Traveling Twenties

Arizona Salt River Tubing

2012-05-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

River tubing : to float down a river on a tube for 4-6 hours in hot weather while drinking

Sounds like summer vacation right? Well, it was the beginning of mine. Memorial Day weekend consisted of 2 days of tubing in the Arizona salt lake river. I was lucky to have been invited by my great friends Emily and Mike who are experienced tubers that thanks to their preparations, helped make this an easy and fun experience.

When tubing, you have to think about your parking pass, what part of the river you will start and end, transportation out of your river exit, foods and drinks to bring, coolers and cooler tubes, music, tube hole glue, designated drivers, etc. As a tuber, you have to plan how to get there, where to stay, what tube to use, and buy river shoes and 1 bottle of spray sunscreen a day. Tip, apply cream sunscreen first and that will help the spray stick. Also, re apply every half hour instead of 2. I don't know how much of a difference it makes but I didn't get very burned .

The Arizona river scenery is very picturesque. It's wild west desert meets Arizona red rocks. You have dry land with cacti and large red square shaped walls. I tend to zone out when I get very relaxed, so the large crowds, marshmallow fights, and loud noises didn't bother me because they occur sporadically. What is uncomfortable was the random water shooting because the river is icy and it was an 80 degree day (if it was 97+ I would have been ok). The river can be relaxing but don't fall asleep as the current occasionally brings you to the sides where the rocks and trees and crocodiles are. The crocodiles only nip lightly at your butt, don't worry. Just kidding.

During the evening we were able to enjoy what Tempe has to offer. Tempe is 45 minutes from the river and 15 minutes from PHX. It was very easy and convenient flying in and the car rental service process is remarkably easy and comfortable, and fast drop off process. I used Enterprise and got a 3 day rental for $75. Here are my restaurant reviews:
-Z Tejas Tempe . Good quality Mexican food! So good I actually took the leftovers to a club and was dancing with it (holding it not to it, well, maybe a little). Make sure you try the Antioxidant Martini .
-Robbie Fox. Nice attractive crowd, decent music and dance space.
- courtyard Marriott. Convenient location to the bars and restaurants on Mill St. Their breakfast sandwhich is pretty good but on the pricey side at $7+
- Basha's . This grocery store saved me with its $5 (but should be $12) boat shoes.
-Tavern on Mill . Sports bar with really delicious mouth watering carnitas and interesting pineapple beer (heard it was good, did not try it).
-Gordon Biersch . food is cool. Amazing Martzen Beer. Smooth rich amber ale that makes you feel like you're in Munich.
-Hyatt . The rooms and hotel must be newly renovated because everything is so intuitive. The location of the towels, sink, suite couch, breakfast plates are impressively convenient. The breakfast area was a few steps up from continental without crossing the fancy schmancy line. The room balcony offered a beautiful 180* unobstructed view of Tempe and Phoenix. It helps that Arizona is pretty flat. I would stay here again. It does not have a nice hotel or pool hang out area though.
-Sheraton. I'd probably not stay here again, but they do have a nice pool and bar area. So if you're not planning to stay in the room too much, this is a great group location .

This was a very enjoyable vacation and I had my great friend Rhiannon alongside this whole journey which made it all the more memorable. It's not just where you are, but who you're with. :)

Priceline

2012-04-09T13:00:00.001-07:00

Priceline bidding has become a hobby of mine. While there is strategy involved, getting a spectacular hotel deal also involves luck. Many of the hotel prices that I mention in my blog entries are nightly rates that I've obtained at a discounted price through sites such as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Orbitz, Kayak or Priceline. The upside of bidding on Priceline is that you can get unbelievably cheap rates. The downside is that you won't know where you are staying, which is undesirable when traveling on a tight schedule, and usually don't get the best room at the hotel.

My job requires me to commute 40-70 minutes each way. I absolutely despise commuting. My ideal drive is under 7 minutes and I will tolerate up to 30 minutes. I've looked for a place to rent near work and decided that I since I was fortunate enough to work at a location full of nice hotels, that I would stay at a hotel on nights I don't feel like driving.

I've inquired about long-term rates at the nicest nearby hotels and learned interesting things I'm willing to share to those who read my blog.

At first I thought I would be negotiating with the hotels on parking, breakfast, non-smoking rooms to get to a desirable rate. I found that the best the Westin can offer was a $149/night corporate rate. The Hilton could provide a $99/night rate for consecutive stays of 3-weeks or longer with advance payment, or my $155/night corporate rate which includes breakfast and business services. And the Holiday Inn Express came in at $89/night and the Courtyard Marriott offered a corporate rate of $114/night. By the way, thank you Hilton and Westin for the superb customer service.

I was actually recommended to continue using Priceline if I am able to obtain great rates. The hotels are not able to offer those low prices. The way it works is that Priceline buys 1-2 rooms at a rate that is negotiated by the hotel's power-that-be, uncontrolled at the local level. This rate becomes unavailable when the hotel reaches 70% capacity.

Happy bidding!

In Progress

2012-03-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Bear with me while I update my blog. Just finished writing about the 2010 Europe trip finally and am halfway done with Asia 2011 trip and then will work on U.S Roadtrips. Keep checking back !

Roadtrip: Austin to Los Angeles 2/13-2/15/12

2012-02-13T12:05:00.009-08:00

Outline of the journey from Austin, TX to El Paso, TX to Tempe, AZ to Cabazon, CA to Los Angeles, CA

Day 1
Start: Austin 12pm

Road foods:
1) Church chicken: First time eating it, thought it was just ok. I would not have it again.
2) Wendy's : Can't go wrong with Wendy's chili. They were out of potatoes which baffled me.

Drive-by scenery:
1) Downtown El Paso : Arrived at night and there must be a curfew enforced because there was no one (not a single pedestrian or open store or sign of life) in sight at 9PM on a Monday.
2) Border view of Ciudad Juarez : Scared thinking about it on the way to El Paso, while in El Paso, and on the way out of El Paso. Ciudad Juarez is notoriously known as the most violent city in North America. The violence comes mainly from drug wars amongst the cartels. In the year before August 2009, Juárez's murder rate was the highest reported in the world, averaging seven homicides per day, or in other statistical words, 3075 homicides in 2010. Quite a thrill to have peeked at the city from afar!

Hotel : Camino Real El Paso : The "American" hotels are twice as much per night, and this hotel also had its historical appeal to offer. You can see into Mexico if you face South and are above the 10th floor.

Day 2:
Start: El Paso, Texas

Drove by:
1) UTEP
2) Heavy dust storms visible from the highway
3) 11 tumbleweeds (have never seen them before and loved it! They come out of nowhere and one had a 5ft radius!
4) Snow storm near Tucson

Fun stop:
1) Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson, AZ : one of the world's largest, non-government funded aerospace museums. Took the bus tour of "The Boneyard," the largest aircraft storage and preservation facilities in the world. It was a cool tour. I got to see models of the President's helicopter, the last remaining of some B52 before it is to be destroyed as per treaty, fighter jets that can be refueled while in air, and planes being gutted for parts.

