Musings by Grace Chng

In Las Vegas, integrated resorts are just simply, casinos. Visitors who come here know that they’ll spend some time at the tables - playing anything from craps, poker, roulette to blackjack. But they’ll also eat, shop, sight see and generally soak in the atmosphere.

So the IRs in Singapore are the same. Sure, you can gamble if you want - Singapore residents will have to pay a fee to enter the gaming floors - but there’ll be loads of other things you can do, following the experience of Las Vegas.

Every hotel in Vegas here has a theme. The Venetian with its canals,  tenors rowing the gondolas and singing well known arias at the same time.  New York New York with a mock STatute of Liberty at the front of the hotel and a roller coaster running around the hotel property. Treasure Island which has a scheduled pirate attack show in the moat at the hotel frontage.

Luxor, built in the shape of a pyramid, has a beam of light shooting in the night from the apex of its roof. Bellagio and Wynns hotels have high ceilings and are places to people watch. The Mirage has a volcano erupting regularly except that it’s now being renovated for an even bigger eruption. Bellagio has a fantastic fountain show at night.

These hotels are huge like all the hotels here, so many and new ones coming up too. Each hotel is a large property.  It took me 10 minutes to walk from my room to the event centre, a distance similar to walking from Paragon to Tangs. Granted the event centre is usually situated at one corner of the hotel, but it’ll take you around the casino, shops, restaurants etc to get there. That’s the point isn’t it? To tempt you spend money!

Talking about restaurants, every hotel has a Chinese, Japanese and/or Asian fusion restaurant. Mostly Cantonese and Shanghainese food in some very exclusive restaurants which I didn’t bother going in.  There’re also the exclusive restaurants fronted by wine cellars and tuxedoed managers waiting in the front. No reservation, no enter type of places. Forbiddingly expensive, I would guess. This is the latest trend I see since I was last here two years ago.

No food in America is complete without the burger which you can get from McDonalds or Carls’ Jr, or expensive in some of the five-star wagyu type in the restaurants. Of course, mustn’t miss out the Italian and Mediterranean joints of various affordability levels.

I recommend, the Chinese noodle shop at the Bellagio. Run by Hongkongers - their style of Cantonese is distinctly Hongkong - it has the best charsiew I’ve tasted in the US, the choy sum and kailan are really fresh and good. Taste is authentic. Every trip here I must go there at least once. Burp!

Entertainment … ah, this is what you come to Vegas for. Err yes, there’re the adult rated shows in the old strip which I think is about a few miles down from the new strip that has all the  fancy hotels. But there’s the high class bawdy acts - Crazy Horse is at the MGM Hotel.  Then there’s Zumanity by Cirque de Soleil, the only one act in the group that is restricted to above 18. There’re topless women in fishbowls doing unbelievable acrobatic acts in the unique tradition of the Cirque. Yes, I’ve seen it, I wouldn’t recommend children but the acts are really good. Very artistic. 

If you’ve time to see only two Cirque shows, it’s either the O at Bellagio or the Ka at MGM. You experience the Cirque’s mastery of theatre, drama and high flying acts which you’ll never see in any of the travelling show because these two acts were specially created for the two hotels. 

 For shoppers, there’re 2 factory outlets here. Yes, there’s the fashion mall and Macy’s but 20 to 40 minutes away you can get factory outlet prices. Really cheap with some Gap t-shirts going for US$3! Popular brands too like Ralph Lauren, Coach, Nautica, Levis etc. Shoppers can take the public bus to the factory outlet that is 20 minutes away, ask the concierge. I discovered the Primm Valley factory outlet on holiday here two years ago. It has a shuttle running from MGM Hotel. Costs US$15 for return ticket, convenient and on time. For shopoholics, be prepared to drop money and to shop from 10 am to 6pm. Shuttle starts from 9.15 am.

 If you don’t want to do all that, then there’re roller coaster rides at New York New York. Luxor, and MGM, exhibits like the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay and art gallery at Bellagio.

Singapore’s IRs would be like what’s available at Vegas. Ritzy places, plenty of eating, shopping and things to do. Except that the casino would be only a small part of the establishment unlike in Vegas where it’s really in your face everywhere you go.

Las Vegas doesn’t feel as busy as when I was last here about two years ago. Then it was January, and people were still in holiday mood. Although the temperature was below 5 degrees Celsius - it was so cold the fountain outside The Venetian was frozen -  people were out in force, enjoying the sun and the cold brisk air. There was a definite buzz and I could hear cash registers ringing everywhere.

When I arrived on Sunday night, it was so quiet at the airport. Maybe it’s the time of the night. After all it was already 8.30pm. It was like a ghost town. Cashiers of the one-armed bandit in the departure/arrival halls were waiting for customers. There’re no queues for the taxi. Within 20 minutes of arrival, I was at the hotel where I checked in within 5 minutes.

What a difference from the time I was here two years ago. People were everywhere. I had to jostle with the crowd just to get from one place to the next. I queued for everything - for food, drinks, taxi, shows. The casino were full of gamers (they don’t call them gamblers - bad connotation).

Financial crisis seems to have impacted Las Vegas. No queues anywhere. Gamers were few and far in between. I’ve been walking past the room where the high rollers play - stakes up to US$10,000 several times in the last two days. I’ve seen only one gamer there when there’re 4 tables opened for gaming. The croupiers were twiddling thumbs and looked bored.

So what’s busy? The pubs and the restaurants. People have to eat and there aren’t that many restaurants outside of the hotels.

One thing though, I wandered over to a luxury hotel and saw that the casinos there had more people than in the hotel I was staying at. For the wealthy, the financial crisis has no impact.

I’m really happy I’ve iTunes. Not because of the availability of music but also movies downloads. 

Browsing through iTunes a few days ago, I found a Korean movie, Legend of the Shadowless Sword. I knew there was Crouching Tiger but I didn’t know that there were other Asian flicks. So that was a pleasant surprise; Couple others are available Memoirs of a Geisha and The Forbidden Kingdom (dialogue was in half English, half Chinese). Then there was Lust & Caution - the uncensored version and the only one I found with English subtitles. 

So was the Koran movie any good? T Not a bad movie, a bit of a drama, some parts slow moving, but the fight scenes were good. Lust&Caution - good direction, good acting, lots of angst and I don’t like the ending.