After 3 years , this trip finally happened. We flew in from Singapore - Narita - LA and a domestic flight to Las Vegas. It was a 24 hours of traveling as we buffer time for transiting from LA to LV and I'm so glad that we did because the queue at LA custom was crazily long! After 18 hours of flight, having to wait for almost 2 hours in the custom with 2 kids is really no joke but there is no choice. We decided to take a domestic flight to LV because we will be heading towards Arizona and Utah thereafter and we did not want to repack the luggages for domestic flight.
Things to take note when taking domestic flight:
For domestic flight, there is limitation as to the amount of baggages you can bring and the price to pay for exceeding the weight limit is not worthwhile. Each luggage is limited to 50 pounds and any additional, you will have to pay - they were very strict so make sure you pack extra bags for handcarry. Each passenger is allowed to have 1 handcarry and 1 personal item.
Arriving at Las Vegas on a Saturday was not the best choice because the hotels is very costly. We had a night at Vdara (cheaper option) and move to Aria the next 4 nights.
Hotel expectations: For those who have not been to USA, the hotels inclusive of those 5 stars cannot be compared to Singapore. There is no hot flask in the rooms and everything that you request - you will have to give tips and/or pay for it. If you are traveling with little ones , bring a portable kettle with you. We had to pay USD30+ for a hot flask and water to boil ( the tap water in LV has a weird taste , go and grab mineral water from CVS to boil - it is much cheaper). Both Vdara and Aria are sisters company and they are located at a very convenient location. Vdara rooms has a dining area, cooking area ( you can request for pot , hot flask etc we were not charged for those). Aria hotel is just a normal hotel room but location wise it is more convenient to the Strips.
It is walking distance within Las Vegas to most places so you don't need a car. However, if you have rented a car note that MGM offer free parking in the hotels under their group. You can also download the Uber app and take Uber instead.
Day 1:
The kids had jetlagged so we were awake from 3.30am and finally head out at 6.30am to Bellagio Pastisserie for breakfast.
Since the Bellagio Patisserie is open only at 7am, we went to explore Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden. The pictures don't do justice to seeing it real life... it is BEAUTIFUL! Each season, the enormously talented Horticulture and Engineering teams transform the 14,000-square-foot Botanical Garden into a showcase of inspiring sights, sounds, scents and colors. It was spring when we were there...
There's a small pond with koi fishes within the conservatory.
Bellagio Patisserie serves great pastries and we saw most patrons ordered the Nutella crepes with strawberries toppings. Note that you need to tip at every cafes, restaurants in USA. The range is usually 12$ - 20% depending on their service hence eating out can be really expensive!
After breakfast, we went on to explore the Strips. Behind us is the famous Fountains of Bellagio . Click the link for the show time. It's around 9am and the streets were empty on a Sunday morning.
We walked to Flamingo Las Vegas since the weather was cooling and visited the wildlife habitat. The Wildlife Habitat at Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino is one of the most unique and best-loved free things to do in Las Vegas.
Sitting down on the grass as we watched the kids run and play catch.
Visit the M&M's Store - four-level monument to the colorful fun of M&M'S was the first M&M'S store location ever. Be prepared to walk out with a bag of M&M's...
Be sure to race over to get an up-close look at a replica of Kyle Busch's 18 M&M'S sponsored NASCAR, along with tons of colorful M&M’S Racing merchandise.
Go across the street and you will find HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE WORLD Las Vegas.
Check out this 5 pounds Hershey's and 800 Hershey’s chocolates and candies in the famous New York-New York Hotel & Casino.
Xiao Long Bao Ang Moh Style
Water fountain show at Bellagio
We went up the Eiffel Tower Viewing Deck to get a top view of the Water Fountain show and The Strips at 8pm after waking up from our jetlag nap.
View of The Strips from the Eiffel Tower. When we came down at around 8.30pm, the queue was really long - at least a 45 minutes of waiting time.
Dinner at Giordano where we ordered a plate of pasta for sharing. We wanted to try the deep dish but it looks really huge. The people there are used to doing takeaways but I don't really want to do takeaway afterall we have no microwave in the hotel room. If you have kids with small appetite like us , 2 adult dishes are more than enough.
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel to call it a day as we felt it is not so safe to hang out late in Vegas and the streets were still very crowded. You can see police officers patroling around and the night has just began.