Hotel: The Buttes, a Mariott Resort (if you laughed when you read this, welcome to the immature club. I called it the "butts" the whole trip.) Snagged an awesome $99 before tax rate through Hotwire. They had 4 jacuzzi and everything was resort-tastic. There are very few things more comfortable than a jacuzzi in a secluded section amongst the rocks followed by filet steak dinner followed by walking around the resort in a bathrobe holding a glass of wine. It did coincide with Valentine's Day, but this hotel was serendipitously booked the night before.

Day 3:
Start: Tempe, Arizona

Sights:
1) Drove through dust storm near Salton Lake
2) Drove by the "Do Not Pick-up Hitchhikers" sign located near the Blythe State Prison area
3) Admired the pastel-colored, flat landscape with mountains

Fun Stops:
1) Morongo Casino: You know it. Brian wanted to gamble and persuaded me with their buffet deal. Blackjack tables, giant slot machine, normal slot machine (biggest win was $30), and roulette. No matter how much money you lose, you can cheer yourself up with the fact that you can eat as much as you want after. Their buffet is not bad and this was a fun 5-hour stop.

Austin 2/11-2/13/12

2012-02-11T11:14:00.002-08:00

Chicken & Waffles at Moonshine

Downtown sits peacefully just 15 minutes from AUS airport. Brian picked me up from Houston after my flight and we decided on Moonshine for lunch. It's the second oldest building in downtown and a comfortable place to dine. I recommend the indoors table by the window . The restaurant is quiet enough to have a conversation without shouting, even when at full capacity. Good sound absorption walls, I guess. I had the chicken and waffle appetizer, a filling delicious meal at just $9! I had to sit there for a while to finish my entire plate but those were the best waffles I've ever had- fluffy and moist without growing stale or rubbery. The cornbread was also impressively well made. We parked at the convention center ($5) and it's just a 1.5-block walk to Moonshine.

We checked into the Super 8 North of the University where we got a $59/night rate. After resting for a bit, our friend Erin picked us up for dinner at Trudy's. This restaurant is a Tex-Mex with a clientele of mostly undergrads. It's loud, lively and probably a good place to get you hammered if you like Margaritas. They serve a drink called the Mexican Margarita that's supposed to be incredibly potent. It was probably the coldest nights of the year while we were in Austin. Being out in 38-degree weather limited our options while we were visiting, but we did end up going to Spider with Erin after dinner.

Spider is a coffee house that serves beer. Austin has many establishments like this. You go in and decide then and there whether you will have coffee or beer that night and you can count on it tasting good. We got ourselves a few craft beers and chatted the night away. The decorum of Spider is welcoming. It has the same brick-and-woods-interior as Moonshine. Very relaxing.

Austin Day 2

Barton Springs Pool - panorama

Started the day with a visit to Barton Springs Pool. It's an impressive 1,000ft pool fed by springs and the water is always at an average of 68 degrees year-round. There were a couple of people swimming and Brian would have too if it wasn't so cold outside. In fact, snowflakes started falling during our pool visit! This cold weather means hot soup is in order. What better place to get it at other than the first ever Whole Foods grocery store. The flagship Whole Foods in Austin on Lombard was the place where I came to notice how nice the people of Austin are!

The Hilton Garden Inn hotel is located conveniently near 6th Street, which is where the nightlife happens in downtown Austin. It was too cold to partake in being outside at night, but the outdoors jacuzzi was perfectly hot paired with the chipper air. I was able to get a great rate for the hotel via Priceline ($75 for a Sunday night). Here's a tip if you are able to get metered parking in front of the hotel : street parking is free on the weekend and if you are parking overnight onto Monday, you can put in money (via credit card) the night before and it will automatically start counting at 8am Monday morning. I was not fortunate enough to see this and made a 7:50am trip to the meter on Monday morning.

Shanghai 12/20/11-12/23/11

2011-12-20T10:23:00.002-08:00

Arrived in Shanghai in the morning. It is about a 2 hour flight from Shenzhen. Found the Taxi line and took it to the Qibaozhen. It was 10C so we had to get the house warmed up, then we left to explore the city.

Could we possibly tour Shanghai in 12 hours?

First, we had lunch nearby Cloud 9. It's a Taiwanese cafe/restaurant, and we ordered some decent wonton soup. I preferred my dad's seafood broth than my beef broth. We took a taxi to the nearest subway station. The Shanghai subway system has grown into a huge system that looks like a spider. There are 10 different routes/lines and they are most easily distinguished by the number rather than the color or name of the route.

Our first tourist stop was Pudong. It is the area east of the Huangpu River. It used to be an undeveloped agricultural area, but is now considered the new area of Shanghai. It is the new business district where all the foreign banks and the famous Oriental Pearl Tower (the building that looks like a funky space shuttle) are located. You will see many IFC (International Finance Center) buildings while walking through it. We took the ferry to the Puxi side, the historical side. This takes you to the best view of the city. It is marvelous to look at Pudong and from Puxi (not so much of a view from the Pudong perspective). The promenade or bridge area is called The Bund. It was an especially good day to walk through The Bund because it was rainy and cold. This means that we were experiencing enough space to run in circles and do cartwheel in the usually over-crowded Shanghai. The Bund walk was one of my favorite activities. It has a London meets modern China feel. There are some locations, such as the area near the Penninsula, where you will feel like you are in Europe and makes you forget you are in Shanghai. After taking quite a few pictures we walked into the commercial area a bit more.

Navigating through the rain is challenging, but it helps that most people stay out of the street when the weather sucks. Line 1 gets you to People's Square, a large open area for crowds to gather with many shops and restaurants. We took the trolley through this area for 2RMB a person.

We took Line 10 to YuYuan (pronounced ee-yuen) Garden. This is a great spot to check out. They have very ancient Chinese architecture that has been around for years. It looks particularly memorable at night once they have the buildings lit up and there's an orange glow around the whole place. All of Shanghai hot spots are advertised to look amazing at night once the lighting hits the area in all the right ways. Personally, I found it unfortunate that the city comes alive only at night. There is no leisurely feeling during the day anywhere. Everyone looks to be hurrying to get somewhere. The traffic is insane, and it was really hard to get used to being a pedestrian and super scary to cross the street. Even when you're indoors I felt like I was going to get run over by a car. YuYuan is a great place to shop. I got a gorilla pod for 20RMB (originally 85 and offered at 40). You'll also find the best price for quality scarves here. Hopped on Line 10 again to XinTianDi. This is a Western area with newly developed shopping malls and very little Chinese writing in sight.

