Travel Diary Day 3

This trip is sure taking a lot of energy out of me, and has made me realize that I haven't had caffeine since Tuesday. No wonder I'm falling asleep on swamp tours! I was a little late meeting my group for breakfast, really only 10 minutes, but our guide likes to keep everyone on time. He left me two voicemails, I didn't think it called for that. As I'm still not accustomed to eating breakfast, my queasy stomach didn't want anything too big. Luckily today's breakfast in the hotel was buffet style so I could take just what I wanted. I went with a cheese omelet and bacon in small portions.

On today's agenda, our first stop was a drive to Butterfly World. This was something that I was looking forward to because I like butterflies. Fun fact, Vanessa is a name for a genus of butterfly. It was interesting to see all the different types of butterflies flying around me, but I was worried about stepping on one of them. If I killed a butterfly this would have been a very sad day. Along with butterflies, they also had many birds flying around which made me a little more worried that they would swoop down on me. Then of course there was a special area with just birds that like to land on people. There was even a sign that said if you have a fear of birds landing on you, you should not go inside. I listened to that.

Everyone else in my group went inside the area but me. I didn't want to be a complete wuss so I went in for about a minute. A bird flew right by my face and then I promptly left. I think it was very smart that I did because six birds landed on one of my group members and were just climbing all over her. I wouldn't have been ok with that.

When we were done at Butterfly World we went to grab lunch at the H20 Cafe. My breakfast had me still pretty filled up so I passed on eating. All I got was ice tea, my first caffeine drink on this trip. I felt I would need this for everything else we were going to do today.

I think what I really would like to do in the future is to go around and rate bathrooms. Ever since I was little and I would go out, I had to always see the bathroom. So far all the bathrooms I have seen here were pretty nice, except the one at the Swamp Safari which smelled like an animal house.

Anyway, I brought up bathrooms because I decided to use the one at the H20 cafe and came out to see my group had left. I actually thought they had driven off, which really didn't have been that upset. Honestly, I would have just walked back to my hotel, because I wasn't that far from it, and relax. Sadly, or rather I should say, Luckily, my group had only walked to the shopping district up ahead to get the tickets for our next activity.

Yes, next was the Duck Tour, and I thought that would be mildly interesting because ducks are nice. This tour was very misleading! It shouldn't even be called a duck tour, it should be called the "History of Ft. Lauderdale Tour...Now with Water!". We didn't see a single duck, the only duck relation was that the overhyped tour guide kept making the bus quack like idiots to the people in the different places we passed. And to top it off, it was raining. It really was just a history tour where the guide pointed to places and told us some information and history about it. Then when we finally hit the water I thought finally this is where we'll see the ducks. No, then it turned to a house tour, poitning at different houses along the water and telling us who use to live there while boating at the slowest speed possible. This tour should have been the one that made me feel like sleeping, and at points I felt it, but I managed to stay wide-eyed.

Then our guide gave us free time to do whatever we want. I was going to go to either the pool or the beach, but since it was still rainy and cloudy I didn't want to. So I just came back to my room and relaxed. I'm planning tomorrow morning to use the pool, hopefully the sun will be shining!

When my free time was over, I met my group back in the lobby for dinner at the Mai Kai Resturant. I really liked the place, it was authentically decorated like a Polyensian village. Even the bathrooms were authentic. Since they knew we were on a press trip, they gave us a tour of the place and gave us a special menu to order from. I had crab rangoon, soy sirlon steak, and tiramasu. I also had my first alcoholic drink on the trip ad it came in a take home glass...I love those! Then they had a show with dinner that was basically alot of hula shaking and fire throwing. It was fun to watch, and they even pulled up my guide to dance on stage. Since they had a gift shop, I decided to look because I thought they must have some nice things.

I saw a very pretty tiki necklace with matching earrings so I asked the worker how much it was. $75! Are they out of their freaky tiki mind? Of course I didn't buy it, but at least I still have my souvienar glass. When we were done, we had to go back to our rooms very fast because we had to be at this sea turtle thing at a certain time.

Now the purpose of going to this sea turtle attraction was because we were suppose to see the turtles come out and lay their eggs. It was very boring for me. What we were really doing was turtle hunting because the entire crew was scouting the beach to see if a turtle was coming out of the water. They had us on the beach watching the waters in silent for 45 mintues.

At this point, waiting to see the turtle wasn't the only problem. All the food that I ate at dinner wasn't blending so well in my stomach and pain was coming in waves. So when we started walking to the other end of the beach I told my guide that I was going back to the main area where the bathrooms were. Then our driver gave me the keys to the van so I could sit inside the car and not be outside anymore. Wouldn't you know it, the damn turtle came out right after I left.

Once again my day concludes back in my room here writing. Tomorrow is when I leave, so this trip is almost over. This time I get to sleep a little more because everyone else in my group is going surfing at 6am, I kindly passed on that one. Surfing would be cool to do one day in my life, but doing it hours before my flight made me nervous. So tomorrow is my day where I can do whatever I want before I leave. I just hope for no rain!

Travel Diary Day 2

My second day started bright and early at 7:00am so I could get ready and meet my group for breakfast at 8:30. We had breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, and I'm not use to having breakfast so I was worried my stomach wouldn't like it. Food was alright, I had two eggs with bacon, the eggs were just ok, the bacon was better. Then the people from the hotel took us on a tour of the place. Seeing the private beach and the lazy river made me wish I could use it right there, but sadly they just wanted to torture me. Hopefully I'll get time to use them before I leave, even if it's only for an hour.

Then we went on a long drive near the Everglades to Billie Swamp Safari. We had to make sure we had on plenty of bug spray for this place because those critters were everywhere. I got to see nice big tortoises, tropical birds, and snakes in cages. After these preliminaries, we went on an airboat ride through the swamp. I got scared when one of the alligators came right up next to our boat next to me. Next we had lunch at their cafe which had a very disapointing menu for me. Everything was deep friend. And they actually had real alligator nuggets, alligator tail, and frog legs on their menu. It seems weird to me that a place based mostly on the gator, they would respect them...not hack them up and serve them to tourists. Whatever, I wasn't eating that.

After that we went on a swamp buggy tour and for some reason I started feeling really sleepy and was falling in and out of sleep. That wasn't good, and I was trying everything to stay awake. That tour was very long though, and was mostly alot of trees almost hitting me in the face. Then ostriches attacked our buggy and once again one of them was right next to me. I was happy when we finally left because we spent a long time in the sun.

Now it was a long drive back, but we were now heading to Wannado City, a role playing theme park for kids where they can be any profession they want. It was so very cute that I can't even say how cute it really was. They give kids their fake money and credit card so they can run around and either buy things or earn money working jobs. Every profession was made to look very realistic. They had every job from doctor to model. So for instance, in the hospital kids can work in the emergency room, the operating room, or the nursery, and they have realitsic looking instruments, bodies, and tools. It can actually be a little scary for younger kids.

Every profession is run like a time scheduled activity. A worker is in charge of facilating the jobs and when it's time for one to start they will walk the kids through them. Another fun one is working as a firefighter, they have a building on fire and the kids come from the fire station in the truck to put the fire out with real working hoses. If I was still a kid I would love this place.

So yeah I saw all of this on our tour that they gave us. They also gave us a gift bag of press material with a brick...that was weird. Then while we were all waiting for the kids to finish playing we learned Michael Jackson died. Sad. