE 2010...see you there?

Time Machine: Mileage Run to Tampa, January 23, 2010

Think about how you'd fly to Tampa.  Ideally you'd prefer a non-stop.  Most likely, it'd end up being one stop somewhere in the middle of the country.  This is not how a mileage run works.  Imagine making a huge backwards "N" across the country, spending an overnight, and then flying right back without doing any real sightseeing.  That is what I call a hard core mileage run.  I managed to trick my cousin Sheri into going with me on this crazy roundabout trip.  It was decently cheap, little over $0.015/mile if you include the elite bonus.  For me, five planes in total getting to Tampa, three planes back.  SMF-SFO-LAX-SAN-IAD-TPA on Saturday. (see how it makes a backwards "N"?)  TPA-IAH-LAX-SMF on Sunday.  All but two segments were on United.  The TPA-IAH and IAH-LAX legs were on Continental.  It wasn't a quick turnaround; we had to do a Saturday overnight in Tampa.  I used Priceline to get a room at the AAA Four Diamond Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay for $63 total!  Unfortunately, we weren't going to be there long enough to enjoy brunch at Oystercatchers, of which I read good reviews.

I miscalculated the time I needed to catch my plane in SMF.  Usually I fly Southwest, and the parking garage is conveniently attached to Terminal A where Southwest is based, so no waiting for the shuttle.  I get to the airport, and doh!  I am flying United!  That is in Terminal B, and the Terminal B parking lot requires a shuttle ride.  The shuttle took forever to arrive.  I was checking the time as the bus drove like a snail.  Fortunately I didn't have any check-in baggage, so I rushed up the escalator, flew through security (Terminal B usually has a very short line), and of course, my gate is the last one on the concourse.  Everyone had pretty much boarded.  When I approached the gate, the agent looked at my boarding pass and said, "I've been calling your name for a while."  Which is what happens when door closing time approaches.  If you are not at the gate by 10 minutes before departure, you could lose your seat.  This mileage run almost ended prematurely.

There was no first class on this flight...it's a small EMB-120 propeller plane (loud!) with identical seats throughout the cabin.  One row of single seats on one side of the plane, and pairs of seats on the other side.  Actual flight time from Sacramento to San Francisco is a mere 20 minutes.  That's enough time to listen to one and a half songs on my iPhone in between dings at 10000 feet.

Sheri was meeting me at the gate in San Francisco.  With an hour to kill, I grabbed an egg sandwich at the Boudin Bakery in the food court and take it to the gate, which again, was at the end of the concourse.  I was enjoying my breakfast when someone pokes me multiple times in the bicep.  Yay, it's Sheri. (or so I thought)  I turn around and it's an old man.  He points to my sandwich and asks where he could find it.  I tell him the bakery name and point way down the concourse.  How strange to physically touch someone, versus saying "Excuse me ma'am (or miss)?"  Sheri shows up shortly, huffing and puffing.  She also thought she was late and ran across the terminal.

As this was before UDU (unlimited domestic upgrades) was implemented, Sheri and I each redeemed one 500-mile upgrade certificate to sit in first class on our 1.5 hour flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles.  We indulge in a bloody mary, which left me all loopy since I suffer from ADS (Asian Drinking Syndrome).  In Los Angeles, we get on a small jet to San Diego.

We had a pretty tight connection in San Diego, just 20 minutes from arrival to boarding time of the next leg to Washington DC.  I figured that was enough time since I didn't think the airport was that big.  But when we touched down, I saw that we were parked at a commuter terminal, which meant we had to take a shuttle to another terminal!  All in 20 minutes!  We caught the shuttle right when it was departing (we ran to alert the driver), and got to the gate just in the nick of time; we swooped onto the red carpet as the gate agent was calling for 1K's to board.  This was our longest flight at about 5 hours.  We didn't have enough 500-mile upgrade coupons to snag a seat in first class, so we got the second best option - exit row.  On a 757, there exists a pair of bulkhead exit row seats so we didn't have to deal with a middle seat or an undesirable rowmate.

