The Esthetic of Lostness: L.A. Times

Las Vegas

Time 11:28pm Wednesday

Sydney time 4:28pm Thursday

Temperature 29C

So I ended up being a Nigel No Friends on the plane because I was stuck next an aisle and an empty seat. Halfway through the flight I would've preferred the empty seat because a little crying 2 yr old was put in the empty seat so I didn't sleep a wink. At least the food was good and V Australia made sure I was fed my 3 meals. In between picking up a teddy bear the id kept thowing in between my feet, I wasted the 13 hrs watching Black Swan, No strings Attached, Never Let Me Go, Zoolander (finally!), an hour and a half of music videos and 5 episodes of Modern Family.

Arrived at LAX at 7:20am Wednesday morning (or about 12:20am Thursday morning for Sydneysiders!).

Discovered I actually had a 6 hour layover before flying to Vegas so I decided to try and venture out of LAX, jump on a bus or cab and go somewhere. Unfortunately the mean streets of downtown L.A was a bit far so settled some mall nearby.

This guy called Yuki - I think he mentioned he was disabled or something - decided to take it upon himself to play tour guide. It helped out in the end because I ended up getting a US SIM card for my phone so I can have unlimited internet for $1.50 p/day. It works out well because I can also use the phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot and get my laptop to detect the network yay! Unfortunately he was a bit clingy as well and wanted me to add him on Facebook and message etc. Geeeeeeeeez.

Aside from learning how to buy transfer passses and using the L.A. bus system, that was my very uneventful layover in L.A. The half hour before boarding the Delta flight to Las Vegas was pretty alright because this random guy (Todd) and his group of friends started talking to me and bought me Bud Lights. Because everyone checks your ID when buying drinks, I enjoyed being told how I looked 19 - 20 :) ! Sadly his flight was the gate next to mine and flying to San Fran so no friends made there!

Landed in Vegas and the weather is awesome (for me!). It is warm, slightly hunid without being too sticky with a strong warm breeze - the kind that dries you right away the second you get out of the water at the beach. The lady at Bill's Gamblin hall gave me an upgrade to a bigger non-smoking room with the view of The Strip because for some reason the booking said I was sharing with someone. Walked the entire Strip and back which took at least hour mainly due to cars trying to run you down at traffic lights, variety of things to see and I became confused in the Miracle Mile shops... I still don't know where I ended up! Watched the Bellagio fountain show which was fun (but couples everywhere grrrrrrr!). Ate a chilli burger at Imperial Palace, poked my head in to see Human Nature singing a motown song before being told to get out and bought my 32 oz pina colada (with an extra shot for $2). I'm still nursing that pina colada!

Not sure what the plan is tomorrow but hopefully will get the following done:

- photo in front of 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas' sign
- go to a gun range and shoot a gun
- find the shopping outlet and go shopping
- buy tickets to Holly Madison's Peepshow

Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can even go to the top and eat dinner in the Tower restaurant

Somewhere inside the Miracle Mile, I came across the Stripper Bar

Hot babes direct to you - I really hope they're not in the back of the truck...

They don't do things by halves over here. Monster hummer truck at the lights. It must be super long because other Americans were taking photos of it too!