Up at 8:00, showered, breakfast, then walked to Balboa Park, where the zoo is, and checked out the San Diego Zoo, apparently one of the best zoo's in the world. They have almost every imaginable creature. Finally saw koala bears and kangaroos!!!! They didn't have much for kangaroos, though.
Saw a show with an emu, Siberian wolf (very nice!) and a Siberian Reindeer. Lots of exotic animals from all over. It was $21 to get in.
Walked back to the hostel, wrote in journal, then used internet, which is where I am right now!
Which brings us to THE END of my journal entries for my trip. Barring anything spectacular happening tonight or tomorrow or Thursday. Tomorrow I bus back to Los Angeles, and I'll head straight to the airport, and I have to go to the Malaysia Airlines office there and get my paper ticket re-issued, then I'll just sit around LAX until my flight leaves, shortly after midnight tomorrow night (so I actually fly out Thursday about 12:15am or something) and get to Regina about 11 hours later, land at 11:14AM in Regina.
So, it's been a blast. Too bad it had to end. I know my mommy will be glad to see me though. I wonder if my cat will remember me? I expect everything will be pretty much same-same at city hall.
The End!
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Monday, January 05, 2004
SeaWorld
Up at 8:45, showered, had breakfast, met Megan and Chloe, from the hostel in Hollywood in the kitchen, they arrived late last night, and then said goodbye to Anita, she's heading home to Germany on Sunday, after travelling for one year. And she's depressed about it too, just like me! Megan (Aussie), Chloe (English) and I headed to the Greyhound bus terminal so I could change my ticket to go back to LA on Wednesday instead of Friday, and also so Megan could pick up some cash from Western Union (she ran out, her mom had to wire some to her). She realized on the way there she forget her passport, so she went back to hostel, I went in to deal with my ticket, and told the ticket lady I had a ticket to go back on Friday, and wanted to go back on Wednesday instead, and she simply said, "Just Do It". I don't have to change tickets, just show up on Wednesay and check in, my ticket will be good for it.
We waited for Chloe, and it took her a long time, she finally got back, she lost her passport (she even had it at the hostel earlier this morning). Anyway, her and Megan went to deal with that, and I headed to SeaWorld. Met an Aussie couple at the trolley station heading to SeaWorld as well, they happen to be staying at the same hostel too, we just never ran into each other there yet. We took the trolley, then transferred to a bus to get to SeaWorld, and cost about $47.00 to get in.
SeaWorld was great. Saw a bunch of different shows. "Fools With Tools", two trained sea lions, Clyde and Seamore, and a trained otter doing tricks and stuff. It was awesome and quite funny. Probably the best show at SeaWorld. Then we went to R. L. Stine's Lighthouse 4-D, a 3-D movie with moving seats and water being dumped and sprayed on you during the movie. Similar to Universal Studios. Then me and the Aussie couple split up, I went to get food and walked around the grounds looking at all the displays and seeing the other shows. "Pets Rule!", a show with lots of trained dogs and cats. "Dolphin Discovery", an excellent (and wet!) show with a bunch of dolphins and a HUGE pilot whale. Most excellent. At this show, one of the "tricks" the dolphins and whale does is use their rear fin to splash the audience with water. I thought I was sitting far enough back, so got my camera to my eye to take a picture of everyone else getting sparyed as the HUGE tail fin of the pilot whale through a mass of water at them. Guess what? I got completely drenched with salt water too. I do have a great picture of a wall of water coming at me, though! Fortunately my camera still worked, even after the wave of salt water engulfed it! Also saw "The Shamu Adventure", trained killer whales doing amazing things.
Overall SeaWorld was awesome. I enjoyed it. Very glad I went.
At 5:00, met the Aussie couple at the bus stop, and we caught bus and trolley back to town, went back to the hostel, then we went out for supper (steak!), then we went to an ice cream parlour for a great ice cream sundae's, then went back to the hostel and had a HUGE crap, wrote in journal, walked around downtown a bit, sat and watched people skating at the ice skating rink at the mall, ran into the Aussie couple there, then we walked back to the hostel and to bed.
We waited for Chloe, and it took her a long time, she finally got back, she lost her passport (she even had it at the hostel earlier this morning). Anyway, her and Megan went to deal with that, and I headed to SeaWorld. Met an Aussie couple at the trolley station heading to SeaWorld as well, they happen to be staying at the same hostel too, we just never ran into each other there yet. We took the trolley, then transferred to a bus to get to SeaWorld, and cost about $47.00 to get in.