I would say we successfully walked through most of Shanghai's hot spots in Day 1.

Day 2

We had a driver for Day 2. It was a welcomed break from having to fight through the crowds and being exposed to the elements. We visited a developing town, Dishui, an hour away. Beautiful city design revolved around a lake that is built into the infrastructure of the city and very peaceful atmosphere. Dad thinks it will be the next vacation spot for Shanghai residents looking to get away. Met with Mr. Gu who treated us to a delicious farm to table lunch. The dishes he ordered were excellent and a wonderful variety: river fish, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, soup, incredible mushrooms, organic meatballs, tofu like you never had before. Best restaurant meal I had in Asia.

In the evening, we returned to the city and visited my dad's best friend, Uncle Steve. Then, we had dinner with the Gu family at Belgian Brassiere in Hon Mei Lu. They serve good mussels with garlic cream sauce (the leftover soup is unexpectedly good and light enough to drink).

Day 3

On our last morning we got a hairwash and Chinese massage at Hon Mei Lu. The massage at Bamboo 7 is hands down (heavy hands with adequate pressure) one of the best I've had. The staff is legitimately skilled and the price affordable at 180RMB (~$30) for an hour massage.

View my Shanghai photos here.

Panorama View from The Bund

Hong Kong

2011-12-18T13:40:00.009-08:00

This is my third time in Hong Kong. It is a nice city to dine in, but I disliked many of my experiences there interacting with strangers or workers. I arrived at HKG early in the morning after a red eye flight, and took the subway to Kowloon. I embarked on the free hotel shuttle to the Intercontinental and explicitly told the driver where I was going. I was 1 of 2 passengers, and after he dropped the first guy off, he drove to another hotel and dropped me off. I got off the shuttle and went into the hotel only to realize he took me to the wrong hotel! It was a bit my fault for not checking where I was before getting off the bus, but a lot his fault for driving to that hotel for no reason and telling me we arrived (I was the only passenger left and he wasn't picking up anyone).

View from Intercontinental Hong Kong Restaurant

I was a 10-minute-drive away from the correct hotel, which made me pretty mad that he was so off. I took a cab to the Intercontinental Hong Kong, where my dad and I agreed to meet for breakfast. The I/C's Harbourside cafe has a great view and fresh food, but bad coffee.

We walked out to the Avenue of the Stars for a little stroll. The panorama sight there is incredible still.

I decided that's all I wanted to do in Hong Kong that day and was ready to see Macau next. However, it was already noon and we missed the ferry. Thank goodness - I was beat! Just wanted to go home and relax in good ol' Shenzhen.

Hong Kong (view from Ave of the Stars)

Singapore: Day 3,4 and 5

2011-12-14T17:35:00.124-08:00

Singapore, Wednesday 12/14
1) Shopping at ION.
2) Lunch at "Akashi" (??) Japanese Restaurant with the lovely Ms. Tang ***1/2
3) Ramen at "Tampopo" ***1/2 (Yes, Wen and I had Ramen an hour before our dinner reservation)
4) "Table at 7" for party of 4**** (The main course was fine, but the desert was divine, and made up completely for any possible whines)

Singapore, Thursday 12/15
In the afternoon, we met her aunt Cynthia at the mall for lunch at a Japanese restaurant. I tried Fugu for the first time. Glad none of us died and Wen and I lived to "hike" the Henderson Wave, a 274-meter long pedestrian bridge 36 meters above Henderson Road. It is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore and offers a nice view of Singapore and the MBS (Marina Bay Sands) building. It storms a lot in Singapore (at least it did while I was there) and we were caught in the heavy rain while on Henderson Wave. We tried to hide under the side railings (see photo) but it did not work spectacularly well. So... Fun in the rain it is! Wen disagrees with me, but I think Singapore looks better in the rain. And I'm not just saying that to annoy her because in Midnight in Paris there's this repeated quote "I think Paris looks better in the rain." I'm only 80% saying it to annoy her and 20% truly mean it. Singapore looks best at night. And at night, I met my friend Grace for dinner on Orchard Road and walked around the shopping center and streets catching up.

Singapore, Friday 12/16
Started off the day with a light swim, then Wen and I went to the Singapore Art Museum. They had an exhibit for Hyung Koo Kang. This artist paints up close faces in jumbo sized canvas. I liked his work a lot. The museum was interesting and enjoyable; there were many artworks aside from the main exhibit that caught my eye.

The museum has a coffee shop attached, and to avoid the pouring rain, we went to it for quesidillas and the "world's best coffee" (verbatim from their menu). The cappuccino was pretty damn good. Somehow we ended up at the mall again (?) and I tried Durian for the first time. Wen got me a Durian Puff, thinking it is better for me to start with a mild Durian flavor. First, I took a whiff and was repulsed. Then, I bravely put the entire puff in my mouth and began to slowly chew. At this point, I realized that I absolutely hated the taste and I became petrified and unable to act. I looked at Wen with desperation in my eyes, as I could not swallow and with each inhalation came a taste of Durian. Finally, she gave me a plastic bag and I disposed of the puff. Good times.

To be fair, everyone should try Durian at some point in their lives, many people love it. Somehow (through showering) I was able to get the smell off my aura for dinner. One of the things I wanted to do in Singapore was see a view of the city. This was well-accomplished with a visit to the MBS rooftop, where Wen and her parents showed me where to see the best view of the city. Could the night get any better? Yes, much better with dinner at KU DE TÁ. We got seated on the terrace and had a ***** meal with the night city view. I'm very grateful for this night with great food, great view, and great company.

On the drive out, we made a stop to see the giant merlion statue. Then, Wen and I were dropped off at the CQ plaza (Clarke Quay) and chose Helipad as our first stop. What's cool about Singapore night clubs is that even though there is a cover charge, the fee gives you 2 drink tickets. Helipad is a safe place to dance and have a good time. They have stages where girls can get up on and dance. Guys may try to go on stage to dance, but they will be escorted down by security. True story. We took a break from Helipad and ventured off to Aqua bar, where I ordered my first (and last?) Singapore Sling. We were not a fan of Aqua. They have karaoke with speakers that blare out into the outdoor seating and plaza. After I finished my drink, Wen took us to Attica. We were a fan of Attica. They had two dance floors (House upstairs and Top 40 downstairs) with an outdoors bar garden in the middle. This was a fun and funny night. Only while we were waiting in the cab line to go home did I find out it was 4:30 in the morning. You know you achieved vacation success when you stopped keeping track of time since the day before.

Panorama view from MBS

Singapore : Day 2

2011-12-13T17:20:00.002-08:00

* signifies my star rating for the restaurant

Singapore, Tuesday 12/13
Started the day like a champion with brunch at Hatched **** (Had the Eggs Benedict). Partook in a brief shopping run on Orchard Road (the street famous for its nice shopping malls and stores) where Wen got some art supplies.

