May 2013

0

LA: PART ONE

Posted on Thursday, 30 May 2013

LA WAS MENTAL.

Really really good.

I always knew LA was fun if you picked the right things to do and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS is definitely one of the right things to do.

The early start was a bit hard of half of the group (Jess and Tasha), however, Andy and I bounced along excitedly and couldn't wait to get started. We were a bit delayed *cough* TASHA! *cough*, but soon we were on the bus journey to the airport and all things seemed good. Tasha was eating her Cinnabons and Andy and Jess were getting to know one another.

When we arrived at Dollar/Thrifty car rental we were a bit shocked. There was such a long queue so early in the morning! When we finally got to the counter we were in for another shock. The $50 rental car I had reserved on the internet was not available to me as I was under 21. Excuse me? Where exactly did you write that on the website? (a concern a voiced and which was not answered by Jose behind the desk). He then asked if there was anyone who was 21, they could rent and they would have to rent using their credit card. No one had brought their card with them....until Tasha realised she had and became our saviour. She produced a card and paid for the car - which made me feel extremely guilty. Not only that but the price of the car came $350. WHAT! From $50? $75 of that was a deposit which would get back when we returned the car but still! It was ridiculous and I felt so bad knowing I could have rented a car from La Jolla Avis for much less. Sorry guys! Please forgive. Moral of the story DO NOT RENT FROM DOLLAR/THRIFTY.

Tasha picked the car she wanted and we drove off. Andy strapped in Baby Joey (our toy Kangaroo) into the seat between us and soon fell asleep on my shoulder (Standard car trip with Andy). Tasha was a good driver and we had nice chats driving along, whilst introducing them all to the music on my iphone before it died just as we got to Universal (WOW IPHONE 5 BATTERY REALLY SUCKS!).

We went and had some frozen yoghurt for lunch before heading into the Universal Studios. It was amazing. I knew my way around like I had been there yesterday. It was so exciting and thrilling, just like the previous times except this time I was with my Secondary school friends  (They are meant to be in England only!) and a boyfriend (a concept I thought I would be incapable of having). It was crazy. The queues were minimal. We went on the Studio Tour first which had some cool added extras from last time like King Kong 3D which made me scream so much. It was really cool. And Norman from Psycho ran after the car. That made me scream a lot too. Andy's hand was slightly crushed during the tour.

We then went on the Mummy ride, which I had bigged up a lot. It was still amazing but a little short. Jess was screaming like crazy and I could see Andy's teeth glowing in the dark as he grinned. It was funny! We then went on Jurassic Park which everyone loved. The music and the scenery were awesome and on the way down Jess felt a bit sick so she buried her head down the back of Tasha's t-shirt  - nice friend that she is :P. We then went on the new Transformers ride and OMG. IT WAS MENTAL. It is probably one of the best rides I have ever been on in my life. The 3D screen made you feel like you were zooming forward and zooming up when you weren't at all. Jess was totally convinced we were moving when we weren't. Andy was really impressed! Especially as he specialises in that field and wants to go into user - experience game production, graphical things take a lot to impress him but he said it was the best ride he had ever been on.

Then came the Simpsons ride....which Andy and I kept pointing out ISN'T UNIVERSALLLLLLLLL!!!! GGRRRRR. SO WHY ON EARTH DID THEY REPLACE BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH IT! What grinded my gears even more that the ride was identical to Back To The Future but had just been decorated differently. The line were you waited was the same, all the little rooms were the same, the room with the simulator was the same YET it was all SIMPSONY and not Back To The Future. An iconic film which will stand the test of time better than the Simpsons will! Also, all that footage Doc Brown and Biff filmed especially for the film. Where has it gone! I don't think even the simulator movement changed. I recognised a lot, like the bumping of the water as the bumping of the dinosaurs neck. I hate to admit that it was good...which it was...but I couldn't help resenting it!

We then missed the last Water World show by seconds and went on Shrek 4D which was a bit of a let down after all the incredible stuff we had been on. But it was still fun.

We headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. The air conditioning was on so strong that we were all shivering and asked to turn it down three times. Andy bought me a novelty mug which was lovely of him and I had a salad to eat whilst we all shared a platter for starters.

