Last night I took my mom to Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to see Shen Yun Performing Arts (神韻藝術團) show. We thought it was Chinese traditional dance show, but it was actually not all about arts, and more about the religion Falun Gong (法輪功)….
It was our first time to Music Center in Downtown LA. This place is beautiful. Very nice courtyard with artsy statues and water fountains.
I usually do my computer thing in the morning or afternoon. After I turn off my computer, I try not to go on again at night time. See, that was one of my New Year resolution…. spend less time on the computer so I can do more useful things (such as playing on my PS3… haha… very useful!). So one night just as I was about to go to bed at 1am, suddenly I got the urge to check my email. I actually felt like I couldn’t go to bed until I check my email. Weird, but I did it. I saw this email from Yelp for a contest for 2 Kooza tickets. The drawing was for the next day. So I entered with a simple click and went to bed. Woke up the next morning, turned on my computer, and saw another email from Yelp telling me that I won! Wow! Talking about lucky! I won two $90 Kooza tickets.
The tickets were for a Friday 8pm show. Due to Dr. P’s busy work, we arrived about 10 minutes late at Irvine Great Park. The staffs were great about directing traffic for parking and exiting. We thought we had to wait outside for the end of the first act to go in, but they actually let us in right away.
There are so many Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, but this time we decided to watch Le Reve. Le Reve is like a Cirque Du Soleil show but with water, lots of water. To save money, we purchased the least expensive ticket, which is in the first row. Usually first row tickets are the most expensive. But for Le Reve, there’s a chance that guests in first two rows might get wet, so the tickets are cheap.
We did got splashed, but only very little bit. It really wasn’t bad at all. And we got to see the performance so up and close. I love it that we can see the performers facial expression. As we were waiting for the show to start, we saw a “lizard” swimming in the water.
We had plan to have dinner at the new Aria Casino for dinner. Since it was walking distance from MGM Grand, we parked our car back at the hotel and started walking around Las Vegas toward Aria after lunch.
We saw a Best Buy vending machine in MGM Grand.
MGM Grand Las Vegas
3799 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 891-1111
http://www.mgmgrand.com
We had a mini winter vacation in Las Vegas right after new year. We decided to stay at MGM Grand Las Vegas because we found a great deal. The rate is only $51 per night, and they even offered $100 dining credit at the new Aria in the City Center! It was like staying at the hotel for free!
We left Los Angeles around 2pm and arrived at the hotel around 6:30pm. They still had the Christmas decoration with the famous lion in the lobby. The hotel and casino was a bit empty, but it was a Sunday night.
Last time I rode a bicycle, I think I was in 3rd grade. I bought a bicycle two weeks ago. Last weekend I went riding for the first time in 25 years.
All of our friends and Dr. P are experience riders. My friends told me they found a “easy” trail for me to try for the first time. I was thinking it would be something like a 5 or 10 miles easy ride. Wrong!
The Maverick Theater
110 E Walnut Ave
Fullerton, CA 92832
(714) 526-7070
http://www.mavericktheater.com
Dr. P has always been fascinated with zombies. When I saw that GoldStar offered discounted tickets for Night of the Living Dead at The Maverick Theater, I immediately purchased the tickets to treat Dr. P to a night of zombie fun.
I snapped a picture of the casts at the end of the show. I like the fact that the theater is small, and we are so close to the stage. The show was very entertaining. There are parts that are funny, and parts that make you jump out of your seats. It’s very entertaining, and we love the ending. I don’t want to say too much about the show to give the fun away. But I highly recommend this show if you like a little Halloween zombie fun.
All the discounted tickets are sold out on GoldStar. But you can still purchase tickets from the theater’s website.
Concourse Entertainment Center
3364 E La Palma Ave
Anaheim, CA 92806
(714) 666-2695
http://www.concoursebowling.com
I was browsing through GoldStar one morning, and found that Concourse Entertainment Center offers Sunday morning brunch and 2 hours unlimited bowling for only $8/person. The original price is $15/person. But if you sign up for free membership at GoldStar, you can purchase the discounted ticket. They do charge a service fee. But even with the $3 service fee, $11/person seemed like a great deal for breakfast buffet + bowling.
Wen also agreed that it was a great deal. She must be the most popular blogger in Orange County. She quickly gathered about about 20 people who wanted to join the Sunday morning bowling party. They asked our names and shoe sizes at the front counter, and handed us our bowling shoes and told us our assigned lane number.
I was chatting with Wen one day, and we realized that we haven’t gone hiking for a long long time. So Wen found the info on Santiago Truck Trail hike online. The 7-miles hike seemed challenging, but we can do it!
The view from the trail was so beautiful.
After our lunch, we strolled around Fisherman’s Wharf before heading back to LA.
We hung out around Pier 43 1/2 and Pier 45.
