Las Vegas - Bucket List Speedrun, AYCE Sushi, and VR Craziness

As a a reward for finally getting my third week of vacation, I decided that this year we should start off with a bang in "the city that the mob made."

First Picture in Vegas

The night we landed we kicked off the trip with a bang by going to my first Cirque du Soleil performance. I would definitely recommend the Mystère performance, which is the original of the 7 Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas. Seeing all the acrobats climb up everything, soar through the air, and perform feats that strain plausibility was a truly magical experience.

Mystère by Cirque du soleil

The icing on the cake was having the show end with a big snail. Caiqian's unofficial spirit creature.

Bucket List Speedrun - 3 items in 1 hour

From my perspective one of the main appeals of Las Vegas was that I could cross-off some of my, let's say, "glitzy" bucket list items without being judged since "anything goes in Vegas." So I decided I would cross off wearing a white suit, taking a limo ride, and taking a helicopter ride in one fell swoop.

Wearing a white suit is something I've been waiting to do for at least 7 years, as seen in this old blog post (control-f "white suit")

http://bryanineurope.blogspot.com/2011/05/venice-who-needs-roads-when-youve-got.html
Part of the hold up was that I didn't want to spend lots of $$$$, and these ensembles can cost hundreds or thousands dollars. So over the years I collected the white shoes, belt, tie, and suit whenever it was found at a decent price, hoping for the day when it would all come together.

... and the photos below were the first time I wore the whole ensemble! Overall it cost less than $200. We also bundled the limo and helicopter ride saving lots of money (thanks groupon), making this the cheapest possible way to kill these extravagant bucket list items.

Photo Op before the night on the town

After getting my suit on, Caiqian and I strutted down to our limousine which drove us to our waiting helicopter. I'd never been inside a limo before so I was surprised that there was a TV playing hip music videos, a laser machine, and changing color bulbs (and no seat belts). I get the concept now - a limo can "keep the party going" (after leaving a club I imagine).

Limo service to and from Helicopter

Caiqian and I were then dropped off at our helicopter, which took us in the air to look down at the strip.

Helicopter Ride

The flight was around 10 minutes which was perfect to make sure Caiqian wouldn't get motion sick. I found the whole experience very similar to flying my FPV drone, the helicopter feels very similar to a drone (versus a plane for instance). Not surprising in retrospect, but it was an interesting realization at the time.

Best Virtual Reality Experience Ever

Just as memorable as my triple-bucket-list kill was a venue that I just happened to stumble upon in our hotel magazine. There's a company, Zero Latency, which is on the forefront of VR technology. And they offered an opportunity to play a video game where you can walk freely around a room while shooting robots with a virtual gun using a 1:1 physical prop.

I was amazed when we put out googles on, that the gun in real life translated perfectly 1:1 with the gun in the virtual world. I can't praise the programmers enough for completely matching the guns's position in the game and real life. Additionally whenever I took a step my avatar did the same, and even matched actions like crouching. We also talked with each other using our headsets, which helped you forget we were in a room smaller than the vastness of the videogame.

"Singularity" VR experience at Zero Latency (several images courtesy of uploadvr.com link)

I was worried Caiqian would get motion sick, but fortunately the 30 minute experience didn't get to her (which really speaks to how well the technology worked, any kind of lag would have had us barfing). The simulation we purchased was called "Singularity" where we fought off robots, walked up walls(picture above), took elevators, split up with our teammates, and ended up fighting a massive final boss robot.

Of all the activities in Vegas, I think this was the one Caiqian and I talked most about after the experience, that's how impressed and enthused we were (it helped that I, "WhiteTie" got 1st place and "Cai" didn't get last in our group). When the technology gets cheaper, lighter, and wireless I have no doubt that it will become widespread.

Other Activities

One less successful attempt at crossing off a bucket list item was wall trampolining. Let's just say that trying to teach myself in an hour didn't work, and next time I'll spring the extra money to have a trainer show me how to walk and flip off walls while trampolining. This one I've decided I can't cross off yet.

Wall Trampoline Facilities at Xplozone

If I was asked what's the best free activity in Vegas, my answer without hesitation would be watching the Bellagio Fountains.

Caiqian loves the Bellagio Fountains at night

Of the many shows we watched, Caiqian's favorite was "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars.

As some of you may know, Caiqian has an interest in glass blowing/fusing/etcetera, so we were quite happy when we stumbled accidently into a large Chihuly (a glass artist Caiqian knows) exhibit in the Bellagio lobby.

