Friday, October 31, 2014

Cross That Bridge When You Get To It

The bus must have stopped once or twice on the way to Vegas.

I was well equipped, if you know me, you know I always come prepared and I'm cheap. Shameless too. #NoShameInMyGame. I had gone to the 99 cents before heading out to Vegas. I had a few things in my fridge that I wasn't going to use. I thought, why not return these and exchange them for stuff I can use on the road? Something like that. I headed that way, they took everything. It was like 6 items. I told you, shameless! I got myself some nuts, pretzels, fruit and candy. I get motion sickness, without actually throwing up. Thanks goodness and knock on wood. So, I don't eat just before I go on the road or during. I can get away with having some snacks, depending on how I feel at the time. I'm sure some of you relate. I froze a big bottle of water for the road too. I drink a lot of water, like 2 gallons of water per day. That's more than 6 litres, per day.

I slept throughout and got out to use the restrooms when we stopped. Daniel was already in Vegas. He asked if I wanted him to pick me up on my arrival. I was due to arrive at 05:00. I thanked him for the generous offer but wouldn't put anybody in that position. What time would he have to get up to pick me up? Plus I wanted to look cute when I saw him, no funky breath, crusty eyes and all that crap. I didn't buy all those new clothes for nothing. Shoot! I wanted to get to my hotel, settle in, etc before I meet him. I had everything planned out.

We arrived in Vegas just after 05:00. VIVA LAS VEGAS! Man, I can still feel in my veins the excitement! I grabbed my suitcase and went to the ticket kiosk. I bought a weekly ticket. I wanted to be able to go wherever, whenever without having to stress about buying tickets every time I got on the bus. Plus you know what it's like, it's no fun taking out your wallet, paying for sht every time. I went into the restroom, freshened up, homeless person style, if you catch my drift. I was going to be out and about all day before my 4pm check in at the hotel. I brushed my teeth, put make up on, I didn't want to be outdone by the showgirls, I had to pull my weight, this is Vegas after all! I put some perfume on. I did take with me two bottles after all.

I took my time getting ready. It was still very early any way. I know Vegas is a 24  City but I had time. When I was done, I looked up buses. I already had an idea that I wanted to take the Deuce double decker bus. I had planned to sit on the top deck (my Cadbury's Top Deck. My favorite.) I had my camera with me, fully charged, i charged my phone while at the station while freshening up as well, I was takinh pictures with the Camera and some with the phone to send to my fam and friends on Instagram and Facebook. It was a great time! When I got off the bus, right across the street from my hotel, by the way, everything is across the street in Vegas, I called everyone back home. From my mom all the way down to my niece. My mom didn't pick up as usual. My two sisters, who I talk to everyday, did. I was like I'm in Vegas, bitches! I tell ya, I was so happy, I was standing at this traffic light, talking on the phone and twerking at six o'clock. The cars were honking, I was waving at everybody. I don't know, I may have been more excited to arrive in Vegas than in the US! I was looking at this stretch of tall buildings ahead of me. I couldn't believe that I was about to enjoy it all. I finally crossed the street when I was done with my phone calls, dropped my luggage off at the hotel and went on my merry way.

I had no specific plans about what to do first, really, I stood in front of the hotel/resort, looked left, right, left and went left! there was more going on on the left. The right was where the bus had come from, I'd seen some of that side. Legoooooo!

