las vegas

Getting into Vegas was quite bland, and incredibly hot. I think I saw it at about 110º F. The strip, however, is a different story. All I have to say is Las Vegas is a monster. There is definitely no other city like it. Everything is pure tourism, and pure gambling. There is nothing more, nothing less. I checked into the Excalibur and found out I was on Floor 8 and in Room 8. Yes, the lucky numbers were already taunting me from the moment I stepped into the hotel. After checking out part of the strip by myself, I picked up Nick (friend from college) from the airport later that evening. We had dinner at the Excalibur, and we stayed by the 2 cent slots to get free drinks and practically gave away our pennies in the process. Over the weekend, Nick played $5 minimum Blackjack, while I played Roulette. Rapid Roulette was the coolest. There was a roulette table in the middle, with a dealer spinning the ball, etc. However, instead of placing your bets on the roulette table, everyone has their own computer touch screen (I think each Rapid Roulette table holds about 15 or so players), and they make their bets on the screen. The minimum bet is $2.50. What was cool about this version that they let you know all the percentages. You could see how many times the ball landed on Red, Black, Odd and Even, so all the counting was done for you. They also showed which numbers were cold (how many turns went by without it being landed on), and which numbers were hot. I basically played the trends and doubled my money. I guess the lucky numbers were right, as I gambled about $10, and got $20 back. I lost $5 in slots though, which means I left Vegas $5 up! I know, I’m not much of a gambler. On Saturday, we had brunch at Monte Carlo, which took forever, because they were making my spinach and artichoke dip from scratch. Later that day we got Gelatos at the Bellagio. I got Pistachio on top of Chocolate in a waffle cone. This was an interesting experience: the lady accidentally left the paper liner from the previous cone inside my cone, and put the ice cream on top without noticing. When I finished my top scoop and got to the cone, I noticed that I was not able to eat my ice cream because of the paper lining in between my ice cream and the cone itself. I pointed this out to the lady, and asked if this was normal, and she looked at me like I was retarded, and asked me if I wanted a spoon. Later that day, we ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill with Janina (friend from Cranbrook), which was located at MGM Grand. The food was quite good, but a little pricey for my taste. I wanted to take pictures and to witness the fountain show at the Bellagio at night, but the last showing was at midnight, and I arrived 5 minutes after. It’s a shame, because that was what I was looking forward to the most. It’s also a shame that there was no “$5 Footlong” at Subway, since all the 6″ subs were $6 or more. I ate fish tacos at Rubio’s instead.

williams to las vegas

In terms of scenery, this trip wasn’t up to par as the last two. Most of the route is pretty barren. I took a little detour again and took the Historic Route 66. I don’t know much about the history of this road, except that it was one of the major highways going from the East to the West, and also that Sonic’s largest drink size is named after it. While driving through Route 66, there were parts of it so empty that I could really rip it and test out the speed of my car. I broke my previous personal record of fastest speed and reached 135 mph. However, as soon as I saw that mpg meter drop like flies, I started to cry internally and didn’t have the balls to stay up there that long, I think maximum 5 seconds or so. In the little town of Seligman was a bunch of Route 66 tourist spots and shops. I am quite sure this was the city that inspired the location in Pixar’s “Cars.” Would you believe that there was even tumbleweed passing by in front of my on the road? Right before I was heading into Nevada I saw a sign pointing to Lake Mojave so I took a slight detour through a winding road, all downhill, for about 2 or 3 miles. The Lake was nice, but incredibly hot at the same time. Next stop was the Hoover Dam, which was somewhat of a disappointment. It wasn’t as big or as beautiful as I had imagined, and they seriously charge you left and right for everything, from parking, to exhibits, to tours. One interesting tidbit: if you are leaning over the edge of the dam, there is a huge updraft, and if you pour a little bit of water out of your bottle over the edge, the water will literally float up in forms of little bubbles. If you toss a penny in front of you over the edge, it will float up and fly back behind you. Pretty cool effect, which I wished I caught on camera. Oh well, here are the trip stats:

Distance: 246.9 miles
Average Speed: 53.5 mph
Moving Time: 4 hours 36 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 24 minutes
Average Mileage: 29.0 mpg

phoenix to grand canyon to williams

Today was easily one of the best days of my life. I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that again when I drive the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1), but for now, this is on the top of the list. Heading out of Phoenix, the scenery was beautiful (again). Each day the scenery gets more and more dramatic, making the first trip from Austin to El Paso seem absolutely lame. I realize that I enjoy being out on the road more, than exploring a city (at least for now). The adrenaline I get from driving up and down long swooping mountain roads and seeing large peaks and valleys all around me while my ears pop from all the altitude changes is hard to describe, but it’s up there as one of the best feelings you can get in life. You see a huge mountain ahead of you, and then you start focusing on the turns, and the next thing you know, you see this huge mountain in your rear view mirror, and you think to yourself, “Holy ****, did I seriously just cross that?!” Yea, that’s the feeling. Seeing a lot of blown tires on the road wasn’t comforting though. While I head west (well north today) and see the massive lands before me, I gain a lot of respect on the pioneers who braved these lands on wagons. Wagons! I have no idea how long it would take them (as I never finished the game Oregon Trail), but major props. It gets me into thinking about how we are on the brink of a new pioneering era, to the moon and to Mars. I’ve always hoped that I would be alive to see that come into fruition, and I still do. I left Phoenix in the morning, heading out to the Grand Canyon. But on the way, I made a detour through Sedona, as recommended by Bilal. Am I glad I made that decision. The city of Sedona is interesting, being that it’s built randomly through a small canyon. It’s like a hidden resort town in the middle of nowhere. The best part of it was the AZ-89 highway, which winds up and down on narrow roads through forests and cliffs. Driving this road top down while “obeying” the 35 mph speed limit feels exactly like a video game. Here’s a portion of the highway so you get the idea of what it was like:

It started to rain while I left Sedona, which sucked, cause I just washed the car. I finally did end up getting to the Grand Canyon, and paid the $25 fee to get in. One word: Massive. I mean, it’s well known the G.C. is humongous, and one look at the map will tell you this. You see photos and videos all the time. But none of these do it justice. You cannot begin to imagine how big this place is until you get there. That’s when you realize how insignificant you are compared to the sheer massiveness that is the Grand Canyon. G.C., I bow down to you. As the sun set on the horizon, strong winds suddenly blew through the canyon. It was almost as if the sun was holding the winds back, it was almost instantaneous. And the wind smelled like lotion you would find at Bath and Body Works. This was just a day trip for me, but mark my words, I am definitely coming back to make this a full blown vacation, exploring it by hiking, by boat, by helicopter, and camping. I am now in a Super 8 motel in Williams, an hour from the Canyon. An annoying thing happened on my way to Williams: I was filling up my gas at a station, and the pump must’ve been broken because it didn’t stop when my tank was full, and gas started pouring out of the tank and onto my car. I caught it 2 seconds after. Trip stats:

Distance: 299.4 miles
Average Speed: 50.3 mph
Moving Time: 5 hours 56 minutes
Total Time: 11 hours 57 minutes (so long b/c I was at the Canyon)
Average Mileage: 28.3 mpg

phoenix

I’m staying in North Phoenix with Bilal, my friend from high/boarding school (Cranbrook), near Glendale. One thing I can say about Phoenix: it’s huge. This particular neighborhood I’m staying at reminds me of the Aramco complexes in Saudi Arabia. In fact, they are practically identical. Driving down these streets makes me feel very nostalgic, and the only real difference between the two is that there are Cacti here. But the palm trees and architecture style and terrain is all the same. The first night I ate homemade Pakistani food courtesy of Bilal’s mom. Had it for brunch as well. Then I headed out to first check out Scottsdale Fashion Square, which is essentially a ritzy mall in the wealthy part of town. At this point I realized, after driving a long distance, that shopping in malls is boring. It’s the same everywhere you go, and sure, sometimes that hat store or that haircut place has a different name, but it gets old. I tried to find a polarizing filter though at the Ritz camera for the wide angle lens, but they didn’t have it in my size, oh well. I ended up sitting in the mall for maybe a half hour to an hour, just reflecting on life as all these rich wives with nothing better to do with their time walked past me with their newborns. It was slightly depressing because I think I just confused myself more. After this completely useless waypoint, I headed on over to the Arizona State University campus at Tempe. I believe they are the third largest in population, behind Ohio State and University of Texas. Don’t quote me on that though. Architecture-wise, the highlight for me was some auditorium designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which was originally planned for Baghdad, but something didn’t go through. It certainly has some middle east influences on the design. Overall the campus was pretty nice, kind of reminded me a little bit of parts of the University of Michigan. I was a little hard for me to enjoy it though, in the ~105º F heat. I also got my car washed to prevent all the bugs I collected thus far from making my front bumper a permanent residence. I checked out the GPS and found two attractions that ended up being closed: Tovrea Castle and Hall of Flame. I did end up going to Hole in the Rock, which was at Papago Park. It was pretty cool, and an interesting tidbit: there was this couple there as well as some families with kids. Well the boyfriend from the couple kept putting his hands down her pants (from the front and the back), as well as groping her under her shirt, all in front of the little kids and parents. For shame! :P Met up with Bilal afterwards and went to Mill Avenue Bridge, to watch the sunset and take some photos. Lastly, I ate mediterranean food at Haji Baba. I ordered the Shawerma, but I coulda sworn I got a Gyro instead. C’est la vie.

