Monthly Archives: September 2014

Guilin, China: Bamboo Raft Ride on Fanglian Pool and Reed Flute Cave

Today’s plan was to go to Fubo Hill. To get there, you need to take bus #1. I could not find a bus stop for this line. So instead, I changed my plans and took the #3 bus to the Reed Flute Cave. Buses in Guilin are only 1 RMB, which is about fifteen American cents. Total bargain.

I was able to follow along the stops by simply looking out the window when we would stop and reading the name of the stop we were at on the bus stop sign. When we got to where the next stop was mine, I stood up. A Chinese man made gestures to show me “NO” and motioned for me to wait. Um, okay. In the end, it turns out that the stop for Reed Flute Cave is at the parking lot. The one right after leaves you directly at the entrance. Thank you kind sir!

I got off the bus and lit a cigarette. A man approaches me to try and sell me a ride on a bamboo raft on the little Fanglian Pool across the street. No matter what I said, he would not leave me alone. If I were not smoking, I would have walked away. Finally I decided it was easier to just take the damn ride (5 RMB = $.85 USD) than to sit there arguing any longer. For less than a dollar, it was worth it.

Fanglian pool bamboo raft ride outside Reed Flute Cave in Guilin China

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Guilin, China: Elephant Trunk Hill Park

After my oh so exciting first sleep on mainland China, I was up bright and early for my first day in Guilin.  I could not have been more excited.  I went outside to stare at the Li River from behind my hostel.

Li River outside Green Forest Hostel, Guilin, ChinaLi River Guilin China

From here I went walking around the streets near my hostel.   Just about instantly, I met Jerry.  Jerry is a tour guide who offered me lots of options for tours to take in and around Guilin.  I was not interested in any of them, since I already had everything planned out before I left home.  I ran into him regularly for the rest of my trip.  At some point a couple of days later, I was pretty far away from my hotel just walking around and I hear “HELLO JENNIFER!” being yelled at me from across the street.  Oh hello Jerry.

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Guilin, China: First Sleep on Mainland China!

I did a quick recap of Guilin, which included both cost and a huge bug that clearly was sent to murder me.  You can find that post here.

Arriving in Guilin, I was so excited.  I am finally really starting the mainland part of my trip to China.  Before leaving, I had done research so I knew how much a taxi would cost.  I was quoted a flat fee of $100 RMB, which is around $16 USD.  I took it.

If you go to Guilin and do not want to splurge for a taxi, have no fear.  You do not need to!  There is a shuttle bus that goes downtown for $20CNY ($3.25 USD)

The drive was ridiculously exciting to me.  I wanted to scream outside the cab window “Look at meeeeeeee.  I am in China!  By myself!  Wheeeeeeeee!”

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Hong Kong, China: Chi Lin Nunnery

Of course everyone should visit here because it is absolutely beautiful. I however, had an ulterior motive.  I had read that you can get your fortune told here and then take that knowledge off to Macau with you.  Since I was going to Macau later in the day, I was so excited to find out if I was going to become a bazillionaire.  Unfortunately, I had to wait and find out on my own since I could not figure out at all where exactly you can get your fortune told.

It wasn’t a wasted trip though.  Look how beautiful the grounds are.

This is the only time I actually saw blue sky in Hong Kong.  As an extra kick in the ass, this was the same day after I spent the morning taking pictures of nothing but gloom, fog and black skies at The Peak.  Sigh.

Chi Lin Nunnery, Hong Kong, China Continue reading

3.5 Ridiculously Easy Ways to Save Money on a trip to las vegas

I am a Las Vegas addict who has spent years perfecting the best ways to get more for my money.   While I have written a ton of Las Vegas trip reports (which I am nowhere near done uploading on here), I realize that they are mostly written for Las Vegas addicts who already know the basic tips of stretching every penny.  Here are the 3.5 most basic ways for a first timer to Las Vegas to save money on their trip.

Note:  None of these are affiliate links.  They are all true tools that Las Vegas regulars use.

1: Buy an American Casino Guide.   You can see the coupon list here: American Casino Guide coupon list

If you plan on just sticking to the Strip, there are enough coupons in here to cover the cost.  But if you are going downtown?  You have hit the motherlode.   The free play alone covers the cost of the book.  The points for free buffets are easy to achieve.  Plus you get to be downtown, which is the greatest place ever.