Massive Chihuly Glass display in Bellagio Lobby

Also in the Bellagio is the world's largest chocolate fountain, although the day we went no chocolate was flowing :\

Dysfunctional world's largest chocolate fountain at the Bellagio

Speaking of chocolate, that brings me to one of the best part of Las Vegas...

The Food

There were a lot of restaurants that we visited in Las Vegas. One that I've been curious about for a while is Momofuku, mostly because I know about the one in New York. Now the reason why I've wanted to go to Momofuku is because Grummy in my family also goes by "momoh" so the restaurant name is particularly funny, as Grummy has pointed out previously.

The first thing I noticed about Momofuku was that they offer yuzu lemonade, and I bought a glass since I can't taste yuzu when it's used in dishes (allowing me to ingest large quantities of the sour citrus flavor). However, I am pleased to say I sould faintly taste the yuzu in the yuzu juice, so I'm not completely blind to the flavor!

Yuzu juice, pork belly/shiitake/shrimp buns, and  pork ramen at Momofuku

I'm happy to say Momofuku, in addition to having a funny name, had my new favorite ramen (it had a deliciously rich, roasted, pulled pork type of broth) although I know Caiqian still thinks that Ramen Tatsuya's in Austin is still #1.

Another instant hit was our first Gordon Ramsay restaurant, Gordon Ramsay Fish and Chips. It focuses almost exclusively on fish and chips and drinks (we got a sticky toffee pudding shake). The chips (fries) were very good, but the fish was the most amazing fried fish I've ever tasted. juicy, hot white fish covered in a crispy, thin, almost crunchy golden brown crust that was perfectly seasoned. Accompanying the dish was tartar sauce and a new sauce, mango & curry, that I'll have to make in my kitchen one day.

Gordon Ramsay Fish and Chips (w/ Curry & Mango and tartar sauces) and a Sticky Toffee Pudding Shake

After the blow-out success at Gordon Ramsay Fish and Chips, we had to go to Hell's Kitchen, a restaurant which featured Gordon's famous lobster risotto and Beef Wellington (both dishes mentioned often on his shows).

Lobster Risotto, Beef Wellington, and  Sticky Toffee pudding with Speculoos ice cream at Hell's Kitchen

The Wellington was very good, but I wasn't blown away. The dish was made excellently, with excellent ingredients, but it did not surprise me, if you can imagine what a tender steak wrapped in crispy puffed pastry tasted like, that's kinda what it tasted like to me. Risotto was great (lobster top notch juicy and tender) and the dessert was very rich (so we were happy to split).

At our next restaurant, Bruxie, Caiqian and I discovered our newfound love for belgian waffles. Belgian waffles are not doughy or floury, instead they are super crispy on the outside, thin, and very "airy"or bubbly on the inside. Due to the combination of food quality and reasonable price, we went here three times to eat their chicken waffle sandwiches and the incredible creme brulee waffle (with strawberries). 

Chicken Sandwich and Creme Brulee Waffle at Bruxie

Eggslut was a restaurant we had a lot of hype for, and always had a huge line, but we were just OK with the food. If it taught us anything, it reinforced that I should try my hand at sous vide eggs since their main money-maker is sous-vide egg over potato puree in a glass jar.

Sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich and "slut"  with crostinis at Eggslut

I've saved the best Vegas food discovery for last.

When I was researching what food is unique in Vegas, I learned about AYCE (all you can eat) sushi. AYCE sushi is not just buffet sushi, this is real, quality nigiri and sushi rolls, except it's all you can eat for ~$20-$27 per person.

Caiqian and I loaded up on sea urchin (uni), salmon, fatty salmon belly, eel (unagi), sweet shrimp, giant clam, scallop, and many more pieces of sushi that would have easy been ~$100 per person in Houston but somehow was so cheap here.

The AYCE even included  bbq beef (galbi), mussels, oysters, and dessert.
As you can imagine we went to two restaurants for AYCE sushi. Below is our favorite, from Sushi Way.

Amazing ACYE Nigiri Sushi from Sushi Way

Our second destination was a local favorite, Yama sushi, which we wouldn't recommend based off the nigiri, but had very good rolls (which is why we think multiple locals recommended it).

OK nigiri (notable quail egg nigiri) and good rolls at Yama Sushi

If you are in Vegas please do yourself a favor and go to Sushi Way. 

