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Next stop after LA.... was Las Vegas! Before experiencing the whole going to Vegas thing, I've actually seen some pictures and videos (Katy Perry's Waking up in Vegas) and it looked extremely incredible with all the lights.
Basically, Vegas is known for having very hyped night life. I walked through the crowd right at night and I felt it man. People all happy and open, shouting and excited about partying and enjoying themselves. Everyone were welcoming with all smiles and I swear I can never see such a scene in Singapore. The day we arrived was also St. Patricks Day so everyone were wearing green and they were really into the festive mood with all the partying. There was also a lighting show on the suspended ceiling using around a million LED lights!
Vegas is full and full of mighty hotels and casinos. As one of the attractions, most of their hotels were extremely huge with a huge fountain just in front where water fountain shows were held at night. A show would be up at around 45 minutes interval and for every night, there would be different music and water stunts. They even used high pressure to shoot water sky high. Many people may think that that is nothing but it's actually not. Some of the hotels even had huge displays inside and there was even a butterfly house with a garden around it. Beautiful, just beautiful. They were pretty creative when they thought about it. Right in Vegas, we first met with this shop known as... The Cheesecake Factory. I love cheesecake and that store offers over 40 different varieties of cheesecakes such as banana cheesecake and red velvet cheesecake! Even the plain one was really yummy and of course, it was a huge portion of a slice but totally worth the money even though it was a little pricey like around $7 to 8 in average per slice.
Vegas was a one night thing so not much was really experienced right there. The next day we headed off to Hoover Dam.
I didn't really pay much attention to the details of Hoover Dam but it was extremely huge and the river was breathe-taking. It was low tide too. Moving on was the West Grand Canyon which is somewhere near the Hoover Dam. Proudly, this is one of the 7 wonders of the world and it may be a once in a lifetime experience so my family went for the optional helicopter ride which costs USD$204 per person (I know damn expensive!) for a 10 minute ride which included a short boat ride at the base of the Grand Canyon. I know it's super expensive but it was really worth it. And just being there, I felt like it was a dream and for someone who lives in the tiny island of Singapore, you don't get to see such natural and beautiful things. That's one of my reasons for enjoying it exceptionally well I guess ;) People who have not been there should put it under the list of the things to do before you die.
A station is also set up for you to enjoy your meal
It was a really long 2 day drive to San Francisco and on the way there we passed the Fisherman's Wharf and 17-mile drive. Both were quite okay and just the sight seeing was awesome.