Sorry for the delay in posting since I’ve been back, but I have had a lot to catch up on! The flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was nothing short of brutal and I am still feeling the effects of it all. I will certainly never be flying Untied Airlines again. The seats were so uncomfortable that my circulation in my legs still hasn’t returned to normal. On top of that they were so slow with my bags that I nearly missed my flight from Sydney to Melbourne

The PokerStars Double VPP Promo ended on Monday and I ended up knocking off about 25,000 VPPs for the week, which I was pretty happy with considering the travel I had to do and the lousy internet connections I was on.

Indoor cricket on Monday was a marathon event, but just what I needed to blow off the rust from my game. We played a double header because we were asked to fill in when another team in another league forfeited. In the first game (the one that counted) we batted pretty lousily, but managed and amazing effort in the field to defend a very low score against a seemingly capable team. In the second one it was an eight a side match, my first ever experience in that format. We played it with only six players and ended up losing by less than 10 runs which was amazing. The quality of the bowling we faced was the best I have ever come across, so it was good not to lose a wicket (I got lucky on a few occasions).

We were blessed with Free Wireless at Las Vegas airport so we weren’t bored at all between checking out of the hotel and our 3:45pm flight. On the flight from Australia to LAX on the way Hui and I had been wishing we had a pair of noise cancelling headphones. Sure enough at the airport Bose had a booth set up and we both bought a pair (pictured below). They were pretty expensive, but I think they will be worth it. Especially since I’m going to be in desperate need of sleep when we board the flight to Sydney.

The short flight between the LV and LA was once again really bumpy and uncomfortable. We had a 5 hour lay over here until our flight leaves later tonight. We have all managed to log onto the wireless so once again the time will fly. I’ve played a little bit of poker across the day despite being on the go. This laptop is on its last legs, the wireless card has been giving me trouble the entire trip and today as the same. I’m certainly looking forward to getting home on a stable connection, with a great monitor and a good ergonomic setup.

It already feels like it has been a long day and I still have a long ways to go. Hui has pretty good, when we get to Sydney he can go straight home. Rohan and I on the other hand have a little more travel to do heading back to Melbourne and Canberra. I think Hui is going to regret wearing t-shirt, shorts and thongs when he walks out of the airport in Sydney. I’ll probably post a summary blog when I get home, but this will be the last entry while in the US, so thanks to everyone for reading and taking interest. I have another US trip on the cards later this year or early next year.

Rohan had badgering me for the whole trip that we wanted to have a few drinks one night. Last night I finally gave in a decided that it was time for a final night blow out. Given that I don’t really drink it was pretty easy to get intoxicated in short time… especially when had a large margarita that was so strong it was like drinking straight petrol. Rohan pansied out of drinking his so I ended up getting a bit excitable all on my own. I ended up getting to sleep about 4am and only had about four hours sleep, but feel pretty decent all things considered.

We’d been trying to decide what Las Vegas show we should go and see and not getting anywhere. When we moved to the MGM we saw that David Copperfield was performing twice every night so we elected to go and see him. So tonight we filed into the Hollywood Theatre inside the MGM Grand and witnessed a Copperfield show that lasted about an hour.

There were about 500 people in the theater and everyone had a table and a pretty close view. We actually had a chance for audience participation when a rubber frisbee thing that he throws out randomly to select people landed at Hui’s feet. He was too pansy to go up there and the opportunity got passed to someone else.

The most impressive illusion he performed was probably making a Lincoln Convertible appear on stage. It was an entertaining show, something different that is for sure, but I can’t say I was completely dazzled. I was just left a tincy bit curious as to how he did some things. Since we got back we’ve been reading up a little on Google, haven’t found any concrete answers yet.

Just a few blocks from the south end of the strip is a factory outlet mall and yesterday we went there. I bought two new pairs of shoes, the price difference compared with home is kind of ridiculous. At home you pay $150 for a pair of Nike runners, here they are $50. I also picked up a few pairs or shorts, t-shirts, an NFL jersey and a few other items. Hui also spent up big, basically bought himself a whole new wardrobe… and he wants to go back again!