Pinoy Community Pageant
From the sunny, idyllic places in the Caribbean to the cold,
scenic spots in Alaska, touring the world is perhaps one of the most notable journeys
one could ever experience. As I recall
my cruise ship experience, what made every place worth remembering was the company of fun loving friends. It’s always the company that makes
all the difference!
Indeed, you don’t have to go far or travel the world to have
fun. Two Trailway buses transported fifty, fun-loving Utahns to the little
get-away oasis in the western border of Utah called Wendover. Sponsored by the
Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble (KPE), the daytrip fundraising effort gave the rowdy
partygoers a get-away package of fun at an affordable price. For $20, attendees
had a fun bus ride that came with an all-you can-eat seafood buffet, $5 cash
back, a free drink coupon and a $5 discount at the Gift Shop.
The Bus Ride
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The two-hour ride passed by so quickly with all the madness
going on in the bus. . There’s the bingo game that was hosted by a spontaneous,
naturally funny bingo caller that engaged the playing passengers. You would
hear catchy Filipino shout outs, howling, jokes and laughter.
As the wheels on the bus go round and round, the people go...
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| Emma |
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| Emma |
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| and Emma |
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| and Emma |
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| the bus is going to go with or without you |
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| Ruffa? |
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| "my husband boiled me an egg to go ... sweet and ... catchy |
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| the bingo caller |
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| our not-so-lucky bingo card |
The Nugget Hotel and Casino Buffet
The bus finally arrived and we all were greeted by your-typical-casino
ambience: cigarette fumes,
spinning sound from slot machines … and women in revealing attires strutting
the walkway. That didn't seem to bother any of us as we all headed straight to the
eat-all-you-can buffet.
From fish, crabs to desserts, the buffet section offered an
array of selection of seafood entrees, side dishes, meat and appetizers. The
salad and dessert bar also had a decent amount of choices.
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| first thing first - dessert! |
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| The Prom King and Queen (= |
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| The Couple of the Night |
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| Thanks to Marlin for taking this picture |
The Air Supply Concert
While some stayed at the Nugget Casino to play, a great number
of attendees went to the Pepper Mill Concert Hall for the Air Supply Concert,
an Australian duo famous to pop listeners for their soft rock ballads in the
80s. Do “I’m All Out Of Love”, “Lost in Love”, “The One That You Love”
sound great to you? If so, you sure have missed the delight of feeling the
nostalgia of the 80s.
Customer Service
The experience can’t be all that perfect. We live in an
imperfect world – like in a gambling place? LOL
So … they serve crabs at the buffet. Emma, one of our
friends asked for a claw cracker from one of the servers. I understand it was
busy and perhaps they were out but the server just turned to her and said, NO.
That’s new. Like, “No, lady! You can’t have one!” He, for sure, just meant to
say, “Sorry ma’am, we are still out.” The concierge … being a resort casino, I
just expected them to be more helpful and cordial. I went to the front desk to
ask where the concert hall was. A pretty-faced young lady answered me with a rather
long face (must be a looong day) and gave me the body-check look to start with then answered my
question in a stern cadence – ATTENTION! March to that door! Hail! Just
kidding, she didn’t say that but she was not the nicest either.
Here’s the very best. So big cameras were not allowed in the
concert hall so I had to leave my camera stuff with security. That's very understandable, of course. After the concert, I got my stuff back. I took the camera out of my bag, had it ready to shoot the
autograph session. One security came to me, telling me that I could take photos
as many photos as I wanted just no video
recording. Great, I was not video recording. It was a little crowded and I
could not get a good shot of the artists. One security guy came again, tapping
my camera strap (like, hey don’t touch my stuff … good thing I was in a good
mood so no drama) and said, “Enough for you!” I said, OK and I backed away. I
still took some shots from afar, but he kept blocking me! For the love of
goodness, when everybody else was taking photos, too! As I kept doing my thing,
the other security guy came again and said with his cute accent, “Hey, your
flash is bothering the recessed lighting.” Hahahhahahahah! I had my flash
turned straight to the ceiling to bounce the light. I had to turn off my flash.
What an experience. The other security guy who was blocking me later came to us,
being friendly and all in a chit-chatty mode. I don’t mind if I can’t shoot
with my camera. They could have just said, “Ma’am sorry, we don’t allow that
kind of camera even outside the concert hall.” End. Tapos. Not like hey, you
can shoot, then come up with out-of-this-world inconsistent restrictions. That
didn’t stop me either way. SO here
they are …
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| Thanks, Ate Eds for this picture! |
LET'S DO THIS AGAIN!!!
Indeed, you don’t have to go far or travel the world to have
fun. Two Trailway buses transported fifty, fun-loving Utahns to the little
get-away oasis in the western border of Utah called Wendover. Sponsored by the
Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble (KPE), the daytrip fundraising effort gave the rowdy
partygoers a get-away package of fun at an affordable price. For $20, attendees
had a fun bus ride that came with an all-you can-eat seafood buffet, $5 cash
back, a free drink coupon and a $5 discount at the Gift Shop. 
The Bus Ride