el paso to phoenix

With each day of driving, the scenery just gets better and better. There are no words to describe the incredible feeling of freedom and appreciation of nature when you are driving up and down through majestic mountains, watching the trees, grass, sand, and architecture change while driving through three different states. New Mexico certainly feels like a completely different country altogether. It could be psychological, or maybe it’s all the buildings with red roofs (kinda reminds me of UT). There were speed corridors scattered throughout I-10, which are basically sections of road that are supposedly monitored by high flying aircraft. At 75 mph, I’m not complaining, but I certainly didn’t see any aircraft. There were a lot of farm lands as well throughout New Mexico. There was also lots of border patrol everywhere. Once I got into Arizona, I felt like I was driving through a postcard. Great terrain, iconic cacti, and billboards starting at 138 miles out reminding me to visit something called “The Thing?“: the great mystery of Arizona. Well, after missing the exit for “The Thing?” because I was too busy staring at rock formations, I had to drive a few miles out before I could take a U-turn. When I finally got there, I paid the $1 admission fee to go through a museum of completely random antiques from countries all over the world. There were antique cars, decorations, books, and guns. And the finale revealed what The Thing was… and it was… I don’t know, you’ll have to visit for yourself (unless you’re a Googler). I was also introduced to this thing, that fascinates me even til now, and it’s called the Mexican Jumping Bean. So they were selling 4 or 5 of them inside a transparent plastic box for about $2, and these beans were just jumping inside the box, at random intervals. Really creepy, and it really peaked my interest. I found out that there are actually caterpillars living inside these beans and they ‘jump,’ causing the bean to jump. They feed off of the beans, and after 2 months, they stop jumping. Finally, the Texas Canyons (why is it called that?) rest stop was awesome. Overall, I spent an extra hour on this leg of the journey just visiting things and taking photos. It was that beautiful. I realized that I forgot to get a postcard while I was in El Paso, but I’ll remember to get one for Phoenix. Anyway, here are the stats:

Distance: 477 miles
Average Speed: 68.8 mph
Moving Time: 6 hours 56 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours 1 minute
Average Mileage: 30.2 mpg (booyah)

el paso

El Paso was definitely a lot nicer than I expected. I had the stereotypical image of a desert town in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. I was wrong, of course. The scenery was great, with the large mountain backdrop near the New Mexico state border. From Scenic Drive (an outlook viewpoint), you can see the sister cities of Juarez and El Paso spreading out across the US-Mexico border, separated by the Rio Grande. I watched the sunset behind me, while talking with my old college roomie, Alonzo. He, Lizette, and Eric showed me some great Mexican food, easily the best I’ve ever tried. That’s of course not saying much since most of my Mexican food exposure comes from Austin and Houston. The Piratas and Shrimp speciality tacos at Taco Torte were to die for. UTEP was certainly interesting as well since the buildings are all built in a Tibetan style; a little odd in a city filled with mission style architecture. Probably the most interesting of all was Gravity Hill. Basically, it’s a mini-valley, and when you drive to the bottom of the street, put your car in neutral, your car will literally roll uphill. Freaky at first, until you realize that it’s an optical illusion, and that both parts of the V are actually downhill, just at different slopes. Cool nonetheless.

austin

You know, after living in Austin for 6 years, there are still a ton of things I haven’t done. Although the city isn’t huge, there is still definitely a ton of stuff to do. I finally went up to the top of the UT Tower, for the 7pm tour. I wish I had tried for the 8pm tour so I could see the sunset and also see the city lights. But nonetheless, being up there with the breeze and recognizing all the shortcuts I took through campus was very nostalgic and relaxing. I have also ever been to South Congress (SOCO) at night. It was always the daytime that I went, and it was cool to me then, but man the place transforms at night. I had no idea it was going to be so packed. It was like a completely different city. Other things I did included visiting the Barsana Dham hindu temple, Dave & Busters, The Domain, Mt. Bonnell, canoeing on Town Lake, Schlitterbahn, Blazer Tag, and Spider House. Most of these were revisits of old favorites, but the temple was new. It was on the way to Salt Lick BBQ. I got to meet up with some friends for the last time. Overall, it just wasn’t enough time, naturally. Austin will always hold a special place in my heart, and I have a feeling I will return to the city one day.

