Las Vegas business trip | Nevada USA

Never in my life that I imagined myself going here for business purposes or work lol! Since I was onboard at my first ever employer, of course, this has been my first ever business trip abroad too. I was so privileged to be part of the 3-man crew sent for this trip as I did not know there was such a thing in the company (or I forgot there was). I don't even have any idea what to expect, but I effort-ly prepared for it. I practiced speaking in English for like two straight months, even in our own house for this HAHA! Not to discount the research I needed to do to cover a scope that was not originally part of my main project focus. Consciously thinking of what may happen there, whether good or the not-so-good ones.. It was a mix of the emotion of nervousness, uncertainty, and excitement building up as the date of the trip goes nearer and nearer. It will not be my first time going to Vegas since we recently visited the place a few years back before this, but going there for business purposes is a totally different ball game.

Slot machine in McCarran International Airport

Curious about what are we going to do there? Try to take a few guesses with your mind before reading on.. It will be difficult to hit, but trying won't do you any harm.

And so we flew thousands of miles to get there with the company of the airplane's entertainment system.. Man, I cannot describe how tiring it is to experience several darknesses (morning darkness and night darkness) in a single flight but it was, really. We arrived at 8:00 PM there and the sun is still up like it is 10 in the morning, so cool haha!

We even had time to take this picture initiated by our manager (haha!) while waiting for our hotel key.. 

Ze crew (Glen, Carlo and a photobomber lol)

Yes, we stayed at Excalibur hotel as per it is the most efficient location with our main goal which is to try to take the sword from King Arthur. Too bad Merlin had other plans.. (Kidding aside)

We were given a spacious room that had an awesome view. There were bibles in our drawers! I just don't know if every drawer has it or someone just left it there intentionally, but it was great to see some there. We were digging all the perks really! 

We are happy, our faces just doesn't express well haha!

A view from our hotel room

Okay, are you ready with your guesses with our task there? If you guessed that we will be gambling there, well.. it's not that you are wrong since we admittedly tried to grow each of our $20 (Carlo and me) on the casino below Excalibur.. But we were there to man the company's booth who were manufacturing portable power supplies, specially made for photographers who shoot outdoors. Well it's not limited to that purpose, but it basically allows you to bring power on location. For more information, you may visit www.innovatronix.com directly for further queries regarding their product line.

Tronix Explorer 500 Lithium

It was personally interesting for me to meet some of our clients in the flesh, whom I exchange emails with the past days to even months for some. It's like having an "eyeball" meeting or having the same concept of "blind date" but for dealing and transaction purposes haha! An experience to learn from really.

Our main exhibit is to happen in the grand conference center of the MGM Grand but we had two side exhibits before that which are on the following photos:

Professional School Photographers Association International &

Sports Photographers Association of America Annual Conferences

The Renaissance

Pre-launch of the main exhibit which is the Wedding Portrait and Photography International

Studio Room of MGM Grand

So after those twin days of warm-ups, we directly headed to battle for another 3 straight days for the main exhibit at the MGM Grand Conference Center.

Day 1

The conference center is humongous. We have to walk it off every day from our hotel room.. Our routine was to wake up early, walk outside the freezing street of Vegas, eat breakfast at McDonald's inside the center (where I discovered that iced coffee tastes great lol) and be ready for basically the whole day at the booth.

Day 2

Some of my favorite parts were doing the demo for the guests and discovering how cool our clients were! Not that I am belittling Asian English, but American and European accents are just way easier to understand and refreshing to hear haha! In the first place, they must since it's their mother tongue. They are more confident using it that is why it is louder too I guess..

We always have a different dinner each night and we very much look forward to it since we only eat twice a day as per our schedule. We always are eager for it that we don't have a single group photo eating aside from the last day. Funny!

Day 3

Ending the exhibit still with full smiles and happy clients of course! And behind those faces are excited men because of its free day tomorrow!! Man, the feeling of relief is unexplainable. We were actually successful in hitting the on-site targets that were set during the trip and some of the tasks that were given by Sir Glen - which some of them were important to be done before the exhibit ends.

One last thing that we needed to do was egressing from the site as to we can skip that part and now tackle the must-see areas in the Las Vegas strip.

So Basically the Las Vegas strip is popularly known / locally called "The Strip" because it is a single line where all the main attractions and famous sites are. If you are looking for more affordable products to shop at, go outside the strip. But if you want the Vegas experience - walk the strip first from end to end, you'll be pretty surprised how long you'll go here as you'll forget you're tired while sightseeing on all the things the area can give you.

Arc de Triomphe replica

Aside from the world-famous tourist spot replicas, you can find here, some of the must-see attractions FOR ME are the following: (Selected a few)

-In no particular order-

1. Bellagio's water fountain show - free

2. Mirage's erupting volcano show and its secret garden - free

3. Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood - free

(Find your way to the 24/7 night area)

4. Ride the roller-coaster around the New York New York hotel

5. Bungee Jump at the Stratosphere Tower

Tsinelas tayo syempre! Haha!

We journeyed a part of the strip and visited a few local shops in the morning all together before eating at a Filipino fast-food restaurant there for lunch. They said that there were many Filipinos in the area that is why they are doing great there. So cool to see some of the foreigners in there too eating our own delicacies.. In here I saw the most expensive Filipino junk foods (or "sitsirya") that cost a dollar to a dollar and a half for a single pack which normally only cost around $0.25 (dollar converted) when in our country. They explained that delivery and taxes are already included in there which explains the price.

Kapit Bahay Filipino Fast Food

After this, we agreed to just meet up at a certain place and time when we're done doing our personal shopping. Sir Glen temporarily parted from us while we (with Carlo) did our thing together. Not very long that we all saw each other again at Bellagio (I think - since a water show was going on) and walked through the strip again for the second time since its near night time.

Do make sure to experience both walking the strip on a morning and a night as they are a totally different experience.

Night at Las Vegas

This city is one of the most unique cities I have ever seen so far (both the good and the bad). The streets are full of talents, things to do, thrilling sights to see, etc. but on the other hand.. gambling, prostitution, and alcohol come with it. They are just everywhere and is literally a grab away if you want. Thinking that the whole place is in the middle of a dessert is just mind-blowing.

What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, I already broke this statement just by writing this post lol. Want to hear a piece of even better news though? After a year, I had my second out of the country exhibit experience.. and it is in the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps: New York City! Stay tuned for that post as I discover if the city really does not sleep! Going on that trip cost me something, well not monetary but it is for you to find out. I hope to see you when it gets published. See you and I hope you liked this Vegas post!