family trip to LA & LV

havent been updating my blog for a couple of weeks cuz i had been travelling - first to states then to shanghai. now, its so good to be back home sweet home. been thinkin of blogging about my US trip for quite some time and since I happen to be home early today, will do it today :D

its time of the year for a yearly family annual trip. last year, we went san frans, los angeles and las vegas.we had so much fun sightseeing, shopping that we decided to go back to the same places again (excl. san frans this time). this time, we wanted to spend more time in las vegas sin city cuz we didnt have enough time to do casino hopping.

Day 1: Las Vegas Premium Outlet

We went shopping @ las vegas premium outlet. we missed shopping there so much that we just had to do it on the first day and shopped all the way till it closed at night. everyone went backed satisfied. just look - the whole car boot's packed with shopping bags. our top few favourite shops this time has to be polo ralph and timberland :D. a tip

back in the room sorting out our loot

then we headed off to The Cheesecake Factory @ Treasure Island for the our dinner cum supper. The cheesecakes are fantastic and must try! We were so hungry that i didn have time to take pictures of the food - just the menu and napkin onli :P

and that concludes our Day 1. we were so tired that we didnt even do any gambling for the night. well, we had other nights to make up for it.

Day 2: Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour

Last year, bro drove 4 hours to grand canyon for sightseeing and it was magnificent (to & fro that makes 8 hours! way too long & tiring). the sight from the top just takes my breath away. so this time, we decided to visit grand canyon via helicopter which will take us to the inside bottom parts of it for a closer look. plus its only going to take half the day and less tiring.

here we are in the coper. we had to wear these earphones so that the pilot could communicate with us plus it muffles the noise from outside.

the first 10-20 minutes of the ride was fun as its a novelty. the take off part especially was pretty lame - they played the music from Mission Impossible to boost the adrenaline rush supposedly. anyway, after the excitement was gone, it was more of a torture for me at least to be stuck in the copter and was suffering from air sickness ... ewwww.

picture of the view from the top follows...

we flew by the hoover dam too and sighted a long tailback of slow moving traffic passing through it. to drive to grand canyon from LV, we will have to drive by this place too - we were so glad we were not driving that day.

was so glad when we landed, finally! had to grab a pic of us with the copter.

and that's all of us inside grand canyon with the stones or watever u call them behind and surrounding us. felt that it was a bit of a let down actually cuz it was as magnificient as i tot it would be. the view from the top down looks better.

after taking fruits, champagne served by our pilot (yeah, the pilot not only 'drives' the copter but also double up as a tour guide giving narration, waiter serving us refreshment, cleaner cleaning up the table before we leave and even a petrol pump assistant as he also fuels up the copter! life'e tough :P )

was so glad that the ride was over, afterwhich we went back to the room to sleep the afternoon away. the ride was too tiring for all of us .. hehehe. we onli ventured out at night casino hopping, finally settling down in Venetian to 'deposit' some cash.