Day Forty-Four: Pretty Pretty Pics

7/25/13, 3:19 PM PDT

Visited the famous Monterey Aquarium. WOW, is it great. Whipped out my nice camera  First things first, their jellyfish exhibit. There were a thousand more exhibits, but these were the only good pictures I could take since the other ones move so fast that it's impossible to focus on them.

SO GOOD LOOKING.

THANK YOU, HD CAMERA.

Caught a diver feeding an exhibit.

Diver feeding fish? Or the sequel to Piranha? You decide.

But you know what I really liked? The sea otter exhibit. They look SO RELAXED just swimming on their backs, gliding on the water. I want that life.

I want this. No, I need this.

Had a quick lunch, then decided to get my sister hyped for effing PUFFINS. She didn't know what the hell a puffin was up until today, but I hyped it so much with my puffin chant that she was SO EXCITED to see it.

When I took this picture, she practically squealed in amusement.

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" -Megan

Then we saw seahorses. Lots and lots of seahorses that are a pain in the NECK to photograph because of how tiny they are.

Yellow seahorse!

A seahorse roughly as big as my di...nosaur action figure.

THE RARE AND ELUSIVE TUMORHORSE.

Meh.

THE PYGMYHORSE.

That's the weirdest looking seahorse I've ever seen.

Then, penguins!

The girl on the right looks like Mew2King.

After that, a few other random exhibits which I'm too lazy to post pictures of because I took A LOT. Also, touched manta rays and DREW MY OWN JELLYFISH.

My sister's jellyfish.

My jellybear.

My Nyan Cat.

My camera ran out of battery, so I had to use my
iPhone. It's Superman.

Oh, and more jellies.

Floating amidst the darkness, alone.

It looks like it has gumdrop legs.

See?

Haikuuuuuuus.

More of the Gumdrop Jelly.

You can probably tell what was my favorite jellyfish.

And when we left, diverman here said goodbye.

I'm gonna torture you until you bleed pain.

Rest of the day was pretty boring. Heh.




RFotD: Jellyfish stings can vary from totally harmless and unfeelable, like the Moon Jellyfish, to rapidly lethal, like the Box Jellyfish.

SGAT: None really.

Day Forty-Three: Monterey, Day One

7/24/13, 9:44 AM PDT

So apparently, last night, I talked in my sleep. I said "Can I change the channel, mom?" and "The channel on the TV" even though obviously, there wasn't a TV in the car. My family thought it was HILARIOUS even though I don't remember any of it.

They're never gonna let me hear the end of it. Sigh.



Same day, 2:54 PM PDT

Arrived in Monterey! Roamed the mall for a bit since our check-in time isn't until 3. Walked into a toy shop andOH MY GOD, THEY HAVE SUCH AWESOME STUFF. LOOK AT THIS TRI-SHOT RUBBER BAND GUN.

"You can kill the terrorist AND the hostage next to him in one shot!"

AND THIS CLOCKTOWER MADE OF K'NEX

Look me straight in the eye and tell me this isn't
the blurriest thing you've ever seen.

And... The holy grail.

Mash'em Smash'em Androids.

Afterwards, we drove out to the bay, where we found some geese that apparently followed us from Hurricane Harbor. So I decided to feed them some leftover french fries we had and managed to get these geese closeups in the process.

"Get my good side, human."

The one on the right is Timmy. He don't talk much.

Time Magazine's cover photo for February 29, 2012. No joke.

Compensating.

One bit me. Should I get checked?

Moving on to that horrible STD joke, we finally got to our hotel. And look at our view!

I'd kill to do parkour on these roofs (rooves?)

Same day, 9:06 PM PDT

Ate at Bubba Gump. The food was okay. Also, bought sweatpants at a gift shop since I forgot my jeans at home and shorts aren't going to cut it in this weather. I feel weird wearing these black sweatpants since I'm also wearing a black jacket. Makes me look like a... what's the word? Those people that wear all black, run through the streets silently, and discreetly kill people before sneaking away?

Oh, that's right. A thug.

I bought this thing too. It's a pen, but when you click the thing that makes the pen tip come out, the claw clamps down. It's the greatest.

Snip.

Snap.

RFotD: Castroville, an area in Monterey, CA, crowned a woman named "Norma Jean" as its first Artichoke queen. Norma Jean is of course, more known as "Marilyn Monroe."

SGAT: Nada.

Day Forty-Two: Geese Waste and Waterslides

7/23/13, 7:17 PM PDT

Quick little breakfast at the hotel, then head to Six Flags. Well, technically, Hurricane Harbor.

Ignore my sister posing.

