Las Vegas for Canadians flying out of Bellingham

I haven't posted in awhile, nor have I had a chance to read this. I have been so busy with my friend's destination wedding in Hawaii. Then after the wedding, two friends that are now living in Japan came to visit and stayed with me for a month!! Not that I'm complaining of course!

I just got back from Vegas and have some hints for anyone planning to go to Vegas.
I was able to fly roundtrip including taxes for just under $300. Here's what I did:
Booked my ticket from Allegiant. I checked this site everyday and I notice the prices often drop but sometimes only for a day, and it helps to book about a month in advance. Bellingham to Las Vegas was $28, and the return was $88. As the date neared, the prices shot up to $288 each way. The parking charges at Bellingham airport is about $6/day. I believe my total charge for four days was $28 or $24.. can't remember now. You have to pay extra to pre-select your seat, and to check any luggage. But really, if you get there early, you'll have no problems sitting with your travel partner. Also, for a short trip to Vegas, you really only need a carry-on. The only thing is, you can't bring any liquids. If you do a lot of shopping while you're there you can check luggage for $25. If you pre-pay this option when booking your ticket it is $15 per way.

Warning, I have flown with Allegiant four times, and twice, they were considerably late. I talked to a fellow passenger on my recent flight, and she told me once they left EARLIER than the stated time. That's why you need to be there 2.5 hours early to check in cause they might decide to leave earlier. It really is a no frills airline. No music, pillow, blanket, drinks, you need to pay for everything. There is however, a mint at the end as you're getting off the plane..

The airport is very easy to get to from the I-5. It is about 20 minutes from the border, but when I went last week, we were stuck at the border for 2.5 hours waiting to cross at the Pacific Crossing. This crossing is almost always a shorter wait than the Peace Arch. If you want to be an asshole, you can always go to the duty free and buy a bottle of water, so you can butt into the line by going out the parking lot which i do not recommend, but it's a free country.. But warning, sometimes it takes longer to go through the duty free which is what I have heard, cause so many people do it, and then no one lets you cut in. So i would highly recommend not doing this, and if you're lining up without going through duty free, don't let anyone in that tries to butt in.. :)
You may even want to go a day early and spend a night in Bellingham cause twice I was at the border and they SHUT IT DOWN cause of some incident. So you're basically shit out of luck if this happens.

Hotel
Checked this website for hotel prices other people were getting www.cheapovegas.com as well as Biddingfortravel, which is where people post what they're getting through Priceline. My buddy actually works for a hotel, so we got a smoking deal on a very nice hotel on the strip. Normally though, I would just check expedia for ballpark figures, then check with the hotel websites directly. My favorite hotel there for reasonable prices is the Paris. and I tried the $20 trick there and it did NOT work.
Even if you smoke, you should request a non-smoking room. The smoking rooms in Vegas usually have such a strong smell, it's like sitting in an ashtray..

Food and Misc
Definitely sign up for the player's clubs at the casinos, for people that sign up for the first time, you often get a funbook, which is basically a coupon book. At Planet Hollywood right now, you get $5 for slots, an extra $15 if you play $40 as well as a funbook that includes a $25 matchplay for table games. It also includes coupons for their restaurants including their spice market buffet. So the $17.99 lunch buffet is only $12.99! The Rio offers a free t-shirt.. probably size x-large..
If you want to have a nice dinner, but have a budget, have a nice late lunch instead. I would really recommend sitting out on the patio at Mon Ami Gabi which is in the Paris Hotel. It's right across from the Bellagio fountains, so try to go about three pm, so you can watch the fountain show while you eat. (The fountains don't start till 3pm and run every 30 minutes). In the evening the fountain show is every 15 minutes.
View from Mon Ami Gabi

The Paris buffet is also very good. It's 24.99 for dinner which is not bad.
If you are looking for good food that is served 24 hours, there is a restaurant in Planet Hollywood serving foods such as braised pork ribs and breakfasts 24 hours a day.

