Belated Happy New Year, first trip of 2021 1/4-1/8/2021

OK, 24 hours to my next adventure . . .

Well, Happy New Year! Happy 2021 and almost Happy Birthday to me.

On this trip, I cross off another stay on my strip hotel/casino 's "bucket list". Mandalay Bay/Delano. I'm having dinner with two FGFs, visiting two new (for me) and three repeat lunch/dinner restaurants. Breakfasts will be at the usual places.

January has historically been a good month, with handpays in 7 out of the 10 Januarys since I have been recording them. Let's see if I can continue that streak. Of course, I just jinxed myself by mentioning it.

2021 will also be a return to Venetian/Palazzo. They have a "new" Asian Marketing department and I'm going to give them a try. Venetian/Palazzo has offered a "new" players club and a comp offer for with two (I could've taken three) nights, $350FP and $100 FBC, two nights at Venetian and two nights at Delano on a Playstudios comp. Wish me luck!!

The meal schedule is set. The "reservations only" fits right into my wheelhouse since I'm a notorious "overplanner".

All meals are with BFF unless otherwise noted, here are the planned meals.

Breakfasts: Sundance (Silverton), Jerry's Nugget Diner, Magnolia's (QQQQ)
Lunches: Nabe (Chinatown) - with (sort of) FGF Elizabeth, Border Grill (Mandalay Bay) - BFF and Jason, Sakana Sushi
Dinners: dinner - Majorōmo (David Chang's new restaurant) at Venetian, Yardbird (Venetian), Barry's Prime (Circa), (Sushisamba) - with FGF Jenny

A minor (first world) problem presented itself when I scheduled Sushisamba for Thursday night (I check out of V/P on Wednesday) I figured out (stated in the brochure) that V/P only gives you Grazie points for dining when you're actually STAYING at the hotel (charge to the room). I had given FGF Jenny choice of restaurant and since I gave her the choice, I didn't want to reneg. So, rather than coming out of pocket and getting no benefit other than her company (for the meal) I ended up taking a "custom" comp with Playstudios for the meal.

So, all of the meals should be comped (except Nabe and Sakana).

My overall strategy for 2021 has been modified slightly. mLife (strip primary), CET (strip secondary), V/P and Cosmopolitan are strip potential alternates. Club One (the D, Golden Gate, and Circa) remain my primary downtown.

However, that is subject to change once Asia (the continent) opens up for travel. I have a trip planned to Northern (for lack of a better term and to differentiate the two) Asia in late April, which will include Japan, Jeju Island, Philippines, and Hong Kong. The South Asia trip, scheduled for later in the year, will include the Philippines, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

But, more about those trips as they happen. Let's focus on Las Vegas.

Gaming will primarily be focused on three casino groups, V/P, mLife, and Club One. The Delano comp is a Playstudios comp, so mLife play won't be that important.

As always, there will be plenty of food porn pictures, and hopefully some slot porn.

Wish me luck!!

 

Have fun @DaiLun

Because I’m slow...remind me what FGF is

1. Fantasy Girlfriend or
2. Former Girlfriend?

 

Good luck in the new year! Happy 2021...

 

Fantasy Girl Friend

 

Can’t wait for your TR! I enjoy all the food pics you post as well as the slot wins.

You crack me up with the FGF references. Why can’t they be just GF?? It’s a new year! You never know! Go for it!

 

Love your food porn. Hope to see some gambling porn, too.

 

Good luck

 

Good luck! Looking forward to following along!

 

@DaiLun, I beg to differ. For you I will interpret FGF as "Future Girl Friend."

Have a fun, safe time. I am looking forward to your reports as always.

FAB

 

Excellent, I look forward to reading your report!

 

Have a great trip! And an early Happy Birthday!

 

Let me clearly state that I have been married once before (now divorced), and I know what I need/want in a GF. These women are best left as Fantasy Girl Friends.

P.S. I also raised my son (as a single parent) from 4-1/2 to 19, and I don't need to take on more child raising responsibilities.

 

Sounds like good plans and great eats Best of luck

 

Looking forward to hearing all the details. I always enjoy your trip reports.

 

Have a great trip. Say Hi to Jason from us.

 

Have a great trip!

 

@DaiLun - when’s your birthday again? Will it be a milestone bday? Happy Birthday wishes to you in case I forget on the actual date.

 

It is today January 4th, and it is kind of a milestone. I am now Medicare eligible, although I continue to be gainfully employed.

 

@DaiLun - Alright! Go to high limit put a couple hundred in a slot machine you wouldn’t normally play & yell “Medicare!” as you pull the handle.

Just kidding. Enjoy your birthday!

 

OK, so I finally got to the room, got ice, got my Surface Pro set up and locked to the table.

WARNING: To anyone drawn in by Budget's cheap rates. They run short of cars on a regular basis. In the FASTBREAK line, I waited about 25 minutes, the guy in front of me was (apparently) a surgeon, who was told that it would take 45 MORE minutes to get him a vehicle. He WAS very upset, and after demanding that the agent find him a car, he finally canceled and left in a huff. BFF advised me that they HAD cars, it's just that the weren't "ready to go". Well, to me that means "ran out of cars". Yeah, semantics.

I got to the window and the agent noticed that it was my birthday, and asked if I had any special plans, I told her that I was going to David Chang's new restaurant, Majorōmo, at the Venetian. While waiting, I wrote down David Chang's "Ugly Delicious" series on Netflix, and Roy Choi's (well really Jon Favreau's) The Chef Show, and also Roy Choi's restaurant at Park MGM. It took about 25 more minutes to get my car. I texted my BFF to warn him and let him know that if he wanted to cancel, I could come pick him up. I'm waiting to see if he'll get a car at Budget or not. The "outside" (non-Fastbreak) line looked to be about an hour/hour and a half long.

The first thing on My agenda was to go over to Silverton and make reservations for breakfast on Wednesday, which I did. I then sat down and broke $100 into a "new" Diamond machine (I'll have pictures on Wednesday when I go for breakfast). 5 pulls at $4.00 a pull and nothing, then, I hit a bonus game and once I cashed out, I was up $100.

That prompted a stop at the gas station to buy drinks and snacks, and I'm still up $80.00.

Not a bad start. Well, the walk between the garage and hotel check-in was a long one, but since the garage is on the way out, the way out will be a little shorter.

NOTE: My comp had no extras, but you can option for Wi-Fi only for $20.00 per day. Since any hotel pays go towards Grazie points, it was no problem.

I was originally reserved for a room on the 4th floor, and the lady at the desk asked if I'd like something a little higher. "Closer to the elevators would be even better, and she put me on the 27th floor about 6 or 7 doors down from the elevator lobby. I'll need to wait until the sun goes down to take a picture of the view.
Standard Venetian room, they call it a suite, but to me that's purely marketing, since to me a suite is more than just a big room with two steps separating the bed area from the living room area. Still, it's a nice, big room.
Living room

Bed Area

The stairs separating the living room and bedroom area

Standard bathroom


They've upgraded the personal kits a little. Now they come in printed bags

I was going to drive over to Palazzo for dinner, but I think that I will walk instead. It's been awhile since I'd spent any time here, so I thought I would reacquaint myself with the property.

See you after dinner . . . .