My five week search for Kenjiro's grandmothers and perfection with the dimpled spheroid is coming to a close. As I craft this blog, above is my view from the Presidents Club at the Las Vegas airport. Red Carpet members are allowed privileges with Continental, except for one outstanding difference: this club serves alcoholic drinks for free.
For those who wondered what the answer was to the blog yesterday, the above photo is of Sharon and Dan Takahashi at the Planet Hollywood. We had dinner at Koi, a Japanese fusion restaurant. I feel compelled to mention four things:
For those who wondered what the answer was to the blog yesterday, the above photo is of Sharon and Dan Takahashi at the Planet Hollywood. We had dinner at Koi, a Japanese fusion restaurant. I feel compelled to mention four things:
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1. A large sign outside the entrance featured half price drinks for restaurant and lounge. Not so, as we were told when ordering that those drinks were only if we sat in the lounge, but we could move there and eat in the bar if we so wished. So, no drinks.
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2. The waitress excitedly informed us that they had authentic Japanese wagyu beef tonight, but only revealed the price when I asked...$95. Mind you, Marukai sells Omi beef at $154/pound in Hawaii (on special order), so this is not far-fetched, but she nevertheless still should have mentioned the cost.
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3. I started with miso soup. First, for $5, the soup was in a very small bowl, and second, it was tepid, both in temperature and taste.
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4. For my main entre, I ordered spicy maguro on crispy grilled rice. The dish was neither spicy nor crispy.
We noticed that there was another room with a view of the Bellagio fountains. If you ever can overcome my dreary review, ask for a table with that view.
Another piece of modern artwork from Planet Hollywood.
As times are bad, lower-priced tickets (not quite halved) can be found at various booths. However, if you want to see Beyonce from July 30-August 2, the lowest price is $250, going up to $1000. Barry Manilow, yes, Barry Manilow, starts at $110, with a high of $253.50. Why they bother to extract another 50 cents mystifies me, but there is more. Bette Midler is $100-$255, Jersey Boys $70.70-$249.50, Terry Fator (remember America's Got Talent?) $69.90 to $146.90, and Joe Cocker will be back on the 20th of this month. He still lives, as does Tom Jones, at $92.50.
Somehow, I got the uncomfortable feeling, not unlike when I was in Cairo, that the tough times have stimulated small scams, with the Koi experience only being a typical example. The golf was great, but those bubbling brooks gurgled with recycled water, providing a second reason not to approach them, for the smells were only too obvious. Next year, maybe Viet Nam.
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At this writing, the stock market is booming, up 165 to 8575, encouraged by jobs and banking news. Actually the good news is that things were not as bad as feared. Gold is a bit up at $917 and crude oil appears headed to crash through $60/barrel, now at $58+. PVM Oil Associates expects oil to rally up to $78/bbl in six months. Remember that the U.S. Department of Energy and other economic prognosticators were expecting oil to average $45/bbl this year. Needless to say, I told you not to believe them.
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The Philippines got a typhoon one-two punch, first from Kujira and yesterday Chan Hom, the former killing 27 and the latter at least 19. Kujira has dissipated and Chan Hom is also expected to weaken. Kujira is Japanese for whale and Chan Hom is a Laotian tree.
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