Transportation
From the airport, when taking a cab, it should run you about $15-17 including tip. Ask the cabdriver NOT to take the tunnel, cause that is the long way. A shuttle is about $6-$8.50, but if there's two of you, you may as well take a cab because a shuttle can take an hour to get to your hotel cause it has to keep stopping at each hotel.
The double decker bus that runs along the strip in Las Vegas, called The Deuce is very easy to take. You can buy a 24 hour all you can ride pass for $5. Make sure you have exact change though. When you board, you just put $5 in the billtaker and you get your pass. Very easy. Apparently you are not allowed suitcases or large bags on the bus so I wouldn't take this option from the airport.
If there's over four of you, consider taking a limo.
There's also the Monorail

Entertainment
I highly recommend checking out a show while you're in Vegas. Besides the free shows such as the beautiful fountain show at Bellagio (I'm such a sap, I get tears in my eyes because the combination of the music and the fabulous spectacle make me weepy) and seeing the lions at MGM if you don't mind seeing caged animals, try to take in a show. I really like Mystere, and nowadays, you can get discounted tickets for Mystere (Cirque de Soleil) if you look around. I also really like O which is a Cirque de Soleil show, part of the show takes place in a pool. I don't think O tickets are ever discounted, but it is truly worth every penny. There are some limited view seats which are 92.50 which are the cheapest.. The Blue Man Group is also a fun show especially if you're into music.
There are a couple TKTS booths in Vegas, one is in the fashion show mall by Treasure Island. You can get discounted tickets for shows and buffets here.
personally, I would avoid the Sirens show at Treasure Island.


Shopping
There is tons of shopping in Vegas. There is everything from outlet malls to high end stores like Manolo Blahnik (the only Manolo boutique in the US besides the one in New York). If you're like me and like bargain shopping, check out H&M in the Miracle Miles mall, in the Planet Hollywood funbook, there's a coupon to get another couopon book at the Miracle Miles mall, that coupon book includes a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase at H&M. There's also an Urban Outfitters at this mall, but there's one in Vancouver, so not really a big deal. There's a Bettie Page store in this mall, the dresses are so much fun. Definitely check it out. If you make your way to Fashion Show Mall, there's a Forever 21 there if you want to pick up some trendy clubbing clothes.. If you go to the Palazzo shops next to the Venetian, you can check out the Christian Louboutin store!

Liquor exemption
If you are not checking luggage, but want to take advantage of the liquor exemption you're allowed, there's a 24 hours wal-mart right by the Bellingham airport, so you can stop by there before you head back home to Vancouver. They have champagne, wine and beer there. If you are checking luggage, buy a bottle of hard liquor in Vegas. At the ABC store in the miracle mile shops, they sell Grey Goose vodka for $30 which is normally about $50 here (it could actually be 47.99 or $60.. can't remember now). there's cheaper places to buy liquor, but the Miracle Mile shops next to Planet Hollywood is in a pretty convenient location.

Ripped off on Craigslist

I guess this is obvious, but I wanted to post this cause I see tons of these ads on Craigslist, and I know someone that got ripped off with this.

People are selling Westjet credits on Craigslist. Westjet credits are transferable. My friend found an ad for a Westjet credit of $700, and he was selling for $600. She contacted him, and she offered $500. With no hesitation, the guy agreed. So he asked her to meet him at Metrotown Mall in front of Yogen Fruz. She waited for the guy and he never showed. He called her from a "private" number and then told her his son had some trouble in school, but his friend would meet her at Lougheed skytrain station. So she drove over there, and some guy met up with her, he called Westjet from his cell and transferred the credit to her name, and then she called Westjet to confirm the credits were in fact in her name, and WJ confirmed the credits were now in her name. She paid him, and about an hour later, Westjet called her to tell her the ticket was purchased that same morning with a STOLEN credit card, and they just found about it, so the credits she had would not work. Although my friend did in fact make a mistake, I just want to point out, why the heck does WestJet sell a ticket that day, and when someone calls back the SAME day to cancel the ticket, and DOES NOT want a refund (if the purchase is within a 24 hour period, they are entitled to a refund) and insists on a credit, THIS SHOULD RAISE RED FLAGS!! Apparently a year ago, some con artist ripped off 50 people with this scam, and Westjet said they would put more controls into their system to stop this from happening.. Obviously they are doing nothing.

