Exploring Borahaegas

I had the worst sleep after the concert. I was rigged on adrenaline and still couldn’t believe I had just seen the boys in person. I woke up at 8am and we had a video call with my dad and my brother. We then got dressed and headed to breakfast at a restaurant inside our hotel. However, my stomach was still messed up from all the adrenaline and I didn’t really eat. After going back to the hotel room, we went to a convenience store within our hotel to grab some snacks as I hadn’t really eaten anything. As we stood in line, I saw this ARMY with an MGM bag. Initially, I assumed it was a merch package as the MGM hotels were offering that to ARMYs staying at their hotels for the concerts. Then, she looked towards me like she wanted to say something. She came closer and I realized the bag was not a merch pack, but was instead filled to the brim with Butter albums. She must have realized I was ARMY as she offered me a free album, explaining that herself and a few others had bought the albums and had just taken out the photocards. I took a Cream version–as that was the version I didn’t have–and I thanked her. I didn’t really care that there was no photocard, it was still a free album and it was so nice of her to just hand it out. I really couldn’t believe the generosity of ARMY.

Following that crazy experience, we headed outside and caught an Uber to Area 15 where the BTS Pop-Up and Photo Exhibition were happening. Prior to our trip, we had heard of the photo exhibition and bought tickets as soon as we could. We wanted to fill up our trip with as many BTS experiences as possible!

We arrived at Area 15 and walked around the gigantic building to the outside lot where the Pop-Up was being held. The Pop-Up had the cutest walk through area with recreations of BTS’s music video sets. In one area they had video screens of the members doing their solo dance in the Butter elevator and some people were doing the dances with the screens! After exiting the exhibit, we made it to the Pop-Up line which wasn’t too long–especially compared to the lines we faced the day before. While we were in line, they announced that they were selling the merch packages from the hotels, which included some older merch that was pretty exclusive. From the Pop-Up, I bought the merch package, a Butter shirt and a BTS Las Vegas sweatshirt.

Next, we headed to the Behind the Stage Photo Exhibition which was rammed with people. All the pictures and the quotes hung on the walls were so amazing. It was the best to see an event like this for BTS. It was such a unique experience for me as not many BTS related events happen in Toronto.

After the exhibition, we walked outside into this little area that had this gigantic screen blasting BTS music videos. We grabbed a Coke from the bar and took a seat, enjoying ourselves in the sun. I opened up the merch package and the lucky draws inside. There were people dancing to music videos and just enjoying the beautiful weather and BTS. After some snacks, we headed into Area 15 to get to our Uber.

Area 15 was really insane. There were so many cool lights and sets inside. It really screamed trendy. We didn’t spend too much time inside as we were focused on doing as many BTS things as we could. After taking a few pictures, we got outside, caught our Uber and headed to the Fashion Show Mall.

When we arrived, we walked around looking for an entrance or any unlocked door before we realized that it was Easter Sunday and the mall was actually closed. So instead, we went into the Wynn and looked around their mall. In Vegas, most of the resorts also have luxury malls inside of them, which I loved. We then headed back to Fashion Show Mall to have lunch at this Italian restaurant my parents always go to called “Maggianos.” In the restaurant, I was dozing off because I was so exhausted, but the food was really good and the waiter was really nice! I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you’re in Vegas.

After our lunch, we walked to the Grand Canal Mall where we saw a bunch of ARMY’s lining up to recreate one of BTS’s pictures. We then went to the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace followed by the Bellagio. At the Bellagio, we took a picture under one of the art pieces Hoseok took a picture under. There were also many other beautiful art pieces at the Bellagio. There was just so much to look at! From Bellagio, we took a tram to the Shops at Crystals which is part of the Aria Hotel. We saw some trees inside the mall that looked oddly familiar and realized that these were the trees Hoseok took a picture with. So, we joined the small line and recreated his picture beneath them. Some locals were passing by wondering why there was a huge lineup to take a picture with a tree, which honestly made the whole experience so much funnier. From the mall we went to the actual Aria hotel. This happens to be where Jewel Nightclub was. This was the club that was hosting the BTS afterparties that I was unfortunately not allowed to go to as I am underage. We took some pictures in front of the club as all the PTD stuff was still up and they were even playing BTS clips on the video screens.

We stopped at a Starbucks and got some tea because my throat was messed up after all the screaming from the night before. After relaxing for about an hour, we got up and made our way to the Bellagio fountains for the BTS fountain show, which was the last thing on our BTS Las Vegas bucket list.

We arrived at the fountains at around seven o’clock and got a good spot. At seven thirty, smoke started to appear at the base of the fountain and the music started! But… it wasn’t BTS. We looked around in shock as Bad Romance by Lady Gaga played. The show was beautiful, but it wasn’t BTS. The show finished and we were about to leave, assuming they had stopped the BTS set as the concerts were complete. However, the people on the right side of us said “no BTS?!” We joined in and questioned what happened with the show. Then, the people on the left side of us explained that BTS’s set started at eight o’clock. So, we waited for another half and hour and finally, eight o’clock had arrived. The fountain show started and it was so beautiful. It almost made me tear up a little! They played a Butter and Dynamite mix and it was such a great way to send off the best weekend of my life.

After the show was done, we headed back to the Bellagio. On the way, we were stopped by some UK ARMY and they gave us some cute freebies. As we arrived at the Bellagio, we took some pictures in front of the fountain in an attempt to recreate Taehyung’s pictures in front of the fountain. Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the exact location as it was all fenced off and probably a restricted area. Regardless, we did our best to try to make the pictures look similar. We then took a tram to the Park MGM where we caught an Uber back to our hotel.

At the hotel, we got another cup of tea and some snacks before we sadly started packing up our bags while vibing to BTS on our speaker. Once we finished packing, we ended up having a whole suitcase full of merchandise and one that we somehow shoved all our clothes into. With the packing done and the final amazing day of this crazy trip complete, we went to bed and prepared for another long day of travelling ahead.