Tree Top Walk was unfortunately closed for renovations. It is a short hike where you walk through a 250m aerial free-standing suspension bridge that is built through a secondary forest. We did the Canopy Walk instead. Super easy walk that offers plenty of peace and quiet. We got duck rice afterwards at Lim Seng Lee Duck Rice & Porridge nearby. ***** It was delicious in its own category.

At night I was whisked away and taken into town to see the Aladdin Musical. The theater company that does it embedded Singaporean humor into it. I had a blast. Thought it was very entertaining and I was happy to have had the opportunity to glimpse into the Singaporean quirks and note the heavy Malay influence as well.

After the show we ate at a Chinese (?) restaurant where you select a bunch of different small plates. I have no idea where it is or what it was called or what I had. Everyone really liked it though and I tried Tiger beer.

Topped the night off by watched Midnight in Paris with the Tang girls.

Singapore 12/12-12/18/11

2011-12-12T14:11:00.002-08:00

Singapore Photo Album Here.

During my third year in college, I shared an apartment with 3 other girls. One of them, was the amazing Wen. Wen lives in Singapore and I'd be completely insane if I didn't take the opportunity to visit her while I had the time to in Asia (yay unemployment...!). I had to get my tickets last minute because I was unsure of my itinerary. Thankfully, Kayak found a good deal through Jetstar Airways. I would highly recommend this airline. They're new, but their plane is clean, they take off on-time or early due to a strict check-in policy, and they offer competitive fares. The red-eye flight from Hong Kong to Singapore was almost 4 hours and cost $225.

I wrote down the places where I went so I would remember to write about them, but the SD card on my phone crashed and I lost all the data. I'll try my best to re-piece this trip.

Orchard Road - They don't mess around with Christmas.

Packing is easy when you're going to hot and humid Singapore. There seems to be only one pick up area but I still decided to find payphone, located on the second floor, to call Wen. Relaxed, ate some good food at her home, watched TV, baked matcha green tea cupcakes with her sis, and in the early evening we went for a stroll at the Singapore Botanical Gardens nearby. Being Christmas season, the Garden was adorned by numerous Christmas trees decorated by different organizations. With that Christmas spirit in mind, we took a drive through Orchard Road to see how they decorated it for Christmas (so bright, possible cause of an energy crisis) and I got to see a pedestrian, or car-estrian, view of the downtown area buildings. I'm not sure which was more extravagant, Orchard Road or Wen's neighbor's Christmas-decorated-house from down the street (see photo). I surely enjoyed seeing both :) The first and best meal of the trip goes to Chat Masala Too! Awesome Indian restaurant who gets the spices just right and makes delicious naans in different flavors.


This is a house decorated with Christmas lights. See my album for the video footage you don't want to miss.

New York: Manhattan Day 5 - Mini Bites after a quick trip in a Big City

2011-01-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

Last day in New York and Martin Luther King Jr day. We only have the morning before our flight out of JFK. Pat takes us to Spanish tapas at Casa Mono for some delicious jamon, wine, fishies and razor clams followed by cupcakes and hot apple cider some blocks away. A warm and wonderful send off!

Thanks so much Pat and Cindy for being such fun and generous hosts.

See you later New York! City of walking, cab rides, diversity and pop culture.



                   above image from http://www.popartuk.com/g/l/lghr15518+yellow-cab-nyc-taxi-poster.jpg

New York: Manhattan Day 4 "Lazy" Sunday 1/16/2011

2011-01-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

Jared Kushner's pad

Began the day with some Apartment Shopping. The first spot we went to required a little bit of legitimacy check, and we later learn it is because it's Jared Kushner's bachelor pad. I'm a fan of Ivanka Trump so that was pretty neat to see how he/they did their interior decor.

Great Jones Spa

Spent some time in SoHo and I met with a college friend of mine at the Starbucks on Broadway. It's crazy how crowded a big Starbucks in New York can get. After Starbucks, we went to the Great Jones Spa for some R&R. Best day spa. It was so relaxing to go to the sauna and steam room first, then get a massage by a therapist who knows what he's doing and is good at it. After winding down with some jacuzzi and hot tea, it is time to have dinner.

Ate at Blue Ribbon Sushi in SoHo. Best raw fish ever. I've heard New York knows how to do Japanese food, and I'm happy that I got to see for myself. This restaurant gets a first place blue ribbon.

Blue Ribbon Sushi

The night is young and a few more stops in New York are required. First, the wine bar . Then, a bite of the famous delicious NY pizza at Joe's pizza. Then, a falafel to go along with the walk home.

Topping the night off with wii Mario Kart as the cherry on top of a great day in New York. It is nice to be amongst good company.

Mario Kart!

New York: Manhattan Day 3 - A New Yorker Day Around Town

2011-01-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday began with a visit to the MET museum. We saw famous arts (seeing Van Gogh was exciting) and had NY dogs outside. We strolled around upper east side and took a horse carriage ride through central park. We looked inside the FEO toy store and I saw the famous giant piano and an amusing barbie Foosball table. We ate an Italian meal at Maliano's and everyone was very pleased with the food, a favorite of the weekend for Pat. That night we also did some KTV karaoke and played ping pong at Spin. We winded down at home with coffee house tunes and a long game of Texas Hold 'Em poker game.

New York: Manhattan Day 2 - Big Night in a Big Lights City

2011-01-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Our first full day began with a slow walk around SoHo. Ah, vacation, there should be more of it. We packed a book to be sold, Brian and I took a taxi to the nearest post office. After USPS, we started walking towards SoHo and sightseeing. I am a fan of the bright colored buildings with fire escapes and nice graffiti art that adorn the city. There were piles of snow crowding the streets from the latest snowstorm that hit the Northeast. Brian spotted McClintock Bakery and we decided to have lunch at that point. The ginger carrot soup and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice were good. I should have passed on the beet salad. Filled with energy from the eggs Benedict sandwich, we made our way to Teany, where we had 98 loose leaf tea flavors to choose from.

We went back to the apartment to get dressed for our grand night. We took the subway to meet Pat & Cindy at Le Bernardin. We got off too early on Time Square and ended up having to walk 6 extra blocks to get there. It was a cold 30 degree night but it was very nice to see all the lights and people on the street. They have such impecable service at Le Bernadin. Everyone's very polite and quiet, so nothing feels too invasive. We had the Le Bernadin prefix meal and it was a spectacular marathon of food. They start you off with raw fish, then gradually serve you dishes that are more and more cooked and beautifully presented. I liked their sauces.

While digesting the food made me want to stay put, the wine made floating my way to Broadway easy. We saw the preview showing of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark with the famous flying over the audience scenes. The same flying scenes that caused actors to fall and get injured during rehearsal which made the front pages of the news quite a few times. I enjoyed myself.