So that was our food experience in Vegas. My main takeaways (to improve my home cooking) are:

1. Make belgian waffles (Bruxie)
2. Make mango & curry dipping sauce (Gordon Ramsay)
3. Learn how to sous vide eggs (Eggslut and Momofuku ramen)

But I know there's one last thing you are curious about for our trip, since we were in Vegas after all...

Winning at the Slots

So at our hotel, Tropicana, if you sign up for a "casino card" they will load it with $10 of credit. You can't cash the $10 out directly, but you can use it to gamble and any cash winnings you do get to keep. So Caiqian and I walked around and found the "best" penny machine and I watched Caiqian press the 1¢ button 1000 times until the entire $10 of credit was used up. 

Watching Caiqian pressing one button 1000 times has never been so much fun.

Watching us play the slots was fun, and Caiqian did begin to understand the thrill, like when she got a full screen of the best symbol, paying out 50¢

50x multiplier for this payout!

Another great benefit of staying in one spot is we eventually attracted a waitress who offered us free drinks. This is a smart tactic because when we asked for a drink the waitress left to get our drinks, which in theory could compel us to keep gambling, giving the House more money. I think we came out ahead though, since it was free and we got to drink three free mimosas and a coffee while playing.

We played slots for so long that we started getting free coffee and mimosas from the waitstaff

Eventually we used up all the credit, and turned the $10 of credit into $9 of cold, hard US currency.

Successfully turned 10 imaginary dollars into 9 real dollars!

We did lose $5 on other machines before learning about the $10 credit trick, BUT overall we net $4 at the casinos. So yes, we did win in Vegas...

And that's it for this trip. Thank you to all who read our long post all the way to the bottom. I don't know where or even when my next trip will be now that my work is about to ramp up. In fact, I just learned today that I officially have a new manager, symbolizing that we are entering a new phase of startup. Until next time!

Bryan, Texas?!? Longhorn spy at the Aggie Bonfire

This will be a pretty short post. On my bucket list I've always wanted to see a bonfire in the flesh, to feel the intense heat of a flame larger than myself. When I looked it up however there were very few places in the whole world that had such bonfires. So you can imagine my  surprise when I learned that there was going to be a bonfire a few hours away from me, in a city of my own name, Bryan, Texas.

Turns out the Bonfire represented the A&M "burning hate" of UT, which would make this trip extra exciting since I was a UT Longhorn. I was able to make the trip useful as well, since my Uncle flew in for Thanksgiving and someone had to pick up my brother from A&M. This was practically on the way!

Bonfire before the burn

We arrived about an hour before the actual burn. However, the whole event was a bit of a festival so we passed the time by visiting the surrounding tents. We got particular enjoyment out of the funnel cake tent where the lady had clearly woken up on the wrong side of the bed and bossed Nick around into waiting in a particular place and not moving a muscle until he received his funnel cake.

Nearby tents

Soon enough our wait was over, and what followed was glorious.

The Bonfire!

Aggies had built several fires in the past, and my Uncle reminisced about back in the day when the pile was almost twice as high, before when the bonfire was school sponsored. However in Novermber of 1999 there was a terrible accident where 12 Aggies died in a terrible accident while the bonfire structure collapsed. Afterward the Bonfire was halted until 2003 when a new volunteer student body resumed construction with a safer design.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole night was the tradition of somewhat UT-hate-fueled chants and group swaying that accompanied the bonfire. Made me feel like even more of a spy.

Hidden Longhorn hand guesture, Hook 'em!!

I'm fortunate that there were folks passionate for the bonfire that it was re-instated. Most items on my bucket list fall under this category - awesome, somewhat dangerous things that I feel like might not exist 100 years from now. For example, in my next post I will be showing off another dangerous bucket list item - get ready to hear about my trip to Munich! 

Chicago: Three Michelin Star Restaurant Alinea, Friends, and Food

After our experience at Benu Caiqian and I had an itching to go to another three star Michelin Restaurant. After some research Caiqian and I set our sights on Alinea (pronounced uh-lin-aye-uh, not ow-lyn-ee-uh), the poster child of Molecular Gastronomy. After months of trying and failing to get a reservation Caiqian and I snagged a couple of 9:30pm seats at Alinea's coveted Gallery, which only seats 16 people at a time (there are other seats which bring Alinea's total seating to 64, but we wanted the prime Gallery experience).

BEFORE CONTINUING, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS SO IF YOU HAVE ANY INTENTION TO GO TO ALINEA PLEASE DO NOT READ AHEAD, A LOT OF THE RESTAURANT'S MAGIC IS IN THE SURPRISES IN ADDITION TO THE FOOD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The night began with us showing up 15 minutes early and waiting in the front hallway. We were told to not peek in the dining room, which was behind a large and heavy looking swinging door. At the time I wondered why we weren't allowed to look.

