vinyarb

like, what is legit anymore?

Sin City – Las Vegas

May
30

Following Toronto, we flew 5 hours straight into Sin City, and boy was the place lit up. We arrived at our hotel near midnight, but things looked to be just getting started. People were walking around energetically like it was 11am in the morning.

The casinos were abuzz, the lobby was full of people, but we were just plain tired out from the flight. Surprisingly, my in-laws were feeling pretty good and actually managed to pull a game or two at the casino after checking in!

The hotel we stayed in was called The Flamingo, one of the strip’s first resort hotels. They have live flamingos roaming around their gardens in the day! How cool is that!?

flamingo hotel

Also peppered among the supercute flamingos is this really evil looking duck.

evil duck

i'm warning ya, don't duck with me man...

The rooms were also very nicely decorated and clean, so I’d definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas and not willing to spend too much on accommodation. Its located right on the strip, and is a mere 8 minute walk to Caesar’s Palace.


And anyone visiting Vegas definitely needs to go check out Bellagio. So many films (Ocean’s 11, 21, The Hangover, Rush Hour 2) have featured the Bellagio fountain that we just have to see it with our own two eyes. But there’s another treasure we didn’t know of:

The Bellagio Garden.

Each year, the garden is revamped 5 times in relation to the 4 seasons, and Chinese New Year. Beautiful.

bellagio garden

We then roamed around the strip, and took different photos of Vegas, both by day and night. They look totally different, yet both are just so enchanting and endearing. Its really a city that’s alive 24 hours a day.

vegas by day

vegas by night

Other than Vegas, we also spent 2 days travelling out to see Hoover Dam and one of the world’s natural wonders, the Grand Canyon. It was so hot out at Hoover Dam that we had to order ice-cream to cool ourselves off. And it was the best ever!

hoover dam

Best Soft-serve Ever

black canyon

grand canyon

Oh, and who says babies can’t have fun in Vegas?

babies

 

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Dark Shadows

May
29

Dark Shadows Poster

Yet another film by Tim Burton, starring his wife Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp in make-up. I think he has inadvertently painted himself into a corner, making fantastical films with outlandish costumes, make-up and over-the-top acting.

Some say it’s his style. I say he’s a one-trick pony.

Johnny Depp is Barnabus Collins, a wealthy playboy in 1772. He has a fling with one of his servants, Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) and then dumps her. Unbeknownst to him, she is a witch, and promptly proceeds to kill his parents, hypnotizes his lover to jump off a cliff, and curses him to be a vampire before burying him alive in a chained coffin.

Rescued 200 years later during a construction excavation, he kills the construction crew, drinks their blood and proceeds to return to his old manor.

Cue fish-out-of-water jokes and Depp looking awkwardly at new technology such as cars and television. With eye shadow.

Yeah, its Edward Scissorhands all over again.

Unfortunately, Angelique Bouchard, being the bitch witch that she is, has also survived the past 200 years, and is now the most powerful person in town. So its up to Barnabus and his ragtag bunch of family to stop her.

The best part of ‘Dark Shadows’ is really Eva Green’s portrayal of Angelique Bouchard. At once delightfully evil and wickedly sexy, her performance was what made the show a little better than it really should be.

Eva Green

Plus, no one says ‘no’ to Eva Green, witch or not.

http://ramblingfisherman.com/2011/05/fishing-the-comox-valley/ Ratings: 5/10

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Uh-oh.

May
28

zombie eat face

Alright guys, its time to pack up your belongings, stock up on food items and bunker down somewhere where there are no glass windows, wooden doors or alternative entrances.

Floridablanca Because the zombie apocalypse has begun.

Miami police on Saturday shot and killed a man who was trying to chew off the face of another man. Both men were naked at the scene (Maybe they were trying to bring sexy back to the zombie genre). When the police arrived and told the attacker to back off, he ignored orders which left the officers with little choice but to open fire.

But even after getting shot, the attacker continued attacking the victim’s face, and the officers had to fire off a few more shots before he was dead. (I’m thinking that last would be a headshot). When paramedics arrived, the victim’s faced had been so badly chewed off he couldn’t be recognised and was having difficulty breathing.

The victim is now being treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital. If you’re there and able to walk, discharge yourself and get the fuck out of there!

 

News from CBS Miami.

 

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Marvel’s The Avengers

May
27

the avengers poster

From the moment Nick Fury appeared to proposition Tony Stark into the Avengers Initiative in 2008, we’ve all been waiting with bated breath for the promised superhero orgy. Finally, today, I guess we can safely say those who’re interested in watching The Avengers would have done so already. And boy was it a ride!

The prospect of watching the 4 heroes Ironman, Cap, Hulk and Thor (+ an arrow wielding supersmart guy and revolver twisting supersmart chick) in a 150 minute fight-fest was just orgasmic for some of us. For the most part, it delivered.

Ironman delivered smarmy one-liners while blasting away the Chitauri army. Thor struck lightning and hammered away at the enemies while maintaining picture-perfect hair. Captain America directed road traffic and occasionally killed some enemy foot soldiers. Hulk… smashed.

What I thought was a little weak though, was the performance of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, the primary antagonist, and adoptive brother to Thor, who first appeared and wrecked havoc in Thor. His motivations just didn’t really work for me… or maybe it was just his over-the-top headgear distracting me from his evil-ness. It was just as Hulk said.. “puny god”.

All in, it was still a pretty fun and awesome film, looking forward to meeting Thanos in the inevitable sequel. He looks more appealing. Plus, he’s purple!

Rating: 8/10

hawkeye black widow

Barton’s arrows are poised and ready, if you know what I mean…

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

May
21

So, I’ve been drifting in and out of jetlag this week, and haven’t had the time to properly document the Canada / Vegas trip. Plus, I was also waiting for the lovely wife to montage the photos beautifully, otherwise this will be a pretty damn long post.