I went in and out of casinos. Here's the thing, the casinos in Vegas aren't just casinos, hotels aren't just hotels. They are some of, if not, the biggest hotels in the world. It's hotel/casino/resort. There's something to see or do in every hotel. Some people come to Vegs, stay in their Resort until they leave. They have everything you need entertainment, right there! To go to the next resort, you usually don't even need to go out the building and get fried by the desert sun, you can do so by exiting through the side door of one resort right into the next. There are no windows in the resorts and no Clocks. There's no way of telling time. Free drinks for gamblers. So here you are, trying to find your way to a particular spot on the Strip, you're trying to get to the bus, but because everything is across the street in Vegas, you have to take an elevator, go upstairs, cross a bridge, get to the other side, take another elevator, then get into a casino, to get  to the next one or something, like, nothing is straight forward. It looks like it is. Everything looks like it's right here, there's something about the way they build these things, they are ginormous and they look like it's the next building, don't try to walk there, take the bus. It's not as close as it seems. Trust me. Anyways, so you've just crossed the street, trying to get to the next building, you walk into the one right by the elevator, someone stops you with a giant smile, asks if you're alone and offers you free stuff. They give you the most lucrative deal you can ever imagine. Before you know if, you'e ready to take out your credit card, as you're busy with this one, there are two others making eye contact with you. They're the most beautiful people and are dressed to the nines. They have amazing deals for you! They will offer you something like, a day packed with trips around the strip, to the attractions, free buffet, a limo ride, and $500 worth of gambling money. All you have to do is pay $50 for it. I ain't kiddning ya! That's all! Here you are, thinking, if I was going to go to some of these places and pay $50 per gig, why won't I go for this deal and get $500 on top of it to gamble. You're buying $500 for $50. Plus you could win some money gambling!

Whether you take the above deal or not, say you decide to try your luck on the Penny Slots. What's a penny, right? A Cent! I mean, really now! A hot waitress, comes by, offers you free drinks, you keep gambling, they keep the drinks coming. You win some, you lose, whatever, you're getting buzzed. Before you know it, you're hungry, you see a sign for Mc Donald's right inside the building. You're thinking, Dollar menu! Yay! You make your way there, distracted, taking pictures, sometimes you lose signal on the phone, so you keep moving. Who cares? You're in Vegas. You stand in line, order a wad of food from the Dollar menu, you're thinking it's only a dollar each but you end up spending what you would've spent at a buffet for way more and a different experience. Mc Dee's are everywhere anyway. You sit, eat, get full, then realise how tired you are. You walk out the hotel, try to find a bus stop, which is probably on the other side of the street. You forgot all about the spot you were headed for to begin with. That's Vegas for ya!

I heard they release oxygen in the middle of the night into the casinos to keep people wide awake and fresh, that way you don't go home, you keep gambling. You know, the house always win, so this is all to their advantage. If you lose a lot of money, you can get everything for free. This is a trick into making you not feel like an absolute loser for losing it all. But really, you have! When you go home, reality will sink in. I'm glad I don't drink. I don't have to play penny slots for free alcohol and spending all my money, one penny at a time. I am also not a big gambler. Anymore ;) I gambled some in Fourways, South Africa. Monte Casino.

I walked around, took pictures, asked strangers to take pictures of me with my camera, took pictures with strangers with their cameras. All in the name of fun. It's Vegas, everyone's in a good mood. They know what happens here will stay here, unless you get herpes, the gift that keeps on giving or fall pregnant. Around 3pm, I crossed the street, and started making my way back towards my hotel. Check in was 4pm. I was tired. I wanted to take a nice bath, haven't taken a bath since Connecticut, when I first got to the US. I took the bus back south on the Strip, got off right across my casino, crossed, I was getting used to the crossing thing. And you know, you don't just cross anywhere. You might have to walk an entire block before you can cross and like I said before, sometimes you've gotta cross that bridge when you get there. But what can you do? Nothing can bring you down, you're on vacation! Everyone's smiling atcha!

I got to the hotel, waited in the check in line for about 15 minutes before they did me. Get your mind out of the gutter! I see you! According the desk, The room that I had won was no longer available. Plan B was to upgrade me to an even better room. What! Sign me up! She showed me the one I was supposed to get, then showed me upgrade options. I tell you, they upgraded me three rooms up! I was like, is this the best day of my life or what? I was so happy, I could kiss the lady. she gave me the pen to sign some paperwork. The pen had the hotel's name and was amazing to write with. I have a thing about pens. I still have pens from Durban, Joburg, Georgia, you name it! I asked her who I would have to sleep with to get one of those pens. She thought that was funny but really, must as I love pens, I needed to get laid more than I needed the pen. She gave me about a dozen of those pens and told me she loves me I made her day. I thought to myself if you love me so much, why am I not getting laid right now? Plus you don't need to tell me you love me jut to get into my knickers. Haha. Legoooooo! #WhatHappensInVegas