Places I ate: Which Wich, La Feria, Salt Lick BBQ, Ichiban, Oma’s Kitchen

monotone photoblogging theme

There’s this new theme for WordPress called “Monotone” that caters to photoblogs. What’s amazing about this theme is that it takes your photo of the day, does some analysis on the dominant color, and changes the page background to match it. So each page/day has a different background color. In the words of the Guinness Beer commercials, “Brilliant!” Here’s a demo site. I’m hoping I can somehow incorporate this theme, maybe make a spinoff photoblogging only site. We’ll see…

d.i.y. flash diffuser

For those of you who are too cheap to buy an external flash unit for their DSLR’s, or even a cheap diffuser, here’s a d.i.y. project that seems to be the best homemade diffuser I’ve seen up ’till now. It’s better than those business cards bent and tied with rubber bands at least. Jump:

porsche ride’n'drive

I attended a Porsche Ride & Drive event at the Driveway racetrack. Basically, it was an event to allow people to test out the newly released Porsche Cayenne GTS. I first drove the SUV for 3 laps, with a race instructor by my side, giving me tips on when to accelerate, when to brake, what line to follow, etc. It might as well be a car, because this SUV handles like a dream. Then I switched seats and he drove full out for 3 laps. That’s when I realized how lame of a driver I was. Although it felt like I was pushing the GTS to it’s limits, I think I ended up going at 1/3 of the limit. After that I was able to sit in for 3 hot laps each on the Cayman S and the Carrera S, and realized just what that extra $$$ (compared to the Boxster) translates to: balls to the wall adrenaline rushing euphoria, which can be experienced in the Boxster as well, except in these cars, you feel like you might die any second.

bench project

As blogged about on photojojo, basically what this guy did was tie up a disposable camera to a public bench attached with a note to encourage strangers to take photos. Pretty awesome if you ask me. I just might have to try this one out. I think it’d be quite interesting to see this at a location full of college students. Maybe even an E-Bus stop. Just not sure if they would just decide to steal it.

canon rebel xsi

Not to be just blogging about random tech products that are coming out and announced on other blogs, but anyway, here’s another. The Canon Rebel XSi, which is the successor to the Canon Rebel XTi, will finally be on sale April 27th. It’s available for preorder from Amazon. 8 Benjamins for the kit, 7 for the body only. Main upgrades? It uses SD Cards instead of the clumsy and less popular Compact Flash cards, it’s got the expected bump in megapixels, from 10.1 to 12.2, faster fps (3.5), faster Digic III processor, and a Live View function that allows you to see your photo before you take it on the new 3″ LCD screen, much like a regular point and shoot digicam. Not that I would use that last feature much, but it’s really odd to me why it took them so long to implement these into DSLRs. Anyway, as tempting as it is, the upgrades are not compelling enough for the amount I’d be spending. If it had a GPS tracker and WiFi, I’d bite. Right now, I’d rather buy a new lens like this Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8.

home slice pizza

If you’re ever in the Austin area, and you want to try some really good NY style pizza, head over to Home Slice Pizza on 1415 South Congress. I’ve actually tried pizza in NY, so I’m not sure if it lives up to those standards, but it sure lives up to mine. The crust is oh so crispy and thin, yet bendable. You can dine-in to order a whole “pie” or you can order from the side window by the slice. I ordered by the slice since the dining-in option was almost a 45 minute wait (!). There was a nice patio out back where I think they sometimes have live music. There’s also a great cupcake place a block down called Hey Cupcake! which is also highly recommended. Order the Red Velvet. Mmmm….

spider house coffee

So I’ve lived in Austin for almost 7 years (!), and never been to Spider House… until now. This is of course mostly due to the fact that I don’t really drink coffee. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I never really had the necessity for it like other people. Coffee and caffeine in general has very minimal effects on me, so I failed to see the benefits of drinking it, unless I was auditioning for a role to be an asian pirate (à la Chow Yun Fat) and purposely wanted realistic looking yellow teeth. I would of course have to drink coffee until I reached the age of the above mentioned semi-well-known-asian-actor without brushing my teeth. Speaking of coffee, I do have to say that I really like McDonald’s “new” iced coffee for no explicable reason whatsoever. I’m sure the lower cost psychologically affects my taste preference towards it.