Night time hit and we headed to our hotel. I was crosssing my fingers it was ok as I had been in charge of booking it. It was on the Hollywood Boulevard which was good and it looked very....errr..cheesy. There were pictures of celebrities all over it and there was no part without colour. We entered our hotel room to see three glowing white faces on the wall which stood out even in the dark. We called them the Murderer, the Being Murdered, and the Ghost. See if you can guess which one is which when I post a piccy below.

We all got into bed and fell asleep pretty quickly....and that was the end of day one...


















0

SUNGOD

Posted on Monday, 27 May 2013

SunGod Festival.

THE MAJOR FESTIVAL of the year.

UCSD is known for it. It has featured celebrities such as Black Eyed Peas, Relient K and Bruno Mars in the past. It is when UCSD comes alive. Everyone has been going on about it all year. "Wait till you experience Sungod."

UCSD is known for being slightly...well...not partyish. So Sungod is a real moment where the campus just goes wild (not just IHouse - THE ENTIRE CAMPUS). I bought lots of errrr drink to prepare myself for such an occasion, which likened itself to Christmas as you are meant to drink all day.

Well....I had been watching Doctor Who till 6am with Andy (catching up before the finale) and errrrrrr.....well......we kind of slept through half of the day. Waking up at one o'clock to hear Pierre, Arunav and Cesar partying in the living room was an interesting experience. Andy also had run out of clothes to wear so he put on his bright pink trousers and simply a blazer whilst we took his clothes to the laundry room. Walking down I-walk was an experience. People were dressed in virtually nothing to random spontaneous costumes. Everyone seemed to have coloured themselves in some way and the air reeked of drink. We bumped into quite a few drunkards..and Oakland Joanne lent out of a nearby window yelling at us. It was all rather amusing!

I went back to mine and started to get ready when I was cornered by people giving me shots. STRONG shots. I didn't realise just how long it had been since I had had alcohol. Or Laura was tipsy and poured me lots of alcohol. I then locked myself out of my bedroom because everyone told me to lock my bedroom - which I never do due to the fact I used to ALWAYS LOCK myself out of my bedroom - tried to go and get the keys, it was shut, and then wait for the RSO. Andy was in my apartment waiting for me when I came back from trying to find my keys. He was also forced to drink by Laura. She kept trying to make him give a toast and he would say generic things like "good friends" and Laura would roll her eyes and say "TO LOVE!" It was hilarious...I knew what she was trying to do.

Andy and I ended up going to find food because we hadn't eaten since lunchtime the day before. It was yummy and Andy was in his tiger onesie. He got quite a couple of compliments. Now...the next part is a bit silly. We went back to the apartment....and fell asleep. Literally. Must have been a food coma....or something. We just slept...and next thing we know. The party has left the field and is back in Andys apartment...there is sick on the toilet....oh and then the toilet breaks....and it floods everywhere...and there is smoke. The field was old news (the acts were pretty bad anyway) and Andy and I hadn't been that keen to go. But we partied a bit in his apartment and then just spent the day with one another, chatting and giggling. I didn't touch my alcohol...

Sungod will be a day I never forget none the less though :D. I spent it in the best possible way :D x

0

UG, Seaport Village, Doggies, Pancakes and Onesies :D

Posted on Wednesday, 15 May 2013

How've I been? 


Mixed bag. I am going through some really hard things whilst having the best time of my life. But I'll tell you about the BEST THINGS. Because I have had the best time of my life recently. I am happier than can be, but alas, unfortunately some people don't like it when you're so happy. And I just have to accept that fact yes? 

BUT ON WITH THE AMAZING STUFF!

Last weekend I went to San Diego Downtown with Andy. It was so much fun. The sweetheart that he is wouldn't tell me where we were going and therefore on Friday night, I found myself being driven up to one of the fanciest hotels I have ever seen. It was the kind of hotel, that was so posh, that the taxi drove up to the front sliding doors, which were underground. The hotel was really nice. It was called the US Grant. 


I felt very spoiled. After a sleep in one of the comfiest beds ever, we went exploring San Diego Downtown the next day. It was BOILING hot. One of the hottest days yet. We laid out on the grass for a while and chatted away whilst I tried to ring my Bank and ask them to stop blocking my transactions. They did not understand me at all. 

