Welcome to the surface of the sun! - Part One

It is hot. It's been unusually hot everyday for the past month and it is increasingly hotter day by day, if that's even possible. This will be my seventh summer in Texas. I should have gotten used to it by now, you say. Well, no......for me, that would be close to impossible. This heat surrounds and envelopes you with its sultry arms, and then surges forth from inside you, not unlike after having had a large, spicy meal. So, one way or another, you're being roasted on the outside, and stewed on the inside.

I have a hate-hate relationship with the sun. I hate the heat, first and foremost. And I hate the way my skin just toasts up a few shades darker just by me emerging briefly into the rays, say whilst running from my apartment to my car, and from said car to end destination. So having said that, what the heck made me decide to sit by the pool at 4pm in Las Vegas with the temperature being 112 Fahrenheit (45 Celcius for everyone else's reference) for an hour???

Vacation madness. That's what it was. Then again, it was a working vacation. We were there for a trade show. Took advantage of the locale and had some fun when we weren't working. We almost didn't make it there.....money issues. Had the priviledge of staying at the Venetian, one of the nicest and newest hotels on the Vegas Strip. Very beautiful, totally puts you in a completely different place altogether......I think they were aiming for hmmm....oh, Venice? : P

The sky you see in the picture? It's not real. It's perpetually daylight in there, with variations for dawn and dusk. Messes you up when you come in from the dark of night. That's how they keep you awake. They mess with your internal clock so you'll walk in from outside and it's bright as day, you're thinking "Oh, it's too early for bed." Completely oblivious to the fact that you've actually been up for 48 hours straight, you head straight for the casino and then....BAM! there goes all the money that you're worth. Slick, very slick.

Since this blog is primarily about food, I couldn't leave this post without something about it. We had some really nice food when during our stay there. Most of it was just ridiculously expensive. One thing that really stood out to Jon and myself was the Noodle house, in the Venetian itself. Some of the best noodles I've had in years! It's very reminiscent of the Taiwanese noodles I used to love back home in Malaysia. These were definitely mind-blowing. Would go back all the way to Vegas just to have the noodles. Pure, succulent wheat noodles cooked to al dente perfection, bathed in spicy Szechuan beef broth, with the most tender cuts of meat with the most amazing flavour. (Trying to load picture, alas....not successful.)

Am so hungry now thinking of noodles. *Sob, sob!!!*

Anyhoo, it's time for me to head back to the blazing reality. Join me again for Part Two. Coming soon to a PC near you.