VO: V Day 2-"The Bellagio Buffet"

Lemon and jOrange went out earlier in the day to walk around while M went out to try her luck at the penny slots. PP and I basically stayed at the hotel until we had to check out and head to the MGM Grand.

At the MGM Grand we met up with KiraTomato and checked into our rooms. Since my two rooms were not ready yet, we all just chilled in the big suite with the other Veggies to await the arrival of everyone else. Pretty soon, Catnipped and her M as well as Lemon's friend (Yam) arrived and the circle was complete.

My memory was a little fuzzy because all of us were fasting in preparation for "The Bellagio Buffet," but we visited a bunch of Hotel/Casinos where jOrange and Lemon got $1 chips. New York, New York was where Catnipped succumbed to the hunger and got some ice cream.

The time for food finally arrived as we all set out to wait in line for the Bellagio buffet at around 3 pm. The line was long and our stomachs were growling, but we finally reached the end and were seated! I was looking forward to trying some venison while jOrange wanted to take pictures of the champagne fountain. To our surprise, neither of these much touted features was there.

In my opinion, this buffet did not live up to the $35 price tag nor the 1.5 hour wait time. While there was a wide variety of foods, most of it was not made spectacularly well. The featured "Kobe" beef was not marbled or tender, the prime rib was way too undercooked and bloody, the crab legs were overly salted and not fresh, and the fruits were all really raw. The pineapple was so sour that I could hardly even eat one piece. The desserts though were very good, offering a wide variety of different desserts. Even so, I thought this buffet was totally disappointing. After finally eating some food, we all headed back to the MGM Grand to watch Ka.

Ka did not disappoint. This show was amazing as it combined choreography with acrobatics along with breathtaking stunts, fire, flying, and bafmodads. Ka tells the story of a brother(prince) and sister(princess) on a joyful little cruise with their parents. Suddenly, the king and queen are murdered and the little ones have to fend for themselves. An epic journey follows with pain, agony, endurance, love, and eventually redemption. The best part about the show was that the entire stage was one giant moving wall that could be turned and rotated in various ways to simulate terrain. The most exhilarating display was a pair of performers who peddled this giant pendulum like thing that kept tumbling end over end. The performers would do tricks like jump-roping while balancing themselves and leaping in the air.

After the show, I delivered the gifts I had brought back from China for the other Veggies. Catnipped got a really round stuffed panda, KiraTomato got a MiG jet with chain-gun action, jOrange got an authentic Chinese Chess set, and Lemon got a super awesome XM8 assault rifle with flashlight and laser scope. I hadn't expected Yam to come to VO: V so I had to give him an Olympics highlighter.