I got to my room, the dude brought my luggage to the room. The room was ginormous! I had two queen size beds, a dining area with a small table and two chairs, a living room with a giant purple couch, big flat screen tv, a huge bathroom with a big shower for two, you know, with two heads? I had a jacuzzi in my bedroom, well, next to one of the beds was a staircase, and then the jacuzzi, and an amazing view of the strip. Man, is this heaven or what? I only had a couple of hours before my appointment with Daniel. By the way, he called to check up on me during his break at the convention. I told him I was here, and was having a blast. He was excited to meet up later. We both were. I turned the tv in the bedroom on and soaked in the jacuzzi. There's a man I met online who lives in Vegas. I started talking to him not too long before my trip. You wanna have backup you know? I didn't even know Daniel was going to be in Vegas at the same time as me then. We'll call this man Tortoise. He knew when I was going to be in Vegas but we didn't make any solid plans to meet. He told me to call him if I had a gap in my day and maybe we could go to a gig and I can watch him play.

I called Tortoise, told him I was in Vegas, we talked for a minute and my battery died. I put the phone on charge and went to sleep. I took a two hour nap. Before I knew it, it was time to get up and get ready for my date with Daniel.


Happy Halloween, folks!








Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Have A Nice Day!

I couldn't wait to go back to the apartment to tell Carly about the Surprise. It was a nice way to start my birth month!

The show was great as usual. I think I went to the Arsenio Hall Show that night. Then back home. Nothing eventful happened thereafter, the usual girl talk with Carly, laughing until out stomachs hurt. I swear, she and I would as much as look at each other and we would roll on the floor laughing. It was great. She reminded me so much of my niece who doubles up as one of my best friends. We had our ups and downs. She never cleaned up after herself. I would like to lie and say, it's the story of my life, none of my roommates ever clean up after themselves but that won't be true. Just the roommates I had at my own apartment didn't clean up. All my other roommates, at least here in the US, did. The Superhero one, would wake up and spring clean, it was adorable. If I didn't know him well enough, sht, I'd thank him for it. If you know what  I mean ;)

Carly would drop a piece of paper or something, anything, on the floor and be ever so nonchalant about it. It's a small apartment, you wanna pick up after yourself cos it doesn't take much to mess it up. I remember one day, I was so fed up with her shenanigans, I asked her if she was gonna pick that up, she looked at me, smiled, made a cute face, batted her eyelashes and kept talking. Like, hello, I don't sleep with you. I got the same thing you have, your batting your eyelashes is wasted on me. Pick the thing up and throw it in the garbage bin! It's a small place. It will take you the same amount of time to throw it in the trash can as it did you trying to seduce me! With more positive result. Let's go! Anyway, she kicked it under the bed and kept talking. It bothered me so much, I felt like she found my Achilles heel and was on it! And was enjoying watching me squirm.

Honestly, the messiness was the only problem I had with her. Only, it was a big problem because everything in the apartment was mine, so whatever is getting messed up, I have spent money on and she didn't. I am not a big fan of cooking. I stock my fridge up with tv dinners aka frozen meals. They have some good ones out there. Clearly, I'm not high maintenance, right? Or I must really hate to cook. I have one pot. A Cute, expensive, all in one I got from the Queen La Fah show. You can use it on the stove top, in the microwave or in the grill. It's amazing. After Jon moved out, I decided to start cooking and eat healthier. I had been using said pot a lot more. By the time Carly moved in, it was always on the stove being used or in the sink getting washed. That cycle stopped when she got there. First of all, after Jon moved out, I promised myself No more Mr. Nice guy! Pay 50% rent and use you own sht. This is not your grandma's apartment! 

Carly didn't care though, she has the most impressive sense of entitlement. That girl will take your earphones while you're at work, by the time you need them, she's away for the weekend. I'm talking about the ones that you stick into your ears. How gross is that? I had to use alcohol and Peroxide to disinfect them before I used them again. You can get earphone for a dollar. I don't know why she couldn't grab herself a pair. For some reason, she liked my nail polishes more than hers, so she would ask to 'borrow' mine. It's awkward. Nail polish is not expensive, she was working as a waitress and had her father pay rent for her, she came home with tips every night and would buy take out dinner every night, eat it on the bus and come home and throw the containers in the trash can, go to sleep, wake up the following day and go to work, come back with more take away containers, stuff them in the trash can. If they don't fit, they're gonna be placed on top of the can. Fck anyone else who may want to use the can. Or you can empty it. Seriously, some of the things she did, I could swear she did them just to spite my ass. Why would you go through the trouble of taking home empty containers? I''m talking about a big one for maybe a burger, one for fries, one for salad and a giant one for soda. Like a whole five meal course worth of containers! 