Anyhow, my friend called Westjet and complained, and she was told it is her fault, however, they were willing to help her out a bit.. anyways, lesson here is, be very cautious about buying credits and gift cards and that sort of thing from Craigslist.

Ramen in Vancouver. Motomachi Vancouver

Hello, it's been awhile.

Motomachi on Denman in Vancouver is quite simply awesome. The soup tastes so "clean" if that makes any sense. Not greasy at all. It's a bit pricey for Ramen, we're talking $7-$10. It's owned by the same person that started Kintaro which is also on Denman, but there is no lineups like there are at Kintaro. Motomachi's soup base is chicken based, whereas Kintaro is pork based. Motomachi uses good quality organic ingredients. Make sure whatever ramen dish you order, it includes egg. It's like the best egg you'll have in Vancouver. The service is good, and it's consistently good. I've been at least 10 times now.

Today I decided to be adventurous so we tried out Benkei on Robson street. Originally we wanted to try Kintaro, but the line up was too long. I was very disappointed. The soup is oily, and the server should not be allowed to serve. To top it off, when the server brought the bill, she charged for three bowls of ramen, when there were only two of us.. The only thing good about it was the spinach in the soup. The decor is bad. Something about it just looks cheap and busy. The vases at the front are so ugly that it's disturbing. (the vases are from Ikea.) I like the clean minimalist feeling of Motomachi. I felt bad I strayed from a good thing. It's like cheating on your boyfriend with some asshole that isn't worth talking about.

Clip-on hair extensions

My friend just got hair extensions and they looked so fabulous. She told me she was wearing clip-on hair extensions which she purchased in Burnaby from Abantu. She told me she paid around $200. Two days later I went and bought some myself. The saleslady was quite helpful and told me the ones that don't have the clips sewn in yet are better quality hair,and also less expensive but I'd have to do some sewing and cutting as it just comes on one super wide piece called a "weft". The weft is basically a long piece of "ribbon" with hair attached to it. Like a very wide beaded curtain, but you need to cut the width to match your doorway. But I was too chicken to sew them and cut the pieces myself, as I didn't know how wide to make each one and so on and so forth. So I got the 18" seven piece clip on set. The total I paid was $180.80. I absolutely loved them. So now that I could use my set as a "pattern" I decided to buy the unclipped hair and make another set myself, but this time a shorter length, so instead of going to Abantu where the unclipped hair is $90 and each clip is $2 (you need 17 clips to make a seven piece set) I decided to drive down to Sally's beauty supply in Bellingham. The hair there is $74 (real human hair) and the clips are three for $1.99. The clips they sell at Abantu for $2 each are actually better, but the Sally's ones do the trick. I decided with this second set, I would cut the hair short. Big mistake that was. I thought it would be easy to cut, but easy it is not. I think I'm going to have to take them into my hairdresser to fix this botch job.

This is my friend's hair:


Anyways, the extensions are a lot of fun to wear, as they don't damage your real hair, and in five minutes you can really change your look. I think the long extensions I got were a little too long as it's difficult to "blend" my real hair into the fake hair, I do one of those half hair up type hairdos, so it makes it look a lot more real. I've only worn them out in public once, and I got tons of compliments on my hair.

North Face sample sale in Richmond, H&M in Coquitlam Centre

I finally checked out the North Face sample sale in Richmond. The sample sale goes on about twice a year, and it's next to the Brick on Alderbridge. Everything is 50% off of regular price. They are sample sizes, so it's basically mostly medium sizes. I'm not really a big fan of North Face, so to me, even if it was 75% off I probably wouldn't be that interested, but my friend went crazy and dropped a few hundred buying some outdoorsy gear. What I found interesting was that they sold some dresses, like the kind you might see at Express or Banana Republic. I thought that was a little strange. Kind of like Express selling thermal underwear or Banana Republic selling sleeping bags.