First up, Yonge Street, also known as Main Street Ontario. It is a major street that connects lake Ontario in Toronto with northern Ontario. It was also formerly the longest street in the world at 1,896km!

So if you tell any Canadian you’re living along Yonge Street, you’ll be laughed away. OR if a girl you fancy tells you that, you can be sure she doesn’t really want to be found, by you.

The day after we landed, we took a city tour, and the city tour pretty much stuck to Yonge Street, showing us just how important this street is to Toronto, especially in the 1790s, when it was first constructed.

We then took a boat ride out to Lake Ontario, and boy was it beautiful. One of the better experiences travelling and going on day tours we have are in Canada. The guides are friendly, funny, and most of them seem to have a wry, self deprecating sense of humour. The highlights from the lake tour not only included the sights, but also the guide’s astute observations of Canadians.

The tall structure at the bottom picture is CN Tower, or Canadian National Tower. Built as a communications and observation tower in 1976, it held the record as the world’s tallest tower until they got bumped out by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

We also went for dinner atop the CN tower, a revolving restaurant and soaked in the view from up top. There is also an observation deck with a glass floor from which you can stand on, and look directly down to street level. At a height of 342 metres, its definitely not for the faint-hearted. (Children however, seemed unfazed by it, and can often be seen jumping up and down the glassfloor. Seriously kids, NOT a good idea.)


As we travel through Toronto, we find that Canada is actually home to many records. So far, we’ve had the one-time world’s longest street, world’s tallest tower, and now, we head over to St. Lawrence Market, dubbed the world’s best food market by National Geographic.

A bustling market with the best selection of fruits, vegetables and seafood to whip up a satisfying lunch.

Seriously, look at the size of that lobster!

If you’re not convinced, here’s the same lobster placed alongside a 2-year old asian human being:

Yeah, said lobster fed 3 adult-sized humans, with sampling pieces left to share among another 4 adults. OK, that’s either because the lobster is that huge or asians are small eaters. Maybe both.

If you have a sweet tooth, St Lawrence Market caters to that too!

Jelly beans and Cupcakes in St Lawrence Market, Toronto

Onward!

This time of the year (early May) is a wonderful time to be visiting Canada. Its cool (between 15 – 20 degrees Celsius), you can walk around alot without breaking into a sweat, and the air is a lot fresher and dryer. The flowers would agree, I think, as they bloom brighter and more vibrant than any other place i’d seen (other than Japan).

Canadian flowers are happier

Another must-see in Toronto is the Casa Loma, a gothic revival style house mimicking the styles of various castles. It originally belonged to Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, but is now a museum and landmark of Toronto.

Sir Henry Pellatt himself is a most interesting historical figure, and was a very well known figure in Canada. He was a financier and soldier, but perhaps best known for bringing hydro-electricity to Toronto.

However, there’s something to be said about his house. Being very wealthy at the time, Sir Henry commissioned EJ Lennox, a renowned architect and friend, to help design and build Casa Loma. Both of them took a year off to travel around the world, seeing castles to gain inspiration.

The end result, however, became an amalgamation of styles so jarring that Casa Loma also became known as Toronto’s fabulous folly.

Casa Loma

Casa Loma

Yeah, the kids weren't too impressed

Toronto is also home to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), where there’s currently an ongoing Gallery of the Age of Mammals, showcasing an array of large fossil skeletons from the Ice Age.

Royal Ontario Museum

Pictured here with me is the extremely rare (only 1 in the world) subset of the Homo Sapiens known as the Amelia Lye. She makes up for her petite size with astoundingly large lungs and a very insistent vocal range, allowing her to scare bigger predators into submission.

Among the highlights of the Canadian side of the trip was a drive up to the Niagara Falls. Bordering Canada and America, the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls collectively form The Niagara Falls.

The Falls are situated more along the American border, which means the view is splendid from the Canadian border. And so it is.

Niagara Falls

But what’s better than looking out at the Falls from the hotel? Taking a boat ride out to the very edges of the Falls! A boat ride called Maid of the Mist provides just that! They also provided ponchos, because without those, we’ll all get damn soaking wet! Just look at the mist pouring out from the base of the falls! We actually couldn’t even see the contact point of the falls and the water below.

Maid of the Mist

The bridge above is called the rainbow bridge, and it offers Americans quick access into Canada to enjoy a good view of the Falls.

We also took time out to visit the Konzelmann winery on the way back from Niagara, which turned out to be one of the highlights for my father-in-law. 🙂

Konzelmann winery

We next took a drive to the scenic, quaint and quiet village of St. Jacobs Country, a little town in Ontario occupied by Old Order Mennonites.

Old Order Mennonites are a branch of Christian Protestants who practice a lifestyle without some elements of modern technology, which explains for the quaint and old-school village style buildings and businesses over at St Jacobs.

St Jacobs Country

Old-school village rural goodness. Where else could I have expected to find The Elder Wand?

St Jacobs Country

 

All in all, it was a wonderful Canadian leg of the trip. We got to see what was once the world’s longest street, what was once the world’s tallest tower, the great Niagara Falls, and even managed to retrieve the Elder Wand, what more could we ask for?

Awesome Canada

 

This concludes the Canadian leg of the tour. Next, Las Vegas! Watch out for that entry in the next few days!

All pictures lovingly montaged by my wife. You can follow her on Instagram with the handle femmejalouse.

Still closed

May
08
image

hello Vegas

At Pearson International, waiting for the flight out of Toronto into Vegas.

Wooot!

Later!

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Closed for the holidays

May
01
image

Toronto

Hi, this blogger is currently on holiday in Canada.

So, expect intermittent (if any) postings.

Ciao!

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