There's a book called Takeoffs and Landings by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Have you read it? ...Well, anyways, on to the actual post. (I actually wrote up a post while I was on vacation, but I saved it to my dad's computer. I might post it later if I get the chance. I'll try not to repeat myself.)

I've just returned from a trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I have been to Las Vegas so many times I don't really have anything left to see there, but as the Grand Canyon is in a rather rural area, we can't fly directly there, so the second best thing to do was to stay at Las Vegas and then drive to get into the Grand Canyon. This is my first time visiting the Grand Canyon, but my parents have been there before, a pretty long time ago.

When I went to the airport, we had our boarding passes checked and went through security. There seems to be a chamber that I didn't see before. One person walks in, puts their arms up, and something spins around them. Then the person gets out. I wonder if this is the machine I heard about that blows air on you to check for explosives. My family didn't have to go through that, though. We just walked through the metal detector.

I kept expecting to need to take out my passport, but I was never asked for it. (I didn't even need to show an ID, since I'm a minor and they don't expect me to be stealing someone's identity.) I guess I've gotten used to flying overseas. So it's a little funny for me to be having a flight that is only an hour or two. Maybe I should travel more within the USA. There are lots of places I haven't seen, like Yellowstone National Park. And I've barely been to the east coast (I've only been to the airport in New York, basically. But my mom did live in New York in the past). I'd like to go to North Carolina so I can visit a friend that lives there, but unfortunately it's inconvenient. I haven't got relatives there. Sometimes I've wished my grandparents would move from Shanghai to North Carolina. But they're old, and they'd rather stay someplace familiar where they actually know the language, so it's really not going to happen.

This time, in Las Vegas, we stayed at Bellagio. It is absolutely my favorite hotel in the world. If there weren't people smoking in the casino, I'd say it would be perfect. I'm pretty sure I've already spoken of Bellagio in the fast. But I'll rant about it again, because it is really such a charming hotel. (It's got its cons, too, but more on that later.)

The fountains are what I love the most. There are shows every thirty minutes until the evening, when the fountains go on every fifteen minutes. Music plays, and the fountains move to the beat. I've never been anywhere else with such nice fountains. Sometimes the water gets shot up really high, as high as the top of the hotel (and that's at least 30 stories!). I don't get tired of watching it. The music's been changed since the last time I went there. (You still hear repeats, though. I suppose they don't arrange that many different performances. I mean, I heard the Elvis song Viva Las Vegas twice. The fountain show's not all that interesting for that one, though.)

Other things have changed too. The free shows for the hotels Mirage, Treasure Island, and Rio are different now. Mirage has this fake volcano you can see at nighttime. It is more exciting than it used to be (though I can tell that it's just water with color shown on it, not lava). I'm not so sure I like the change in the Treasure Island show, called Sirens of TI, or Rio's Show in the Sky, though. It seems that they wear less clothes, act more suggestive, and do more singing than they used to. I would advert my eyes occasionally. I think you should not take your young children to see those shows. I liked them better years back. (Now they're trying to attract young people to Vegas - and I'm not talking about children, either) They still throw free necklaces at the Show in the Sky, though, which I was glad about. I think I got all the colors of necklaces.

The last time I visited Vegas was back in 2008, at Thanksgiving time, I believe. Las Vegas seems quite different even though it really wasn't that long ago. There are buildings I don't recognize, like Aria and Mandarin Oriental, and shops that I didn't see last time. Expensive shops were opened, which I suppose I should have expected. I wonder if they get enough business, though. The luxury items may be nice, but there are outfits that I can't imagine myself wearing or can't think of a time where I would need them. And I already have a bag which works just fine when I'm going on a trip, not to mention that I don't really like to carry bags, so I don't have any need to buy a handbag either. What is the use of these shops, then? To make people feel good? (I heard that men often solve their midlife crisis by buying a sports car...) But anyways, I guess I really can't expect things not to change, no matter how much I'd like that.

Back to the title of this post. I almost forgot to write about it, I've gone on and on too long. When I leave for vacation, I feel relaxed. I've just left behind my worries of daily life and I still have the whole trip ahead of me, plenty of opportunities to eat good food, take good photos, and try out the shampoo of the hotels I stay at. But after a while, sometimes I get to thinking, "Oh no, when I get home, I have this to do!" or "What if this happened while I was away?" and so on. And my worries of everyday life come back to me, and I lose that nice, carefree vacation feeling. I guess I really prefer taking off to landing. When I'm landing, I'm really tired from the trip and I'm very impatient to get home. I'd like to go on a vacation and not have to worry anymore about what I need to do once I return.

