Gaetano's Ristorante

Last night we went to Gaetano's Ristorante, italian restaurant located on Eastern Ave. This is the first time for me to go into this restaurant. That's was more than what I expected.

Foods are really great. Service is also good. What upset me is that waiter recommended too many foods. I couldn't remember which foods is which. I told him if they had any vegetarian food. The waiter explain that the chef is quite flexible about our vegetarian request. That sounds nice.

I am really happy to know such a great italian restaurant is close to our home. I want to come again and enjoy the great foods again.

Trip to Sedona

We went to Sedona Arizona on Feb 12-15. This is the first time for us to visit here. Sedona is really impressive place. I didn't feel anything special at Vortex point, but it is certain that every Vortex point is really beautiful place.

We enjoyed hiking in many places. I didn't know how fun hiking is! Sedona made our family become hiking lover. It is very hard for me to choose the best place in Sedona, but Doe Mesa is really good place. I can't forget that spectacular view from the top of Doe Mesa. It takes just 40 minutes for our family (including 8 years daughter and 5 years old son) to climb to the top. Doe Mesa is not so famous trail, but it worths challenging!

Devil's bridge is also really great place. I didn't see the picture of Devil's Bridge in advance. I was really surprised to see that natural arts! It definitely worths trying! I must tell one thing to those who are interested in the trail. Certainly it is just 1.1 mile from the trail head to the Devil's Bridge, but it is 1.4 miles from the car parking to the trail head. First I thought the car parking is the trail head. I was really exhausted when I figure out we were going to the trail head, not Devil's Bridge yet.

This trip is a good start for our family's hiking. I really want to go to Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park for hiking. Death Valley is also good place for hiking.

Kingman

We will leave Las Vegas tomorrow afternoon to travel to Sedona this holiday weekend. Tomorrow we will stay at Kingman,which is 2 hours drive from Las Vegas. We have been to Kingman before on the way to Grand Canyon and had a dinner at the park. All I know about Kingman is one of town related to route 66.

Previous plan is to drive to Flagstaff tomorrow, but I changed my plan today because road condition on I-40 is unknown. I don't want to drive on slippery road in the dark.

Bankruptcy

Today a subsidiary of Station Casino, which operate Green Valley Casino, filed for bankruptcy. The parent company, Station Casino, already filed for bankruptcy last summer. Today's files is just a part of reorganization of Station Casino, which has no impact on day-to-day operation of Green Valley Casino.

Another news. Lehman Brothers sues a borrower of Fontainebleau project to get the part of lending money back from them.

What was the credit bubble? I still remember a blog. The blog introduce the private equity guy' s comment that all listed companies would be owned by private equity in the future.... I don't know if that guy really thought so, but the comment indicate that it was hard for even smart guy to predict what would happen tomorrow. When most of people are not aware of being in bubble, bubble economy is growing. Today nobody believe bubble economy come back again because a lot of people learn from the experience and will be smarter next, but bubble will repeat when nobody is aware of it.

UNLV Rebels Basketball

Tonight I went to UNLV basketball game. UNLV vs New Mexico.

UNLV lost this game, but I could enjoy the game very much.

The local people here is excited about college sports, which is really nice thing.

American like watching many kind of sports.

Close of Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas

Ritz-Carlton released yesterday that the hotel will be closed by May. The property owner, the arm of Deutsche Bank, decide not to keep injecting money to the property any more. The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas operation must have been losing a lot of money.

This is very sad news. The developer of Lake Las Vegas was bankrupt. The Reflection Bay Golf Course was not open to public under bankruptcy procedure. What will happen to Loews hotel next?

Last December we went to Lake Las Vegas to enjoy the ice skating there on Saturday afternoon. Just a few people were seen on the Village close to Ritz-Carlton even on Saturday. I was a little concerned about the future of Lake Las Vegas as well as the future of Las Vegas. The property owner had to make a tough decision since the economy didn't come back early.

I really feel sorry for the residence here. I understand how sad they are.

English or Japanese

I am writing blog in English at least once a day. I listen to English as much as possible. I feel my listening skill gets better than before. I want to keep working hard. I don't have enough time to write ameba blog in Japanese and watch Ohmae Live in Japanese. I want to keep doing them but I don't want that to kill my precious time.