viva las vegas 2026: chapter 2, day 1

LINK: viva las vegas 2026: chapter 2, day 1

It was my brother’s birthday. I quick sent him an e-gift card and wished him a happy birthday. He said that he was at Anime Expo for the weekend. He’s been doing this for the past several years. I know I keep saying it but one day, I’m gonna go with him.

Why is it whenever I’m going on a trip, I barely sleep the night before? I think I slept about 2.5 hours, mostly due to work. I had to make sure everything was taken care of before I left for the long weekend.

Jolene and I were headed to Sin City. Last year, I went to Las Vegas three times and this will be my second time this year.

The rest of our group (11 of us) either drove or flew in earlier in the week. I wasn’t able to get another day off from work and neither could Jolene, so we had to make the most of it.

At the same time, Buddy H was on his way back home to Las Vegas from California, when we arrived. He offered to pick us up from the airport and hang out with us since his wife was out with her friends.

I was starving and asked Buddy H to take us to a local Thai restaurant. We ended up at Boun Thai Kitchen, it was a small quaint restaurant. The place was dead, which was surprising to me. I thought that there would be more tourists crawling around the city but from the looks of things, that didn’t seem to be the case.

• Crab rangoon. This was pretty good. They seemed to be using quality cream cheese. It’s the cream cheese for me.
• Orange chicken lunch special that included rice and an egg roll. I was kinda disappointed because the chicken was drenched in the sauce and it wasn’t crispy at all.
• The Tom Kha was mid. I wasn’t a fan of this either, it was really viscous and I wasn’t getting that citrusy, sweet and sour flavor.

Overall, the price point was good since we got the lunch specials for about $13. I should have gone with the pad see ew instead of the orange chicken. That could have been a game changer for me. But I would have much preferred Weera or Lotus of Siam instead.

Most of us were staying at the Four Seasons, which is tucked inside Mandalay Bay, except Five Star’s sister and her fam. They were staying at Mandalay Bay because Five Star was able to book them a free room since she has status with MGM. Our other friends were staying off the strip because they also have status with other hotels.

The Four Seasons was having a crazy deal on their rooms (nearly 75% off) that Five Star found and sent us the details to our group text. Several of us hopped on that because we also had Amex platinum that gives us $100 to spend at the spa, $75 to use for breakfast daily, room upgrade, and early checkin/late checkout (if available) without paying extra.

I’ve stayed at the Four Seasons in different cities and their service is impeccable as it should be considering how much they charge. I have to say though, that the Ko Olina resort in Oahu is by far my absolute favorite.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were greeted with sparkling wine and cartons of water.

Everyone else was able to check in early except us. It seemed like a bunch of people were looking to check in early and they ran out of rooms. They did offer a suite for a discounted price but that would have defeated the whole purpose of getting our original sweet deal. Instead, they did bump us up two tiers to a stadium view room if we didn’t mind a delay in checking in.

I looked at Jolene and we both shrugged. Why not? Buddy H was in the car at the roundabout waiting to hear whether or not we could check in early.

The hotel also gifted us chocolates.

Dark chocolate ganache with cocoa powder in dark chocolate
Lime and coconut ganache in white chocolate
Goji berry-strawberry jelly + Greek yogurt ganache in dark chocolate
Smoked sea salt caramel in milk chocolate

I was still under the effects of the Dramamine for my motion sickness, I was lethargic AF. Buddy H offered to let us rest at his house since he was pretty tired from his drive back from California. The three of us ended up falling asleep in different rooms at his house: me-spare bedroom, Buddy H-in his master bedroom, Jolene-in the living room with the cats.

I woke up a couple of hours later and realized that I missed the text from the hotel, notifying me that the room was ready. I texted the hotel back and told them that we would be on our way back shortly.

Check in was fast and we were bumped up to the top floor. Everything underneath the 36th floor was considered Mandalay Bay.

This was our room. It had a view of Allegiant stadium and the valley. They ran out of queen beds so we had this giant king bed that was more than big enough for us. I promised Jolene I wouldn’t sprawl out and hog the bed.

The room is 560 square feet. Free premium WiFi. They offer twice-daily housekeeping service (but we had it set where they could clean our room after we check out), 24 hour laundry service, express pressing service, 24 hour shoeshine service, thick terry bathrobes, 24 hour room service, and you can even rent an in-room Peloton bike.

Marble bathroom.

Snacks where they charge an egregious amount of $$. I wanted that water bottle but I also didn’t want to pay $50 for it either. I told Jolene not to touch anything here because those items have weight and infrared sensors. If an item is lifted or moved, a charge is placed on the bill.

The espresso machine along with the pods and creamer/sugar are free to use.

The mini bar also has the sensors so that was a no no for us.

Inside one of the closets.

Found the disposable slippers to wear in the room. And yes, I did take them home with me (they don’t charge for them).

After we got settled in, we notified the rest of the group that we were finally in our room. We were all on the same floor so it made things convenient. The rest of the group went out to party and eat dinner. I was too fatigued, not just from the dramamine but also the long hours I’ve been putting in at work day after day. I wanted to chill in the room and then leisurely go off the strip to eat.

Buddy H asked what I was doing for dinner. I told him that I didn’t have any plans as of yet since everyone left. He offered to pick me up for dinner since his wife was still out with her girlfriends. I had a hankering for Ethiopian food for some reason so we ended up at Gursha in Chinatown.

Having lived in Minneapolis, I know what good Ethiopian food is. I’ve been disappointed with the restaurants in Los Angeles but thought I would take a chance at Las Vegas and see what they had to offer. I have to say, I am glad that we went to this restaurant. It’s not Minneapolis good but it’s pretty damn close.

The owner, Mimi, greeted us and looked at us quizzically asking if we’ve ever had Ethiopian food. I replied, “Ma’am, with respect…I grew up in Minnesota.” Her eyes lit up. She started talking about how tasty her food was and that right now, Minnesota was having it’s massive ESFNA (Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America) tournament and cultural festival. I asked her why she wasn’t there, but of course, because of the restaurant, she wasn’t able to attend. And since most of the Ethiopians in the Vegas area were in Minnesota, business was extremely slow.

We ordered the veggie platter for two, dorotibs, and tibs. Everything had a pop of flavor and I couldn’t stop eating it. We ran out of injera and she continued to refill them for us as we feasted. Hands down, Ethiopian food is very nutrient dense and something that I could eat every day.

I asked Buddy H if we could stop by a grocery store so I could get some water. I didn’t feel like paying $8 for a mini carton of water at the hotel. So we went to 99 Ranch Market (Taiwanese grocery) and they had some interesting things there.

I ended up getting a big bottle of green tea, four bottles of alkaline water, gum, cashew treats, and cassava rice cake.

Since I had the espresso earlier, I was still wired. I had energy that I needed to burn off. I felt restless and decided to go search for the fitness center that’s open 24/7.

During my search, I came across this black poodle made of black crayons. The details of this sculpture is amazing.

I found the gym. Obviously, there was no one inside because it’s the middle of the night and people are either on the strip partying or sleeping like normal folks. But not me. I hopped on the treadmill for an hour, got on the Peloton for 20 minutes, and checked out the weight room.

They had towels, fruits, and mini cartons of water to take. I grabbed an orange and an apple, two waters, and a towel before heading up back to the room. I was feeling pretty disgusting because the Vegas heat is unforgiving even though it’s dry heat and I just spent nearly 90 minutes working out. I got into a cold shower and enjoyed the cool water hitting my skin. It felt very refreshing. I toweled off after 30 minutes and slipped into a robe, hopped into bed, read people’s blogs, and soon after fell asleep.