I reminisced about the days in university where I could go to AYCE and feel almost nothing after going through a whole bunch of plates/rounds. Sadly, or fortunately, that is no longer the case in my 30's. I woke up in the middle of the night with a horrendous stomachache. To spare you from details, I was in the bathroom for a good 30 minutes.
Not getting much sleep again made me more weary than the past two nights, but our trip in Vegas is almost at a close. We sat around the table and talked for a bit before starting to play some poker with the poker set found in the living room. It's been a while since I gambled, and I did end up finishing second last. After a nail biting finish, we got ready to head out to Shang's Artesian Noodle.
There was nearly an hour wait for Shang's so we ended up getting some bubble tea and relaxing at the nearby bubble tea shop. Once it was our turn, we headed next door back into Shang's. Not wanting to risk my stomach after the effects of the early morning trip to the bathroom, I opted out of the flagship spicy pulled noodle dish and went for the mild version instead. I was impressed by the broth, for it was light, but hearty at the same time. After lunch, we headed back to the strip for our last event of this trip: a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon.
We were at the assigned pick up spot ahead of schedule. Our scheduled time came and pass and we were getting worried. I made a call to the helicopter tour company to be informed that the shuttle bus was running about 10 minutes late. Ten minutes came and went, which did put us on edge. Maybe we got the wrong spot, like the guys did yesterday for Dream racing... or maybe we didn't actually reserve a shuttle despite the customer service representative said the shuttle was on its way. After 20 minutes, I made another call stating that the bus wasn't there yet, and was informed that it was three minutes away. Lo and behold, it actually came in about 3 minutes. Turned out there was heavy traffic from the other hotels and some no shows!
We headed to Boulder City, which was about... 40 minutes away from the strip. The airport, where the tour was to start, was extremely tiny and reminded me of the one in St. John. We signed in and had our weight checked so they knew how to distribute the passengers on the two helicopters they had at that time. It wasn't long before we got called for our helicopter tour.
I've never sat in a helicopter before and I was eagerly excited in seeing the Grand Canyon myself. We were cramped inside a small and hot cabin as our tour guide was giving us a quick explanation about the tour. He mentioned how each seat had access to a vomit bag, which I thought I never had to use. Looking back, I regret not taking some Gravol or anti-nausea medication before boarding the helicopter.
The first ten minutes of the flight or so was extremely cool, for a lack of a better word. It was right after we got passed the Hoover Dam did I start to feel a bit queasy. Every time I tried turning my head to view the sights to my side, I had a wave of nausea flooding through me. I ended up just facing forward for the rest of the trip. Nearly halfway through, I was heaving air, trying not to let the nausea flood through me. My mouth was extremely dry, but I dare not drink anything during the flight. After another 80 minutes, we were almost back to our starting point, and I soon felt hope again after a ride of despair. Near touch down, the pilot did a quick 270 degree turn which was probably the closest I ever felt to vomiting due to motion sickness.
After landing, I walked unsteadily back towards the terminal building. My arms felt numb for the last twenty minutes or so, and I was starting to feel the associated pins and needles as they were regaining normalcy. As we were waiting for our shuttle bus back, I ended up buying some souvenirs, while trying to walk around to clear my nausea. Once our shuttle arrived, I headed close to the front of the bus, hoping that it would help.
During the ride back to the strip, I fell asleep a few times, but woke up violently each time as my head snapped forward as I had a tendency to have my head lean back each time I was close to sleeping. After the third time this happened, my nausea had totally disappeared! I guess I learned a new unorthodox method to treating nausea: whiplash!
We got off at MGM Grand instead of the hotel we've been using for the entire trip since we wanted to explore the southern part of the strip. MGM was the hotel we stayed in during our trip in 2013, and I swear that it smelt exactly the same as it had 9 years ago. After walking around a while, we were looking for a place to eat. We made a quick stop at the M&M shop (four floors of M&Ms) and the Coca Cola store. I ended up finding my doppelganger inside the store, though it was hard to see the bottom part of his face since it was covered with a mask.
We ended up going to a Mexican restaurant named Cabo Wabo. It was pricier than most Mexican places I've been to, but the Tortilla chips were amazing with the various dips we ordered. The nacho platter was also the best I've ever had in a restaurant! I can't say the same for my main dish, but maybe it was because I was full eating chips. After dinner, the groom and I ended up heading to a casino to gamble for a bit while the other five headed to White Castle for sliders. I put in $20, hoping that I would not have a repeat of what happened back during my first trip. I lost all $20 in about 2 minutes. I guess gambling isn't my thing. Once we finished gambling, we walked to White Castle to meet up with the others.
After grabbing some water, we headed back to our Airbnb. We played one final round of poker (I did better, but did not get into the top 2) before crashing for the night.
Overall, it was a great experience with lasting memories as the first of our friend group from literally high school (some from junior high, or for me: elementary) is getting married. The AirBnb was a lot cheaper than a hotel, and it was nice to be away from the busy streets (definitely busier during the night compared to the morning/afternoon).
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