Lessons from Las Vegas
Abimbola Akosile recounts the dazzling sights and sounds of Las Vegas, a famed tourist destination tucked in the deserts of the United States
Right from the 80s when this reporter read about the exploits of mafia gangster Bugsy Seigel and his dream about a gambling city in the deserts of the United States, Las Vegas has remained a distant but alluring dream. It remained a dream until two weeks ago when a golden opportunity came his way and he spent five memorable days in the ‘Land of Gambling’.
There is no shame in admitting that this was his first trip to the United States and just his fourth outside Africa in 15 years of ‘robust’ journalism. There is even lesser shame in his admiration of the stark contrast between an organised society and a disorganised setting back home in Nigeria.
When the invitation to attend the EMC World 2015 forum tagged Redefine.Next organised by Boston-based EMC Corporation came up in February through the recommendation of an indigenous agency Xlr8, this reporter could not believe that at last, the reality of travelling to America had come. Even the visa processing and other registration processes went without a hitch to ensure a memorable journey and experience.
Come the evening of Saturday, May 2, the journey began right from the strict security and immigration checks and clearance from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja and a long flight from Lagos to Houston, Texas on the United Airlines.
Luckily, this reporter was not alone on the maiden trip to the US. There was Funke Osae-Brown, a top journalist and a veteran traveller to the US, and there were also some Energy correspondents who were heading to Houston for the OTC programme. So heading to the US in such company was reassuring to this reporter.
However, when Funke and this reporter detached from the Energy team at Houston and went through the cumbersome immigration checks in preparation for the connecting flight to the McCarran International Airport at Las Vegas, Nevada, things took a new turn.
Aside the delicious thrill of being in the US for the first time, a female airport official made a revealing comment during the baggage check-in at Houston. On sighting Funke’s empty travelling bag (in her preparation for shopping) being checked in, she exclaimed, “that’s what I am talking about! Many people take bags of money to Las Vegas, but few take empty bags. It shows you mean business and you’ll get the money outta Vegas”. The official’s comments were greeted with mirth by both Funke and this reporter.
Landing at Las Vegas airport on Sunday morning of May 3 after another long flight from Houston sent an anticipatory shiver up the spine of this tired and hungry reporter. However, the nippy weather and the short but expensive taxi ride from the airport could not dampen this reporter’s delight on arrival at the world-class The Venetian-The Palazzo double hotel, which was the venue of the EMC event.
Checking into the 5-star Palazzo hotel was a pleasure and seeing all the different races and colours converging on the ground floor of the linked hotels added glamour to the occasion. The short travel to the 22nd floor to this reporter’s room was like stepping into another world and the most luxurious hotel suite he has ever seen in his travels.
The next thing was to find some hot but affordable food while seeing some famed sights in Las Vegas. This reporter and Funke didn’t have to go too far to get the former,