While I waited for my friend to comb the racks, I was just observing how some people get at these sales, this one family literally hoarded a bunch of coats, and the whole time I was there, they would not give any of them up and kept trying them on MULTIPLE times and hogged the one mirror in the store.


So checked out H&M in Coquitlam Centre on Saturday. IT WAS NUTS. It's my second time going. Each time it's cause a friend was visiting from out of town and wanted to check it out. The line up to try clothes on is literally an hour. To buy, the lines are long, but they move fast. But if you plan on going there, wear a tank underneath, and if possible, wear a skirt or something so you can try on pants in the lingerie section instead of lining up for soo long. Or better yet, go on a weekday. There was some outdoor concert in the parking lot on Saturday so they blocked off about 80 parking spots, so I was literally circling for 15 minutes trying to get parking, then someone STOLE my spot. Then in the mall, it was so crowded, and everyone was so grumpy so I ended up getting grumpy too. At H&M it just got too busy, so I decided to walk around the mall while my friend lined up to try stuff on. Apparently I was moving too slowly for some cow at Jacob (there was people in front of me, so it's not like I'm going to plow them down). Anyways, as she walked past me, she said, "GAWD", really rudely. I was feeling bitchy, so I loudly asked, EXCUSE ME? and she ignored me and walked into the dressing room. That kind of put me in a worse mood.

If you are interested in getting Christian Louboutin, the shoes with the sexy red sole, but don't want to pay the hefty price tag, Le Chateau has some look alikes for around $69.

Saltlik on Alberni

I came here on the labour day long weekend for a quick drink with some friends. At 9pm, there was only two other tables. The other customers were a table of asian exchange students and a caucasian couple. The decor is very nice here. I only had a vodka soda, not too hard to screw that up and a couple shots of Van Gogh Espresso vodka (YUM). Despite the fact it was not busy at all, when the couple left, they got no thanks, they were completely ignored by the staff. Our service was good though, but because it was so quiet in here, I doubt I would go back again. The bathrooms are upstairs. It's quite nice looking inside, and the staff are good-looking.

My understanding is that it's owned by Earl's, and it's an experiment to see how well they do with a higher end restsaurant. If it does well, they plan to open more.

Goldfish in Yaletown

Back in June we walked past Goldfish in Yaletown and after taking a look at it from outside, we decided we wanted to go back to check it out. So in July we tried to make reservations but was told it was fully booked. I then tried again the week after that and was again told it was fully booked. So I asked the hostess what's up with that, and she told me they only book half the restaurant since they just opened and they want to get more organized before booking more than half the restaurant. Two weeks ago I tried to make reserations for six people for Saturday night and it was no problem. So I thought, they're organized. After making the reservation and letting the rest of the party know, I went on to dinehere and read these bad reviews. I thought to myself, well, give it a chance. So my friends also raed dinehere, so we decided to eat an early dinner elsewhere first, just so we don't drop $60 on food alone. We all ordered either appys or dessert or both at Goldfish. And of course some drinks. The appy's I had were overpriced and unappetizing. Six non-fresh slightly stinky oysters for $19. The wine and drink selection is mediocre at best. The ambiance is nice, and the outdoor patio area in the back is also really nice. The staff are nice and friendly, but the service is slow. The manager/maitre'd was walking around just talking/socializing, but not actually helping the waitstaff so that was annoying. I mean, I know it's tough to make small talk with random strangers, but it was frustrating because the service was so slow and there was obviously problems getting food and drink and taking orders in a timely manner, yet he didn't seem to have any sense of urgency.

Someone wrote in one of the reviews it is a place to be seen, but I really don't think so, there were a lot of tourists, and I saw two tables of seniors.

The decor is definitely impressive. It does not quite feel like you're in Vancouver. In the bathrooms instead of paper towels, they have terry handtowels, but they were cheap old ones that you can pick up at the dollar store at three for a dollar. They should use the thick paper towels instead.

We'd probably go back there for a drink, but I think I would prefer to go to George, they have a better selection of wines and cocktails.