SeaWorld was great. Saw a bunch of different shows. "Fools With Tools", two trained sea lions, Clyde and Seamore, and a trained otter doing tricks and stuff. It was awesome and quite funny. Probably the best show at SeaWorld. Then we went to R. L. Stine's Lighthouse 4-D, a 3-D movie with moving seats and water being dumped and sprayed on you during the movie. Similar to Universal Studios. Then me and the Aussie couple split up, I went to get food and walked around the grounds looking at all the displays and seeing the other shows. "Pets Rule!", a show with lots of trained dogs and cats. "Dolphin Discovery", an excellent (and wet!) show with a bunch of dolphins and a HUGE pilot whale. Most excellent. At this show, one of the "tricks" the dolphins and whale does is use their rear fin to splash the audience with water. I thought I was sitting far enough back, so got my camera to my eye to take a picture of everyone else getting sparyed as the HUGE tail fin of the pilot whale through a mass of water at them. Guess what? I got completely drenched with salt water too. I do have a great picture of a wall of water coming at me, though! Fortunately my camera still worked, even after the wave of salt water engulfed it! Also saw "The Shamu Adventure", trained killer whales doing amazing things.
Overall SeaWorld was awesome. I enjoyed it. Very glad I went.
At 5:00, met the Aussie couple at the bus stop, and we caught bus and trolley back to town, went back to the hostel, then we went out for supper (steak!), then we went to an ice cream parlour for a great ice cream sundae's, then went back to the hostel and had a HUGE crap, wrote in journal, walked around downtown a bit, sat and watched people skating at the ice skating rink at the mall, ran into the Aussie couple there, then we walked back to the hostel and to bed.
Sunday, January 04, 2004
Hot Date :-)
Up about noon, showered, walked to Ralph's (big grocery store chain) and bought some milk, bread and cereal (bare necessities). At Ralph's, they have UScan, where you scan all your own groceries, and bag them all, and pay for them, without the assitance of a cashier or anything. Weird.
Didn't do much today, read, used internet, Nicola (Chilean guy) and I made a date to go for supper at 7:00, but I ditched him (he understood) to go to an Indian place with a much more attractive German , Anita. We went for supper, back to the hostel about 9:00, then a group of us went to a pub for karaoke (only thing happening) until about 1:30, then back to the hostel, watched TV until 2:00, then to bed.
Didn't do much today, read, used internet, Nicola (Chilean guy) and I made a date to go for supper at 7:00, but I ditched him (he understood) to go to an Indian place with a much more attractive German , Anita. We went for supper, back to the hostel about 9:00, then a group of us went to a pub for karaoke (only thing happening) until about 1:30, then back to the hostel, watched TV until 2:00, then to bed.
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Tijuana Pub Crawl!!
Up about 10:00, slept horrible. A guy in the room snored loudly all night, and the stupid smoke detector chirps every 30 seconds or so.
Walked to Balboa Park, a large park area about 20 minutes walk from the hostel, and also where the San Diego Zoo is. Never did find the zoo, though. I plan on going another day.
Back to the hostel, stopping for something to eat, then decided to do a harbour cruise, got down to the harbour about 1:35, and got on the 1:45 2-hour cruise.
On the cruise, we saw lots and lots of Navy ships, including the USS Nimitz, I think the largest aircraft carrier in the world (or in the US forces). San Diego has the largest naval base in the Pacific, and it's the second largest in the U.S. (Norfolk, Virginia is the largest). It was a good cruise, enjoyed it.
Back to the hostel, called Northwest Airlines to change my flight to Thursday, Jan. 8, then to Subway for supper, then tried to sleep for a couple of hours before the pub crawl.
Didn't sleep got up about 8:00, showered, and got ready for the bar. 20 (or so) of us walked to the trolley station near the hostel and caught the trolley to the Mexico border, walked across to Mexico. There is NO Mexican customs or immigration at all, you simply walk into the Mexico, no passport control, nothing!!! Too bizarre. I was hoping to get a Mexican stamp in my passport! Once in Mexico (the city of Tijuana), we all hopped in four cabs and cabbed our way to Safari's, the club.