She also cooked a lot. There's only one pot in the apartment. That's not enough for one person, but if you are going to move in, have the decency to at least buy one more, that way you can make two pot meals. Right? Wrong! She would use that one pot, watch desperate housewives on Netflix and completely forget about the pot. That girl burnt that pot every single time she cooked with it! I'm like, don't you learn? Lower the heat! It's not that hard! (That's what she said haha, sorry, I had to ;)) She would bat her eyelashes and burn it again, sht, she didn't give a flying rats's ass. She would then soak it in the sink and live it there, eat take aways until the pot is cleaned. Not by her. My heart was bleeding. 

Second week rooming with Carly, I got ready for Vegas, as I have told you a little about it on this blog. I talked to my 'boss' whose birthday is on April 12th. Mine is on the 10th. Feel free to diarise it. I'm big on special occasions. It's the Hollywood girl in me. I will celebrate the opening of an envelope! I'm just that girl! I packed a week in advance and kept making changes until the final day. All my stuff fit in my carry on suitcase. It was a week's trip, I was going to go there by bus. I wasn't trying to be ridiculous. I had the carry on bag and a hand bag, that's it! 

Dan had invited me to leave me early, so we would have more time to spend together in Vegas. He told me that I could stay in his room with him. He had two beds in his room. I was like, yeah, that'll be a no! Thanks though! Under no circumstances is it ever a good idea for a woman and a man to share a room when they are dating before they define what the relationship is! Someone is bound to get hurt. Unless they both know they just wanna be FWB (Friends with benefits). I am not that girl. I'll have a relationship with that please! Thanks. Have a nice day now! 

He was like, don't worry, you can trust me, nothing will happen! I told him, it's myself I don't trust! Whatever. I had to come up with something not offensive to get myself out of that situation. He then told me that he would stay one more night in Vegas just so we could spend more time together. I thought that was very nice. Daniel being in Vegas while I was there that week was one of the highlights of my vacation. And year.

My bus was leaving at midnight. It's a 30 minute commute from my place to Union Station, LA. I left after 10pm. I didn't want to be late. That's like the last thing you need. You would rather be that nerd who is so early, people watching, than miss your bus. I got there nice and early, checked in and waited outside until the bus got there. It was nice outside. Union Station is beautiful too, at least outside, there are nice views, so I enjoyed all that. I was in high spirits, what was there not to enjoy?

The bus left on time. They told me my suitcase was too big for a carry on, so they put it in the back with everyone else's ginormous suitcases that probably had corpses in them smdh. I found a nice seat towards the back and got to seat by myself. The bus was nice and clean. There was a girl who was talking on the phone, telling everybody she loves them. She was literally the only one talking on the phone probably in the entire coach. Fortunately as soon as we pulled off, she wrapped it up. I was tired, I needed to sleep, I wanted to Vegas it up the following day. No time to sleep in the day time. THIS IS VEGAS! I was glad the bus was comfy and peaceful for me to be able to get some shut eye.









 


Saturday, October 11, 2014

Surprise!

Life went back to 'normal' soon after my roommie sobered up. I got a call from Daniel that Sunday. We chatted for a while. Daniel is the Italian that we like from San Diego who took me to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant for our first date,

I had won hotel stays in Las Vegas from both the Dr Phil show and Let's Make a deal. Both stays came with free shows at the respective hotels. I had planned to make a vacation of it around my birthday time. I am that girl who is so used to be alone that I do special things for myself on special occasions. Ain't no shame in that! Right? I had only been to Vegas all of less than an hour on my way to LA moving back there from Utah. I decided to take the bus so I could see what's up on the way between the two states It was a good more than ten hour ride. We changed buses in Las Vegas. I will never forget the feeling that overcame me when I saw the lights. Oh, the lights! It was midnight when we arrived in Vegas that night, Perfect time to see the lights, they were everywhere. It felt kinda like New York but had a different feel to it. Of course this assessment was being made by someone who had just woken up with lights all over her. I knew I had to go back. Like for real go back and actually experience Las Vegas. I had wanted to visit Vegas when I still lived in Salt Lake city but that never materialised because the need to move back to LA overtook that of visiting Vegas. Vegas is halfway between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, so I could always pick up on those plans at a later stage. It would take the same amount of time to get there from either City.

