2022년 3월 13일 일요일 – Mountain View 생활 22주차

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Daylight saving

Daylight saving period in 2022 started on March 13th. It is interesting that timezone can change depending on the seasons. The good aspect of daylight saving is that we can enjoy more daylight time. It is still bright outside even after 7 pm. The blue sky and fresh air make us feel refreshed.

Las Vegas

Last Friday was a company-wide holiday. So, I applied for a vacation on Monday and traveled to Vegas with my wife.

Flight

The round flight ticket fee from SFO to LAS was $400 per person. It wasn’t cheaper as the pandemic was severe in the US. Flight from ICN to LAS, which stops over at SFO, was almost $1000. The fun fact is that ticket from ICN to SFO was $1200, which is more expensive than the first one. Some people asked if it is possible to pass the immigration at the stop over the airport on the internet.

Hotels

We have stayed in Vdara and Cosmopolitan for three days. Both are close to the fountain of Bellagio.

There’s a well-known trick for upgrading a room. When you check-in hotel, put $20 between your ID and credit card and ask if it is possible to upgrade a room. According to the internet posts, you will succeed with an 80% ~ 90% chance. We nailed it in both Vdara and Cosmopolitan.

Even if you have acrophobia, it’s better to ask the high floor for the beautiful night view. Whatever hotel you choose, it would be noisy and smelly if it is located on the main strip. A higher floor is better to minimize noise.

The smell of cigarettes comes through the vent. You can’t avoid this. Don’t believe even if the hotel is smoke-free. Opening a window might be helpful to ventilate.

Except for some hotels, including Vdara, most hotels own a casino. One thing different from Macau is that people can smoke in the casino. More precisely, it seems that smoking is available anywhere.

Shows

We have watched three shows, and all of them were amazing.

‘O show’ was the most popular one in Vegas, and I strongly think it deserves to be. In the water, many gymnasts performed memorable scenes. It was a powerful, creative and passionate show.

‘David Copperfield magic’ was also a popular show, but the reviews were controversial. My wife was impressed by the performance, but it was little boring to me. However, some scenes were really impressive, and I couldn’t guess any hint of the magic.

‘Michael Jackson One’ was also provided by Cirque du Soleil, which performs ‘O show’. Even though we didn’t know most of the songs, there was a lot to enjoy. I felt that they were not professional at dancing since their group dance wasn’t outstanding. Maybe we were adapted to K-pop dancers’ performances.

Foods

Ever since I had arrived in the US, I had been trying to find Jajangmyeon, which tastes my taste. In Bayarea, none of them was sufficient since they were localized. In Vegas, however, I finally found one, YuXiang, 20 mins apart from the main strip. I really hope to find a restaurant like this one in San Francisco.

We also visited a hotel buffet, and shrimp restaurant, and a Gordon Ramsay burger but none of them was better than YuXiang.

Mask

More than 99.9% of people don’t wear a mask everywhere. It seemed that COVID-19 was already gone in the US.