I Miss China!

I need a vacation from my vacation! Here are some highlights so far from my trip:

1) Constantly on the move. Spend time in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xianyang, Xi An, and Wuhan.

2)Eating seafood banquets that cost $1000

3)Saved an old man from the evils of the Chinese toilet

4)Chinese drivers are AMAZING! Traffic rules are for beginners. You're free to go wherever you please....as long as you don't kill anyone.

5)Yelled at three French dudes who were trying cut in line at the Shanghai Train station. Who do they think they are? This is China and I'm boss. English swear words came in handy to these idiots who didn't understand Chinese curses.

6)Bought my own jade life saver

7)Ate 5 bowls of noodles in one sitting. The last time I went back, I ate 9 bowls in one sitting.....need to work harder.

8)Got my own Chinese seal engraved by the award-winning stamp seal engraver 程迟生 (Cheng Chi Sheng)

9)Bought the entire Harry Potter series in Chinese

10)Drank two shots of 五粮液

Spring Break!

It's that time of the year again. You know the time I'm talking about....the time when you see women wearing next to nothing smearing whip cream on some guys on MTV. Or better yet, jingling their A$$ like jello. Well, that's what the cool people will be doing at least. That leaves the rest of me and my clan of nerds who call the CSCI/EE building "home". What will we be doing on spring break? We can't go to Cacun Mexico because we're terrified of the sun. In fact, the only interaction with any form of light we get is the radiation from our computer screens. It's amazing that not more of us get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Maybe the flashes of color from playing WoW count as light therapy. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about spring break, and about what I want to accomplish in a weeks time. I could

1) Read (many) novels that I have bought
2) Watch (many) movies I have from the hub
3) Get a start on homework
4) Catch up on readings from my textbooks
5) Do two extra credit reading assignments (I can't believe that extra credit still exist.....I thought they had become extinct with the end of middle school)
6) Sleep 12 hours a day
7) All of the above

I will choose lucky numero seven. Some people call me an overachiever, especially during break when no sane person would consider studying. But hey....since when did being a overachiever become a bad thing? After all, it raises my nerd-esteem.


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I need a vacation from my vacation

If you think all vacations are relaxing, then you should take one with my family. I'm exhausted after spending 4 days in Las Vegas. Where should I start?

The plane ride over to Las Vegas was most interesting. I sat in the first class section where being first class meant there was delicious airline food. Yum yum! Another benefit of being in first class is the joys of sitting near a kid with ADHD. The kid spent the whole flight singing "Jingle Bell Rock" and other Christmas music. When the pilot announced that we were almost there, the kid started chanting "I'm in Las Vegas, oh yeah! I'm in Las Vegas, oh yeah!" He also said: "I want a hallution. I want a mirage." I think he hasn't been taking his pills. As if that wasn't enough, I just happened to turn around and face the women sitting behind me. When we made eye contact, she said to me: "Are you a professional gambler? Do you play poker?" I was both amused and bemused. Do I really look like a gambling addict? I thought I had the whole nerd look down. Guess not.

After we landed in Las Vegas, we were famished and ate at a Korean restaurant. Afterwards, I spent the first two days going on a death march up and down Las Vegas Blvd. Like the last time we were there, we were determined to visit every major hotel and casino on the strip. The first day revolved around Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, Tropicana, MGM Grand and New York New York. I think I inhaled enough second hand smoke to qualify as a smoker. The architecture were as spectacular as ever and we took numerous photos. A highlight of the first day was when we got to the Tropicana. It has a slot machine right outside the front door. You can play it for free and win some nice prizes. My dad, with his lucky hand, won a free ticket to the Dirk Arthur magic show. Thus, we decided to attend the show the next day.

On day 2 of our trip, we continued on our march towards the northern casinos on the strip. This included the Bellagio and Paris Las Vegas. The musical fountain outside the Bellagio was still a must see. The show was shorter than we remembered so we stuck around, not sure if it was over. Then I realised it was indeed over when the song changed to "Back Here" by BBMak. After the musical fountain, we rushed back to the Tropicana for "Xtreme Magic starring Dirk Arthur." It was amazing! Dirk Arthur performs the largest illusions in Las Vegas. He made both a helicopter and an Amtrak train appear in thin air. In addition, for one particular trick, he was placed in a contraption with 20 seconds to escape before a drill would come down and pierce his body. While the audience, myself included, stared fixated on the stage, Dirk appeared right behind me. I immediately realized he was there when I felt someone place a hand on the back of my chair. I turned and everyone looked in my direction. Everyone, including the woman sitting behind me, were at a loss as to how he got there. It was so COOL! The finale was also incredible. Dirk made a pure white snow tiger disappear when it was suspended in a cage in the air. Just pure magic! After the show was over, we finished the day with visits to Wynn, The Venetian, The Mirage, Caesars Palace and Treasure Island. My favorite casino remains the Venetian. I love the canals and gondolas inside.

Day 3 was began with a five hour drive to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. My conclusion of the day is that the Grand Canyon is indeed a canyon, but it isn't grand. The first vista spot was breathtaking. However, even the impressive scenery began to pall on me after a few more vista spots of the exact same inanimateness. It's worth seeing it once, but there's really not much to do after the first vista point. The canyon stretches for hundreds of miles. There won't be much difference in the vista point that is only 0.1 miles away.

The final day was spent in line for the Carnival World Buffet. The place was so crowded that we had to wait 2 hours before we got seated. The food selection is definitely plentiful, but just get there early.

Next time, I need to hit some clubs (for the first time) and be without parental supervision. Any takers for a trip there next year?

P.S The South Point Hotel & Casino, where we stayed, was really nice. It was built in 2005 so the facilities were quite new. There's also a flat screen tv in the room.