Labels: airport, bellagio, change, fountain, grand canyon, hotel, las vegas, mirage, new york, north carolina, passport, rio, security, shopping, show, takeoffs and landings, treasure island

Or so I hope. It was doing better yesterday after my dad figured out what we had done wrong. (It took a while seeing as my dad isn't the handiest at these sort of things. Sorry if you're reading this, dad. But the truth is the truth.) Today it seems a bit messed up. Sometimes the Internet gets stuck. This happened while I was trying to go on Nutrinopets and look for images for RPing (in other words, role-playing. If you don't know what this is feel free to ask on the Cbox.). Eventually I got sick of the Internet's failing to load so I closed it and decided to play the Sims 2. Once I get home I need to install my other expansion packs on my mom's laptop. (I'm going to play it there even though I'd rather have my desktop computer back home.)

Yesterday we did some shopping. We bought two sets of pajamas at a store. They were pretty cheap compared to the USA. (Just who knows if it's good quality or not. My mom says you can't really tell if it's in Shanghai.) We tried to get a new pencil box for me since my old "Hu Hu Cat" one, which despite it's originality, is getting ready to retire. (My grandma insulted it since it's so dirty nowadays.) But most of the stores have ridiculous prices for them. And the selection is bad. I could get a plain ugly one or a Mickey Mouse one. But I don't really want a Mickey Mouse. (They were cuter in Japan. Now my family agrees we would rather buy one there since they are higher quality anyhow.) Maybe I need to try and find one in the USA.

We browsed for clothes in the afternoon. I visited a place called Metersbonwe. (Never seen it in the USA, so I was curious.) It was mostly jackets and what my parents called "young people clothes". I didn't like anything there except for a shirt. The top of it was white and the bottom would be either grey or black. But it wasn't on sale and my mom didn't like the bottom part so we didn't buy it. I debated whether to buy some boots (are they called Ugg boots?) but my dad discouraged me from it since they would be too warm for California.

Later on I saw the same Metersbonwe shop and outside was an ambulance and a police motorcycle. On the ground was a guy who had some orange stuff on him. (I couldn't take a close look because my mom kept trying to drag me away.) I thought he had thrown up and passed out, but my mom says he was actually run over by a car...Ouch. But I guess this is Shanghai so you can't avoid it forever...

...Unless you're me! Hehehehe. In Japan there's some myths about your life. If you go to the hot springs once, you live a year longer. (Two times is ten years, three times is immortality?!) And if you eat an egg with a black eggshell, apparently you add seven years to your life. (I ate two. So I gain fourteen years.) By the way, these black eggs are sold in a shop around Mount Fuji. They're called "Kuro Tamago".

Anyhow, yesterday I visited my dad's hotel. It's called 24K International Hotel...Not that good. If it were me I'd want to stay in Four Seasons, or Marriott. But it looked okay outside. The lobby looked fair enough too. However, the inside was not so good. The hallways are a drab beige/white color and they constantly play this Christmas music in them. The room would've been better if they'd put more stuff on one of the walls, cleaned up the walls, and changed the chair.

We eventually went to a nearby restaurant to eat dinner with my dad's relatives. We ate there last time I went to China. (Actually, since my dad's dad used to do calligraphy for a living...I heard he did the calligraphy for the restaurant's name. So that's probably why he keeps visiting the restaurant.) I didn't eat much because I don't like Chinese food. Mainly I just played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team to pass the time. That reminds me, I should get one of the newer PMD games. And also there is Pokemon Platinum coming out sometime in 2009.

Of course, since my mom's dad smokes, my dad's dad joined him, and the two of them smoked. You could see the smoke rising through the room we were eating in. I was freaked out and tried to run off. Then I threatened them by saying I wouldn't be their friends or visit them if they kept smoking.

Oh, I should say who was at the dinner... My direct family meaning mom, dad, and I; My grandparents on both sides of the family; my dad's siblings which are one older sister and two older brothers; and one of the brothers' wife. My dad's sister keeps calling me an entertaining person. (I am, but it's annoying anyhow.) But she's a nice enough person, I suppose. She talks sometimes, and she said kids are scared of her because she acts stern towards them. And she says my dad is entertaining. (Probably has to do with me being like my dad.)

My relatives gave me a bag with some Adidas clothing in it. (Some relative I don't remember works at Adidas.) I pretended to be really happy but in truth I was just bored and tired. (The shirt is too short for me and the shorts are the kind that some guys at my school might wear. Those guys are talkative and sometimes play basketball. One time they were doing it with a rock and it bounced off the backboard and hit me. They just laughed.)

Ah, well, that's my dad's family for you. Or so I tell my mom, since she doesn't like 'em that much. (Haha, she doesn't like her own parents too much because they're so stubborn. But maybe that happens if you're old and live in Shanghai!)

Labels: clothes, family, gift, hotel, internet, myths, people, restaurant, shopping, video games

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