WOW!! All the American college kids to young to club in San Diego come down to Tijuana to party and drink. The drinking age is only 18 in Tijuana, it's 21 in US. Lots of short, short skirts, skimpy outfits, tons of hot chicks, all grinding on the dance floor. It's like one big orgy!!! They have an elevated platform for girls to "dance", and they were up there, shaking their asses, pulling down their pants to show off their g-strings and asses too all the guys gawking on the dance floor below.
Later on, saw this one guy, he had two chicks at once, and, ummm, how can I put this, well, his pants were down around his thighs, and while he was making out with one girl, the other was working "down there". Hahahaha!
I've never seen anything quite like it. And I had a blast!!!
Most of us left about 4:30AM, but lost a few of the hostel people in the bar. The ones we had, went up to another pub for a short stint, a few minutes, then we all shuffled outside and cabbed it back to the border crossing, and walked through US customs and immigration. My turn, I walked up the official, handed him my passport, and he looked through it, and he wasn't very friendly, and said, "Where's your visa waiver bill?" Visa Waiver Bill??? I said, "Didn't know I needed one." He handed me my passport back, and said something like, "Get the hell outta here." Very rude! And why in the world do I need a visa waiver bill???? I'm a frickin Canadian!
We all caught the 5:00AM trolley back to downtown, a 45 minute trolley ride, and then to bed.
Walked to Balboa Park, a large park area about 20 minutes walk from the hostel, and also where the San Diego Zoo is. Never did find the zoo, though. I plan on going another day.
Back to the hostel, stopping for something to eat, then decided to do a harbour cruise, got down to the harbour about 1:35, and got on the 1:45 2-hour cruise.
On the cruise, we saw lots and lots of Navy ships, including the USS Nimitz, I think the largest aircraft carrier in the world (or in the US forces). San Diego has the largest naval base in the Pacific, and it's the second largest in the U.S. (Norfolk, Virginia is the largest). It was a good cruise, enjoyed it.
Back to the hostel, called Northwest Airlines to change my flight to Thursday, Jan. 8, then to Subway for supper, then tried to sleep for a couple of hours before the pub crawl.
Didn't sleep got up about 8:00, showered, and got ready for the bar. 20 (or so) of us walked to the trolley station near the hostel and caught the trolley to the Mexico border, walked across to Mexico. There is NO Mexican customs or immigration at all, you simply walk into the Mexico, no passport control, nothing!!! Too bizarre. I was hoping to get a Mexican stamp in my passport! Once in Mexico (the city of Tijuana), we all hopped in four cabs and cabbed our way to Safari's, the club.
WOW!! All the American college kids to young to club in San Diego come down to Tijuana to party and drink. The drinking age is only 18 in Tijuana, it's 21 in US. Lots of short, short skirts, skimpy outfits, tons of hot chicks, all grinding on the dance floor. It's like one big orgy!!! They have an elevated platform for girls to "dance", and they were up there, shaking their asses, pulling down their pants to show off their g-strings and asses too all the guys gawking on the dance floor below.
Later on, saw this one guy, he had two chicks at once, and, ummm, how can I put this, well, his pants were down around his thighs, and while he was making out with one girl, the other was working "down there". Hahahaha!
I've never seen anything quite like it. And I had a blast!!!
Most of us left about 4:30AM, but lost a few of the hostel people in the bar. The ones we had, went up to another pub for a short stint, a few minutes, then we all shuffled outside and cabbed it back to the border crossing, and walked through US customs and immigration. My turn, I walked up the official, handed him my passport, and he looked through it, and he wasn't very friendly, and said, "Where's your visa waiver bill?" Visa Waiver Bill??? I said, "Didn't know I needed one." He handed me my passport back, and said something like, "Get the hell outta here." Very rude! And why in the world do I need a visa waiver bill???? I'm a frickin Canadian!
We all caught the 5:00AM trolley back to downtown, a 45 minute trolley ride, and then to bed.
Friday, January 02, 2004
San Diego
Up at 6:45, had breakfast, checked out and walked to the Greyhound bus statino for my 7:50 bus to San Diego. Rained on me the whole walk to the bus station.
I had to change buses in downtown Los Angeles, with over an hour wait.