Around March, I made arrangements, booked the hotels and reserved the shows. Fortunately, I got my roommate situation sorted out. I could easily go away. It was a girl I trusted. I didn't have to worry about leaving her with my stuff less than two weeks after her move in. I wasn't not going to go to Vegas. I just had to hope for the best. I planned to stay at one hotel when I arrived, see a show that very night and then move to the next hotel for the rest of my stay. I planned to see my second show on my birthday. I booked a midnight bus from LA, I would arrive in Vegas at 5am. Five am in a city you had never been too! I'm a big girl. I can handle it! That would give me more time to spend in vegas. I was only going to be there for  a week, so I traveled light. I bought a cute carry on luggage specifically for Vegas. I had been through a lot, I wanted my first vacation in the States to be amazing. I went shopping for vacation clothes. I got myself three amazing dresses, underwear, the works. I colored my short hair and took a wig with me just in case. It was exciting. I did take about six pairs of shoes with me but who's counting? I took a number of leggings with me for the walking I was going to do there. I had done my research, you have to. You're screwed if you don't! I had outfits for daytime and night time.


In our conversation, Daniel told me that he would like to see me again but he was going to travel for a convention for a week. I asked where to. He told me Vegas. I asked WHEN? Lo and behold Daniel and I were going to be in Vegas the same time! Best week ever! He didn't take me seriously when I told him that my tickets were booked, I was going to be in Vegas that same week.


On April First aka April fool's day, I wanted to prank someone, good. I told Carly, that I wanted to prank Daniel. We kinda knew each other but not that much. The prank was going to have enough tension to make it awkward enough. What better way to get to know someone better than to April Fool's Joke them, right? I had to be at Arsenio Hall Show that afternoon. I got ready and left early. The sun was shining, it was a great day. I walked to Sunset and Bronson Studios. It's like 15 minutes walk. I called Daniel as I walked up Bronson Street. The stupid phone went to voicemail. Think, fast! I had never left Daniel a voicemail before, I would always email him after not getting hold of him on the phone. This time I decided to leave him a message. This was urgent! Hi, Daniel, it's Brook. Surprise!!!!!!!!! I'm in San Diego!!!!!!!! Call me back. In fact, I'm at the train station! It's uhm, blah blah blah station by the Blah blah blah College on 12th Street. That's close to your office right? I am not sure how to get to your office from here, can you call me back or come get me. Oh my Gosh, I'm so excited! Call me baaaaaccckkkkk!' Click.


I literally was soooo excited after leaving him that message,  I couldn't imagine what would go on on his mind. I know he has jam packed days. That would definitely be an inconvenience for him. I was approaching the studio. My concern was that he would call after I switched off my phone. That would mess up everything. Then it would really be an April fool's joke... on me! Just before I reached the studios, Dan called back. I was like, Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Surpriiiiisssseeeeee! He was like, where are you? I asked if he got my message. He told me he did but he wasn't in the office all day that day. He was prepping for his Vegas trip. It was a busy week. Where was I? I was like wow, to think I came all the way here to surprise you. It's fine. If you don't want to see me. I'll take the next train back to LA. He said, 'You didn't come all the way here without telling me!' WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DIDN'T? I'M TELLING YOU, I DID! IT WAS A SURPRISE. I AM HERE NOW BUT I WILL HEAD BACK, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. BYE DANIEL!

He went quiet for a while and repeated, Brook, you didn't come all the way here without telling me. I laughed and said April fool's joke. I was beginning to feel bad.He was like, YOU ARE A BAD GIRL!  HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME!  He said he was thinking, who can he get to go pick me up. What was he going to do with me now that I was there and he was in meetings out of the office. I was just laughing the whole time. My plan worked. Happy April Fool's day to me!