New York, New York: Day 1 - A Warm Welcome in below 0 degree Celsius

2011-01-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad that Brian and I were able to get time off from work to enjoy the holiday weekend in New York.

It was my first time flying Jet Blue. I can confirm the rumors to be true: more leg room, better snacks, enough on flight entertainment to keep you, well, entertained.

Flying when you're sick is as awful as people say it is. The changes in air pressure make you feel like your eardrums are going to burst. Take care of your health if you know you will be flying.

Our first stop was Patrick's place. Patrick is Brian's awesome brother who got Brian the best birthday gift ever: our visit to New York. There to meet us was also Patrick's girlfriend, Cindy. Soon after our arrival, the fantastic four of us walked a few blocks to a late dinner at Ippudo, in the East Village. I love ramen and it was a freezing night, so Ippudo was perfect. The decoration was somewhat contemporary and I sat facing this large artwork picture created out of beads that I really liked. People line up for 2 hours during peak-times to get a bite in at Ippudo and I am pleased to say that the vibe and food lived up to its fame AND we were seated right away because we were there at 11pm on a Thursday night.

Europe Day 13: Munich, Germany

2010-08-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Took the rail from Lugano to Munich. Checked into the Mariott Courtyard and re-visited our favorite places in Munich. Had dinner at Augustiner and made friends with a newlywed couple who just moved to Munich, saw the Glockenspiel show that I missed last time.

Europe Day 10, 11, 12: Ticino, Switzerland and Como, Italy

2010-08-26T23:37:00.000-07:00

We dropped off the car at the Hertz near the Innsbruck train station, and hopped onto the train from Innsbruck to Zurich. This was the nicest train I've been on to date. The first class seats were clean, leather, ergonomic, seat numbers were electronically indicated, seat occupancy was at 40% and they even served a complimentary snack. Thank you Euro Rail!

Went from the train station and took the bus and walked to the Hertz about a half mile away. Drove around Zurich and after seeing how clean and proper the city is, we began heading south to Ticino, our desired destination. We drive from about 17:00 and reach Hotel Alexandra at 23:00. Making that drive through the night bought us an extra day in Ticino (the area in south Switzerland encompassing a handful of lake-cities).

Hotel Alexandra, in Locarno, has a great breakfast, very classy. We drove to and walked around Lugano. They have free wi-fi throughout the whole city, but I couldn't connect my phone due to a T-Mobile glitch. The company I worked for at the time has an office in Lugano, where my direct-manager was stationed at. We tried to visit but couldn't get internet anywhere to obtain the address. So we saw the main plaza and had lunch at this restaurant I can't remember the name of, but it was located directly to the right of its direct competitor. We ordered the capricciosa pizza (olives and anchovies). It was a traditional italian-style pizza and tasted spectacular. An European couple sitting next to us befriended us and we learned that (1) the pizza at that restaurant is authentic Italian and better than many pizzas in Italy , and (2) we should check out Lake Como. So we got the car and drove to Italy and had coffee at Lake Como, walked around and drove back!

Then we walked around the Piazza Grande in Locarno. We were sad to learn we just missed the film festival, where they play old movies outdoors for people to watch int he Piazza. We picked up some food and a bottle of wine somewhere and enjoyed dinner at the outside patio at our Hotel Alexandria. We even got to borrow wine glasses from them.

Switzerland photos here.
Como photos.

Europe Day 9,10: Innsbruck, Austria

2010-08-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Out of Salzburg by lunch and checked into Batzenhausl in Innsbruck by 16:00. Innsbruck is a small town at the top of a mountain where people go for ski resorts. We took the bus that takes you down the mountain, through downtown Innsbruck, and back up the mountain. It was a great idea to see Innsbruck quickly and for cheap (less than 1EUR). This way we were both able to see how spectacular the valley looks while the bus driver takes us down and up the mountain. A block away from our hotel was a nice grocery shop with tons of bargains. We bought prosciutto, bread and wine (they had delicious Barolo wine for ~20EUR!!!!).

Innsbruck photos here.

Europe Day 8: Salzburg, Austria

2010-08-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

We only wanted a night in Vienna to experience the Opera house. With our dreams fulfilled, we checked out of Do Step Inn in the morning and headed to Hertz to pick up our rental car to begin our roadtrip through Austria. The car was an appropriate idea because Austria is a beautiful green country to drive through. We (my dad) drove from 10 to 17:30.

Entering Salzburg was refreshing. The air was so light! We checked into Muffin hostel (50EUR/two), which I admitedly booked solely judging by the name. Max, the front desk attendant, was very friendly and Jack Johnson was playing while we were checking in. This was a very good first impression for me of the people of Salzburg. Though, honestly, they had me at Sound of Music, which we saw the entire movie that night (it was one of the perks of the hostel)! We took a stroll around Salzburg (within a 5-mile radius of the hostel), through the open fields and limitless greenery. After the walk, we played Foosball, watched the sound of music DVD, and caught up on some sleep. This hostel had plenty to do to keep yourself entertained and the property is spacious. After breakfast at the hostel the next morning, we drove through the city center and tried to find a few of the famous locations from the sound of music (saw the gazebo from 16 going on 17, the house they used as the back of the house that's facing the lake, the memorable MARIBELLE GARDENS, and the far away looking castle).

Pictures of Salzburg trip here.

Europe Day 7: Vienna, Austria

2010-08-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

Rode the train from Budapest (1pm) to Vienna (4pm). We checked into Do Step Inn hostel ($50/room) and took the subway to ringstrasse to attend our Mozart concert in historical costumes at the VIENNA STATE OPERA HOUSE!!! What an epic venue and fun concert. It was very good fortune to have Mozart, because of the familiarity to his songs, and to have some of the best musicians play while dressed in costume completely added to the experience. Not to mention we got 4th row seats!!!!! Found it for 108EUR/two. If you want to attend and tickets are a steep price, the rumor on the street is that you can also obtain standing tickets for 15EUR a piece. The walk to the opera house is enjoyable. Similar vibe to 3rd street in Santa Monica, with high-end shops and musicians populating the pedestrian-friendly street. You start your walk at the gorgeous Stephansplatz where Stephen's church is, and end at the Opera house.

Vienna photos here.

Europe Day 5,6,7: Budapest, Hungary

2010-08-21T18:22:00.001-07:00

Our last day in Prague we explored a few more coffee shops and walked around Wenceslas Square again. We also saw the big museum from outside and ate at Como (highly recommend). We had to kill time until our overnight train departed for Budapest. Through the Euro Rail pass, I bought an extra ticket in advance (while still in the U.S.) to cover the portion of the trip where we passed through Slovakia. The bed cabins were fine and worth the time savings. There were 3 bunk beds but only 2 of us, luckily. There is also a lock on the cabin door, so we were able to sleep without having to worry too much about thieves or villains.

The Budapest main train station was the most challenging place to get out of. Whenever you arrive in a new country, the biggest obstacle is usually getting out of the airport/station. You have to adapt, find your location and destination, and exchange currency if needed to buy tickets. There was not much written in English and when I asked for directions I would get pointed in a random direction. I got to the exchange place where a guy standing outside the counter offered to give me a better exchange rate than the counter. No thanks, I'm just exchanging $20.

We stayed in the Eurostar Budapest Center through our time in Budapest ($78/night). I loved this hotel and would highly recommend it. It's newly built, clean, sharp design, and heated bathroom floors! Yes, this means backpackers like myself can dry socks by laying them on the bathroom floor.

The Danube cuts Budapest into two cities. Buda is the fairytale-touristy old town where most people live, while Pest is the urban-industrial-business city center.

We ate at Cyrano for lunch. They had a tasty set menu. The art-mozaik festival was going on so we caught an outdoor orchestra performance while walking by the river (Duna korzó). We crossed the main bridge(Chain Bridge) into the Buda side. We opted to walk to the top of Buda Hill instead of taking the funicular train (Siklo) up. It was quite a climb. There we found the Buda Castle. Good view from the Fishermens Bastion. Other good views we climbed up to see on a separate occasion were the view from Janos Hegy (where the Elizabeth watchtower, or Erzsébet kilátó, is located), and the view from the Citadel at Gellert Hill (where we also brought bread and wine in water bottles for a nice sunset meal). Buda Hill had the Mestersegek Unnepe (Festival of Folk Art) happening the day we went. Not sure how it happened but we went through one of the entrances into the festival while sight seeing and skipped paying for entrance. People bring their arts and you walk from tent to tent. The basement of the Marriott or Hilton is where I had made reservations for a wine tasting experience. It took us 3 hours to find out it was in the basement of the hotel. That was a bad experience. No one had heard of the Faust wine cellar we went to because it is new. The wine tasting is quiet and the sommelier is very courteous. Tried Palinka for the first time. Tastes like fire. I read somewhere that the subway system is one of the oldest in Europe. You can also tell in person by the style of the train, and the absence of machines (the ticket checkers are people not machines). Be careful to only go through after you are sure you are on the right side. We almost had to buy another ticket because we were on the wrong side of the track, but the man was nice enough to be understanding of what happened (went to New York 6 months later and made the same mistakes, but the machines were not as nice).

Other buildings or sights we saw were the Parliament House, the Pesti Vigado, St Stephens Basilica, Mathias Church, Heroe's Square (an amazingly wide and open plaza), Central Market Hall (indoor farmer's market with the best Saurkraut in the world. So good I might want to go back to Hungary just for it) . And we got to meet my good friend Emily's cousin OG before we took off to the main train station.

Budapest photos here.

Europe Day 2, 3, 4: Prague, Czech Republic

2010-08-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

The breakfast at the hostel was complete and better than any regular hotel. They had Nutella, salami, yogurt/granola/fruit, and a ton of other choices. I was very happy! We caught the 9am train to Prague. I will also share with you the logistic details of the trip, as I worked for weeks to plan this trip to obtain the best rates. For transportation between countries, I bought the Rail Europe Rail 'n Drive pass. You can mix and match whatever options best fit your needs. I selected the pass that gives you 4 days, 4 countries and 2 days of driving ($985/two). Then I worked with the Rail Europe customer service to set up reservations for routes that were in high demand (these came at an additional charge).

During the long train ride, we saw the scenery completely change and become more Eastern European as we entered Czech Republic. It was pretty fascinating getting an in-person feel of a place so foreign looking. Eastern Europe is full of historical and old buildings that are still standing, which makes for breath-taking views. We drop our stuff off at Corinthia Hotel Prague ($82/night). The 5-stars is way overrated and the only pro of staying there is that it's calm, next to metro, and you get a very nice view of Vysehrad/Zone 4 (a very residential neighborhood with Soviet-era residential towers far from the city center). This view is not easy to get because this is not a touristy area. Prague is divided into 10 districts (i.e. Prague 1, Prague 2,) which refer to each of the Prague neighborhoods; in many cases locals use the neighborhood names i.e. (Stare Mesto, Mala Strana, Vinohrady, etc) more frequently than the district numbers . Our first night we walked through New Town (Nové Město) and ate at Uno at a large shopping mall. Goulash was alright, the meat pancake was excellent, and the Tiramisu was good enough to order a second.

In the morning we went to old town Prague (Staré Město) to meet with our tour guide. This is a must for Prague because it is full of history and architecture, and a tour guide makes learning the facts possible and efficient. After meeting the guide in the Old Town, we took a coach to the Prague Castle (at the highest point in Prague) located at Hradčany (Prague 1). We saw the St. Vitus Cathedral (my favorite church in the trip, with Stephan's church in Viena as a close second). You can get a good view of Prague from Hradcany. Then we walk through the coblestone-filled Nerudova Street through Mala Strana (Lesser Town). We see St. Nicholas Church then have lunch (Goulash and beer) at an old Medieval tavern. Next we walk through Charles Bridge, one of Europe's oldest stone bridges, and board a small boat for our one hour river cruise. We see the bridge from the viewpoint of the water. Then a walk through the Old Town Square. There is the Lenon Wall, which started with people writing their thoughts during a time full of censorship and people continue to write on it, which means the wall continues to change over time. Tthen we also saw the love gate, where lovers go and put a lock on the gate and it is supposed to symbolize them locking their love together. Other superstitions include certain statues in the Charles Bridge, where if you touch the figure, it means you will be back to Prague within a year. The city is known for its stories, superstitions, and ghost tales. We also saw the Jewish Quarter (once the largest Jewish ghetto in Europe). Our tour guide was knowledgeable and personable, I would recommend the pragueexperience.com tour (950czk/adult). Tired of eating goulash, we bought wine, cheese, olives and amazing jamon from a local butcher and rested and feasted in the room.

The next day we checked into Miss Sophie's Prague (2510CZK/night). I loved this apartment hostel. You have to stay here if you're in Prague and like the idea of having your own kitchen. It's clean with a minimalist design and quiet view of the side street. On the third day we saw Wenceslas Square on our own and re-visited some areas we liked, and bought foods to cook at the apartment. At night, we had the memorable pleasure of enjoying a 100CZK beer at the patio of one of the restaurant in the center of Old Town, where you can people watch and enjoy the night view of the Astronomical clock and surrounding churches.

Prague has many nice cafes. This city has the best selection of breakfast places. The subway system is notably efficient and Prague has the fastest and longest escalator I have ever been on.

View photos of the Prague trip here.

