An Atlantic City Night

Map is not a territory

2004-07-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER : This article is NOT to be taken as a definitive travel guide to Atlantic City. I will not be responsible if you face any of these situations in the City Streets.

a) Get lost
b) Kidnapped
c) Emotionally assaulted
d) All of the above

This is just meant to be a lousy piece of writing to bore you to death. Meet your lawyer and your relatives before you begin.

And if you have enough balls to reach this far...

Shall we?

... the end of Prologue.

2004-07-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

No funny business... OK ?

Gearing up...

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At last... we were out of the apartment. 4:30PM, 10th of July.

The train from Strafford was scheduled at 4:42PM.

Suddenly I had a gut feeling that we might miss the train. The next train was at an interval of one hour.

I looked at my wristwatch. 4:40PM. I felt a gush of adrelanine and all three of us gave it a last try.

We were still gasping for breath when we secured a three seater in the train heading for Philadelphia City Center.

Wow ... what a start.

The journey to the center of Casino City

2004-07-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

From Philadelphia, we boarded NJ Transit at 5:38PM.

One and half hours ... and we were in Atlantic City Convention Center.

Then a shuttle bus took us into the heart of the City... FREE.

The reason why it was free became clear only later.

At 7:10PM we were enjoying the beach...

Did I say beach?

2004-07-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

The (so-called) Beach

The beach - Sarcasm inbuilt

2004-07-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

Wait... there must be some misunderstanding.

I should change the title.

On second thought, lets keep it.

It was a beach, no doubt... but there was something missing.

Waves? Volleyball? Bikinis?

Uh.

All.

Lets move on...

2004-07-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Arunabhada and truly yours.

2004-07-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Surya and ME (I know the snap will be dig queer eyes...)

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The Call of Casino City - from beach

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The start of nightlife

The Boardwalk - walking on wood

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The title say it all.

Let me illustrate a bit for the dumbos (I don't remember from where I picked up the word... but its pretty cool).

All the Casinos, shops, bars are lined up on the side of road which is made of wooden planks. The other side being places to sit, bars and beach parties.

The boardwalk went straight for 2-3 miles.

Strangely enough there were some people driven rides... quite amazing in States.

There was an overwhelming number of psychic shops besides the boardwalk. Palm reading, tarot cards, crystal reading...

Jewelery shops are also TOO common. But they are mainly meant to exchange gold for money.

Casinos are calling on us... a total of 13 Casinos with fancy names - Hilton, Trump, Caesars, Tropicana, Day's Inn to name a few.

2004-07-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah baby ... the beach party

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Warming up session - besides boardwalk

Quenching desire - pushed to the limit

2004-07-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh... my favourite part of the whole storyline.

The Climax.

After walking 4-5 miles up and down the boardwalk, I had to confess it at 11PM.

I was hungry.

We hunted a "Burger King" and raided it. $20 was the bill for three of us.

Crisp chicken burger, french fries.

Coke Unlimited.

With tanks full we were back to life and action.

This was the right time for invading the Casinos really deep.

Onward.

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King size... Inside "Burger King"

We are out ... I mean in

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The Caesars - Quite enigmatic

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Ready to ride ...

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Trump - A FULL view

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Trump - The entrance. (Wait ... I can explain)

The Casino City - Sona with Mona

2004-07-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

People don't LIVE in Atlantic City... they GAMBLE.

24 by 7.

Billions of dollars are transacted per day.

Truly FASCINATING.

Of course the main "bhai"s enter the scene late at night when the slot machines are loaded with $$$.

ATMs, banks, cheque encashing all IN SITU... what more can you expect?

To drench the last bit of blood from you.

Poker and Roulette ( and other stuff quite alien to me) were over-crowded. Nothing seem to bother the highly enthusiastic gamblers with bunch of papers with pictures of expressionless Lincoln staring and secretly smiling.

I joined the crowd.

It was TRUMP Casino. One of the largest casinos standing on the ground of Atlantic City. The whole area can put a football ground to shame. With perfectly dressed sexy waitresses (taking snap inside casino was not permitted... Don't blame me) carrying bottles of wine and coke from table to table ... the atmosphere was quite enticing. A typical smell of cash mixed with good wine and a punch of french perfume filled the air. The disease was already spread in the air.

I chose a relatively less crowded place and settled down. I won't lie. I was a bit overwhelmed. I inserted $5 into the slot machine. Pressed a button on which the big letters "MAX BET" was backlit. Rotated the slot.

POW !!!

I lost $5. It was cool.

I felt that tingling sensation just below my stomach. Another $5 came out from my pocket. I was possessed.

I played for half an hour... after lots of swings I managed to get $7.15 and there goes again... again a strange feeling. It was crystal clear.

No doubt, gambling has swept the world. People are obsessive about it. The huge emotion swing that it causes are enough to make people addicted to it.

I mean to the emotion and NOT to gambling.

A whole lot of ideas just brushed off my head... it was already 3AM in the night. Although there was not a SINGLE evidence except my wristwatch.

Next destination was CAESARS. Now no amount of alcohol/waitresses/lighting was attractive to me. I could feel the urge. I have become a drug addict. The drug was gambling...

It was really difficult to come out without playing a single bait. Nevertheless, I was forgetting that I have been sent by TCS.

It was over.

ALMOST.

4:00 AM - We are heading for the Train Station.

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Bally's - Yet Another Casino

Back to the pavillion

2004-07-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

We could hardly pull our legs when we reached the Convention Center. The train was at 4:35AM. Got the tickets from automatic ticket vending machine and waited for the train in a trance.

Don't remember much after I boarded the train. I was already in the world of Snow white and 'N' dwarfs.

It was 6:00AM when we reached Philly.

We still had to make another half an hour to our apartment...

The countdown has begun...

The beginning ...

2004-07-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

I hate to end things.

Specially when they have actually ended.

But keep your eyes open. More killer stuff is on the way.

Take care.