Las Vegas

The Cosmopolitan: casino ground floor, views of the Strip and the Sphere

My first international flight left Bangalore with Vibin, Sharang, and Gokul. The transit in Frankfurt was supposed to be ninety minutes, which sounded fine until we walked into what is effectively a small city with runways attached. We were moving at tourist pace right up until we realised we had about twenty minutes to make the connection. The security queue was enormous and full of people with the same problem. A woman working the line looked at us, assessed the situation, and waved everyone with under twenty minutes to the front. We made the flight.

Las Vegas lives up to the hype if you let it. I stayed at the Cosmopolitan, which has a casino on the ground floor and a room with a view of the Strip. The Sphere was visible from the window, running its animations through the morning and night. We freshened up and immediately went back downstairs. Walked to the Bellagio Fountains. Went to Caesar's Palace specifically to see the painting behind the reception, the one I had seen in The Hangover. I stood in front of it like I was eight years old.

I bet twenty-five dollars at the casino, won twenty-five, and stopped. I consider this a complete success. Vibin and Sharang did considerably better over the trip and converted their winnings into an Apple haul on the way back. The four of us also won a competition for Gamedays, though there was enough confusion about it that we were not entirely sure it had happened until we were recognised on the final day. The trip was our company Confluent's annual Sales Kickoff. The GKO party at the Chelsea was the best company event I have been to. I danced for two and a half hours without stopping.

The secret pizza place in the Cosmopolitan has no sign. You find it or you don't. We found it, got a full pie, and it was exactly what it needed to be. The Lower Antelope Canyon tour left before dawn. The canyon looks like something designed for a computer wallpaper. Walking through it, light falls in shafts through narrow red walls and the whole place is completely quiet. One of the best things I have done.

Late one night, Vibin and I made a poor decision at the blackjack table. We did not feel anything for a while and then both understood simultaneously what had happened. Vibin had been losing and I had been telling him not to hit anyway. We got off the table. Hungry, I found a Shake Shack inside the New York New York hotel. We walked there, passed a McDonald's on the way, had a burger each, kept walking, and had another burger each at Shake Shack. I asked the waiter for a menu and she pointed at the wall. The machine asked for a tip. I pressed no. The burger was good. We walked back.