Europe Day 1: Munich, Germany

2010-08-17T23:27:00.001-07:00

Scored an aisle seat in the middle row first seat in the economy section. Nice leg room and vacant seat next to me to enjoy The Last Song, Mr. Wright, and Shrek 2. Arrived Monday morning of the 16th to Munich airport and started following signs. Having a good impression of Germany so far, everything is so logical. I like the way they think. The streets are very quiet as I travel in the S-Bahn towards the city. It is about a 20 minute walk to the hotel where my dad was staying (he arrived on the 16th), but I make it without getting lost and freshen up to get the airplane stink away. I hate the smell of an airplane cabin. It was nice to see my dad again. Last time we met was December, in my Asia trip where we spent time with family in Taiwan, adventured in Hong Kong, and hung out in Shenzhen.

Marienplatz

We took the U-Bahn to the city center to drop off our bags at the Euro Youth Hostel, our first hostel. My dad had already explored downtown the day before, and had remembered seeing a row of hotels and guided us in the right direction. Downtown is definitely city-like. The Germany parts I've seen near the airport were pretty quiet but the city is busy, noisy, and crowded. We saw Karlsplatz, walked down the streets full of shops, and found Marienplatz, a nice castle looking structure that pops out of nowhere. I suppose that is the old town part of Munich? Haufbrauhaus is a famous beer hall that attracts numerous tourists every day and I definitely thought it was worth checking it out... except once we got there my dad suggested that we would be waiting very long for our food because they are incredibly busy. The pubs are cafeteria-style where you sit next to anyone--there's no 'one-table-per-party' rule. I waited for a bit and realized he was right and we found a pub right across the street, Augustiner. Much more mellow with the best beer in the world and incredibly delicious Bavarian cuisine. I ordered the daily chili special (I forgot what it was called) and the Bavarian pork roast. It came with mashed potatoes that had the texture of mochi-- my dad loved it. The pork roast was my favorite dish in my whole entire Europe trip. It was that good. While dining we ended up becoming friends with Ben, who was sitting next to us. We chatted about Europe, our trip plans, customs. The beer at Augustiner is their own beer and they tap it out of a wooden keg. Every hour they tap a new one out by taking the tap and hammering it into the wooden keg. Ben says a strong guy who's good at it can get it in 1,2 hits. It is a lot harder than it seems. It was so fun to drink great beer out of a 1.5 liter stein. German-licious! Ben was there chilling out and having beers long before we got there and was still there when we left. So chill!

1.5L stein at Augustiner

During this trip, I sharpened my skills in map reading (pedestrian and freeway maps). I think I was a pretty awesome map reader and navigator. I got lost, sure, but I was always able to find my way back. And if not, I did this a lot, "Hey stranger, 'vo is [insert place name]'?" I love speaking foreign languages. It's so much fun to me.

We checked out St Peter's church after and made the hike up to the top to get a view of Marienplatz and surroundings. I flashed my USC ID and got a 0.50EUR discount :) The climb wasn't too bad, but as far as climbing to see top views, I think one climb per trip is enough.

After a day long of walking and sightseeing, we returned to the hostel. We were spent from day 1 and my dad suggested we go to the happy hour I scheduled in the itinerary I made. Despite it being a youth hostel, you could find more mature clientele in every 1 in 15. I was surprised/excited that my dad was down for getting happy hour beer at the hostel bar. For 1.50EUR a beer how can you not be down for it, right? We drank and chatted, and I enjoyed going online before bed for one of the few times I had internet access in Europe.

View from atop St Peter's Church (2EUR)

Munich photos here.

Wisconsin Dells Trip - Noah's Ark (America's Largest Waterpark)

2010-08-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

"Go to Wisconsin Dells" is in the "List of things to do before leaving the Midwest." With summer 2/3 gone, Brian and I took advantage of a promising Sunday weather forecast and decided to venture out to WI this weekend. Wisconsin Dells, WI is a city full of water parks. Brian describes it as the "Vegas strip with water parks instead of casinos." There you will find the Kalahari, the largest indoor water park in the country, and Noah's Ark, America's largest waterpark. You'll notice as I write more that with almost every ride they try to break a record, whether it be largest, longest, or first.

The Dells is a 3-hour drive from Naperville, so we headed out on Saturday afternoon to stay in Madison, WI in order to wake up on Sunday morning and only drive an hour to get to the park. On our way to Wisconsin, we stop for dinner at Fudruckers. They have a lot of burgers made from different animals, and Brian has the Elk burger (made from Elk meet) while I stick with the boneless buffallo bites. We stayed at the Cambria Suites in Madison. It was fantastic! I got a deal through Hotwire and ended up getting this 3/3.5 star hotel for $54! It happened because I paid for a hotel that was overbooked and when that happens Hotwire accommodates you by re-booking you into a hotel that's at least a half star higher and covering the difference. That was pretty nice because I was mad when I found out my first hotel was full and they still took my money. Worked out well. Brian and I took advantage of the room fridge, the pool, jaccuzzi, and hotel bar!

Sunday morning we feasted on McDonald's breakfast to ready ourselves for Noah's Ark. We arrived 5 minutes after the park opened (9am) and got a shaded spot very close to the ticket booth/lockers.

Our first ride was Time Warp, which had a surprisingly humongous drop close to the beginning. It was amazing how fast that ride was and how deep the drops were. The idea is that it uses centrifugal forces to keep you spinning through the funnel until you fall through at the bottom. I remember hanging onto the raft handles really tightly because you do feel like you're going to get blown off the raft. My butt popped off the seat and everything! It is officially the World’s Largest Bowl Ride. Kind of a crazy way to start your day/theme park experience, eh?

Our second ride was Bermuda Triangle. You have to pick up your own yellow raft and bring it up the stairs to the ride. This one was a bit frightening because the raft kept seeming like it was going to slide out of the tube. It would go really high up the slide when you were turning corners. Apparently you can ride it alone too which I didn't know until now.

Ah, Dark Voyage, one of the least favorite of the day. You "set off on a 4-person raft into total darkness to encounter the twisting, turning, mammoth rapids and other surprises within." I don't really like a ride where you can't see anything and they spin you and twist you. It made me pretty nauseated.

Congo Bongo seemed easy enough to go on even though I felt a bit sick. We were paired up with a mom(?) and her daughter(?), the latter was terrified and had a crying face going into the ride. I sucked up my nausea for her and me and Brian tried to be good sports and pretend the ride was nice and fun. You have to cross your legs when you go into this ride. It's a 5-person circular ride, 700ft long. You're twisting in circles the whole time so sometimes you're going down backwards (p.s.: basically 80% of my Time Warp ride was backwards, so this happens on other rides too. Congo Bongo is not that special but it's family friendly).

SlideWinders was fun. It was our first solo ride of the day. Brian and I raced each other going down the body slides a few times.There are 3 slides to choose from and there is virtually no line. They are the blue tubes in the picture to the right, right behind the elephant.