Overall, the flight went smoothly except during food service and the in-flight entertainment.  On long hauls like this, the flight attendants offer passengers in coach buy-on-board meals such as sandwiches, wraps and snacks.  We hardly saw the flight attendants out and about to begin with, and then when it came time to serve food, they weren't too excited, as if they were at the end of a 12-hour shift (which they may have been).  One of the ladies took my order, charged me for the items, and then forgot to give me my cheesecake.  I had to flag her down and when I mentioned the shortfall, she looked at me like I was inconveniencing her.  The movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" (great!) was shown very late in the flight, after the TV shows (I believe it should've been the opposite order).  We were almost at the end of the movie when the plane crossed 10000 feet.  The purser apologized for the delayed start and told the passengers that he would keep the movie on through landing.  As the flight attendants were going through the cabin to prepare for landing, one of them looked at us angrily and pointed at our headsets.  We pointed up at the TV screen to let her know we were watching the movie and she kept shaking her head and pointing at her ears to indicate to put away "electronic devices".  Our non-electronic headsets were plugged into the seat headphone jack, which is permitted as passengers can listen to the audio programming.  Despite this, we kept pointing to the TV screen above to key her into the situation.  She finally figured it out and walked away exasperated, like she was making an exception for us.  Sheri and I looked at each other...what was going on?!?!?  We couldn't wait to get off that plane.

Unfortunately, the night was not over...half an hour later, we hopped on one more plane, arriving in Tampa at 12:30am the next day.  The Grand Hyatt had complimentary shuttle service; I called from the free telephone at the hotel information kiosk located in baggage claim to let them know to pick us up.  The shuttle arrived 20 minutes later and took us to the hotel, right off of Tampa Bay.

We had no problem checking in and the Priceline rate didn't affect the level of service we received, very welcoming.  The front desk agent even asked if we wanted double beds, which is not guaranteed by Priceline.  We had a large corner room with lots of windows.  But all I got was this one shot.  You can go to the hotel website to see pictures of the accommodations.  The toiletries were Portico brand, white ginger.  The Hyatt in Waikiki offered eucalyptus Portico amenities; I would have thought the Hyatts would offer the same fragrance for their hotel chain.

Our flight the next day departed at 11:55am, so we had some time to sleep in.  When we checked out, the front desk agent asked if we had a nice stay, and to come again.  It's wonderful to be treated like "full-price" guests just like when I stayed at the Hyatt in Waikiki.  No problems catching the shuttle to the airport.  Our flight was on Continental, from Tampa to Houston.  I felt like a fish out of water.  No "red carpet"-esque boarding as we were not Continental elites, but we got Star Alliance priority.  An interesting feature of this plane was that there were AC outlets at the base of the armrests in each 3-seat row.  Two people could plug their power supplies in (assuming someone would be nice enough to let the 3rd person use the juice when needed).  I hadn't flown Continental in probably a decade or more, so when the flight attendant said something to me (and I had my headphones on), I assumed he was asking me for drinks, so I yell out "Water no ice please!" from my window seat and he looks at me funny.  I took out one of my earphones and listened to his request again, "Do you want any peanuts?"  Haha.  A cart comes out to serve peanuts first...it seems strange to me as it is not the United way.  Drinks didn't come until 15 minutes later, from another cart.  I'm so not in my element.

At this point, Sheri and I aren't sitting together; if you book a United flight that has "codeshares" on another airline, the computer automatically assigns you a seat.  I went to the Continental website to try to change seats, but was unable to.  I could have called, but I read on Flyertalk that it was hit or miss.  The seats we had were in the front of the plane, normally reserved for elites anyway.  We didn't have to sit together the entire mileage run (probably sick of each other by now!), so I left the seat assignments alone.  It was fine for the flight to Houston, but we were on another Continental codeshare flight from Houston to Los Angeles, and I ended up having two huge guys (probably Texans) sitting in my row.  I felt bad for the middle guy as the seat is supposed to be narrower, but not so bad that I would offer up my window seat.

