Day 9 - Day 10

Day 9 and 10: Making Friends With Tim and The Wedding

Yesterday was quite an adventure.

We got on the bus early in the morning. I had to sit next to Lauren because it would've been weird if I hadn't.

About ten minutes away from our hotel, the bus driver got really sick and stopped the bus. After our tour guide had some talk with him, he told us to get off the bus and that he would catch us taxis to the hotel. I hoped our driver wasn't having a heart attack or something! Maybe he was having gall bladder pains. Oh, that brings back memories...

I thought that it would've been nice to catch a taxi with Tim but there were other people standing next to me and Lauren.

When we got to our hotel, we were told that our bags would arrive in an hour. I wanted to go for a walk and get acquainted with the city but Lauren wanted to wait for the bags so we stayed (because I didn't want to go by myself). And what good choice that turned out to be!

After our bags arrived, we started going towards the main part of the town and who do we see but Tim and Keith!

Keith asked us where we were going and then asked if we wanted to come with them. I happily agreed because Tim was there and I wanted someone other than Lauren to talk to.

As I walked down the street, there was one theme running - no matter where you looked, you would see pictures of almost naked women in some tacky suggestive poses. There were billboards, screens, business cards plastered all over poles (which Keith decided to swipe off with his hand. I thought it was stupid to litter the street like that.)

We, first, walked into the MGM which was huge! We had to walk about 10 minutes through a corridor of pokie machines just to get to the casino tables. Then walk some more to get to the exit.

Keith found something to entertain himself with pretty much as soon as we got into MGM Grand. He said, "If I don't see you, it's been a pleasure". Who even talks like that? We were going to see each other in a few hours. You could tell he was in his 30s. Even from the way he dressed - 80's style light denim jeans with a long-sleeve denim shirt (a shade darker than his jeans) and brown work shoes. He could've passed for some little kid's Dad with his glasses and his adult hairstyle.

Anyway, I was glad he left. Don't really want to get involved (i.e. talk) with someone who sleeps with two women in a park. I bet they were prostitutes.

I was a bit worried that now that Keith had left, Tim would go his way but he didn't. The three of us spent a couple of hours walking around, checking out all the buildings. It was mainly me talking with him because Lauren was always lagging behind us.

There were lots of street people handing out stuff. One referred to me and Lauren as Tim's wives.

Tim talked about his family and I love when people do that because you can find out a lot about a person by how they speak of their families. I also liked that he asked me questions and it was just easy to talk to him in general.

We got back just in time for our ride to dinner. (Our driver was feeling better.)

It was the most incredible buffet I (or even you) could ever have. There were dishes from all over the world I took a bit of most stuff I haven't tried. They were all delicious. The best part of the buffet was the HUGE variety of desserts. There was just not enough space in my stomach to try them all. There were cookies of all sorts (almond, chocolate, chocolate chip etc.), eclairs, crispy waffles with cream filling, chocolate brownies, chcolate silk cake, carrot cake, fruit cake, cherry pie, cherry pie without sugar, pecan pastries, sweet rolls, strawberry sauce, ice cream and that's only about 5% of the whole selection. I was in dessert heaven. Just remembering it makes my mouth water.

After dinner we saw a mock wedding ceremony where Elvis 'married' two guys. It was the most hilarious thing ever. Elvis sang and flirted a bit which was very entertaining (since he didn't try to sit on my lap like he did with the girl sitting on the edge of the aisle).

After that very amusing show, a couple from our trip decided to get married. They booked their ceremony for the next day. All I could think of was "Yay! I get to go to a real wedding!"

When all the over 21 year olds went to check out the nightlife, Lauren, Bianca and I went to see some public shows. Walking with Lauren and Bianca made me realise that I'm a lot fitter than I thought I was. I can walk for hours without getting tired unlike them who were barely walking after a few flights of stairs. Lauren had been wanting to sit and rest every few minutes for our entire trip.

At around midnight, we went back. After a shower (something I hate taking in hotel rooms), I went to bed and slept very well until 7:30am when Lauren's Mum called to wake us up.

We had breakfast at a small cafe for which we got a free voucher. For once, I had a (relatively) healthy energising breakfast - eggs, turkey sausages (very yummy), fruit, toast and orange juice. It was my favourite breakfast so far.

After we finished eating, I got Lauren to come with me to a (specific) shopping centre because Tim said he'd be there and invited me to come. I made a stupid mistake of finding the address of the wrong shopping centre and trying to walk 5km there. Lauren was not very happy.

Before reaching it, we gave up and caught the bus back. We went to a few stores to get souvenirs.

At 4, we met up with our tour group and went to the wedding. I couldn't take it seriously. The wedding was just entertainment for me. I only felt sad when the bride got teary during the vows. The couple is our age. They didn't even tell their parents. Not sure if they'll last but I wish them luck.

After the ceremony, we all went to some restaurant for the 'reception'. On the bus, Tim sat next to us (not his usual spot) which made me happy. We talked for a bit.

At the restaurant, I sat next to a girl who talks to Tim a lot. It's great how I'm not attracted to him but still like him. He's not my type because he gets drunk, has a tattoo and wanted to buy Cuban cigars (so there's a chance that he smokes).

After dinner, Tim, Lauren and I decided to go to the local amusement park. We started walking there. We got nowhere but the shady part of town. Usually I would feel a bit nervous to be in such a dark location but the fact that there was a 7 foot guy guy next to me created an illusion of safety. (Even though he seems big and scary, he's really a very soft guy so if anything happened, I probably would've had to save him.)

Lauren was walking so slowly that Tim and I always got far ahead of her and got to chat. It was nice. Starting to feel a bit too relaxed, I began to say irrelevant things and had to concentrate on stopping my weird side coming out.

Tim was saying how some people had already chosen who they were going to share a cabin with at our next stop (since it was quad-share). It sounded like he wanted to share with us but I decided not to offer because I wasn't sure if I wanted to share a room with a guy. Especially that my pyjamas are kinda girly. I waited for him to ask but he didn't.

When we realised that there was no way for us to walk there before the closing time, we caught a bus. When we got there, the rides were closed due to cold weather. Tim and I were annoyed that after so much trouble getting there, there was no point. Lauren was annoyed even more because she didn't want to go in the first place.

Tim caught a taxi back to the hotel because he was supposed to meet the girl that sat next to me at dinner because he promised her he'd meet her to 'talk'. I wonder what about...

Lauren and I caught a bus to the shopping centre that we were originally supposed to go to. I found some shoes I liked but couldn't decide on buying them snce there's not much space in my suitcase. I regret it now.

Ian finished his tour here but I didn't get a chance to say good-bye to him. He was a funny guy.

We get some new people tomorrow. Hope RG is one of them but not counting on it.