June 5, 2007. It was a Tuesday. A day after we visited Universal Studios, we drove to Las Vegas, Nevada. From Santa Monica and the Los Angeles area of Southern California, we were on the road for a couple of hours through the vast inland desert.

Halfway through, we dropped by an outlet store in what seemed like in the middle of nowhere in the town of Barstow. The place was semi-deserted, and it felt like there was a mild sand storm what with the strength of the wind that was blowing that time.

We arrived in Las Vegas a little before 8 in the evening. We checked in at Paris Hotel then walked outside for a bit. We went to have dinner with my mom’s friend who lived in Las Vegas. We ate at Todai, a Japanese buffet restaurant in Mile High below Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino.

When I think of Vegas, I think of strippers and gambling and all that so I didn’t feel quite comfortable being with my parents in Vegas.