Southern California

San Diego and Los Angeles - that's where I was this fourth of July weekend. I met up with 4 of my Anna U classmates, a couple of whom I was meeting after 2 years!After lots of delays (traffic and otherwise), we pretty much drove overnight to reach San Diego at 5:30am Saturday morning. Decided it was not worth going to sleep so just got ready and left for Seaworld. Nice fun place! Lots of exciting water rides and some great shows. First up was Journey to Atlantis, a coaster with some splashes, very cool! There was a really awesome dolphin and whale show and then also a sealion and otter show. Our last ride for the day was Shipwreck rapids. We waited in the line for 90 mins (!!) and then got **totally** drenched at the end of it. Soaked to the skin! I didn't relish that too much, especially since we had to head back soon after, and didn't get enough sun to dry us out. We had dinner at Madras Cafe ( Bay Area folks: yes, really!), a lot different from the Sunnyvale Madras Cafe though. This was more a restaurant than a fast food place. But the food was on similar lines, delicious! Oh and we ended up meeting 3 of our Anna U seniors there, that was a pleasant surprise!

Next day was destination Hollywood! Drove to LA and entered the park around 11:30. It was really crowded, but then what can you expect on July 4th?! Did most of the rides, Shrek 4D was great, and so were T2 and Back to the Future. But my favourite was The Revenge of the Mummy. There was a 65 min wait! It's a coaster again which crashes forward through the sinister world on Imhotep. The jerks and twists on the coaster are pure thrill! And then we come to a grinding halt, and suddenly you continue to jump and jolt but all moving backwards! Whoa...I hadn't ever been on a backward coaster before and it was amazing! Also got the usual kick out of eating panju mittai* :D We left Universal around 7pm and drove to LA downtown. We gaped at the beautiful towering buildings, but downtown was very deserted. Decided it was too much of a drive to go watch fireworks anywhere else, so we started driving back to San Diego (we wouldn't be able to make it in time for the San Diego fireworks). But we were in luck,we saw fireworks all the way back on I-5! Pretty! I had a blinding headache by then, so just went home and crashed.

Monday was spent saying goodbyes, dropping people off at airports, gathering all the Bay Area folks and the long drive back. Got home 10ish, ate and slept, relieved to be home. Back to work today. I went and returned the car in the afternoon (many thanks to Renuka!).A word of advice: If a rental agency ever offers you a 2-door Dodge Stratus, REFUSE! I was so relieved to be driving my dear old Civic after that monstrosity! It drives ok and all, just that the seat is highly uncomfortable, and so low that you can hardly see the road in front of you and it shudders when you break at high speeds!

Driving at 85mph and sometimes at 20mph, playing '20 questions' while waiting in queues, pulling everyone's leg, oohing and aahing at sights along the highway, trying to watch the fireworks display while keeping my eyes on the road, eating my first Burger King veggie...all part of a fun trip!

That's it for now! Have a good week!

* panju mittai = cotton candy