an impromptu trip to Reno

The year is ending on a high note as we went to Reno over the weekend. The reason for going there was to see a concert at Silver Legacy Reno. The trip was essentially free. :-)

I'll start with some background: my mother has been writing for a Chinese magazine called Distinctive Taste for several years. The magazine's general manager recently gave each contributor two tickets to see Shirley Kwan. The nice thing is that the costs were covered. In other words, this was an all-expenses-paid vacation!

Day 1

Though transportation was provided, my family decided to drive to Reno ourselves so that we could travel at a more leisurely pace. The first stop was Eileen's house in El Cerrito to give her some things. The Tangs were thrilled to see us even though we didn't stay more than a few minutes. This was followed by a stop at Costco in Citrus Heights for gas and samples. Dad also took us to an antique store in the area so Mom could look for china. The rest of the drive was pretty smooth despite the traffic.

We checked into Silver Legacy Reno before going to the Grande Exposition Hall to pick up the tickets. I had planned to explore the hotel on my own or play RuneScape while Mom and Dad attended the concert. However, the general manager saw me with my parents and gave us a third ticket so we could go together. That was so nice of him. Thanks, George!

The three of us played the slots for about 15 minutes before returning to the venue. The attendance was so large that the seats quickly filled up. The free glow sticks were a nice touch. Of note is that the songs were mostly in Cantonese. Though we didn't understand the lyrics, the concert was enjoyable.

The event lasted longer than expected and ended around 11 p.m. All of us were too excited to go to sleep just yet and spent another two hours at the slots before heading back to our room. It was well past 1 a.m. when we finally got to bed!

Day 2

The slots were so much fun that we returned to the casino after lunch. Our luck wasn't spectacular this time as we lost around $36 in total This wasn't too surprising because - as the saying goes - the house always wins. Well, almost always.

On another note, Mom and I bumped into Lily from Henry's film club while at the casino. I also got to meet her daughters Jessica and Jasmine. Talk about a small world.

It was then time to start heading home. The trip was far from over as Dad found three antique stores along the way - where Mom bought some china and several sweaters that she liked. The three of us also went to WinCo Foods in Vacaville for groceries. The last stop was a Burger King in Fairfield for dinner. The place had bad Yelp reviews, but we ate there anyway as it was pretty late.

Conclusions

This was our first time attending a concert in over four years. It was definitely a memorable experience. However, the best part of the trip was the slots. That was pretty fun even though we lost a record $36 this time. The vacation was quite awesome, especially considering that it was almost completely free. I've posted some pictures from our trip on Flickr.

Currently listening to: "Dela" by Johnny Clegg