"What's your password?" 
"Doctor Who." 
"Sorry what was that?"
"Doctor Who." 
"Sorry what?"
Andy: "Say it in an American accent." 
"Darctar Who?" 
"Ah yes. And your second password? Name of a favourite pet?"
"Saxon."
No, that is incorrect. It begins with an S."
"Saxon." 
"Sorry that is wrong, you will to reset both of your passwords."
Andy was in fits. But it only got worse. 
"What's your number?"
"858."
"858"
"405"
"205"
"No 405."
"Sorry, 305"
"NO 405!!!"
Seriously. Is the British accent so hard to understand! 

After this we went for a walk around Downtown - heading for the sea. A nice lady came and asked us for directions, so Andy, despite not knowing the town went to find a map to help her and I talked to the lady. We walked towards the sea after that and were holding hands and chatting to one another when a man eating McDonalds walked up behind us and said "Alright lovebirds, lets have a picture." It was the most perplexing thing ever as this guy, eating McDonalds and doughnuts, took Andy's phone and took photos of us both together! It was the sweetest thing ever. I can't imagine anyone in England doing that. It wouldn't be considered 'polite'. And then after two pictures, he said "Ok, kiss." I was so shocked that I still had my hand on my hip in my typical "Melissa Morgan" pose when Andy kissed me. I always said I would never have a kissing picture because why would I ask someone to take a picture of me and then kiss? Guess I broke my own rule. But hey I didn't mean to!
We found a really nice restaurant by the sea and the waiters were really friendly. So we went for a meal. 
There were so many cute doggies walking around SeaPort Village. They were adorable. One toy poodle reminded me so much of my own dogs and it was really freaky because he kept staring at me! Seriously. Just staring me down as I ate. Andy and I giggled like crazy. He really did stare me down. Later on we walked past a convention of cute fluffy doggies and then, to top it of, we saw two baby Chihuahuas being taken on a walk by their owners pulling them along and completely ignoring the fact they were stumbling over their little legs, trying desperately to keep up. 

We walked along the Seafront and had ice cream. We were laughing and joking like crazy and I was so happy. It felt so blissful. We then went home, bumping into our friends Chris and Eileen on the way, and wore our new onesies whilst eating pancakes that Andy made (which were DELICIOUS - English pancakes by the way which means crepe like things not American pancakes) 

It was one of the best weekends of my life. 










0

Posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013

Cinco de Mayo!!!

Oh dear. I am sorry. I have been nagged by quite a few people - the most influential being my mother - on the fact I have not updated this blog in a while. The reason - MIDTERMS/ESSAYS! You know! Important things. In fact I have the most scary mid term tomorrow but seeing as I just received this e-mail from my Mum and she is one of those people I fear the most then I thought I better get writing!

So cinco de Mayo! A festival in the US and Mexico to celebrate some of the first victories during the Civil War. And where did I go? Mexico. 

It was quite a spontaneous trip. I was meant to be going to Coronado Island with my friends but as that didn't work out, my lovely Spanish friends - the boys who are housemates/best mates with my boyfriend - invited us both to go to Mexico. On a party bus! I was a bit nervous, having heard that blonde people are the prime targets for muggers, kidnappers and genuine 'bad guys' in Mexico. But ah well. You only live once.

The bus was organised by students and was really good fun. Andy and I woke up on Saturday morning and were going to get lunch when a text from Edu sent us running as we discovered the bus didn't leave at 2 like expected by 1.15. I ran to my apartment to shower and get dressed and get important things ready like, oh I don't know, my passport and J-1 Visa before sprinting back to Andy's. Only to find him strolling casually in my direction with a smile on my face. Apparently Edu was 'teasing' so everyone would be ready on time. Ironic seeing as he is usually the late one :P. So we set of towards the car park where the bus would be picking us up.

Now. On Saturday. My voice had practically disappeared. So I sounded a bit like a donkey throughout the whole trip so imagine Eddie Murphy narrating this blog ok? 

We waited in the car park till 3! Because Edu's friends from irvine were non-existent! They literally were holding the whole bus up! Then, just in the nick of time, they arrived. Dropping all of their extra clothes and errr precautions on the floor as they rushed to the bus - provided the entire bus with a lot of entertainment - they finally staggered on board. 

We drove down to the boarder, had to get of the bus, pass through security and get on the bus again. When we passed out of security we were greeted with a foul smell and two small children running around, with no mother anywhere in sight. 