These usually go on sale in late October for a discount early bird price.  They are good from the date you receive the book (usually late November.)   I got my 2014 guide in November 2013 and used it in 2013 and I will continue using it for my December 2014 trip.  I will also have the 2015 Guide with me, as those coupons will be valid once I receive them in November.

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Riding the Ferry From Macau to Shenzhen – First Steps on Mainland China!

Today is the big day!  The day I finally make it to mainland China!

I left my hotel room in Macau an hour later than I had wanted to because I was playing on the internet.  Stupid.

I took the free hotel shuttle to the Macau Ferry Terminal and caught the 12:30 ferry to the Shenzhen airport.  Or so I thought I did.

The trip was pretty simple. There is a monitor at the ferry terminal that shows gate numbers in English. You simply go to your gate and wait for the pairing of someone barking in Chinese, with everyone getting up. That is your cue that it is time to board the ferry. Easy!

Since Macau isn’t part of mainland China, they have a duty free shop inside.  I stocked up on cigarettes (I know, gross, right??)

The ferry to Shenzhen was way less crowded than the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau.  There was no assigned seating.  I got my own row, so I got see the window view!
view of sands from macau ferry to shenzhen china

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Las Vegas Trip Report: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 – Back when the Imperial Palace was still the Imperial Palace

Note:  This is an older Las Vegas trip report that was written back in 2008.  Most of this information is now outdated and some places mentioned no longer exist.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 – Day One of Eight

Today I worked and then went to the airport.  I made it there rather quickly and ended up with only about five minutes to kill in the airport.   Perfect.  My flight leaves at 5:30, but it’s about fifteen minutes after that when the pilot announces he has good news and bad news.  The bad news is that we are 21st in line to take off.  The good news is that there are planes behind us with longer waits and we are not one of those planes.  Oh yeah.  Still though, this actually is much less of a wait than I am accustomed to. I am used to it being hours after we are supposed to take off before they tell us we are 92873498237489237478923473289th in line.

I have the whole row to myself by the way.   This is my specialty.

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Macau, China: Final Gambling Chapter Featuring MGM Grand and the Venetian

So after spending a day doing touristy stuff, I earned my right to continue on being Gamblor!  Hopefully I will do as well as I did on my first try, which you can read about here.

My plan is to play $100 HKD (just under $13 USD) in each of the five casinos I plan on visiting.

Where better to start than in my own hotel?  Lisboa’s casino was offering $20 HKD free play to new sign ups.  This is about $2.50 USD.  I also got a free cookie and a little change purse.

Lisboa casino swag

I lost my $20 free play and my allotted $100 (and an extra $100 for good measure.)  I went to cash out my last few cents and found out I had played enough to earn $50 HKD in free play.  Lost that too.  BUMMER.  When I went to collect my change, there were two women working the cashier’s cage.  One was obsessed with me and you could just tell she was dying for me to go to her window.  She looked SO EXCITED to see me walking up.  So I decided to get some good karma by obliging her.  No one has ever been happier to speak to me in my entire life.

Back over to Wynn.  Surely I will win here, since I did last night, right?  Maybe.  I lost my $100 in a Code Red slot machine and put in a second.  Because I said I was only going to play $100 and now I am playing $200.  This got me $1000.  That is about $129 USD.  This means I can put in another $100.  Cashed this one out at $900.

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Macau, China: Ruins of St Paul’s Church and Macau Fortress

Most people do Macau as a day trip from Hong Kong.  Being a gambler, I stayed and played for a few days.  But I did take a morning to play tourist. First up was Senado Square. This was a quick walk from my hotel – Lisboa.  Some street views on my way: Macau China streets Macau walk to Senado Square The May heat meant that when I went to take my first picture, the camera was physically hot.  Also, it meant my camera did this, which freaked me out a bit when I realized the fog was inside the camera, not just on the lens.This was my first trip ever with a fancy camera and it fogs up.  Great! Don’t worry, I did figure it out and was able to get some pictures after all.  WHEW!Macau China Senado Square fountain Continue reading