Becoming Santa Claus

Las Vegas. Much has changed since the last time I was here in 2000. Just 5 years and there seemed to be some noticeable differences. Nevada has been the No.1 state for population increases for many years whereas Arizona is No.2. In all, since 2000, Nevada has grown 20.8 percent, compared with Arizona's 15.8 percent (Arizona's population is now nearing 6 million people). That doesn't include the 37 million tourists cramming the Las Vegas strip every year, plus all the red-hot real-estate developments around which had made many people rich. Traffic was bad and the drivers reminded me of Malaysians. There are many shopping malls on the Strip and who needs another Chanel, Gucci or Tiffany's just a block away?

One of the most influential people who transformed the Las Vegas strip today is Steve Wynn. Who is he? Not like Donald Trump who is very famous, Steve Wynn is a low key real estate developer. He is the owner of the hotels Treasure Island, Mirage, Bellagio and the newest one Wynn. The Wynn hotel has a Ferrari and Maserati (lower end) showroom in front whereas the Bellagio was featured in the movie Ocean's 11 and it is my favorite hotel because of its beautiful posh interiors and its delightful waterworks show. The water danced to the Christmas music every 15 minutes and the performance of Handel's Messiah (the one with the famous Hallelujah, hallelujah) was spectacular with the waters shooting off to the sky with thunderous symphony.

One of the famous Las Vegas attractions is the food. There are many world class restaurants here with 5 star or 5 diamond ratings. Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse are a few world class chefs who operates their restaurants here and it cost around $75 to $3-digits for a 3 course meal. So did some research on the top buffets in Las Vegas and decided to have dinner at The Buffet at Bellagio which some voted as the #1. Whereas 5 years ago I went for the cheap buffets, this time I am going for the higher end... probably as taste buds grew older, they get more picky. For $45 (after tax and tips), I stuffed myself with all the king crab legs, kobe beef, foie gras, sushi, lamb ribs with mint apple jelly, wonderful desserts and other exotic dishes. According to the buffet statistics, it took 88 chefs to prepare all the food. On Christmas day, we went for the #2, the champagne brunch at the Carnival World buffet at the Rio hotel where it cost $30 (after tax and tips). This buffet had a lot of food choices compared to the Bellagio but the food doesn't sound as posh. Nevertheless was able to sip champagne with a plate full of crab legs which I never had the luxury of doing before in my life at this time of day. I do love all chocolates with hazelnuts (Ferrero Rocher, Baci's) and had been searching futilely for hazelnut icecream for a long time and they had hazelnut gelato. Yummy!

After awhile, all the crab legs and prawns doesn't taste too good anymore. They used to be my favorites and I feel like vomiting every time I think about them now. This is so sad - gluttony. It is kinda ironic that I am paying so much to eat and put myself closer to my grave. Having cholesterol on the higher side doesn't help either. The good thing is we had to walk a lot from one end to another and that burned a lot of our calories. Haha... I think I can become Santa Claus next Christmas with my growing belly. Some food for thought: With all the hotels combining all the excess food, I think it is possible to solve world hunger, but why poverty still exists? Perhaps the rich keeps on getting richer while the poor keeps on getting poorer.