Hey guys! Just wanted to make a quick post about my weekend trip to Vegas and the BigBang concert :) (while I'm procrastinating studying for my midterm coming up shhh)
My dad, sister, and I flew from Bellingham. We had to wake up at 5am to catch our flight and the officer at the border was quite suspicious as to why my dad was taking two female minors to Vegas so early in the morning AHAHA. Luckily, we had no problems getting on our plane.
As soon as our plane landed, I could see three big hotels: Madalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur. We've visited these hotels on our previous trip to Vegas. In fact, the last time we came we hotel hopped and stayed at a different hotel each night. I think we stayed at Mandalay Bay, the Venetian, Caesar's Palace, Paris, and maybe more but I've forgotten. I know we walked through a bunch like Luxor, Excalibur, and the Bellagio. We basically walked the entire strip.
After landing, we got a taxi to our hotel, Mandalay Bay, since that's where the concert was gonna be held. The whole purpose of this trip was to see the BigBang so we literally only stayed one night and stuffed all our clothes into ONE carry-on suitcase and our carry on bags. The taxi driver was surprised when he unloaded it and said "boy you guys sure pack light." He was a really cool dude though. My dad and him got along well and talked a lot. It's always interesting to get to know taxi drivers and their background. He came from New York. He said that Las Vegas is a great place to live in because there's always something to do and the rent is cheap. However, there are two things that drive people out as soon as they came. The first one is the heat. When we arrived, it was 29 degrees celsius but I didn't mind! I remember the last time we came and I felt an insane heat wave. The second factor is if you have a vice, in this case, gambling. Only in Vegas would you find slot machines in the airport.
Once we checked in the hotel and unloaded our bags in the room, we decided to hit the pool and relax a little. Mandalay Bay is probably one of the best hotels with the best swimming pools. They have a lazy river, a wave pool, and a man-made beach. We rented a cabana like we did on our last trip. My dad later on said that we didn't really need it since it wasn't that hot and if you were hot, you would go in the pool and if you were cold, lay out in the sun. Oh well, the free water was nice. We ordered nachos and a lettuce wrap, which were super delicious. Just writing about this makes me crave those nachos right now. I also got a fruit smoothie but it was kinda sour. I didn't bring a swimsuit so I ended up having to buy one at the hotel but they really get the tourists with their expensive prices.
When the security guards at the pool entrance checked my backpack, I told the guy how I brought my homework and he said "yup, well you gotta do that!" But ofc, I didn't end up doing it and decided to enjoy my time in Vegas. I tried to get in as much sun as possible and went for a dip in the pool too. It was soooo naice.
I still can't get over how pretty Mandalay Bay is. Did you know they even have an aquarium with sharks? My friend said it was a waste of time when she went but the fact that the hotel is big enough to have one is pretty cool.
My sister and I decided to check out the events center, where the concert would be held. There were already people lining up to go into sound check, where the artists would be. My sister regrets not getting tickets to see that. I thought the sound check would just be like "hello does this mic work? yes? okbai pce" but after seeing videos from Instagram, it turns out they actually sang their songs so it was basically a preconcert.
They were selling the merchandise outside and so we joined the long line up. The prices were higher than what they were listed for on the website and I was disappointed to see they didn't have the same t-shirt style that was posted on the website as well. My sister's friend asked her to get a few items for her so we ended up buying 3 light sticks, 1 snapback, 2 masks, and 1 t-shirt.
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| My view from the line up |
With all our merch, we headed back up to the hotel room to unload all our stuff. I really liked the postcards with quotes that were on the bed. The lettering and minimalism is definitely my style.
For dinner, we ate at the buffet in the hotel. Tbh, it wasn't that good. My sister insisted on going just so she could get unlimited crab. The buttery sauce was sooo bad but good at the same time.
