"So, just what do you want to see while you're in America?"  Dangerous question to ask my Kiwi friend, for minutes later, we had last-minute flights and hotel rooms reserved in Vegas.  Ugh.

If I have never mentioned it before, let me share this very important advice:  Never, and I mean never, try to keep up drinking with a Kiwi or an Aussie.  You will lose. 

We set our plans and agreed to meet at our hotel - New York New York  I arrived at 10:30p in Vegas (which is late everywhere else in the world except here), and our plan was to hook up at the piano bar at the casino's "Times Square".  Quick taxi to the hotel, an even quicker check-in process, and a run to drop off bags to my room.  Having arrived several hours earlier, Kiwi was quite a few drinks ahead of me, which made me feel confident that his head-start would make things easier.  It didn't.

Late night dinner was a slice of New York style pizza with, you guessed it, loads of beer.  Free entry tickets to the club Rok - a couple drinks.  Free entry to Coyote Ugly for a few drinks.  Paid entry to Studio 54 - a few more drinks.  The Bar at Times Square - yup, more  drinks.  Foggy memories of meeting nice folks from Canada and Australia.  Good stories.  Good laughs.  FInally, Good Night. I caved at around 3:00a, and plans were laid to meet for breakfast at 9:30a.

I had just enough sense to set my alarm for 9:00a before melting into bed. 
Loud alarm.  Big headache.  Big mistake.

I made it to the casino floor by 9:30a, but no sign of Kiwi.  Twenty minutes of seriously painful waiting with an unfortunate combination of raging headache, billowing cigarette smoke, and what seemed to be crazy-loud slot machines.  Giving up, I returned to bed and just waited for the inevitable phone call.  It came at 10:30a.  We met for a coffee and pastry at Il Fornaio bakery.  Come to find out Kiwi didn't make it back until 6:00a.  Had I tried to keep up with him, I may have been declared legally dead.  Coffee tasted OK, but I had to pace myself.  One small bite of scone made last night's pizza and beer want to make an emergency evacuation.  Wrapping it up, I placed it in my pocket with plans to eat it after I stopped wishing death upon myself.  Kiwi was hurting, but he ate heartily and laughed at last night's escapades.

Wanting to see a bit of neighboring Vegas, Kiwi pushed me to join him on a walk.  The beauty of casinos is that you never really know what time of day it is while inside, as there are no windows.  Just outside of the casino was brilliant blue skies, bright sunshine, and a beautiful warm day.  Made me want to vomit.

"Why is the sun so damned bright?"  Stupid sun.  Stupid beer.  Stupid Vegas.  We walked into the local CVS for emergency Advil supplies.  Kiwi nearly lost his scone walking into the store, and, rushing outside, he decided that fresh air was his best friend.  We later found a table and two chairs in front of the new City Center development, a massive set of high-rise buildings.  Fresh air.  People watching.  Nursing my now-cold coffee.  Cussing out the sun.

We returned to NY NY and made our best purchase of the day - a few Gatorades from the convenience store.  A combination of electrolytes and down-time provided the confidence we needed to consider eating.  The good news was that the Dim Sum was quite tasty.  The great news was that it stayed down.  Kiwi needed a nap, and I needed to answer loads of emails.  Lets meet up at the piano bar in a couple hours and we'll try this again.  Oh no . . .

Its amazing how much better you feel after a good, long, hot shower.  I was actually looking forward to a beer.  A few beers in, we decided we wanted to see the 'old' Vegas, and hopped in a taxi.  Our Eastern European taxi driver took a shine to Kiwi, as does seemingly everyone who meets him.  Kiwi does tend to draw a crowd.

The 'older' casinos of Vegas are fascinating.  Now, this is the place to find a deal.  MUCH less expensive drinks and restaurants, but still some nice sites.  The Fremont Street experience is great.  Old-time casinos, with bright lights and low ceilings.  Open air concerts by good cover bands.  Kiwi loved this area, and got a kick out of the whole scene.  A good dinner was followed by a few drinks, which were followed by a few drinks, and then . . . a few more drinks.  Amazing people watching. And I mean amazing! An absolute freak show.

Taxi back to NY NY and the piano bar.  Lesson learned. I can now nurse a beer and make it appear as though I'm keeping up, despite several cries from Kiwi for me to 'harden up' and have some more drinks.

A 2:00a I was done.  A quick Good Night and I was gone. 

Since I behaved, I felt much better at breakfast the next morning, and actually enjoyed eating.  Kiwi, as he tends to do, stayed out a little too late again, and didn't enjoy breakfast nearly as much as I did.  Advil. Gatorade. Taxi to the airport.  Kiwi proclaiming, "I love this city".  Let's have a beer!