Got on the bus to San Diego, left at 9:30. Got to San Diego about noon, and walked to the hostel. Downtown San Diego is NICE! Very modern, clean, and very compact, easy to walk around. San Diego is much nicer than LA. The hostel is much nicer than the one in Hollywood too.
After checking in, I showered, ate at a restaurant, walked around downtown for the afternoon, along the waterfront, saw the oldest ship still sailing the waters, Heart of India, built in 1841 (?). They also have the ship from the movie Master and Commander there, the HMS Surprise! Just saw that movie a few days ago!
AFter walking around, went to the internet, then back to the hostel. The hostel is putting on a Tijuana pub crawl tomorrow night, I was the first person to sign up. The told me that they usually come back about 7:00AM. I also ran into Nick, from Chile, who I met in the Hollywood hostel. We went to Hooters for a beer and food, then back to the hostel, and to bed about 10:20. Big night tomorrow night.
I had to change buses in downtown Los Angeles, with over an hour wait.
Got on the bus to San Diego, left at 9:30. Got to San Diego about noon, and walked to the hostel. Downtown San Diego is NICE! Very modern, clean, and very compact, easy to walk around. San Diego is much nicer than LA. The hostel is much nicer than the one in Hollywood too.
After checking in, I showered, ate at a restaurant, walked around downtown for the afternoon, along the waterfront, saw the oldest ship still sailing the waters, Heart of India, built in 1841 (?). They also have the ship from the movie Master and Commander there, the HMS Surprise! Just saw that movie a few days ago!
AFter walking around, went to the internet, then back to the hostel. The hostel is putting on a Tijuana pub crawl tomorrow night, I was the first person to sign up. The told me that they usually come back about 7:00AM. I also ran into Nick, from Chile, who I met in the Hollywood hostel. We went to Hooters for a beer and food, then back to the hostel, and to bed about 10:20. Big night tomorrow night.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Happy New Year!!!!
Got up about noon, I think. Wasn't feeling to hot, I think I might have partied a little too hard last night.
After I showered and dressed, took the subway to Pasadena to check out the Tournament of Roses Post Parade Showcase of Floats (there's a mouthful). They were showing off all 48 floats that were in the famous New Years parade. Got there about 3:20, spent an hour checking out the floats (most absoultely amazing). As I was walking around, I had the song "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" in my head (cus I was in Pasadena), and chuckled to myself that it'd be funny if someone did a Little Old Lady from Pasadena float. Sure enough, there was one!! It's a granny in a hot rod car, surf boards in the back, heading to the beach. It was excellent.
Headed back to the hostel, it took the trains 1 hour 20 minutes to get me from Pasadena to Hollywood.
Back in Hollywood, had supper in a pizza by the slice shop, then internet, then back to hostel, did laundry, wrote in journal. Glanced through my passport, I only have three blank pages left in my passport!
Went up to the hostel bar about 10:00, it was open mike night, where they operate on a guy named Mike, live in the hostel bar. Actually, not. A chick from Iowa was playing guitar and singing. Excellent stuff. To bed about 10:30.
After spending the last 11.5 months in a humid climate, I'm not used to being back in a dry environment. My lips are all dried out and chapped ever since I got back to North America. I hate it.
After I showered and dressed, took the subway to Pasadena to check out the Tournament of Roses Post Parade Showcase of Floats (there's a mouthful). They were showing off all 48 floats that were in the famous New Years parade. Got there about 3:20, spent an hour checking out the floats (most absoultely amazing). As I was walking around, I had the song "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" in my head (cus I was in Pasadena), and chuckled to myself that it'd be funny if someone did a Little Old Lady from Pasadena float. Sure enough, there was one!! It's a granny in a hot rod car, surf boards in the back, heading to the beach. It was excellent.
Headed back to the hostel, it took the trains 1 hour 20 minutes to get me from Pasadena to Hollywood.
Back in Hollywood, had supper in a pizza by the slice shop, then internet, then back to hostel, did laundry, wrote in journal. Glanced through my passport, I only have three blank pages left in my passport!
Went up to the hostel bar about 10:00, it was open mike night, where they operate on a guy named Mike, live in the hostel bar. Actually, not. A chick from Iowa was playing guitar and singing. Excellent stuff. To bed about 10:30.
After spending the last 11.5 months in a humid climate, I'm not used to being back in a dry environment. My lips are all dried out and chapped ever since I got back to North America. I hate it.
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