Las Vegas + BSB

Holyyyy moly. It's been crazy busy lately with training staff, working like crazy, then going off to Vegas to take a break from work (and of course I get messages/phone calls while I'm away about scheduling or a problem with a machine). I better get use to this.

After all the chaos at work, I was able to finally take a few days off and fly to Vegas with my bestie. We had purchased Backstreet Boys concert tickets last October, so it's been a long 8 months of anticipating!

A short recap: The Backstreet Boys have taken residency in Las Vegas starting March 2017, and they have extended it to next February 2018. In between they will still be traveling to other places for tours and recording studios. So be sure to grab your tickets!

This would be my 4th time going to Vegas, yet I always manage to get lost when I'm there. I still rely on signs because there's no way I can memorize the map of all the hotels and their shops.

The day we landed, we still had the entire day to explore and walk around, which is what we did. I've always wanted to see inside of the Aria resort so we went there first. My oh my, what a sight.

Day time view of Aria

Night time view of Aria

I really love the Vegas night lights, because it just looks so pretty. I could stare at it all week and never get bored. 

We had 2 buffets that were included in the package we bought, so we took advantage of that and went to Aria's buffet. We already had done Bellagio's buffet last year so we figured let's try something out. According to reviews online, Aria and Bellagio has the best buffets.

Inside shot of Aria's buffet.

I don't know if it's just me being a picky eater, but I didn't find Aria's buffet THAT impressive. The presentation was nice, and the layout is pretty. But the taste of the food was still okay. It either tasted too bland, or there was too much MSG in it. I didn't get to try the desserts but they had a good selection as well. Overall, I would still prefer Bellagio over Aria when it comes to buffet. The second buffet we chose was at Monte Carlo, and that was good. At least there was more taste in their food. Selections were not as much as Bellagio or Aria though.

Can't say no to gelato. Especially chocolate chip gelato. Yum!

We attempted to walk the entire Strip the days we were there but it was just way too hot. The highest it peaked at was about 42 degrees C. It was impossible to walk for more than 5 minutes outside without having your entire shirt drenched with sweat. I should've worn a bikini and walked the Strip. 

We ended up taking long breaks in-between our walks because we were way too hot and exhausted from the heat. I ended up getting a nose bleed after a shower (it happens once in a while). That and allergies. I popped allergy pills twice a day because my allergies were not liking this Vegas weather.

It was best to walk at night when the weather was a bit better. 35 degrees at night wasn't that much better but at least the sun was gone.

Shopping!

Took this shot of the Aria right before I tripped over a curb and nearly fell into a bush.

There were no crazy stories of being drunk or anything. I had a can of beer for a night in the hotel room and that was it. Alcohol and I don't mix very well. I don't need to bring home a story of puking my guts out in Vegas. I'm too old for drunk stories like that.

As for gambling, we didn't get a chance at all. Plus we aren't into stuff like that. If anything, we spent so much on food and souvenirs that we didn't have much left to gamble anyways. I lied. We still had plenty but chose to not gamble.

There was one lady who had her little banjo on the Strip. She was begging for change while she sang. And I remember a few words she sang: I hate Donald Trump. Donald Trump has too many hoes. 

People bursted out laughing and gave her change. That was probably one of the funniest songs I've heard. Bless that woman.

The third night was the night of the Backstreet Boys concert. I remembered we took so long to get ready. We also went to buy Vegas BSB t-shirts to wear to the concert. We tried to put on a bit of make up. Feel all girly girly. And soon, we were ready to go!

Planet Hollywood's Axis Theatre is where they're taking up residency. It holds up to 4,600 seats, which at this concert was pretty much full capacity. It was wonderful to see all these beautiful ladies (and some men) all grown up, and yet still attend this concert in support of the BSB. My my how we've grown up.

Just part of the audience.

When the Boys hit the stage, it was like 1997 all over again, with screaming women everywhere. They sang their hit songs as well as songs from their other latest albums. I have to say, I am impressed that they continue to sing very well, and do choreography dance in sync with the back up dancers. The greatest thing that I really appreciate about BSB is that they will sing live. Of all the concerts I have been to (4 concerts now), they have not lip-synced once. They've been trying to get rid of the "boy band" image for years and tried to tell people that they were aiming for a more vocal group, like Boyz II Men. They sing acapella as much as they can. As a fan, I appreciate it. 

When you think about it, you pay loads of money to see your favourite singer live in concert. I would be pretty disappointed if they lip-synced the entire 2 hours. But they don't and they continue to wow the fans. It is also the return of the 'chair dance' from 'As Long As You Love Me', so get your cameras ready. They did an amazing job with that choreography by the way. 

