Seaworld!

Getting there was such a trek and was really hard for me simply coz I really, really hate public transport. I had to catch two buses there and back and my first bus of the day, I had a new driver who didn't completely know the route. So that made me feel nice and calm.

But the ride back was super easy and much faster so all good there :)

I don't know why this keeps happening to me, but it's like whatever I dress for in the morning, the weather thinks it'll be funny to do a 180. Like, when I was on the East Coast, I mostly wore my 3/4 leggings or 1/2 jeggings, and would be freezing while everyone else wore their jeans. I wore my jeans to San Diego Zoo and everyone's wearing 3/4 or 1/2 pants while I'm semi-melting. I wear my 1/2 pants today and what do you know? Overcast, chilly wind and the first day in forever I didn't bother to pack a jumper. I even went so far as to take my gloves out of my backpack. Damn.

But the weather ended up being really, really good because it scared most of the crowd away from Seaworld I think! There were times when I wished I had a jumper but for the most part I was okay. Even when I had my hand in water such as when I PATTED A DOLPHIN and a few dozen MANTA RAYS and went on the Journey to Atlantis ride (twice!). For that ride, there was literally no one else there, so when my ride finished, they asked if I wanted to go again and despite being soaked and freezing, I'm not stupid, so I said yes and I went again xD I didn't even bother hopping off.



 

Manta Ray, my best bud



lol crazy random shot I took



















Speaking of rides multiple times, I went on this one epic rollercoaster at the beginning of the day and loved it so much that I went on 4 times in a row coz there was no one else there. I had to stop eventually because I kept blacking out at the same portion of the ride in the last 3 goes. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

My poor brain.

And I saw tons of shows! I saw Shamu, some dolphins and this adorable Christmas story thing where a sea otter took Santa's Naughty/Nice list and a sea lion helped the main dude get it back. But my favourite show was this pets one where the family went away for a few hours, so the dog had a party and invited all his friends (cats, dogs, pigs, ducks, a completely random but cute kangaroo...) and they decorate the house/stage with Christmas stuff. It's hard to explain but it was very cute. I took vids.

Shopping!

Went to Horton Plaza today which is a Westfield that's half indoor half outdoor and crazy layout-ed. It's super fun and cool looking when you get there, but it's like Machu Picchu when you're loaded down by shopping bags. Which I so was xD

Llama

Bought tons of stuff at Bath and Body Works and some dresses at Francesca's (that place never does me wrong xD Went in for skirts ONLY, promised myself no dresses - come out with no skirts but 4 or 5 dresses). Oh oh oh and my favourite part - bought the below shoes I've been eyeing off since Seattle. Not only were they $10 cheaper than Seattle and San Fran, but I also got a 10% discount coz I'm International. My aunt Julie would be very proud at my bargaining ways.

And then I saw Wreck-it Ralph again after an amazing lunch (ask me about it and I will give you step by steps of how they made it in front of me omg yuuuum). And this time, I was prepared for the epic soundtrack and also for the tears - had my hanky handy. And it was awesome. Again.

Then I came home and looked at all my pretty new things! Just wondering how to transport them to L.A....

San Diego Zoo

Is where I was today. I only managed to cover the Lost Forest (which is huge) and half the Urban Jungle, but I got a 7 day pass for the zoo, the safari and Sea World so I'll probs come back on Sunday. I also got the Backstage Pass so I got to play with rhinos and flamingoes and cheetas and a whole bunch of other animals that I can't remember the names of. They were so cute! I wanted to take them all home xD

 

Oh oh oh but fun story, I was standing behind a wall of glass watching some monkeys or apes or whatever, for quite some time because they were so hilarious and fascinating to watch (okay, also because they reminded me of Titan and Jas - which pretty much every animal did in one way or another), and after a while, one of them just suddenly runs straight up to where I'm staying from way, way away. He then throws himself back-to-the-glass just like below and then turns his head to stare at me over his shoulder.

 

 

 

And naturally, I'm like 'kk?' but the guy next to me (who I think is a keeper since he recognised which one it was) said that Junior (le ape's name) wanted a backstratch. So I stood there and rapped my knuckles on the glass so that the vibrations went through and the monkey just stood there like that for a few minutes enjoying it until apparantly I stopped doing it right and moved on to possible-keeper-guy and pressed its hip to the glass as if to say 'no, here'. I'm not even kidding. You can't make stuff like this up.

 

 

 

And here's a photo of a photo of me petting/feeding a somethingorotheritsalongnamebutitsadistantrelativetothebobcat. I had this one printed complimentarily, the others were put on a CD so I can't see them until I'm home :( Shame, since my face as a rhino eats from my hand or as I'm preened by a very affectionate flamingo is quite hilarious. Maybe I'm born with it. Or maybe it's Maybelline.

:D

So I should probably mention that I'm staying in a super, super dangerous area. I can't remember if I said so before, but if not, well, I am.

I'm minutes away from Union Square, which for those who don't know what that means, and to quote the historic Tramcar driver yesterday; shopping, shopping, shopping.

I went toWestfield (is that a thing here? I thought it was Australian o.O) with a Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and heaps of those kinds of stores. There's a Forever21, Sephora and Lush (BAM! Right next to a Burger King) etc. I also found my first Icing by Claire's which was so great and I enjoyed that massively. Going back to that store in LA for suresies.

So today I bought a ton of jewellery, makeup, jackets/cardigans (Francesca's has done it again!) and 3 travel sized shower gels from Bath and Body orks (for only $10!!! WHAT? Sooo going to buy hundreds more before I come home). Spent a few hundred, but I'm so okay with that because of how much I got for that! Like, at pandora, there was a charm I bought for Emerica that was $40 but would be about $60 at least back home. Bargain!

