• D1 Drive to Vegas and the Palomino Club

• D2

  • Grand Canyon

    • Skywalk

    • Lunch by the canyon

    • Condors

    • Ants

    • Helicopters and airplanes

  • Las Vegas

    • PH Spice Market Buffet

    • The Strip

    • The fake Venice in the Venetian Hotel

    • Stratosphere Tower - standing on the 109th floor of Vegas

• D3 Brunch, gambling and driving back

See all the photos in Photo Gallery...

See also:

• Las Vegas (Dec. 18-21, 2006)

• Las Vegas and 3 national parks (Jan. 19-21, 2008)

Going through the Hoover Dam, crossing the border between Nevada and Arizona

• Skywalk

• Lunch by the canyon

• Condors

• Ants

• Helicopters and airplanes

At 5pm, the bus took us back to Las Vegas.

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Grand Canyon] Skywalk

• Other topics of this trip

• Another trip to Hoover Dam

Then we gambled a little bit. I put in a dollar to play a little poker with the computer. When I almost lost it, the other guys urged me to leave, so I pushed the "maximum bid" button, expecting to lose more quickly. However, I won twice in a row. Then I pushed "cash out". As a result, instead of losing the dollar, I won an extra quarter. Yay!

On the way driving back, we encountered a very serious traffic jam:

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The tower was going to close at 2am.
1:35am, they still couldn't get back, so I decided to buy another ticket ($13.95) and go by myself.
1:40am: I rushed to the ticketing place. The seller told me tripod was not allowed on the top, but I didn't have time to put it back, so I went directly towards the tower entrance, pretending I didn't know tripods weren't allowed.
1:43am: At the tower entrance, I had to pass the security check. I took the keys, cell phone out, and walked through the security door. It beeped, but the man said, "you're fine." I thereupon ran to the elevator.
1:45am: The elevator was so fast. I think I stayed in it for less than a minute. Then as the door opened, I walked out of the elevator and was already on the 108th floor. Since there's not too much time, I immediately climbed up the stairs to the 109th floor. At the same time the broadcast was shouting, "we'll be closing in 15 minutes."

Soon after I started taking photos, a security man stopped me using the tripod. Well, then I needed some handhold tricks, and I still got some good shots.

On the left of the picture is the 2nd highest thrill ride in the world. It dangles you over the edge of the tower and then spins in a circular pattern at approximately forty miles per hour.
Refer to the 5th photo in this post to see the 3rd highest thrill ride in the world.

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See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Vegas] The fake Venice in the Venetian Hotel

• Other topics of this trip

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Vegas] The Strip

• Other topics of this trip

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Vegas] PH Spice Market Buffet

• Other topics of this trip

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Grand Canyon] Helicopters and airplanes

• Other topics of this trip

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Grand Canyon] Ants

• Other topics of this trip

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Finishing dinner, we went to check into our hotel: Stratosphere Tower - Casino & Resort Hotel. Then we went to the Palomino Club - the only all-nude strip club in Vegas that serves alcohol. Admission was $20/person, and everyone had to order at least 2 drinks, which were extremely expensive (eg. $6 for a small bottle of water). However, some girls in there were really pretty and hot.

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2] Grand Canyon

• Other topics of this trip

Big Bear Lake is a lake in California with an altitude of about 7000 feet (about 2100 meters) above sea level. It's recreation area very suitable for a bunch of friends taking a few days off to relax. Possible activities include: fishing, boating, kayaking, swimming, photo taking, hiking, skiing in winter, etc. In summer, it's also a great place to escape from the high temperature because of its high altitude.

• D1 Check in our house at Big Bear Blvd

• D2 Lake touring

  • Sunrise in the early morning

  • Lunch at Chinatown Buffet

  • Lake touring and fishing

    • Wild ducks

    • The lake

  • Other photos at Big Bear Blvd

  • The evening

• D3 Drive back

See all the photos in Photo Gallery...

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In the carpool lane of CA-91, we were driving at about 80mph and suddenly found the car in front of us had stopped with braking lights off. We braked immediately and almost rear-ended it. Fortunately our seatbelts were all fastened and nobody was hurt.

Anyway, we were safely back and had lunch at Taste of Asia (重慶美味川菜) at Lake Forest.

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• Other topics of this trip

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D3] Drive back

• Other topics of this trip

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2] The evening

• Other topics of this trip

Our fishing was not successful. Some people came around to show off their harvest.

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• Next topic of this trip: [D2] Other photos at Big Bear Blvd

• Other topics of this trip

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Price: less than $12/person
The taste of the food is not bad. Considering its location, the price is reasonable.

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: [D2][Lake touring and fishing] Wild ducks

• Other topics of this trip

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The first time to travel to Japan, with my mother.

D1 July 27

• Fly to Osaka

• Osaka Castle

• Dōtonbori and Shinsaibashi

D2 July 28

• Port of Kobe

• Kimono show at Nishijin Textile Center

• Kameyama Park in Arashiyama, Kyoto

• Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), Kyoto

• Shinkansen

• Nagoya's night

D3 July 29

• Lake Hamana (浜名湖)

• Hakone Peace Park

• Great Boiling Valley (大涌谷)

• Living in a hot spring hotel in Hakone

D4 July 30

• Mount Fuji (富士山)

• Fujiyama roller coaster at Fuji-Q Highland

• Yokohama's colorful night

D5 July 31

• Panasonic Center

• Tokyo Bay

• Toyota Center

• Tokyo panoramic view in Metropolitan Government Building

• Kabukichō (歌舞伎町), Tokyo

D6 August 1

• Asakusa Kannon Temple

• Tokyo Imperial Palace

• Akihabara Electric Town (秋葉原電気街)

• Tokyo Disneyland

D7 August 2

• AEON shopping

• Narita International Airport

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↓↓The big check-in lounge↓↓

↑↑The big check-in lounge↑↑

↓↓Watching planes in the waiting room↓↓

↑↑Watching planes in the waiting room↑↑

Took a Boeing 777 plane to go back to Guangzhou, China. In the waiting room, I was expecting to listen to the English boarding notification since I wouldn't understand Japanese. Surprisingly, there was Chinese boarding notification.

See also:

• Other topics of this trip

• Parade

• It's a Small World

• Others

  

  

  

  

  

  

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Narita International Airport

• Other topics of this trip

Sit on a touring boat and look at the small world

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When we arrived at the Disneyland, the Parade just started. We were right on time.

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Nijubashi Bridge, the other side of which is the place where the Emperor of Japan live.

Such a big crow

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• Next topic of this trip: [Tokyo Disneyland] Parade

• Other topics of this trip

The Asakusa Kannon Temple is the oldest temple in Tokyo.

Look at the peaceful pigeon on the Goddess of Mercy.

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Tokyo Imperial Palace

• Other topics of this trip

One of the biggest red-light districts in Japan.

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Asakusa Kannon Temple

• Other topics of this trip

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (東京都庁舎) is the building which houses the headquarters of the Tokyo local government. Located in Shinjuku, it held title of the tallest building (by roof height) in Tokyo, at 243 meters (799 feet), from 1991 until late 2006. The 45th floor is open to public for viewing the whole Tokyo.

sunset

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Kabukichō (歌舞伎町), Tokyo

• Other topics of this trip

A place to show Toyota cars

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Tokyo panoramic view in Metropolitan Government Building

• Other topics of this trip

↓↓The Rainbow Bridge that connects the Shibaura Wharf and the Odaiba waterfront development in Minato Ward↓↓

↑↑The Rainbow Bridge that connects the Shibaura Wharf and the Odaiba waterfront development in Minato Ward↑↑

This is not a skyscraper. Instead, it's a chimney, the base of which is a rubbish burning place. The exhaust gas is processed before giving off, so you don't see black smoke coming out of the chimney.

An unmanned train

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Toyota Center

• Other topics of this trip

This is where Panasonic show their innovative products.

A plasma TV

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Tokyo Bay

• Other topics of this trip

↓↓Great views from our hotel room↓↓

↑↑Great views from our hotel room↑↑

↓↓Colorful street views↓↓

↑↑Colorful street views↑↑

The tallest building in Japan: Yokohama Landmark Tower (296 m, 70 floors)

Yokohama 360-degree panorama

See also:

• Other panoramas

• Next topic of this trip: Panasonic Center

• Other topics of this trip

In the afternoon of the 4th day, we visited Fuji-Q Highland at Fujiyoshida. The Fujiyama roller coaster was built in 1996 and was the world's tallest roller coaster (259 feet) and had the largest drop in the world (235 feet).

Fujiyama structure (Click to view a bigger picture)

Height

Complex

As it's not easy to get such an opportunity, I gave it a shot:

Oops, my head was down

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Yokohama's colorful night

• Other topics of this trip

In the morning of the 4th day, we toured Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan (3,776 m or 12,388 ft). We took our bus to the hillside and enjoyed a great view there.

The summit

Clouds

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Fujiyama roller coaster at Fuji-Q Highland

• Other topics of this trip

Our dinner

We took a hot spring bath in the hotel after dinner. That was very comfortable.

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Mount Fuji (富士山)

• Other topics of this trip

The Great Boiling Valley is a volcanic valley with active sulfur vents and hot springs in Hakone. There are 2 featured products selling there: Kuro-tamago (黒玉子) and wasabi ice cream. Kuro-tamagoa is a local specialty of eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs. The boiled eggs turn black because its chemical reaction with sulfur.

Honeycomb

See also:

• Next topic of this trip: Living in a hot spring hotel in Hakone

• Other topics of this trip