In the entrance hall (no peeking in the dining room allowed)

Walking into the gallery the first thing we notice is a giant table that sat all 16 folks participating in the Gallery that night. As we walked up to the table we heard crunching underneath our feet. Image our surprise when we looked down and found the floor completely covered in a deep layer of autumn leaves! This was the beginning of a night that was going to be full of sensory surprises.

A giant communal table with the ground covered in crunchy leaves!

As in any restaurant, we received our menu. To our surprise though, our menu was more of a game than a preview of what's to come. There were 21 courses, each with their own title, and therefore 21 words. Can you find any of them?

Tonight's Menu

Our first course was "Communal" (hint, look at the "C" in the top left of the menu and look down) which was a visual spectacle as the waitstaff brought out all the plates and lifted the glass domes, releasing the smoke trapped inside. I really liked the Osetra caviar which wasn't overly salty.

Communal | Parsnip,  Osetra,  Lemon, White Pepper, Smoke

After our first course we were invited to visit the kitchen. Imagine us, walking around a 3 Michelin star kitchen!

Deep in the Alinea Kitchen :)

The kitchen was clean, with well labeled containers and previews of meals to come.

Purple Spaghetti??? NOPE!

In the kitchen a chef introduced an old-timey cocktail shaker and treated us to a pomegranate cocktail and cake of some sort which reminded me of the inside of an airy french baguette, except sweet like a cake.

Shaker |  Pomegranate
Cake | Black Walnut, Mace

After the kitchen tour the diners returned with Caiqian and I in the back of the line. When we got back to our room, the giant communal table was gone, replaced with individual tables. Perhaps most shocking was that all the leaves on the floor had disappeared. Caiqian froze in place and put her hands to her face when she saw the transformation.

Caiqian in SHOCK from the magically changed room

At our new private two person table, we were served our next course which consisted of a dehydrated sheet that they rehydrated with broth.

Paper | Langoustine, Bouillabaisse, Olive Oil 

To accompany the broth and giant noodle we had small rolls that gave a satisfying crunch when bitten into, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Crunch | Rouille, Nori

Next up was probably my favorite dish of the night, which was also the only one not in the crossword menu (so I made up a name). It was amazingly tender squid, poached in butter and surrounded by a savory, rich butter sauce of some sort. Accompanying it was a pitch black smooth paste of black garlic and squid ink which was fun to eat.

Squid |  Black Garlic, Squid Ink, Allium Flowers

Along with the squid the waitstaff gave us a plate of black rocks. We were then given the task of finding the two edible black rocks amongst the plate of literal (inedible) rocks. I'll leave it to you to guess which were food.

Ink |  Olive, Artichoke

Next was our "salad" dish, which consisted of delicious heirloom tomatoes and a side of microgastronomy frozen lemon spheres.

Garden | Orange, Sherry, Tomato

Next was a fun play on cheese sandwiches. These were inverse sandwiches, with crispy cheese "bread" holding a "baguette cream" which was smooth and was packed with the essence of a delicious french baguette .

Bocadillo | Manchego, Jamon

Almost as an intermission of sorts, we had an olfactory delight as our waitstaff poured a mysterious liquid over our giant bowl of oranges, releasing a explosion of amazing citrus scents (which Caiqian inhaled deeply).

Wonderful Citrus Liquid Nitrogen

Next up we had a mysterious bowl placed on our table which was very hot and full of salt. Soon we learned it's purpose once it was set alight. I guess it wasn't just salt.

Tableside fire before turning off the lights

After the fire was lit the lights were turned off and we ate a delicious fish-buried-in-fish-foam dish by fireside. The experience brought my mind back to over a decade ago when I ate by campfire in the boy scouts. It was a fond memory that I hadn't thought about in years. Dad, if you're reading this, we need to go camping together!

Brook | Michigan Brook Trout, Roe, Apple, Watercress

Next the waitstaff brought a bowl of ice which must have been illuminated underneath by a bright white-blue light, which felt like it came straight out of Lord of the Rings. It was visually stunning being in the dark with a red hot flame on one side of our table and this cold blue ice bowl on the other side. In the ice bowl were two spheres of citrus liquid barely contained in a thin, hard shell with the flavor and texture of frozen yogurt .

