Day 1 in Cali (Mon, Feb 28, 2011)

We realized that the trade show started on Monday. We wanted to check out the trade show for a bit. My co workers were there for about an hour before they headed back to Vancouver. I was there for another hour before I left the trade show. I wanted to see as much of it as I can before I left. There were so many things to see. The party rental exhibit is only a third of the trade show floor. It took me about 2 hours to see all the booths in the party rental area. My co workers were interested in the new tents that were available. I was interested in the chairs, plates and linens. There were chairs for kids. They were so cute. I had some chocolate dipped ice cream from a booth that sold trays and punch bowls. I have no idea what ice cream had to do with trays. It was more of a gimmick to get people into the booth.

We then headed to California. After a few hours, we arrived at Primm. We did some outlet shopping. I bought a few things. We finally made it to my sisters house at about 7pm. We had some dinner and relaxed.

Day 3 in Vegas (Sun, Feb 27,2011)

Our day started with work. We went to different seminars. My co workers went to a tenting seminar. I went to a customer service seminar. It was quite interesting. I think because I have been at my job for so long, sometimes I slack at my job. It kicked my butt in gear. The first seminar we went to was on LED lighting. Man, it was boring. I almost fell asleep. I had to fight to keep my eyes open. It felt like the longest 45 minutes of my life. The customer service seminar was fun and interactive. I sat in front of some ladies who work in a party rental place in Kamloops. I introduced myself and chit chatted with them for a few minutes.

Some of us headed of to the Gun Shop. It was quite a distance from where we were staying. It was quite the experience. They gave you a gun menu. You get to pick which guns you want to shoot. It was quite the extensive menu. Since I didn't know much about guns, it was like it was a foreign language to me. There were some packages which had a few guns. They had a Girls Package. I picked that one, it was easiest. The Girls Package had a pink rifle with Hello Kitty on it and a handgun. My friends had a package with machine guns. Those were kinda scary. You get to pick your target. Then you get to pick your range. We picked the more expensive one because it took less time, but it cost $50 more. We then took turns shooting our guns. It was kinda scary for me. But I stuck it out.

We came back to the strip and went to see the Titanic exhibit. It was very neat. There were actual artifacts which survived the Titanic. It was pretty amazing to see how well the artifacts were preserved. There was also a large piece from the Titanic. It was very interesting to learn about how they pulled out such a large piece.

It was Cory's birthday tonight. We went to Dick's Last Resort. There was a live band playing. They took requests and our table requested lots of songs by Canadian artists. There was lots of drinking to be had. I had a little bit too much to drink and it wasn't even my birthday. A couple of guys in our group got kicked out. So since they got kicked out, the rest of us left. We took the party outside. Some of them started singing O Canada. It was pretty random.
There is a guy in this picture standing in the back row with the white cap. I have no idea who that is. It is a random Canadian guy who we asked to be in our picture. I think his group was standing close to us or walking by us. I have no idea. I don't think most of my friends would remember either. There was a bit of an issue by the end of the night and our group split up..but I'm not going to write about it. It's too long and complicated. So by the end of the night, crashed on my bed and passed out.

Day 2 in Vegas (Sat, Feb 26, 2011)

We woke up and wanted some breakfast. We were heading down to the buffet at the Luxor. While walking towards there, we bumped into two of my friends and they said the buffet at the Luxor had a really long line up. We weren't into lining up for breakfast. We decided on Cafe Nikki at the Tropicana. On the way there, my two co workers joined us. There were six of us for breakfast. At Cafe Nikki, there was a buffet breakfast. We were up for that. We took a look at the food and it looked great!

We went to do some work related stuff. That didn't take too long.

My friends wanted to go see the Shark Reef Aquarium. It was really interesting. There were so many fishes, jellyfish and underwater animals.













After the Shark Reef, we headed to CSI. It was new to both of us. I didn't know what to expect. Was it a exhibit? Was it show? Was it interactive? It was neat. Once you get there, you get to choose from three scenarios. Once you picked which scenario you would like to work on, you move on and try to solve the mystery. The picture of the lady lying down is our scenario with a lady who was murdered. We have to document everything we see at the murder scene. We then walked further and there were different stations where you can find hints on who the murder victim is.

Four of us went to the buffet at Planet Hollywood. We did the 24 hour buffet for $45. At buffets there is so much food!! We stocked up on king crab legs. I didn't like them so much because they were too salty for me. It was from the salt water which they boil them in.

There was a Canucks game that night. Surprise surprise my friends are Canucks fans! We managed to get a private room at The Sporting Zone in New York New York. It was great. All 10 of us fit in that room! There was a big screen and there was sound for the game. Some of my friends got there first and at snacks / appies. We had to leave before the game ended because we went to see the Jabbawockeez.



The Jabbawockeez are a dance troupe which won the first year of America's Best Dance Crew. It was a fantastic show. It was a mixture of hip hop and storytelling. The crowd got excited very often and there were screams of excitement.

Day 1 in Vegas (Fri, Feb 25, 2011)

I met my co-workers at YVR. On our way to Vegas on a 10am flight. I was running a bit late to meet my co-workers. Lucky me, I was one of the chosen one that got randomly selected to be screened more thoroughly. I was so nervous. If you were to take my heart rate, it would've have been off the charts. They didn't ask me anything out of the ordinary. It was kind of a complicated trip because half was for business and half for pleasure. It's ok it made it in time to board my plane.

We stayed at the Luxor hotel. It is a beautiful hotel. There are two parts to the hotel: the tower and the pyramid. We were lucky enough to have rooms booked in the pyramid.
I have walked thru it in previous years. I loved the whole atmosphere of Egypt. Its all the sphinx and hieroglyphics that made the atmosphere. I have never stayed there. Our conference was at Mandalay Bay, which is the neighboring hotel. We had dinner at Tacos and Tequila in the Luxor. We were hungry and didn't want to go too far. We had some tacos and we enjoyed it.



Some of my friends from Vancouver also went to Vegas the same time we were there. A few arrived the night before us and some arrived the same night as us. We met up with my friends on Freemont St. It was all about the flashy lights, the loud music and the street entertainment on Freemont St. We were in Vegas, of course I saw Elvis..as a matter of fact, I saw two of them!



Every 15 minutes there is a light show. A few years back, the one I saw had bold graphics on gambling and it was a bit light show on showcasing Vegas. This time it was all about Kiss. Im not sure why. It was a bit entertaining.

Im not sure how KISS is related to the circus but whatever. They had carnival scenes and this was one of them.

Lastly, my Freemont experience wasn't complete without seeing Michael Jackson!