Snapshots from Pier 39

Belated post with pictures from my trip to San Francisco late last year. All Pier 39 pictures taken on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2011.

One Week as a SeaWorld Adventure Camper

Back in the summer of 2006, I went on a trip with my cousin and her family to San Diego SeaWorld to participate in an educational program called Adventure Camps. As part of our five-day “adventure,” we got to see everything, and I mean everything, that the park had to offer – including a part of SeaWorld that is typically off-limits to regular park-goers: “behind the scenes.”

As a previous aspiring __________ (insert any job title relating to the care or study of animals, here), and since my cousin dreamed of being a dolphin trainer, I knew there was no way I could turn down her invitation to join her on the trip. After all, how many times in your life do you actually get to meet and greet dolphins; sit in the front row at the Shamu Show; learn about sharks, hands-on; go snorkeling; ride and re-ride (and re-ride) the Journey to Atlantis water coaster; spend quality time with your cousin and her family (brownie points?!); and MORE, all in the same week? (Seriously, people, I was a Junior in high school at the time). Well, where I’m from (land-locked and surrounded by mountains), there was no way any of that would have EVER happened if I hadn’t gone. And despite how bland the last two days at the park seemed (due to repetition in activities), I’m pretty glad I was given the chance to experience this.

My cousin, her cousin, and I all signed up for a five-day day camp program offered by SeaWorld. This not only allowed us to spend time at the park, but outside the park, as well, for personal itineraries during the evenings. The groups were split up according to age group, and luckily, the three of us were all placed in the 9th-12th grade group, along with about ten or so other kids. Each group had a guide, and if I recall correctly, an assistant guide, that not only held the responsibility of “guiding” us around, but to make sure that each of us stayed with the group. Even as a kid, I recall the whole park experience to be very organized, and not to mention, our guides were pretty awesome.

Now, let’s see if I can dig into that deep part of my memory…ah, yes. Here is a list of the activities (that I remember) that were included in the five-day day camp:

• A tour of the “hospital” area – we saw a plethora of detained sick and recovering marine animals and were told about their treatment process, facilities, etc. One story that I remember a vet tech told us was how a sea lion was in the hospital for having a parasite, and that the end of the worm came out with a bowel movement one day. Knowing that they had no other way, one of the employees ran over and stepped on the tail of the parasite to prevent it from going back in. After pulling it out completely, the parasite ended up being about 30 feet long. (GROSS)!
• Dolphin meet and greet – best part of the whole five-day trip. We were each allowed to stand right by the edge of their pool with one or two small fish. When they approached, we got to toss the fish right into their mouths and pet them. I wish this could’ve lasted all day…

Dolphina (my name for this one) smiles for the camera!

My cousin Hailey shares a moment with a dolphin, behind the scenes at SeaWorld.

• Fed sting rays. Actually, they had their stings removed, so they were safe to touch! The trainer explained to us that all we needed to do was clamp the piece of meat in between two fingers, stick it in the water for a nearby ray, and then it would suck it into its mouth like a vacuum. That’s exactly what it felt like, and it was awesome. This is probably my second-most memorable part of the trip.
• Got to hold/touch starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. One of the animals (sea cucumber?) was the most interesting and eerie of them all to hold – if they are out of the water for too long, they start to expand as a defense mechanism. If they aren’t placed back in soon, they will simply explode. (Don’t worry – I didn’t “try it to see what would happen.”)

Holding a starfish!

• Sat in on a plethora of shows, including the Shamu Show, which we got to see front-and-center. Yes, we got very wet that day.

Front-and-center at the Shamu Show

• Toured all of the other open features and displays in the park – the non-exclusive part of the program.

Flamingo pond at SeaWorld.

View from the Bayside Skyride

• Went on all the rides once or twice (or thrice or…).
• Learned about sharks, hands-on – got to study and touch baby leopard sharks.

My group listening to some guides talk about sharks.

• Went on a two or three hour-long snorkeling excursion at a marina nearby Seaworld – got to swim around and view the underwater life. There wasn’t anything more than sea grass, crawdads, and the occasional fish here-and-there, but it was still pretty fun.

This marina near SeaWorld was the location of our snorkeling excursion.

That's me as a 17 year-old! Snorkeling for the first time!

• Made awesome friends, whom I personally kept in touch with for a few months after the trip.
• Made memories and the gained the ability to say that I’ve done all of the above.

So if you’ve come to this post searching for a review of SeaWorld’s Adventure Camps, I can tell you from my own experience that it was probably one of the coolest experiences of my young life. At the age of 17, I got to see and learn about something that I was highly interested in at the time – virtually directly. The five-day day camp option cost upwards of $300 dollars, but I’d say that it was well-worth the expense because of all the exclusive stuff we got to see and do in and around the park. The atmosphere that was set by our guides was very laid-back, yet respectful, and they provided us with safety; kept our well-being sound by providing us with water and snacks; and gave us the chance to go do other things around the park based on “rule of majority.” The only relatively negative thing I have to say about the whole experience is that it seemed like five days was too long. Some of the activities that we did in the first three days seemed to be repeated on days four and five, and, well, frankly, there’s only so much to do at SeaWorld. I would look into all their Adventure Camps programs if that worries you. But, of course, I went six years ago, so some of the programs are probably different by now. You have to provide your own sack lunch, which is another downside (sushi is probably not the best meal to have in a park that promotes the well-being of marine life, anyway).