A Meal of Ice and Fire

Soon the lights were turned on and our fire was extinguished, the fire bowl was covered with rosemary stalks, two of which featured speared cubes of Hamachi. Ah, now we know what the fire blow was really for! The smell of smoking rosemary stalks was really wonderful and perfectly accompanied the fish.

Steam | Hamachi, Rosemary, Kombu

Next was a blueberry dish, which was nice. The most intriguing part were the other ingredients, mushrooms and tea, which you think wouldn't go with mushrooms but all the ingredients combined to give a single, cohesive flavor.

Fungi | Blueberry, Lapsang Souchong, Maitake

Right when we thought the waitstaff were going to take away the extinguished fire bowl, we were shocked to learn that it wasn't only for smoking rosemary. That's right, in addition to providing ambiance and smoking fish, there was a potato underneath the whole time!

Surprise potato and  tableside prep by (unknown to us) head chef  Grant Achatz (pronounced A-kitz, as in “Packets")

At the time we didn't know who was preparing our dish, but it turns out it was the head Chef, Grant Achatz! He sometimes isn't even at this restaurant since he owns several, but tonight he was here, and directly serving us. The worst part is, we had no idea, but when we asked him about the truffles being used in our fancy potato salad, he said with confidence that the truffles were particularly nice at this time.

Next time we go to a restaurant of this caliber Caiqian said she will do her research beforehand so this doesn't happen again. I'd like to think Grant enjoyed the anonymity, and I might be superstitious but I feel like this kind of situation would only happen when it's a total surprise.

The potato salad with dairy and truffles were to die for. So good!

Spud | Truffle, Midwest Dairy

For our last savory dish Caiqian and I enjoyed veal cheek with pineapple, hearts of palm, and black garlic pairings. It was accompanied by a dressed romaine leaf served on a lime.

Cheek | Veal Cheek,  Pineapple, Hearts of Palm

By this point we were looking over our shoulder trying to anticipate what the next surprise would be. That's when the waitstaff gave each table a bottle of Alinea vanilla beans, which we had noticed in the kitchen earlier.

Vanilla?

These jars, as it turned out, did not have vanilla. But it did LOOK and SMELL like vanilla. However, they really contained tender beef jerky. Magic.

Bean | Tenderloin, Spices

Dessert came over several courses. First was a bowl (in a bowl, in another bowl) of rocks, which were actually all edible delectables of various flavors.

Rock | Sweet Potato, Chocolate, Miso

We were then treated to the smallest slice of transparent pumpkin pie. Hooray for halloween.

Invisible | Pate Brisee,  Pumpkin

Along with the pumpkin pie came another throwback to boyscouts, a marshmallow, with chocolate inside, on a stick.

Campfire | Dark Chocolate, Birch, Marshmallow

Next up was a real treat, an icon of the Alinea restaurant from before it got its Michelin stars. The famous  helium balloon, completely edible from the balloon to the string. It was surreal having our waiters hand us our respective grape-flavored balloons (remember the purple spaghetti from before, that was the string!)

Balloon |  Helium, Grape

We were advised to bring the balloon down to face level and inhale the helium. If you want to see Caiqian inhale the helium and say some words, click the video below :)

For our last dessert of the night, I was asked to sit next to Caiqian. By this point we felt like Alinea veterans and were ready for some kind of surprise. However, even with our experience of continual surprises we didn't anticipate the waitstaff pulling out ladders and taking the PAINTINGS THAT HAD BEEN DECORATING THE CEILING THE WHOLE NIGHT down. Turns out the local artist paintings doubled as gigantic plates for Alinea's finale.

As the lights dimmed down and the music cranked up we knew the chefs were about to put on a real show...

Paint | White Chocolate, Grapefruit, Coffee

Above are the before and after shots of the making of our dessert. If you would like to see how a series of chefs created the final product in front of our eyes feel free to click the video below.

And with that, our experience was concluded. As an afterward Caiqian and I drank coffee and tea respectively along with some edible golden nuggets as a parting finger food.

Nugget | Sesame, Brown Butter, Gold

Lastly we were handed the solution sheet to accompany the menu.

Our menu, solved

What an experience!

In addition to Alinea, we saw our friend Matt and his friend Rachel. We went to a Nutella Cafe, Lego Store, WildBerry Pancakes and Cafe, Eataly, and Molly's Cupcakes. I learned it's better to make good, plain pancakes and then put on good toppings instead of cooking ingredients in the pancake. We also learned cupcakes are better when the core is removed and replaced with delicious stuff like creme brulee creme.

Whelp, that was Chicago. Who know's what the next post will be about??