A Day’s Tour of BGO Casino

Today, our meandering footprints will lead us to the inside of the newest casino in town: BGO Casino. My friends and I have been on the BGO Casino cruise tour on several occasions. It is a mobile casino located inside a big ferry boat. But unlike other cruise-based casinos, BGO Casino was not targeted exclusively to the upper class. There are several cruise tours made especially for those on a somewhat tighter budget, as the casino prides itself on being accessible to as many people of different walks of life as possible. The affordable cruises has proven to be quite popular, spanning a host of imitators.

Due mainly to the popularity of the aforementioned cruise tours, BGO Casino has embarked upon a more terrestrial venture: now, the casino has a local branch in town! No longer did you have to free up your schedule or weed through long lines and waiting lists to reserve a ticket. Now, you can visit the world’s most popular casino at your convenience.

BGO Casino is much like any other casino, but with a touch of class added for good measure. Digital slot machines have become popular in recent years, and the casino has decided to emulate these, featuring popular games such as Slots of Gold, Fishin’ Frenzy, and Eye of Horus.

Another unique feature of BGO Casino is the Free Spins from Paris Campaign, headlined and promoted by none-other than popular celebrity and socialite Paris Hilton. Upon making your first deposit, you can earn up to 100 free spins—and who knows, you might just get lucky enough to meet Ms. Hilton on the premises.

BGO Casino also offers lottery services onsite such as Bingo and Keno.For people out of town who are on extended vacations, BGO Casino also offers onsite accommodation. The casino itself is located on the ground floor, and various shops and restaurants are available on higher floors.

Playing with my friends at the terrestrial branch of BGO Casino is every bit as rewarding as playing on one of their cruise tours were, and since we lived nearby, we could visit the casino whenever we were free from work or from classes. Since some of us were taking up their Masters’ degree, the convenient location of the casino provides a welcome distraction from the everyday drudgeries of constant, specialized study.

But we didn’t just go to BGO Casino to play every time. Sometimes, we met up at the casino’s bar and enjoyed downing a pint or two. The casino’s bar touts itself as one of the most expansive and inclusive bars in business today. Drinks range from the usual beer, wine, brandy, rhum, and whiskey. However, they also had more exotic drinks being served, such as the Japanese Sake and Shochu, the Korean Soju, and even the Philippine Basi, Bugnay, and Lambanog.

To those who haven’t yet visited the casino: what are you waiting for? BGO Casino offers one of the most inclusive and diverse experiences I have ever encounter in my years of casino touring.

 

Bedside Reading Part One: Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin Series

Welcome to the first edition of bedside reading, featuring the books I like to read before going to bed.

Ever since I developed a love for reading books back in high school, I was never without a book by my bedside, something to read before going to sleep. Or, if I was having trouble sleeping, something to read to get me sleepy. However, this didn’t mean that the books I chose for bedside reading were boring books to put you to sleep. Mostly these books were enough of an entertaining read, works that gave your brain a light enough exercise, but not so much of an exercise that it jolted you awake instead. At times like this, I turned to genre fiction, such as Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series of urban fantasy novels.

The Spider is a name given to Gin Blanco, a knife-using assassin who possesses stone and ice elemental magic, and the main character in the series. My memory of past books is a bit hazy, as it’s been a few years since I last read them. The story begins when Gin discovers that her mentor and adoptive father, Pork Pit Restaurant owner Fletcher Lane (AKA the assassin Tin Man), is murdered. She finds out who kills her mentor and tracks him down. Along for the ride is Finnegan Lane, Fletcher’s banker son who inherited his skill in gun usage.

But Gin Blanco’s main mission is to kill her arch-nemesis Mab Monroe, the Ashland underworld boss who murdered Gin’s mother and sisters, and whom she feels is ultimately responsible for Fletcher’s death. Ashland, the setting of the Elemental Assassin series, is a fictional Southern metropolis. Dwarves, giants, vampires and elementals—people who possess at least one of the four elemental magic (air, earth, ice, fire) and its minor variants (e.g. Gin’s stone magic).

Dwarves of the book’s world possess great strength, are around five feet tall, and live for hundreds of years. Giants, so far, seem to have longevity equal to humans, but are tall and strong. They are not exaggeratedly tall, though. No giant reaches ten feet tall in these books. Vampires seem to be more human, with the exception of fangs. They drink blood, not as a sustenance, but to make them stronger and heighten their senses. Elementals are every bit human, with the exception that they possess elemental magic.

Venom in the Veins is the latest book featuring our beloved assassin. Mab is long gone and Gin had taken her place as boss of Ashland’s underworld. New enemies have come and gone—among them were some of Mab’s former henchmen and other gang bosses. Gin’s new mission is to uncover The Circle, a secret organization within Ashland that controls it from the shadows. Mab was originally a low-ranking member, as well as Eira Snow, Gin’s late mother.

The first couple of books were a bit of slow reading for me, but Estep got better in time, and now her books have become much easier to read. While the plot tends toward repetition (kill the antagonist of the book), there are enough mysteries spread around to keep coming back for more.

Bedside Reading Part Two: David Edding’s Elenium Series

Welcome again to another edition of bedside reading, this time featuring one of epic fantasy’s beloved names from the 80’s, David Eddings.

Eddings was born and lived in Washington, and took on various jobs: broker, professor of English, and grocery bagger. He was sold on writing thriller books at the start of his career, but a chance encounter in a bookstore with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy shifted his focus onto epic fantasy. He had read it long ago, and upon noticing that it has been reprinted several times, he decided to begin his own fantasy series. He returned to a sketch of a fictional world that he had been doodling one day before work. Expanding and modifying the map, the result was the first of many fantasy series penned by David Eddings’ hand, The Belgariad. (The role of David’s wife, Leigh, as collaborator would eventually be acknowledged. Later books show David and Leigh’s names on the cover.) Since then, David and Leigh had created numerous other fantasy works, among them The Elenium.

Epic fantasy (also known as high fantasy) is a term given to a subgenre in fantasy usually set in a pseudo-Medieval or pseudo-Prehistoric times. The setting may be partly influenced by the real world, but in general it is an alternate fictional rendition of it. Epic fantasy is mainly influenced by epics and heroic romances of the past, such as Beowulf, the Arthurian Romances, or The Nibelungenlied. The Elenium features Sparhawk, a church knight, who returns to his hometown after years of exile. Sparhawk’s primary mission is to save his queen (who was poisoned and left in a stasis) and rid his hometown of its corrupt officials. The story takes a twist once Sparhawk discovers the legendary jewel called the Bhelliom, a sapphire jewel which was forged in the form of a rose.

In terms of world-building, the Elenium is set primarily in the vast Eosian continent. Eosia is populated by three main races: the Elenes, the Styrics (magic-wielding nomads hailing from another continent in the east), and the Zemochs. Elenes form the majority of the continent, followed by the Styrics. For centuries, Elenes have a tendency to oppress the Styrics, who prefer to live a quiet life. Sparhawk and his fellow knights, however, are free from this tendency. This is because they have formed a bond with their Styric magic teacher, Sephrenia.

Fantasy tropes abound, but Eddings’ strength is in his characters. Sparhawk is a laconic knight with a dry sense of humor. He is skilled with a sword, and like most knights of the book’s fictional world, has knowledge of magic. The ageless Sephrenia, magic tutor for the Pandion Knights (the order of knights that Sparhawk belongs to), serves as the mother-figure of the order. The street thief Talen is wisecracking and frequently the source of comic relief in the books. All in all, The Elenium series makes for an enjoyable bedside reading. Eddings might have his faults as a writer, but it can’t be denied that he knows how to write a wicked yarn.