Took FOREVER to find a spot because everyone and their mother had the same idea to go here in the middle of summer. We eventually did, after some negotiation with a massive family of 6. First stop? The lazy river with my sister.

The water was incredibly warm and refreshing, although the bits of plants and foliage floating along was pretty annoying too. Very relaxing, I spent a good chunk of my time just lying on my back, cruising down the river.

Until I saw a bird swoop right above the water and stealth-bomb the water with a large blob of poop. The lazy river pretty much lost all its appeal from then on.

After that, I went on the huge waterslides. And I realized something. You're not paying to ride the slides here. You're paying to wait in lines and occasionally be rewarded by slides. Don't get me wrong, the slides are AWESOME. They almost make up for the fact that most of the time I spent here was either waiting in line or sprinting barefoot across the searing hot cement. I swear, my feet are both cooked medium-well from this visit.

But out of all 46 billion slides of this park, only two are worth mentioning. Lightning Falls and Venom Drop. Lightning Falls is an open-top slide where you sit on a large inner tube to slide down. But it's not the only inner tube slide, so why am I mentioning it? Simple. Because I almost fricking DIED on this one. A few seconds after coming out of the starting area, my inner tube spins 180 and I'm going down the slide back first. Of course, being me, I didn't really like the fact that I can't see where I'n going, so I try to throw my legs to the left to get a better view of the front. I pull it off, but with HORRIBLE timing. I managed to do it as my tube approached a curve and the added momentum of my legs managed to launch me a LOT higher up the guard wall than usual. Typically, the curves of water slides have taller walls to prevent you from falling out, but even then, my tube managed to touch the TOP of the wall. I thought I was gonna fall off and almost shat myself right there. But I made it out in one piece, obviously.

And Venom Drop? Eh, it's okay, I guess. It's just a 75-foot open-ceiling water slide. No curves. Just a straight shot down. No big deal.

After that, went back to our little spot near the kiddie pools, which, at the time of my arrival, were closed because a large goose walked up to the pool and disposed its solid waste right in the middle of the pool. Heh. Bought a delicious, delicious funnel cake. First time eating those things and my GOD, do I regret not trying them earlier. They're SO GOOD. Cake bits, whipped cream, and strawberries, all sprinkled with powdered sugar. Diabetes has never tasted so delicious.

Later, when I was drying off in the changing room, some white guy next to me decides to get butt-naked in the open which made for an INCREDIBLY AWKWARD situation for me. I tried to just ignore the pale, cratered moon staring right at me. I really did.

But then he farted. I could tell he tried to make it silent, but he failed and a tiny ounce of noise escaped. And I heard it. And it was pointed at me.

I just left. Right there, right then.



Same day, 7:23 PM PDT

You thought I was kidding about the geese? Well I'm not. And for proof, look at this picture.

"The humans are leaving. Assimilate leftover snacks."

THE PARK PEOPLE JUST LET THEM WALK THROUGH LIKE IT'S NOTHING. It's actually pretty awesome except for the fact that they leave disgusting green bricks everywhere.

And the park looks very pretty in the sunset.

I know it's not Hurricane Harbor. Shut up.

Same day, 10:43 PM PDT

Nothing interesting so far. Slept in the car and played SSB for the most part. Ate at Denny's, now driving to a hotel waaaaay in the distance.





RFotD: According to SSB tier lists, Pikachu is the strongest character due to a fantastic recovery and great edgeguarding ability.

SGAT: None really.

Day Forty-One: Universal Studios, Part 45

7/22/13, 12:34 PM PDT

Thus kicks off the Evangelista family vacation! Packed our stuff and now on our way to Universal Studios, the first stop of a week of traveling. Fell asleep after playing a few rounds of SSB along with a few minutes of Pokémon Random Emerald on my PSP. Woke up in the middle of a desert, like most days. Only today, there was a McDonalds nearby, so I can only assume that I've been kidnapped by Ronald McDonald.

I don't know where I'm getting at with this kidnap thing, I'm just really drowsy from a long nap.



Same day, 3:23 PM PDT

Universal Studios at last. Sweet JESUS, does it burn. We have an annual pass, and compared to the other times that we've been here, it is a THOUSAND times more crowded than the times before. Added with the fact that the sun's pounding on us full force and there's not a cloud in the sky to defend us, the two set up MISERABLE conditions. Not only does it feel way hotter than it normally is, but like a piece of food left in a car on a sweltering summer afternoon, the stench is BOUND to be awful.

Granted, it's not that bad right now since I'm wearing a huge blob of sunscreen near my nostrils. But just wait until it runs out.



Same day, 4:24 PM PDT

An entire hour waiting in line and we're almost there. My calves hurt so much, they barely had any rest after Comic Con yesterday.