"Welcome to Mexico, I guess." I said. 

We boarded back on the bus and made our way to Rosaritas. Now we were on the 'other side' the students in charge of the bus trip immediately passed out alcohol. Everyone got a drink and it was pretty foul! Andy and I have a kinda code word when we don't like something. We describe the temperature of the drink or food rather than what it tastes like. However, we drank it and proceeded to go on our way. When we got to Rosaritas it was too early for the bar, so we went and played on the beach. Chris, Eileen, and I buried Andy in the sand, which was particularly fun before running off in search of food with the Spanish boys. Andy and I kept spinning each other around on the sand which was a lot of fun. 

We found a nice Mexican place but at first the prices seemed OUTRAGEOUS. Until we realised that was in Pesos and we had to divide by twelve to get our own price. Ah. People would just randomly come of the streets to try and sell us stuff whilst we were in the restaurant which was a bit unnerving but it was rather funny too. It reminded me of the time my parents told me specifically not to accept a song by the people coming around to play to the different tables in a restaurant and so I geared up to be really forceful when Dad just went "Yeah ok then." HEAD meet TABLE moment. 

I ate a tostada, which seemed to be on the starter menu (I had not realised this) but it meant we didn't a complimentary starter or desert. However mine was the size of a mug whereas Andy ordered from the same section and got three burritos basically. So it was highly confusing. We then went for a bit of a wonder around the shops, being grabbed by sellers "BE NICE" and trying our hardest not to make eye contact with anyone. I saw a lot of stray dogs which I thought were adorable and continued to like the smells of food emitting from everywhere. Then we found a tea place. Typically. The english duo rock up in a coffee shop. Chris and Eileen came with us and although they didn't get tea they poured the honey I received with my tea down their throats. It was rather funny and Andy and I were so worried we were going to get chucked out. We left to go to the bar when it was dark and that's when the night truly began. 

Andy got a wrist band which meant he had free drinks all evening, but that didn't stop him insisting on buying my three drinks - strawberry daiquiris - very nice of him. And then....well I think I worked out harder than I had done in the week!  Andy is an extremely enthusiastic dancer, and to dance half-heartedly and with a embarrassed expression on your face (like I normally do) would have looked totally stupid of me. And when he dances you kind of get swept up into it too. So that is why I found myself enthusiastically dancing around in the sand (the bar had an open area in the centre of it) all night.  Also why I found myself in pain so much the next day. We danced mainly with each other but obviously when the Spaniards launched themselves on us we danced the night away with them too. It was so funny. One of Edu's friends knew Andy from his Christmas trip and he clearly thought i was some kind of Mexican girl Andy had met, judging by this friend's hand gestures and we were finding it hilarious to joke how he was going to come up to Andy when we got to border control and be like "errrr mate you have to leave her behind now." It was such a fun night and I enjoyed myself so much. I even sung a long to some of the tunes, even with my donkey voice, before we had to leave on the bus at one in the morning. I met a girl called Sophie while we were dancing. She was very drunk and declared she loved me within five seconds. She literally was clinging onto my neck before she quickly moved onto clinging onto the Spanish boys. Nice to make a friend. 

The trip back was a tiring one. Lots of people were very drunk due to the amount of cheap alcohol but I felt like I had danced all of mine away. Also, very nicely, Chris had bought Andy and I a fish taco each which we ate gratefully. Having only had the small tostada I had been STARVING. Andy quickly fell asleep on me as we travelled back and I enjoyed listening to Sophie half way up the bus try to negotiate with someone why she should continue wearing the poncho the other girl had bought someone else. 

We got to the border and had to wait a long time to cross. All of the people with J-1 visas had to go into a separate petting zoo type area after having had their passports checked to be double checked. In no particular order we would then get called up as one person decided to work. There were four people at the desk plus a manager saying "good job guys, good job. I'll let you go on lunch break soon."

Errrrr why? Why not just give them lunch where they are. They are already only sitting down having a nice gossip about how Fiona's sister had gone on a drunken sprawl and cheated on her girlfriend. I am sure it wouldn't be too hard for them to eat where they are. 