Once in Los Angeles, Sheri and I parted ways - she flew back to San Francisco, and I flew to Sacramento.  Sheri's flight was on a 757...I was relegated to a CRJ-700, which is a 70-person small jet with a tiny first class section and no in-flight entertainment.  I didn't bother upgrading this flight.

That was the end of our overnight mileage run...7229 BIS (butt-in-seat/elite qualification) miles + 100% elite redeemable miles bonus for a total of 14458 miles accrued for miles redemption.  Not bad for a domestic run, and Sheri and I got to spend some quality cousin time. :)  Looking for the next mileage run, but I haven't seen any good deals out there besides recent "Tware" fares like $699 San Francisco to Sydney roundtrip plus tax. (don't have time to fly Down Under)  If you want to be informed about the Tware fares, follow @UnitedAirlines on Twitter.  The Tware fares do accrue mileage, but are usually booked in lower fare classes like T, L or K, which are not upgradable with SWU's, but can be done with miles + money.

Las Vegas/Mon Ami Gabi - August 15, 2010

Our last day in Vegas...lazy start as usual.  Nothing planned for breakfast or lunch (we were still full from last night's buffet), as the big meal of the day was to be 5pm supper at Mon Ami Gabi, a French bistro at the Paris hotel.  I had my eye on eating here, and when my friend Sandy recommended it, I decided to take the plunge.  Plus it was highly rated on Yelp. ;)

I made reservations on OpenTable.  The reservations are only for indoor dining, but if you want to be seated on the patio with the view of the Bellagio fountains, just ask and they'll try to accommodate.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to sit out there since it was 110 degrees outside, but thankfully one of the customers standing at the hostess station said that it was really nice outdoors.  We were seated at a table that had shade from a large umbrella, so that and the occasional air conditioning breeze made our table comfortable for the 30 minutes it took for the sun to fall behind the Bellagio hotel.  Celebrity sighting...on the way to the table, Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller was seated on the patio.  He was there for about 20 minutes and then suddenly was gone.  I'm sure celebrities have mastered the art of disappearing as to not get mobbed by fans.

The server brought a fresh baguette in a paper sack, some softened garlic butter, and a dish of fresh corn and grape tomatoes (most likely a seasonal amuse-bouche).  Too bad I'm allergic to corn, but I did try one kernel and it was delicious.  The tomatoes were good too.  Corn was the ingredient of the day, as all of the daily specials included corn in some form or another.  Pre-dinner drinks included a nice Merlot and rose champagne.  A glass of "frangria" came later, a kind of French sangria.

Appetizers included a bowl of French onion soup and escargots.  Everything looked so good that we ate it all before I realized that I forgot to take a picture. :P  The French onion soup was the best I ever had, and I've tried lots of bowls.  There was a sweetness to the onions (though I suspect MSG was in it, as my neck and shoulder muscles ached for a short duration), and they were cooked all the way through.  Very cheesy.  Sharing a bowl was perfect for the two of us.  I've had better escargots, but I did enjoy dipping chunks of baguette into the leftover hot melted garlic butter.

Babe ordered "steak frites" in bordelaise sauce (caramelized onions and red wine sauce) and I got the seared sea scallops.  The sirloin was done well (medium rare) and the caramelized onions were reminiscent of the French onion soup.  The fries were a bit thinner and blander than I expected (had to shake salt and pepper on them) and got soggy from the sauce.  I think next time, I'd ask for the frites on the side.  The sea scallops were perfectly seasoned and prepared.  It was accompanied by a creamy cauliflower mash and garlic spinach.  The mash was really good!  I'm sure there was a lot of cream in there.  The spinach was a bit salty even for my tastes, but it was cooked well.

Dessert was the crepe of the day, which was mixed berry.  The crepe batter wasn't as good as Jean-Philippe, but the ingredients and price made up for it:  a scoop of vanilla ice cream wrapped in the center, generous portion of fresh mixed berries (huge berries!), whipped cream, and powdered sugar...all for $7.95!  The table next to us asked how it was, as they pretty much wanted to eat it when it arrived on our table.

After dessert, the fountains performed to the Bellagio theme song "Con Te Partiro".  A great way to end the meal!

When we went back to the Encore, I played a little bit of video poker to create some activity so that the hotel will send me another "suite deal".  (I don't even know how they got my name in the first place, as I don't have a Red Card)  It was cool that the room key also served as the player's card, so I didn't need to get in line to get one.  Our last night at the Encore, boo hoo!  The next morning, it was back on the airplane, and straight to work.  Gotta maximize the weekend time.

The Encore is my new favorite hotel.  I used to like the Bellagio, and then when I was gambling in Harrah's properties, I liked Paris.  But I really like the Encore because of its size...not as huge as the Venetian and other hotels that focus on conventions.  Because the hotel is mid-sized, everything was convenient to the guest such as the self-parking, the lobby, the elevators, the pool...nothing required a long walk.  The suites are very comfortable and if you wait for a sale or a promo code, the value is good.  I don't think I can get another deal like this one in the future, but I wouldn't mind staying at the Encore again if they offered ~$150/night rates.

What's next on the agenda?  Yosemite for Labor Day!  I'll continue Time Machine entries in the meantime.

Las Vegas/City Center/Buffet Plans Go Awry - August 14, 2010

We slept in this lazy morning.  Since I was planning to indulge at the 2010 "Best Buffet in Vegas" for dinner, I didn't eat a proper breakfast or lunch.  We stopped by the 99 Ranch Market on Spring Mountain Road to grab some snacks and drinks.  The main motive for going there was to find some 7D mangoes, which I am so fond of.  They were supposed to be sold at 99 Ranch, but the Vegas one didn't have them in stock.  Fortunately, ABC Stores carry the dried fruit, and there was a branch in Fashion Show Mall, so we headed over there and grabbed a few packages.

I hadn't visited the new CityCenter yet, so we went there via Bellagio, since I wanted to have a dessert crepe at Jean-Philippe Patisserie.  J-P is located in the spa tower at Bellagio, near the conservatory, so I got to check out the summer decorations.

There was a long line at J-P, but it was worth it.  The crepes are light and airy, and they are generous with the toppings.  I ordered the chocolate crepe, topped with fudge sauce, brownie bits, chocolate flakes, powdered sugar and a dollop of whipped cream.  You can add a scoop of gelato to your crepe order for $2 extra.  Given that the normal price for a scoop of gelato was $4.75, how could I not add on?  The last time I ordered, the scoop was pretty small, but this time, it was huge!  Mango gelato, yummy.  It's hard to resist buying more items since everything looks so tantalizing good in the shop.

We headed over to the CityCenter tram, which was down a corridor in the spa tower.  The tram takes you to various stops within CityCenter and ending at the Monte Carlo.  We got off at "Crystals", which is the shopping area.  Not all of the space has been leased, but the stores that were there were high-end, like Tiffany, Bally, Christian Dior, etc.  The Louis Vuitton store was three stories tall!  It was a bit intimidating to go in there, as there weren't a ton of people inside, and too many salespeople standing around, eager to sell you something.  I didn't see anything I absolutely had to have, which was good since I didn't want to approach my credit card limit. :)  Though if I did see my friend Rachel's runway Speedy handbag, I may have been tempted.

We took a stroll outside to admire the glass-sided facades.  There are a pair of buildings called Veer Towers that are built on an angle, supposedly to allow many of the residences to have a good view.  It was hard to capture this, as our eyes and brain naturally assume it should be standing straight.  But really, the building on the right is tilting towards the left.

We visited the Vdara and Mandarin Oriental hotels, but there wasn't very much to see as they were only hotels, no casino attached.  Aria is a hotel casino, so there was more to see there, including this water-wall at the entrance of the hotel.  The interior is very contemporary.  There was another Jean-Philippe here too!

The Cosmopolitan hotel casino was not open yet, slated for middle of December.

It was time to head over to the M Resort, which housed the "Best Buffet in Las Vegas", the Studio B Buffet.  This place got high ratings on Yelp as well.  Perhaps it was because beer and wine were included with the buffet?  That may be a plus for some of you folks, but alcoholic beverages only take up valuable space in my stomach.

It's about a 15-20 minute drive from the Strip, taking I-15 south towards Los Angeles and exiting St. Rose Parkway.  A taxi ride would cost a ton, so it's best to have a rental car.  If you don't have one, there is a shuttle available from the Fashion Show Mall or the airport.

We arrive at the M around 5:40 and there is already a huge line for the buffet.  Security had to bring out extra stanchions to extend the line onto the casino floor.  The Yelp reviews talked about waiting in line for hours and I suspected the reason why...the line was pretty much made up of Asians.  This was not good.  Asians will eat slowly for hours.  I know, because I'm Asian.  So Babe and I stand there, watching the head of the line not moving.  There was a separate line for Comp/VIP people, so I think those people would probably get attention first.  We moved about 10 feet in the next 30 minutes, but it was because people decided to pack in closer.  Around 6:30, Babe was suggesting that it'd probably be another 2 hours waiting time...perhaps we should go somewhere else, like the Wynn?  I was so starved by now, but I was determined to try this buffet.  My logical mind was telling me "get out of this line...you have a 9:30 show to catch" but my illogical side was saying "noooo, must eat here, must experience the best buffet in Vegas!"  Eventually, logic won and I acquiesced, stepping out of the line and headed back to the car.  I was very disappointed.  Babe was doing his best to make me feel better, and suggested going to the Rio.  I didn't mind eating at their Carnival World Buffet, as that line would probably be a lot quicker than their Village Seafood Buffet.  We get there and pass by the seafood buffet, and miraculously, there was no line!  I was astonished.  So we ended up eating there.  (the line got as long as I thought it would be, after we finished dinner)  The layout seemed to have changed from the last time I was there 2 years ago, because there was a huge line for "warm" snow crab (Asians prefer warm food) that ended up blocking out a lot of the other hot food stations like the clams and prime rib. :(   Funny that there wasn't a line for the lobster tails.  Finally, my tummy was satisfied, and we made it back to Encore in time to freshen up and go to the show.

We passed by the XS nightclub to get to the Wynn theater, and the line was so long that it extended all the way down the corridor to the theater, and it was still 1 hour before the club opened!  There were lots of Asians waiting in line.  Girls were wearing tight dresses that barely covered the bottom of their derriere.  I could never wear stuff like that...not that my butt is unflattering, but to expose the bottom of your bum in a nightclub?  It definitely offers easy access, especially for those guys who like to dry hump, haha.  Anyway, if you're staying at the Encore, go to the concierge ahead of time and ask for tickets, as there was a separate entrance for "hotel guests with tickets".  Then you don't have to submit yourself to scrutiny from passers-by like me.

There was a long line to pick up tickets at the box office (definitely heed the advice of picking up the tickets 1 hour before the show, which I neglected), but we were able to make it in right at 9:30pm.  Since the theater is in the round, all seats had a good view, but I think our section (A) was the best, as a lot of the acts focused right in front of us.  We were seated in row G on the aisle.  If you sit too far down, you will get wet.  No photography was allowed during the show, but I got a shot at the end.

The stage moves, rotates, and becomes a pool at times.  If you've seen "O", this show is similar but the theater is more intimate.  The storyline and music isn't as compelling as "O", but still enjoyable.  I call it a "lighthearted" version of O.  The songs are sung mostly in English versus Cirque du Soleil's made-up words.  I especially liked watching the synchronized swimming and the "strong men":  men balancing themselves onto each other, lean muscles seemingly moving effortlessly, but you can see the concentration in their eyes.  It was a good show.  It was even better that it was "free", but I'd buy tickets.

On the way back to the room, the line for XS got even longer, despite the club being open.  The line for Surrender snaked into the casino.  I wonder if Tryst and Blush (inside the Wynn hotel) also had the same turnout.  Several years ago when the Wynn was still pretty brand new, my sister-in-laws and I walked in with the intent of going to the Patio Bar for drinks.  A Wynn host stopped us, asking if we were headed to Tryst.  I'm sure he probably would have walked us right into the club at no charge if we said yes.  Nowadays, there are people waiting in line hours before opening to get in.  Times have changed.