Overall, that week was pretty amazing considering all the new things I got to see and do; the people I got to meet and become closer to; and the memories that were made. I would highly recommend this experience for any K-12 student who is highly interested in marine or animal life. Lastly, I would also recommend sending them with at least one other friend or family member around the same age. That way, neither of them will be alone, which will make their experience all the more enjoyable!

Feel free to comment with questions that I haven’t already covered, or to share your own memories of a SeaWorld Adventure Camp!

Forgotten Surprises

What’s also fun about film is that when I do happen to wait a long time to get it developed, more often than not I will have forgotten the pictures I took. As a result, I never fail to find joy in the surprises that reveal themselves upon getting my prints back. The following are the last few of such surprises from my Lomo roll:

Nice wide-angle shot of Long Beach, CA. Taken with Lomography Fisheye 2 on August 9, 2010.

Just a self-portrait of Kyle and I at Long Beach. Taken August 9, 2010.

Bulb exposure of the two-story merry-go-round at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Taken November 24, 2011.

I don't know if this shot was intentional, but it turned out to be kind of interesting. Taken at Pier 39 on November 24, 2011 with Lomography Fisheye 2.

(I decided to separate my Lomo photos into themed posts – today’s theme was “travel” if you couldn’t tell).

P.S. Happy birthday, Dad! Love you

Sand Things in December

I haven’t blogged in a while. Yes, you know that. What you don’t know, well, are the reasons why. For one, I was not at home all of last weekend through Wednesday; I was enjoying myself another vacation – this time in Southern California. I didn’t blog about it beforehand this time, but then again I didn’t tell anyone but my parents, so try not to feel left out. Second, I GOT A JOB! (Insert cheers, hollers, and “yay!”s here). After two very long months of unemployment, I have attained a position at Overstock.com as a Copywriter. I started on Thursday and am already feeling pretty comfortable with my responsibilities, my co-workers, and the overall environment. It’s pretty awesome and I am 100% grateful for this opportunity. (And don’t worry, I will not be renewing my unemployment benefits…by the way, I’d like to thank all the tax payers for helping me get through the past two months. I promise that I only spent the money on rent and food).

With that said, expect to see a decrease in blog posts from me. I know, it sucks. I feel like I was becoming more popular and stuff during the past month, but I do hope you’ll stick around. Follow me on WordPress or subscribe to my blog with your RSS feed (because that’s how I follow other blogs). Follow me on Twitter, too.

Anyway, I’d like to talk briefly about my trip to the O.C. We primarily went to visit Souk, our best friend, who had relocated there for his job. When we finally arrived (yep, road trip again), we spent almost every waking minute together – eating, visiting Asian markets, hanging out in our two-bedroom suite in Newport Beach, getting stuck in horrific traffic…it really was just a relaxing time. Really. But as nice as it was, it came so quick after my trip to San Francisco that I was honestly just a little tired of being away from home. I never thought I’d say this, but for the first time in my life, (okay, maybe the second or third time), I’m glad to be home, sweet home.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the trip. Besides the constant 60-degree weather (like, double the temperature of Salt Lake City right now), one of the best highlights was that we got to spend a few hours on the beach (let me hear a “woot! woot!” for Laguna Beach!). The three of us made sand things (as opposed to castles), waded in the ocean, played catch with random lemons, and jump-roped with long strands of seaweed. It was amazing, and I wish I could do that everyday.

Blue sky, blue ocean, 60-degrees. Laguna Beach, December 13, 2011.

Silhouette of a beach wandering bird. Laguna Beach, December 13, 2011.

Kyle's feet have sunk into the sand at Laguna Beach. December 13, 2011.

Souk the merdude. One of the sand things we made at Laguna Beach. December 13, 2011.

Kyle "jumping seaweed" at Laguna Beach. (Oh crap! Just realized the seaweed I saved is still in my trunk!) December 13, 2011.

Here is a view of the ocean from Marriott's Newport Coast Villas...not from our suite, unfortunately. December 12, 2011.

Golden Coast: Part 4 – Hollywood

Why is it that all good things must come to an end?
Why can’t good things just be, forever?
Sadly, this post will conclude Golden Coast, just as walking along Hollywood Boulevard concluded my perfect trip to California.

The famous Roosevelt Hotel

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

Celebrities we saw…at Madame Tussauds!
Portraits:


Tiger Woods focusing on the butt…I mean the putt.

Finally, I leave you with this…

Thanks for following this series!
Check back soon for new topics

Golden Coast: Part 3 – Santa Monica

Day 3 in California was full of activities, but alas I shall keep this post designated to photos from Santa Monica.







“There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.” ~ Forrest Gump

Summer of Color, baby.

Under the pier


Hungry pigeon

School starts tomorrow.
Wish me a good semester!

Check back soon for Part 4

Golden Coast: Part 2 – Japanese Garden

I know this isn’t very California-related, but I would like to share this post before the better ones to build anticipation [haha].
Kyle surprised me with a visit to the Japanese Garden at the CSULB campus, and it really was nice.
It was nicer than most I have been to before; I think mostly because it was kept up.
The atmosphere was also better, as there were quite a few other visitors.
Anywho, here are my favorite photos from the garden:

I will have two, maybe three, more parts to Golden Coast.
They will be better than this one, I promise!

Stay tuned for a new post coming very soon