Tag Archives: Holidays

All Posts, Fashion, Travel

New Year’s Eve Celebration in Las Vegas

I’ve been to Vegas many times, but never during the New Year’s Eve. To celebrate the New Year’s Eve for 2016, my friend and I went to Vegas! This Vegas trip is unlike most of the trips I’ve had to Vegas. There were no set plans. My friend and I wanted to take it easy and play everything by ear.

Happy New Year!

My friends and I stayed at the Aria Hotel. Aria Hotel is one of my favorite hotels in Las Vegas. (Their Sky Suite is one of my top three choices on the Strip, after Wynn/Encore Tower Suites and Skyloft at MGM Grand.) There are many nice restaurants in the Aria Hotel. I feel like I can eat different cuisines without having to step out of the hotel property. Aria Hotel Lobby Shopping The Vegas Strip was crowded with people around the New Year’s Eve period. Most of the retail stores (such as the ones in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace) were packed every day, especially on New Year’s Eve day. One might wonder why people want to shop during the busiest season after Christmas. The answer is simple, there were sales everywhere. The discounts ranged between 30% to 60%. For example, Salvatore Ferragamo offered a 30% discount, Christian Louboutin offered 40%, and Red Valentino offered 60% discount, etc. It’s hard to say “No” when pretty things are on sale! If you don’t have the actual boutique store in your resident state, you can avoid the tax by asking them to ship to your home. Some retail stores might charge you shipping cost, but most of the time the amount you saved from paying the tax exceeds the shipping charges. Aria Hotel in Las Vegas Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden Bellagio is one of my favorite hotels. Their Conservatory & Botanical Garden attracts a lot of people throughout the year. For the 2015 holiday season, Bellagio displayed a Christmas theme with a huge Christmas tree, polar bears, penguins, and snow globes, etc. I noticed the Conservatory & Botanical Garden was more crowded than usual. It was hard to take a picture of the display without running into someone with a selfie stick! Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden Eating in the Fancy Restaurants One thing I always look forward to is eating at the nice restaurants in the hotels in Vegas. I know that off the Strip there are many special restaurants that have lower prices, but the experience wouldn’t be the same as in the nice hotels. My all-time top ten restaurants on the Strip include Sinatra at Encore Hotel, Prime Steak and Michael Mina at Bellagio, Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand. A new favorite restaurant is also by Michael Mina, called Bardot Brasserie (French Cuisine), inside of the Aria Hotel. I had dinner there in September 2015 and liked it a lot. It’s the only restaurant that offers brunch in the Aria Hotel, but it only serves brunch on the weekends. In Front of Bardot Brasserie Restaurant On New Year’s Eve, my friends and I had dinner at Hakkasan in the MGM Grand Hotel. We had a multiple course dinner with wine paring. It was a great way to end Year 2015. To sum up, spending the New Year’s Eve in Vegas is fun, even if you are not into gambling or partying. There are plenty of things to do!

All Posts, Holidays, Travel

2015 Chinese New Year’s in Las Vegas

I went to Las Vegas in February 2015 with three of my Chinese friends during the two weeks of Chinese New Year’s celebration. One my friends and I stayed at the Aria Hotel. The other two girls stayed at a different hotel.

I’ve been to Vegas many times, but not too often during Chinese New Year’s. I noticed that most of the nicer Vegas hotels had Chinese themed decor. But other Las Vegas hotels, like the Excalibur and the Luxor, did not have any Chinese themed decorations.

MGM Grand Lobby
MGM Grand Lobby

This fact reinforced the idea that there’s a somewhat clear distinction between the very best hotels in Las Vegas — those that adapt to different seasons — and those non-elite hotels that more or less remain static all throughout the year.

Aria Lobby
Aria Lobby

For example, at the nice Aria and the Wynn hotels, I saw many red lanterns and Chinese dragon decorations. And at the Bellagio, MGM Grand, and Encore resorts, I saw decorations for the ram animal, because this is the Chinese year of the ram.

Aria Special Check-In
Aria Special Check-In
Ram for Chinese New Year
Ram for Chinese New Year

Also, at the Aria (even though I didn’t get to take a photograph), I noticed that the employee name badges they wore had their name in English plus the Chinese characters for the ram animal.

BellagioConservatory

I have no major conclusion, but if you’re going to Las Vegas, in my opinion, it’s worth it to spend a little bit more to stay at a top end hotel (Wynn, Encore, Bellagio, Venetian, Palazzo, and Aria) and get a lot of extras that can make your visit more special.

Bellagio Conservatory Botanical Gardens
Bellagio Conservatory Botanical Gardens
All Posts, Fashion, Travel

My Winter Outfit for Whistler, Canada

I decided to take an unplanned trip from Seattle (where I live) to Whistler, Canada. Whistler is an upscale ski resort located about a four-hour drive due north of Seattle. Just before Thanksgiving, one of my girlfriends and I had dinner together. On the spur of the moment, I asked her what she was doing on the weekend following Thanksgiving. She said she had no plans so we decided to go to Whistler, in part because my friend had never been there before.

We drove from Seattle to Whistler on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. After we got into Canada, we stopped for a late lunch in Vancouver, Canada (just above the Washington-Canada border). After lunch, we decided that rather than spend the day in Vancouver, which although is a very nice city, is one we’ve both been to many times, we’d continue on to Whistler.

We arrived in Whistler about 8:00 in the evening. Expecting this scenario, I had made a hotel reservation at the Fairmont. We checked in and then ate dinner at the very fancy Bearfoot Bistro restaurant in the Whistler Villager.

Fast forward to Sunday at Whistler. I hadn’t planned on any activities in particular. But my friend and I decided to take the peak-to-peak gondola ride from Whistler to the neighboring Blackcomb ski resort area. For the trip I wore True Religion skinny jeans with crystal accents, a J.Crew pink cashmere sweater, a pair of UGG short boots, a knitted hat and a pair of Lululemon gloves that I bought in Whistler, and an Eddie Bauer jacket.

I brought my latest Lois Vuitton Alma red bag with me, mostly because I had already checked out from the hotel and didn’t want to leave it at the Bell Desk. That was not necessarily a great idea, but it turned out well because I was able to store all my accessories when they weren’t needed.

MyWinterOutfitForWhistler_Canada_1

Even though I hadn’t planned much, I was very happy with the way everything turned out!

MyWinterOutfitForWhistler_Canada_2

All Posts, Holidays, Travel

The Venetian Macao Hotel Light Show

Video

While I was in Macao visiting the famous Cotai Strip, I watched the light show presented outside of the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel. The show was designed to celebrate the winter holiday. It included a Chinese dragon running across the screen, gold coins, fireworks, a snow storm, and a gondola (which reminded me of the Venetian in Las Vegas). The winter holiday theme of the show was perfect for the season. I think the light show was amazing!

Venetian Macao Winter Holiday Light Show