Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

Had a very good time. Didn't get up as I would have liked but I enjoyed myself quite well. Got in around 9 or so at Excalibur. Pretty crowded check in but once it was my turn, we got things rolling pretty fast (hey girls, I'm as efficient as they come). Got a room on the 15th floor outlooking the 15. Saw the pools from our spot but didn't get a shot to try them out. The weather definitely would've allowed it, but not our time constraints. Prior to that we hit Mandalay Bay for morning breakfast. At $13 per person, it wasn't a bad deal. Nothing spectacular as I was hoping for and the selection was a lot more limited than at some of the other buffets. Still we had a nice view of the poolside area and the ambience was good. I took a nice survey of their breakfast items but again I'd have to try it for dinner to see how it compares against the other spots. After checkin and breakfast, we played a little of the Wheel of Fortune. Got up at $7 and decided to hang out a while elsewhere. Went towards the Luxor to meet a friend of Kris' (Amabelle). Met her outside of the Luxor and hit Treasure Island to meet some friends of hers. Got a tour of the new Wynn Hotel. My impression? It's the Bellagio with cheasy colors. Inside, they've got a lot of classy stores but you can't help but think that it's the Bellagio with the Skittles carpet. Guys with Purple suits and red ties. Purple????? Place was bustling as you'd expect with all the hype from Thursday night's grand opening. All the standard fare you'd expect out of a Wynn hotel and then some. Decor was definitely in line with the Bellagio. Couldn't see the golf course, which I heard cost $500 per game. Did get to catch the Ferrari dealership. Obviously that spot is more for show than something serious to the average joe. But next to it for the typical Vegas tourist you had a more affordable gift shop that sold Ferrari goods. So if you ever wanted a Ferrari and desired to brag to your friends you bought one at the Wynn Hotel, pick up a toy car. If there's one thing that's obvious (to guys at least), it's that the waitresses there are FUCKING HOT!!!! i don't impress easy since my taste compares against Tokyo women (especially since I was living in Lolita heaven of Harajuku for over a year!). But these women are some of the best eye candy you can get for free in Vegas. usually you get some wrinkly, old maid that probably worked in a different, ahem, spot in Vegas. Not so with the Wynn. Only the best you can catch. Don't know if the pay is any better, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they ain't letting anything that wouldn't qualify for America's Top Model as an applicant in their employment line. That took a few hours to patrol around. I did spot a buffet inside so that'll be one of my future goals in evaluating all the Vegas buffets. My guess is that it'll be on par or even supercede Bellagio. Still a good looking hotel that is a place a suitor should take their girl to impress one day. Afterwards, we got hungry and hit TI for their buffet. Seafood night cost us $23/person. However, it was good quality food. I had some bad impressions after reading this review: http://www.ratelasvegas.com/buffets/ratings/b45.html however, don't let a bunch of online thugs fool you with their opinions. this place is a Wynn hotel creation so the buffet (which was revamped) should be on par as a very good spot. And man, let me tell you the food was wonderful. Not on the level of Paris or Bellagio, but definitely it exceeded my expectations. Most notable there are the made-to-order salad bar and dessert station. As you enter the buffet, you can see their bakery with the chocolate dipped strawberries, the freshly sugar dipped donuts and other goodies just to wet your appetite. It's a slight notch under the Mirage in my book since the selection is a little smaller, but what they do have is fresh and extremely tasty. After that we left for Excalibur and spent a few hours at the craps tables before Kris suggested hitting Paris. Before that we got dressed but I made the mistake of wearing my formal shoes. Never, and i mean NEVER, wear those things when you have to travel hard because that Strip is merciless on the feet. Not to mention the temperature was warmer than I expected so having a suit was to my detriment. Inside the hotels at this period at night was shocking because the AC wasn't on! Anyway, we hit Paris and hung out at the bar there for a while. Only had one drink because my feet were killing me. But we split and tried taking the monorail via Bally's. A shame those bastards don't tell you ahead of time that the monorail ONLY runs between 7 am - 2 am. So we were only left with walking back. Somehow we made it but my feet were SORE. we hit back downstairs and did more craps. I got nailed although we had a few decent shooters. Problem was that the table was quite full. So we went to a smaller one. Much easier to bet when you can rely on the shooter. Unfortunately, they closed that one down so we were transplanted to the last one available. One woman did quite well and had a nice streak going. But her BF crapped out immediately and I decided that I should too. Hit the room at 4:30. I was like, "How the hell are we going to get out of here tomorrow?" Kris staggered back in at around 8!!! Check out was around 11 am so I said, fuck it and just slept. Fortunately, some biological alarm got us both up and we managed to leave at 10:50 or so. Packed our stuff back up and hit MGM for a wonderful brunch. MGM has one of the best meals in town. They don't have much in terms of ethnic food, but what they do offer is very good and tasty. And they still offer a fair choice in items, almost all which are great. Also, a wonderful dessert section which compliments people on diets with their sugar free desserts. I've always recommended this place and haven't been disappointed yet. Drove back and got caught in typical LA traffic. But we made good time and I crashed almost immediately after checking my email. Overall, great weekend.