Saturday, October 31, 2009

Park City, Utah

Park City is the co-host cities of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter olympics. Most of the ski events were held here and they have among the best facilities in terms of organising such event. I was here for a conference and it was autumn time. No snow at that time. However, I do amazed with the beautiful and colourful scenery here. The hotel room that we stay is not that expensive but it was considered luxury enough. The full suite room with all the facilities such as dryer, microwave, oven, full kitchen, good bathroom, dishwasher, comfortable bed, large LCD TV with cable stations & heater.


This is how my bedroom look like.

Kitchen.

Bathroom.

Sofa, TV & heater.

Cable car.

Free bus service.

Winter olympic symbol.

Walmart.


Tanger outlet. Coach bag is cheap here.

Big pumpkin.

Small clock in Main Street, Park City.

A hotel on Main Street.

Egyptian teather.

Looks like a cowboy town.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Bellagio Fountains @ Las Vegas, Nevada

Bellagio is a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.

One of its most notable features is an 8-acre (3.2 ha) lake between the building and the Strip, which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, a large dancing water fountain synchronized to music. Good thing about this show is its free.


Bellagio hotel and resort.

The water fountain show begins.

Dancing water.

Water is expensive commodity in Vegas.

The water shoot up is so high.

Me with Bellagio fountains.

Show times:
Monday - Friday
3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
show every 1/2 hour
7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
show every 15 minutes
Saturdays, Sundays* and Holidays
12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
show every 1/2 hour
7:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
show every 15 minutes

Address: 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard S. Las Vegas, Nevada 89109, USA.
Coordinate: 36°06′47″N 115°10′35″W

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Las Vegas, Nevada

After my official business trip in US, I continue my personal trip with my colleague. This time I went to Las Vegas. Known as sin city or another term "lost wages". The city itself is full of neon lighting and it is a wonderful sight at night. What makes this city more amazing is that it is in the middle of the desert. Thanks to the largest dam in US, the Hoover Dam, the city could survive. The main water supply to this city comes from Colorado river which is the same river which formed the Grand Canyon. It is an amazing sight to see that there are many huge mega casino themed resorts. The Strip which lines around 8 km is a sight to behold as each resort is as huge or even larger than our midvalley megamall. But for me and my colleague does not have much problem to walk the whole Strip as there are too many attractions to see. However, my colleague were disappointed that the "show" here is expensive and not as extensive as in Thailand.

On the casino site, Las Vegas is a truly gambling heaven. You can still gamble using slot machine even you just arrive at the McCarran International Airport or when you are waiting for your flight. It is just like maximizing your time to gamble. More over, each hotel here have its own casino and its own theme.


Took Southwest airline. Service is good and price are cheap.

The reason I always requested window seat. To take pictures!

Lake Mean. Formed by Hoover Dam.

This where I stay. Stratosphere hotel.

My room.

View from my room.

This is how "The Strip" look like during the day from Stratosphere Tower.

Thrill ride on top of Stratosphere tower.

Brochure for nude show is available everywhere!

Hot babe on the street truck promoting their service.

Fremont street. The world largest LCD screen.

The surrounding mood changed after the screen changed.

No wonder there are many world famous artiste have their own secret marriage here.

A little white wedding...

New York theme in Las Vegas.

Wynn Casino.

Mandalay Bay.

Vegas is a place where you can "visit" New York, Paris, Venice, Rome & Egypt. Here is replica of huge Eiffel Tower.

The Mirage volcano fire performance.

Feel like in Venice.

Las Vegas strip view. Exactly like in the movie.

The famous Las Vegas signboard.

Coordinate/GPS: 36.122554,-115.17115
Address: Las Vegas Strip.
Mode of transport: Deuce bus USD7.00 per day. Please don't use their monorail. Its expensive and useless as it does not stop at the main attraction.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim, Arizona

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

The canyon was created by the Colorado River over a 5.4 million year period. The canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km) (6000 feet). Nearly two billion years of the Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. The "canyon began in the west, followed by another that formed in the east. Eventually, the two broke through and met as a single majestic rent in the earth, more commonly referred to as the "Grand Canyon Event" approximately 5.4 million years ago.
Source: Wikipedia.

The canyon itself is an amazing sight to me. Although not 100% percent amazed. The timing to go to Grand Canyon is very important. The best time would be sunrise and sunset where you can view the multiple layers of earth formation millions of years ago. I reached Grand Canyon around 2pm at noon so it is just too bright to watch the canyon. I take the day trip to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas. The trip itself takes me 5 hours perway. Depart from my hotel at 6am, make a few stops for break and lunch before reaching Grand Canyon at 2pm. It is not near (700-800km) per way, but the trip is worth time spent. We stop by to few places during this trip and see the amazing sight of the US desert. The US interstate is really good in providing the connection between Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. The road is smooth and it lines along the extreme temparatures of the deserts.


Hoover Dam

On the way to Grand Canyon.

Stop for lunch at Grand Canyon Railway at Kingsman.

Grand Canyon train.

Grand Canyon view from south rim.

From another angle.

Grand Canyon.

From Bright Angel point.

Me at Bright Angel lodge.

GPS/Coordinate: 36.055920, -112.125889