leena "ree" k.'s Profile

Hot tea. Hot tub. Private enclosure under the open sky. Delirious girl talk, gazing up at the stars. Shower built into the enclosure with draining mat; plenty of room to change. Clean, serene facilities. Price tag? $15 per head, one hour.

Who doesn't like the Beatles? And if you Love them, you will surely cream your pants during this show. What better place to do that than in Vegas?

I had never seen a Cirque performance before, so I can't comment on how this one compares to the others -- but on its own, it was quite an elaborate spectacle, infusing projected images with talented dancers, acrobats, skaters, and all sorts of props to provide creative, evocative, and sometimes provocative renditions to the Lovely songs.

We bought our tickets through the Mirage website, which provided for a 25% discount. While there is a such thing as awesome seats, there are also no bad seats per se because of all the projectile action. In fact, if you're higher up, you could get a nice glimpse of the bigger picture.

We hit up will call early, and they gave us two-for-one drink tickets for the lounge, to be patronized before the show. We were thus charmed into getting two drinks each and double-fisting during the show. Good stuff.

NOOOO!

What has happened to Chuck E. Cheese??  Where is the whole band of creepy animatronic characters, and that big field of balls to prance around in, and the myriad mini-rides and bop-the-weasel type activities?  They have been replaced by digital imagery (save for Chuck E himself), and a WAY overly cramped room of video games. And the place is dirty, and the pizza isn't even that good! Gah!

But in good faith, I must give it the second star, since the 15 of us 20-and-30-somethings that went enjoyed playing skee ball (which is thankfully still intact) and trading in our tickets for pop rocks.

I LOVES me some Zza's.  Friendly service, a great wine selection, creative starters, fresh salads, delicious pizza.  Sit at the bar, or at a table, or at one of the several lil couches. Dimly lit and conveniently located across the lake, Zza's is wonderful for dates and girls' nights out alike.

Being a PC person (yeah, yeah) who for the time being is happy with my subpar non-iPhone, I don't make it into the Apple store very often.  I went in today after a pretty long while to make a purchase, and my first thought was that I was irritated to be amidst so many people.  I guess the crowd is testimony to having a pretty decent quality of selections though, plus it being the holidays and all.

Then I was annoyed because nobody asked me if I needed anything, even though I had an obviously stupefied expression as I was browsing various items.

I finally walked to the back, and was further annoyed to see staff peeps just choppin' it up and acting like I was inconveniencing them with my inquiry.

Then when I decided my order, the salesperson busted out what I thought was a phone, and I was like oh HELL no, bit*h is not gonna sit here and text while I'm trying to make a purchase.  

But actually, she conducted the entire transaction on that little device!  From scanning my item's barcode to swiping my credit card, to having me sign some tiny screen with my FINGER, and then generating and EMAILING me the receipt.  

Bloody amazing!

I'm officially a dinosaur now.  Thank you, Apple, for keeping me mesmerized.

No matter how much I dislike a meal, I rarely discard it.  I had to with the so-called Cajun Shrimp here. It was just not. good.

TGI-Fridays-meets-Chuck-E-Cheese-meets-Vegas. The food is of the type of selection, price, and quality of TGI Friday's (i.e. not bad, but something you do more for the sake of a fun group outing than a great meal).  There are games like skee ball and whack-the-mole which you play with tokens or a playing card (a $10 card lasts a decent amount), and you get tickets, and you can trade in for some worthless prize at the end unless you judiciously save up for something good (I got a Homer Simpson doll!!).  And there are some gambler-type machines and a full bar, and you can take your drinks anywhere in the building.

Though it's marketed as 21+ at night and though there is a bouncer checking ID's, there are kids inside.  A sign later revealed the mysterious policy of allowing kids as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 30.

Oh, and if you want to economize, check out the deals where you can get an entree + $10 card for $15.99 -- not available on Friday or Saturday nights, natch.

And wait -- I just found out they have a cover charge on certain nights after 10? That is NOT OK when people are obviously going to at least be purchasing games and probably also drinks and/or food inside.  Taking it down a star. :P

It's not fun to be around (other) people who are desperate for a deal.  It's not fun to circle around a parking lot with cars and pedestrians precariously jutting in and out of crevices, and having cars honk and mad-dog each other for allegedly stolen spots.  It's not fun to stand in a long line, have limited payment options, and then figure out a way to baglessly haul your shit into your car, and from there back to your place.

But it's nice to be able to buy items in bulk at wholesale prices, for those two times a year that you are willing to inconvenience yourself a bit and stock up.  It's nice not to have to pay $9 for a bag of pads that will only last you one frickin' menstrual cycle.  And it's also nice to get good deals on lots of gadgets, computers, and other electronics.  And wine. And NUTELLA.

This was a classic Yelp find -- I probably never would have known about it otherwise!

Tal-Y-Tara is not the typical high tea experience (or what I romanticize the typical high tea experience to be); you literally will be eating next to equestrian wear and equipment.  But it's cozy and intimate with good food and attentive, personalized service.  

I kind of wish they had a per-person combo deal with a tea, sandwiches, and scone (and maybe even petit fours!).  Instead, you have to do it a la carte (which probably ended up cheaper, but still).  They do have a motorloaf sandwich combo: $18 for 6 (small) sandwiches, which is supposed to serve 2.  There were 3 of us and we doubled that option, plus each got a scone and a pot of tea, and we were toooo full.  So I'm thinking the ratio of 3 sandwiches per person, plus a scone, probably is a good one.  The cheese & chutney sandwich was my favorite.  And the tea selection is vast.

Motorloaf, in case you're wondering, is like a brown spotty bread, slightly sweet. I liked it!  The presentation was cute; the perimeter of the loaf was maintained as a basket for the sandwiches, with slices of fruit served, and tiny cups of Devonshire cream, and lemon curd around it.

Random other notes: I easily found street parking outside, and there's a giant horse statue right outside the shop.

The Grand Lake Theatre is beautiful -- ornately and majestically so.  Add to that free popcorn on weekdays, politically subversive messaging on the marquee, a live organ player before each movie on the largest screen, and a fabulous location across from Lake Merritt, and you have got five stars.