Sea world

Seaworld at San Diego was a great experience. The following were the highlights:

1. Journey of Atlantis, a roller coaster ride. The car goes down and splashes water all around. Then it goes into a tunnel, where the car moves vertically upwards, and the roller coaster starts.. Was a really cool ride.

2. Wild Arctic: This was something that I had never seen or experienced. You are made to sit in a aeroplane look-alike with rows of seats. This is a helicopter which has to go to the Arctic on an expedition. On the screen ahead there were videos of the Arctic, snow, sea, penguins and polar bears. The helicopter was going in and out of the cliffs, mountains, ice lakes and all of that. The helicopter moved and rocked in the Arctic winds. The engine broke down and we went plunging down into the ravine. All these effects were amazing and of course were complimented by the seats moving roller coaster-like. A very exciting experience !! :)

3. Dolphin and Killer Whale shows: Very interesting and entertaining shows, which most of us have seen on the TV sometime or the other. But the live show was something else. It was quite exciting. There are a few seats in the front, which are classified as the "soak zone". You can guess why ?? :D


SHAMU.. The star killer Whale!!



4. Shipwreck Rapids: These are boats and kind of waterfalls. Gives you a feel of wide water rafting.. Was a lot of fun, except for the fact that, I got soaked :-( I had to roam around in wet jeans and shoes for the next 3 hrs.

5. Haunted lighthouse 4D show: Right, so do you know wat the fourth dimension is??? Special effects like spraying water and moving chairs. It was an awesome show.. Completely enjoyed it. It was my first experience and was totally worth it :D

San Diego Lego Land !!

For the ignorant and those who think Lego is too childish, see the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego

Lego bricks come in all shapes, sizes and colours. There are bricks, men, flowers, wheels, cranes and all other building blocks which will help you make a house, car, ship or a whole city!!

I was amazed when I entered "Lego Land California". You can start your tour with a boat ride through a small man-made lake. At the shores of the lake there are various structures made of Lego. Taj Mahal, Eiffel tower, an octopus playing a number of instruments with his 8 arms :D

There's Las Vagas recreated with Lego bricks.. There are cars moving around. All the amazing Casinos of Las Vagas are right there. Newyork Newyork, Stratosphere, Mirage and some others. So though I didnt get to go to Las Vagas, I saw it in miniature :D There was New york city in Lego too.. There was the train station with people moving up and down the miniature Lego escalator!! There's Washington D.C in Lego including the miniature White House :D

The white house !!

Taj Mahal made in Lego.

There were some rides too.. Nothing exceptional: roller coasters and other similar non-scary rides, except one. This one was like a dragon's claw.. You are held in the claw which tosses you around like a puppet. How much do you wanna get tossed around?? That mah friend, YOU get to decide. There are levels 1 to 5. And you gotta select the level. I went 3, but that was scary enough for me :D

The most amazing part was that loads of things were made in Lego. I had never imagined seeing a host of characters like Darth Vader and R2D2 from Star Wars to a variety of fairytale characters, all made using Lego. Hansel and Gretel, Snowhite, Aladdin, 3 pigs, red riding hood, everything.. There was a complete car made in Lego too!!

Lego Land is mainly built as the entertainment for kids. But for a person like me, who has played with Lego as a kid and loved it, its something really amazing. My dad had got us the Lego set from UK. Me and my sister used to sit for hours together building different things out of it and then putting it on display in the hall. It would stay there for at least 2 to 3 days until we were totally satisfied with our work of art, and then we would replace it with another . One of my most fond memories :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legoland_California

San Diego !!

The flight from Dallas to San Diego was good, comfortable. All throughout the flight I could see the land from the window. Not once did the place go completely above the clouds, like it does in India. I wonder why!! But it was an amazing sight. As soon as the pilot announced San Diego, I could see the whole city. It seemed so huge when compared to Dallas and Arlington, though Dallas is pretty big. Maybe I haven't seen enough of it :-p

Have been here for two days now. Haven't been able to go out to see San Diego much though. But its fun :) Went out with aunt to do grocery and pick up my cousin from playschool. After a long time I am just relaxing. Not bothered about assignments and tests or cooking and cleaning turns. Just lazying around, chatting online with friends (which is my regular routine anyway :D ) and playing with cousins.

First Semester done!!!

The end of one semester in Arlington, Texas, USA.

Positives:
1. College life again :) No managers!!
2. Met lotsa new people. Some nice, some not so nice.
3. Learning to live independently and enjoying it thoroughly !
4. Liked the way courses are designed.
5. Lots of computer Labs and printers. Some which are open 24 hrs a day.
6. Was able to resume one of the things I love doing, dancing. Will continue it in other semesters :)
7. Bought my laptop :D

Negatives:
1. No matter what, you have to cook to survive. Cant help it !!
2. Have to study :-( Anyway, I had a problem with that always :-p
3. Have to look for a job to sustain in this expensive country. [ Which, I still dont have :-( ]
4. Cant move out of campus without a car. No public transport X-(
5. Have put on weight :-(

Life here sucks to some extent when compared to India. Not just talking about the fact that there's family (which includes close friends) in India and not here :)
All in all, having a good time here. But sometimes I feel lonely. Feel that something is missing. Again, not referring to the "obvious reason" mentioned above. Maybe it stems from there.

A toast to the new semester and the new year. I hope to do better in everything this year :)