Hoops

I'm home. I left Saturday night at 11:30pm and arrived at noon. Yeah. Go figure that one out. However...in all honesty, it could have been worse. I slept quite a bit. The worst part was the layover. But I survived. And here I am.
My last day in Vegas was lovely. What every last day should be. Filled with fun, amazing food, my husband, and a Cirque show. Yeah. I know.
We slept in until around 1pm because we'd been out quite late the night before. The night didn't get too crazy. In fact, near the end of it I was feeling pretty normal. I had the amazing opportunity to meet some performers from the Zumanity Cirque du Soleil show at the Center Bar in the New York New York hotel. Awesome people and after John's friend shouted to us from across the room "Hey Rachel! Get over here! These are your kind of people!"...I realized that yes...I guess my calling in life was probably to be a circus freak performer. And I mean that in the most endearing way possible. I would almost give anything to have the ability to perform in a Cirque show. If only I had stuck with those darn Ballet lessons...sigh....
After rushing around our room packing up and getting ready to check out, the thought kept returning to me: go see Zumanity. Yes, it's the "R" rated Cirque show. Yes, there's probably lots of boobs and butts to be seen. But it's all in the name of art, right? And as much as people love to debate that nudity is indecent, for me it comes down to the question...is it vulgar? Or is it art? And there is a very clear difference, people.
John had an event to go to in the evening. 7pm to be exact. The show started at 7:30pm. I could safely catch the airporter at 9:30pm and make it to the airport with enough time. The show ended at 9pm. How perfect is that? I did it. I got an awesome price as well as a discount and was able to put part of the cost on a giftcard my wonderful coworkers gave me as a going-away gift on my last day (heart you guys). After buying my ticket, we still had several hours of hang-out time before we had to part ways. We didn't even need to ask the other what we wanted to do: We bee-lined for Caesar's Palace. You see, the night before we got there barely too late to eat dinner at a Beijing Noodle restaurant that we had spied a few nights before that. Real. Authentic. Chinese. Noodles. Drool. So Saturday...NOODLES were our mission. We made it around 4pm and ordered enough food to fully stuff ourselves: noodles, bao zi, bean paste, mushrooms, pork, lychee champagne, mmmmmmmmm. I was in heaven, quite honestly. And John with me. I was able to use my Chinese with the waitress who exclaimed to both John and our neighboring table several times "She's so CLEVER!" in Chinese. It felt like I was home. Except John was there with me. I could honestly live at that restaurant. On our way out, the waitress informed us that one of their hostess' (the only white one) had actually grown up in Taiwan and was in a similar position as me. I introduced myself as we were leaving and we exchanged stories and smiles. After that we headed back to the hotel where we rode the New York New York Rollercoaster. I'd gone once before without John but we wanted to go together. Afterward, we played a short shooting game in the arcade and then it was time to go. We said our quick goodbye, John headed for his event and I headed for the Zumanity theatre on the first floor of the New York New York hotel.
The first moment I entered the lobby, I knew I was in trouble. Or was I? Several of the actors stood in beautiful but scanty outfits, taking photos with people. I saw one I had met the night before but decided not to say hello since he was very much in character. Almost everyone there looked like Lady Gaga. After taking a photo with one very Gaga-esque girl and barely escaping past a man in a cape and very tiny briefs, I found my seat and got settled in. The show was enjoyable. I laughed a lot. Was it the best Cirque show I've seen? No...Ka definitely won out on my first day in Vegas. But it was definitely entertaining. Although I did not agree with everything I saw (and I definitely saw enough thongs and boobs to last a lifetime), I appreciated that the show was not opposed to marriage (the hostess ran across a couple who'd been married 35 years and the entire audience cheered for them...later on, she had them come up on the stage to slow-dance together) and that it all really came down to being happy and intimate in relationships. My favorite act? A girl, "Hoops", that did a hula hoop act. Suspended in the air. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. After the show, I got my bags and made it to the airport with plenty of time. My flights were uneventful. My kitties looked at me like they didn't know who the heck I was for the first few minutes after walking in the door but they quickly warmed up to me. Had to give me a LITTLE bit of a cold shoulder for leaving for over a week.
It's nice to be home. But I had a great time in Vegas. I saw five Cirque performances (one repeat)...and I'm still trying to grasp how huge that is. Someone asked us what we'd seen and we told them to which their response was "Wow, you must really love Cirque!" But it's not even that...I do love Cirque...but I mean, come on. There are six different shows in Vegas exclusively by Cirque. Why WOULDN'T we go if given the opportunity? Especially when each one is so different.
So the Cirque shows. Huge favorite. Another favorite was the Bellagio fountain. Wow. Just wow. I know it's just a fountain...but at the same time you need to understand...it's SO MUCH MORE than a fountain. As my former co-worker Sarah said, "It's a spiritual experience." and I fully agree with her. If you find yourself in Vegas, go there. You will understand.
There are so many things I really loved about Vegas. And probably equal parts I didn't. It would take me too long to list them all but here are a few more:
Crowd-cruising - I can navigate a crowd like nobody's business...and haven't had the chance to in too long.
HUGE variety of food options...in your hotel, not to mention on the rest of the strip!
Makeup - I got to wear LOTS of it without looking like a hooker.
Everything being open almost 24/7. The city truly does not sleep.
But I'm happy to be home now with my kitties and with my husband on his way. Now for the next step in my road: prep for school. School supply shopping, here I come! Yayyyy!!

Photo: Unknown found via Cirque's Myspace