Overall, it was an amazing concert. It makes you feel so young again. AJ also brought his daughter to the concert and showed her off to us all. It was cute to see that these Boys have all grown up and are all now married with kids. Amazing.

The following day was our last day in Vegas so we took a taxi to the Fashion Mall, just north of the Strip (past Treasure Island). It was way too hot to walk from one end of the Strip to the other in 42C weather. We didn't get a chance to check out everything at the mall because it was massive, but it was nice to take a break from the humid weather.

This is where I found these massive platform shoes from Forever 21 and decided to buy it because they weren't available in Canada. Feeling a bit like the Spice Girls now. Soon after I fell asleep on a bench in the mall. Then we finished up by heading back down the Strip. 

All in all, it was an awesome trip. I love Vegas and would definitely go back in a heart beat. I would do it for the night lights and shows, definitely not the gambling though. I have yet to attend a night club. Don't know man, just not into that scene anymore. But one thing's for sure: I will be back.

"Babe, hold my bag"

Happy June all!

It is scary how every time I start blogging about something, it's always a different month. Scary.

Recently I had a conversation with a coworker regarding this trend that she began to see very frequently as of late.

She first asked me my opinion about it. She observed many young Asian women (either married or not) with their boyfriends/husbands in the malls or theatre who make their men hold their handbags. And she asked why is that? She needed insight from an Asian perspective.

To be honest, I really have no idea why Asian women make their men hold their handbags (and I myself am a white washed Asian). I asked if it was because they were using the bathroom? She said no, that was fine (which I agree), but this was from the very start of getting out of the car: the girl would give her handbag to the guy and the guy would carry it the entire time.

Plus, these bags were all luxury designer handbags: Chanel, Gucci, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Prada. You name it. My coworker makes a good point: if she spent 7k on a a handbag, she sure as hell would want to carry it and not let her husband carry it. I would too, except when nature calls.

Which brought us to what was told to her about this weird trend: in Asian culture, a woman needs to 'shape' her man to become a man, so to speak. If the man doesn't do anything, you give him something to do. In this case, he holds the bag so he has something to do. Otherwise as the relationship continues and he doesn't do little chores like that, it would give him opportunity to take advantage of a girl.

I said hmm. Interesting. Never thought of it like that. But Asian minds are weird.

We both agreed that it was pretty degrading though. Maybe it's because we're in a different culture, and we aren't used to seeing it but in Asian culture, it's probably normal for them. But I wouldn't do that to my boyfriend because he's not my butler. He's my partner in life and I would treat him with the same respect as he treats me. We would both have an understanding and agreement with respect to each other.

To use a man like that in this culture would be degrading. It's like the perspective of how women should not leave the kitchen. Wife's role is to make sandwiches for their husbands. Husband's role is to go to work and make money. Wife is to stay home and raise kids.

Maybe that was the culture and perspective many years ago. But at this time, both men and women work. Of course there is still that issue about gender roles and pay differences between men and women but that's for another time.

Going back to the previous, no the boyfriend is not a coat hanger or a handbag carrier. He's not my personal shopper where I give him all my shopping bags to hold. Of course if something's too heavy he would not let me carry it. But a handbag? Come on, it's your handbag. Carry your handbag. You bought it so you can carry it yourself, not decorate your husband with it.

I think it's also because some Asian women feel they're entitled to all the great things in life, like a butler. A boyfriend or husband is not far off from that so might as well let them carry their handbag. They're suppose to be the Queen of the relationship. People need to see how well off they are and how well they're being treated. It's almost like a power thing to have. It gives women that image that they are powerful, that they can control their partners.

While I'm all for yay women, you do your thing and make something of yourselves, I don't like the whole power struggle that men and women fight over. It's the lust of having that power, that control, it leads to bad consequences.

From my Asian perspective, I wouldn't give my handbag to my boyfriend to carry if we are out shopping or at dinner or at a movie theatre. I bought it because I like it, and because I want to wear it. I don't buy it to decorate anyone else except myself. If I had to use the bathroom and I didn't need anything from my bag, then I would ask him if he could hold my bag. There are times that he might see me tired, and asks if I would like him to carry my bag, but that's very rare. I'm usually all excited to wear my handbags, even if I look like a zombie.

That's the other thing: maybe when we saw that brief moment, the girl asked the guy to carry the handbag because she got tired. That could happen too. We can't assume that the guy is carrying the handbag because the girl told him to, or because he's a slave to her. We can't jump to final conclusions based on what we see for those brief 10 seconds. If you follow them for the entire day, maybe you can make the final conclusions but that's if they don't call the cops on you for stalking them.

So next time you are out shopping, don't be too surprised if you see this cultural trend.