I got picked last to go up and when asked if I was having a good day, I firmly replied "Not really."
I am not a complainer. I never have been. I cringe when my Mum complains. It is so embarrassing. But I didn't really complain as such as state my feelings that the service was rather poor to that of the UK (actual complete fabrication there, UK border airport service isn't particular fast) and that I was shocked only one person appeared to be working. I then asked if I could fill in an evaluation form at some point. I was shattered. And I was having some emotional feelings due to things that had happened that week which had been why my trip to Coronado had been cancelled. But ah well. No Excuses. Turning into my mother....NOOOOOOO. No I am not. Joking. :P And I know it wouldn't be that bad if I were Mum :P Before you say anything. 

And with Andy and the Spaniards, and Chris waiting outside the gates for me, I soon forgot my anger and skipped home. Where I promptly fell asleep. It had been a LONG day. 

(Just a quick thank you to Emily from Warwick who read my last blog post and sent me the most interesting articles about Shamu and Killer Whales!!! Really appreciate it and so flattered you read this!)
















0

Shamu: Smiling or Grimacing?

Posted on Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Yep, that is the name of my essay :)

At the end of our year abroad, students are required to write a mini dissertation. I say mini....meaning 8000 words rather than 10,000 words. So not MINI. In fact, it will be the longest essay I have ever written.

I was desperately trying to come up with something to do with Sherlock or Doctor Who. And I have been watching Elementary a lot recently, with the excuse that it is 'research'. Literally till this morning I was going to do an essay comparing the twenty first century media interpretations of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic work - British vs American. (Let me tell you know, of course British (CUMBERBATCH) would have won. But hey ho. I didn't there would be enough literature or enough to really explore. I need references and historical sources as such for it to be even remotely gradable by Warwick. I have to get back into the Warwick mindset - hard flipping work. Here, if you work hard, you will get an A. Which is the way it should be, and a nice sensible way. In Warwick, if you work hard....you might scrap a 2.1. You have to work hard and go out of your way to do as much research as possible (I'm talking a two page bibliography for a 5 page essay) , get sources 'outside of the box' aka film interviews, primary sources you have uncovered at a museum, diary entries, etc, do something experimental with your essay (and Im not talking writing your own fictional account like what some people did for Carribean Literature first quarter) and have practically perfect grammar and spelling to just get a first....maybe. Even then it depends on the marking scheme of the teacher (I am not only talking about the humanities). Some teachers want you to argue a completely new point of view whereas love for you to be traditional. You have to figure them out...hopefully before crunch time.

Anyway, so to cut a long story short, I knew that the Sherlock thing wouldn't cut it as I didn't have enough background sources or interesting new ways of portraying the information - I would just harp on about Benedict Cumberbatch and his incredible acting.

So, in a weird circle way, I focused on the thing that actually made me pick San Diego. Seaworld. I wanted to be an animal trainer when I was younger. I wanted to work with the dolphins at Seaworld. Literally that was my dream. However, then Mum said I had to be a marine biologist (UTTER RUBBISH) and therefore that dream slowly slipped from my hands when a certain teacher because my biology teacher and biology became so very very dull.

So instead I decided to focus on some of the most controversial parts of Seaworld - animals in captivity - especially Shamu. There has been lots in the media about Killer whale attacks on trainers despite the fact they are not very frequent. But now Seaworld does not allow its trainers in the water with the animals. There is therefore a lot of information and different arguments for and against the creatures being in captivity and whilst I am here! Where better to do a research paper on the beautiful creatures. Laura was very smug about this when I told her as because she is against the Killer Whales being kept at Seaworld. She says I am "opening my mind". Hey, who said I didn't have an open mind before>???? We were discussing this earlier in the week. Open minds vs closed minds. I always think surely if one has a very stern opinion on something another person could call them closed mind. As long as you have an opinion someone could say you have a closed mind. So Laura (who I know reads this) I could say you have a closed mind for not researching Seaworld more and listening to the arguments for Seaworld :P Also lets not go into your job :P But in all seriousness I probably will call upon Laura for her opinion during my research as I know she has many strong emotions about this particular topic and all opinions are valid in my opinion.

Anyway, I hope this will be an interesting research paper. I have a feeling I will really enjoy doing it. I just also hope I can separate myself enough from my research so as to not a) blindly argue Seaworld is amazing no matter what the evidence or b) get emotional affected to the point I can never enjoy Seaworld again.

Wish me luck :) x