After dinner, we decided to head to the events center. There was a huge crowd waiting to get in. My sister and I wormed our way through but we were in no rush since we had assigned seats. The people on the floor had to rush to get a spot as close as possible. I felt bad for them since they would have to be standing and squished for at least 3 hours straight and they wouldn't be able to leave at all lest they lose their spot. On the other hand, after the concert I did see photos from their view and envied how close they were so I guess it was all worth it in the end. I was surprised at how close our seats were too. My mom said we would be in the back corner so I imagined like third level all the way to the wall kinda back but we were sorta in the corner closest to the left side.
I was actually surprised at how little eastern asians I saw. Maybe after being in the University of a Billion Chinese and just Vancouver in general, I'm not used to it. There were Mexicans, black people, filipinos, white people, and their moms and dads LOL. I thought the old white moms/dads were just there to be with their children but I heard them talking like they actually knew their stuff so maybe they were fans too. It's cool to see how much kpop has spread and the global appreciation of it.
The woman sitting beside us was hilarious. She was originally from Hawaii but moved to Vegas 10 years ago so she said she might as well tell people she's from Vegas. She came with her cousin who was from Texas. We all talked about BigBang and who our favourite member was and how there was such a big fan base for Daesung and TOP in Vegas. The screen played past music videos and every time a certain member showed up, a girl would scream. When we were walking to our seats, some girl was literally crying and BigBang wasn't even on stage yet LOL. The woman beside us asked how old we were and was surprised when we told her and said she was old enough to be our mom (she told us she was 36 so I was like nooo dw you're young still). She said we looked older and was gonna ask us why we didn't have a beer in our hands or something (cause she had one hahah). She said she was super drunk already and I was like whaaat since she seemed totally sober and was acting normal imo. She asked us where we were from and said we must be true fans for coming all the way from Vancouver but hey when else will BigBang ever come to this side of the world? She wanted to take a selfie with her "Vancouver girls" but unfortunately after the concert we booked it outta there.
The showed an ad for NONA9ON featuring TAEYANG x CL and omgah guise how good do they look?
Before the concert, I never really cared for Seungri or Daesung that much but they're actually so funny!! And very talented singers. I love Strong Baby and Daesung's part in Let's Not Fall in Love.
As usual, BigBang killed it by opening up with Bang Bang Bang, then some oldies but goodies like Haru Haru, making everyone get turnt with Good Boy, and finishing with "muthfxking" (GD's words not mine) Fantastic Baby, which they performed twice because it's that good. Every time the cameras focused on TOP, girls shrieked. I don't blame them.
TOP: so um
*girls scream*
And for once Taeyang kept his shirt on throughout the whole concert??? Their english was surprisingly very good. Seungri taught us the Korean heart pose; Daesung showed his eyes (since his hair was styled so that it was covering his eyes), Seungri called him creepy when he widened his eyes and made an I'm-keeping-my-eye-on-you motion; Daesung and Seungri showed their "sexy" dance moves; and Taeyang pinky promised that he would come back to perform again. Overall I had a great time. Usually kpop groups don't sound that good live because of the MR playing in the background and them singing along to it but that night there wasn't really any of that so I heard nothing but pure talent.
You can view what I filmed from the concert here since uploading it on this site would take forever. The quality isn't as sharp when viewed online so it's better to download the videos first.
The next morning, we took a cab to the outlet mall to do a little shopping and kill some time before our flight home. We ended up buying a lot at Polo Ralph Lauren for my brother who was at home. The deal was insane. 15% off the entire purchase and we bought items on sale so some of the v neck t-shirts I picked out for my bro were only $15!!
I was searching for a rose gold watch but unfortunately, I couldn't find the perfect one for me. I tried on this diamond encrusted Movado but left when the salesperson said it was $1,260 LOL. After some online searching at home, I think I've found a winner (in All Rose Gold).
I was disappointed we didn't get to walk along the strip during my short stay but all in all, I was thankful I even got the chance to fly to Las Vegas and see BigBang live!!
What do you think about Vegas or BigBang? Ever been to one of their concerts? Who's your favourite member?
xx, Melissa♡
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