In the Paradise Lagoon, the pool is 11 ft deep. On the left side, you can see the cable drops I went on (you start off at the top and ride it down and get dropped in the pool and swim out). What's tricky is that some people couldn't support their body weight so right when they pushed off the dock, their hands let go and they fell 11ft into the water (vs the 2in. at the end). On the right side, you can see the canon ball slide tube that ends about 5 feet in the air. When you go down the slide, you basically get tossed into the pool instead of crashed into the pool.

They also have these "lilly pads" that you skip on that seems kind of fun. I didn't see it until now. Would have probably tried it!

Then we went on Jungle Rapids. This is another one where you have to take up your own blue raft. "You’ll experience winding twists and turns, fast accelerations and gentle cruising stretches." Nice and easy. I loved this ride after

The Plunge (two blue slides on the right)

"When it comes to thrills, why not dive in head-first? Going feet first? That’s kid stuff. No, for real thrills, it’s time to face your fears and take The Plunge– the only extreme head-first waterslide in the Midwest. Race a friend or go it alone on one of two side-by-side slides that will leave you screaming for more!" This ride, while scary, is my second favorite of the park (after Anaconda). You pick up a blue mat that comes with two iron handles you can hang onto. As you go down the slide, the first hump lifts your body off the mat for a quick second. The second hump sends your body flying off the mat as you go down (see picture on left). It's very fun because you feel scared, excited, and a little safe since you're still holding onto the mat. It feels like you're flying throughout the ride.

This all happened by 11. In 2 hours we were able to take advantage of the short lines and conquer half the park! We took a lunch break and had a horrible meal at the Deli stand accross the ticket booth before walking to the other side of the park for Black Thunder, where we tried 3 of the 4 slides.

Black Thunder requires you to carry up your own neon green raft. "If a waterslide with mind-bending twists and turns have you a little concerned, don’t worry. You won’t even see them coming inside the total darkness of Black Thunder. Of course, that’s the fun! Choose from four different slides, including the Twin Twisters and Witches Gulch, each offering their own unique thrills. And be sure to watch for the special effects, waterfalls and other surprises along the way!" I was a fan of Witch's Gulf and Brian liked the twin twisters. My hat flew off during Witch's Gulf , which was very sad (you can see the big dip in the picture. It's tubes 2 and 3). Fortunately, the hat floated very close to the stairs so Brian was able to grab it. Readers out there, do not try this at home as if you lose an item and it is too far from you, you could get hit by oncoming traffic when you go retrieve it.

We thought this was an indoor thrill ride but it's not! It's a haunted house with an optical illusion ride thrown in the middle. The ride is very nauseating as they lift your seat up really high and it looks kind of terrifying. Ugh I hated it, it was long and not fun. It was the opposite of fun if anything. Negative fun.

Finally, we decided to brave the line and wait for Black Anaconda. The wait was about 45 minutes and the ride was fantastic! My favorite of the park. They really splash you with a lot of water during the ride and it's very smooth and fast and thrilling.
"At over 1/4-mile long, Black Anaconda is America’s Longest Watercoaster—a diabolical combination of water slide and rollercoaster... [the] Black Anaconda swallows you whole, sending you spiraling down at 30 miles per hour. Then defy gravity as rushing waters push you up the creature’s six humps and lash you about in its dark coils. Black Anaconda lets you experience thrills on a whole new scale!" -Noah's Ark. They do wheel you up the humps really fast, it was good machinery work by the construction people! What's also cute is that you end the ride coming out of the Anaconda's mouth (see pic below).

After this, we wanted to line up for Scorpion Tail but came upon an obstacle. The lifeguard wanted us to remove our rashguards due to the fact the extra clothing might slow us down. Scorpion Tail has a lot of restrictions, and it is mainly because you have to get enough speed through the ride to make your way through the loop. So we went on a couple more rides that we liked again and then lined up.

"Ten stories high. 400-feet long. An initial drop that sends you plummeting down at more than 50-feet per second. Oh, and did we mention America’s first nearly vertical waterslide loop? Meet the Scorpion’s Tail. Yeah, this might sting a little." (Do you see the steep drop? Well that's only maybe 2/3 up the initial drop!)

The wait was soo long at 1.5 hours and the last 20 minutes were agonizing. You get to watch people fall through the tube and it makes you very anxious. You climb into the tube, they close the door, the computer counts down from 3 and the floor falls out from under you and you are launched down the tube/scorpion's tail and through the loop and 300ft below you come out. You have to keep your feet together and your arms crossed. First I stood on their weight balance, then I climbed into the tube. I think the scariest part is those last 10 minutes and the moment before the floor drops. When the floor disappears and you launch through it, I had my eyes closed so it felt very serene. It was quiet all of a sudden and I could feel the water splashing around me. You feel that weightlessness feeling but your gut doesn't quiet make it to your mouth on this one. I When the drop finally ends and you are sliding through the loop. I open my eyes close to the end of the fall and start enjoying the ride more. I make my way up the loop ("hee hee") and then feel lost in time and start sliding head first ("oh no is it happening?") and then feel another twist and start going forward feet first ("this must be the crazy loop. maybe i'm upside down right now") then I finally go heads first through the ride ("ok I am officially stuck in the Scorpion's Tale. The rules sign said to wait until I stop moving and lay flat until someone comes.") and when I go forward feet first I come to a stop. The water is spraying in my face and I wait about a minute and someone pops out of the ceiling and says I can come out. So I exit through the staircase. Brian makes me feel better about getting stuck and we swap stories about our experiences on the Scorpion Tail ride. We go on Blue Rapids two more times to leave the park on a good note. That was really really fun! I was a kid at play.

You can watch a video of all the rides at:
http://www.noahsarkwaterpark.com/category/attractions/attractions-list/
Other cool rides:
http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Family-Lifestyle/Travel/9-Raging-Water-Rides.html

Puerto Rico Day 8: San Juan back to Chi-Town

2010-02-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

Alas, the last day and entry about Puerto Rico. Camping at the beach means waking up to it and going right into the water for a morning dip. And not just any beach, Playa Flamenco was rated by Travel Channel as one of the Top 10 Best Beaches in the World and the Second Best Beach in the U.S. (after Hawaii). Looking at the ratings, the factor it scored lowest on (3/5) was child-friendliness, saying that children might not appreciate the tranquility of the beach and feel bored. That's just fine by me, the less screaming kids around while I'm getting my R&R the better!

We swam and snorkeled some more then packed our things up to head to the airport. The publico took us to the San Juan International and we had plenty of time before our flight. We enjoyed ourselves by playing Donkey Kong at the arcade machine by our gate, and going to the happy hour at a cafe. Bye bye 80 degree weather, hello 20 degrees.

: Arcade machine at SJU