Note to self, my Pokéwalker's running out of battery. Gotta replace it soon. Wooper's been sitting there for a good two months or so and I haven't sent him in since the Del Mar fair, so his stubby little legs should be feeling the burn now too.



Same day, 6:53 PM PDT

Saw my cousins. They got stuck on the Jurassic Park ride because of technical difficulties, unfortunately. Or, maybe not, because they got CODEWORDS TO SKIP RIDE LINES. "Daisy" to skip the Transformers queue, "Sunflower" to skip the Mummy ride, and "Waterfall" to skip the Jurassic Park ride. We rode the Transformers ride (which was a LOT cooler than I remember) and the Mummy (got a pretty awesome photo there), but didn't bother with the Jurassic Park ride since they were still fixing it.



Same day, 9:57 PM PDT

Went for the late-night studio tour with an okay tour guide, then watched the night show of Waterworld. The staff all hyped it up, saying that it's way better than the day show, but I disagree. The day show had way better actors and they made less mistakes. But they did have an Asian guy, so I guess that's what they meant.

Oh, and it's very nice here in Universal Studios at night.

Well, not really night, more like sunset.

I had to dangle my iPhone off the tram for this.

This picture would be beautiful if it weren't for that zombie horde. 

Dat mountain fade in the distance.

Then, ate at the CityWalk, obnoxiously sang along with songs I know that played and stuff like that.

Now at the hotel. Best Western, right next to Six Flags. It's a mediocre room, nothing special abo-HOLY SWEET JESUS, AN N64 CONTROLLER MODIFIED TO BE A REMOTE.

IT'S... BEAUTIFUL.

AND IT HAS GODDAMN SMASH BROS.

HELL YEAH.

Go to Best Western. Pack your bags. AND JUST GO.




RFotD: Movie sets are typically made of pressed fiberglass painted to look like the real thing.

SGAT: None.

Day Forty: The Partial Comic Con Experience

7/21/13, 11:39 PM PDT

Church, then went to Comic Con! Well, not really. More like walked its perimeter to hoard free stuff. But still, it was nice.

You know what wasn't nice though? The drive there. We were running late since church ended at 1, so we ate in the car. Greasy chicken nuggets, barbecue sauce, and freeways are not a good mixture at all.

Anyway, back to Comic Con. We got there really late, but we still managed to see some pretty nice things. Like these Tetris ladies advertising Tetris Blitz.

I don't know how that guy in the foreground's leaning so far
back on his chair.

Didn't get a picture of the I block girl because she broke her neck after
trying to walk through a door.

We also saw a few neat cosplayers in here.

Deadpool tried to kill me. Also, I look the same
in every picture.

This... guy?

Well, he got the girl, so I guess it worked?

Then hit up the Nintendo Lounge. Got to ride a pirate ship.

Told you I look the same in every photo.

Got shoved down an exit pipe by Nintendo staff because I didn't have a badge. Worth it though.

I look strangely compliant for someone about to
be banned from Comic Con.

Also found a Pikachu accidentally exposed to near-lethal quantities of Pokérus.

What an abomination.

Resisted arrest and walked around Comic Con a bit more. Got some nice free things, including this poster from The Oatmeal, which is awesome.

I'm hanging this in my room. No joke.

And an ADVENTURE TIME SHIRT.

The single greatest free thing I've ever gotten.

Also visited the Sega Lounge, which was boring compared to the Nintendo Lounge. But hey, they had a pretty nice giant statue of Sonic out there.

"We're number 1 because we're riding piggy-back
on Nintendo's success!"

"Eh... it's less 'platonic' and more 'parasitic,' I'd say"

We also saw a few Jesus protesters out there after we left to walk to Horton Plaza, where we parked. Unfortunately, dad forgot exactly where we parked. This wouldn't be such a bad thing under normal circumstances since I'm pretty good with on-foot navigation. But this is Horton Plaza we're talking about. And it looks like something designed by M. C. Escher.

I DON'T KNOW WHERE ANYTHING IS
(via http://cl0ckw0rk-prince.tumblr.com)

We eventually found our way back. As soon as I touched the car, I fell asleep, exhausted, and when I woke up, I was in my garage in total darkness. My parents didn't bother tell me that we arrived.

Well. Time to go pack my things since we go on vacation tomorrow! Blog entries might not be formatted as nicely as before since I'll be posting exclusively from my phone, but I'll try to make it legible!





RFotD: Horton Plaza is named after Alonzo Horton, who was responsible for Downtown San Diego's current location. In essence, he is indirectly responsible for Comic Con overcrowding.

SGAT: None really.