So I also decided that San Fran would be the city for shopping, and San Diego would be the city for attractions and activities and doing stuff.  And I'm SO psyched for San Diego like omg.

You guys are gonna be so jeal when you see everything I bought today. SO JEAL.

My only regret is I bought these FANTASTIC nail polishes that changed colour depending on temperature (mood changing haha), and another few that are magnetic so you can change the designs as they dry to become a pattern because there's pieces of iron shards or something in them, but then had to return them a few hours later coz I realised I still don't know the deal with flammables/nail polish on planes. I was so devo as I returned them. DEVO.

Alcatraz!

Is where I went today. Spent a few hours going around the island, and came to the conclusion that had I been a child during the 40s or 50s, I would have loved to grow up there. Or even be a wife/mother living there. The kids and women had it goooooood.

Bought myself an inmate's uniform shirt which looks super cool and slightly starchy but I don't care coz it'll be the only long sleeve top I have. YAY WARM CLOTHES FOR WHEN THE WEATHER DOES A 180!

But I did love how today was overcast and sprinkled with rain and was so foggy you couldn't see half of the city buildings or most of the Golden Gate bridge! It totally leant itself to the eery island, and though the wind had me freezing during some parts when I was outside at the top, I much prefered it over yesterday's summer-y weather. It just wouldn't have set the right mood.

Sitting at a chair and table in cell 147, C block

Also, here's a fun story! So when I got to the block where they had a few solitary confinement cells, they had a dude (who works there, obvs) who would let you in and close the door so you can experience what it's like to be in that pitch black cell for a minute or so. Inmates could be in there for up to 19 days at a time. Anyway, so he asks who wants to go in next and all the people around me are like 'oh no, no, no!' and back away and I'm game so I'm like 'let's do it, man' but am disappointed when a few others join me coz I wanted to do it by myself. Coz it's solitary confinement and all. So we go in and there's about 5 or 6 of us and the door closes and we're standing there, but then the groups start talking amongst themselves and taking pictures with flash. So, if you know me, you'll know I was getting seriously pissed coz I wanted to really experience it properly. But I recognised the accents! So we're all standing there in pitch black and I go "are you guys all Aussie?" and it turns out that everyone in the room was (despite being only groups of 1 or 2)! And one guy from Melbourne says as we're being let out about how the Aussies were the only ones brave enough to do it and I was like YES. And my irritation at their talking and flash-photography abided, thanks to my Sense of Belonging with My People. I could have written a HSC essay on it. Dude.

Spitting, bikes and buses

First off, what's with the spitting here? Like, wtf? It's so disgusting. People (okay, guys) just spit wherever and whenever they want. As if Border Security doesn't chuck those people out?

Moving on. Went to Golden Gate Park today which is actually 20% larger than Central Park. I rented a bike, which would have been utterly hilarious to watch if I'd been anyone else. Because - and here is a life lesson I'm helpfully imparting to you, my friends/family/weirdos who've stumbled upon this blog, do not even attempt to rent a bike if you don't know how to ride one and are by yourself. Seriously. I may not have fallen off (success!) but I certainly looked ridiculous. I had trouble steering, so I was wobbling all over the place, and then the whole "gears" thing like a manual car had me freaking out so I stayed in first which probably didn't help, and let's not get started on actually getting the bike going. Omg. I did have fun though, please don't get me wrong. I was 50% having the time of my life, 50% scared out of my mind I'd fall down all those stairs around the concourse (or I'd smash into a car on the road I was supposed to share). Especially since I was like I'M NOT PAYING A $4 INSURANCE FEE! Which I probably should have done since the bike was worth like $400 at least.

Okay, maybe like 45%, 55%.

But I saw stuff and rode public transport for quite some time, so that's some growth there. I loved the Conservatory of Flowers (was free today for some reason. YAY BARGAIN!) and the Japanese tea garden and whatever that pretty thing that I thought was Shakespeare something or other, was.

And I don't even feel guilty about that super greasy and cheesy angus burger from that random street vendor because I had to walk UPHILL to get back to my hostel (which I looooove btw. Fantastic location/room/beds/private bathrooms etc) and I did look a fair bit embarrassing when I arrived back because I was super red faced and sweaty - but NOT puffed out! So thrilled with myself. All that walking everywhere has paid off!

PICTURES?

$5 pasta night at the hostel last night! I FINISHED IT ALL

A tiny view of the Japanese Tea Garden from the top of a
very, very bizzare bridge I literally climbed to get ontop of

"PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN" - oh yeah, it happened.
IT HAPPENED ALRIGHT.

I swear to Disney that this is the coolest thing I've
ever seen. Doesn't it look like a seal wearing
a sombrero? YOU'RE WELCOME

Highlights of Seattle

Friday: bought several dresses, a cardi and a scarf (excellent for wearing back home this December) at my new favourite store, Francesca's Collection, then spend the rest of the day at the movies. Marathoned Hotel Transylvania, Wreck-it Ralph and Pitch Perfect. I had absolute NO idea what Pitch Perfect was about, but I ended up loving it so much. Now, having seen the trailers post-movie, I realise I would not have chosen to see it coz it looks like another Step Up or Bring it On film. But no, it (and Wreck-it Ralph) was/were fantastic. Favourite Seattle day.

Sunday: Bought many, many things at Bill Speidel's Underground Tour gift shop. Successfully found 6 books (mostly hardcover) that I love at Pike's Place Market for $45. Strangely enough, I found a near-mint condition Blinky Bill book with an inscription from 1985. In America. Blinky Bill.

I know.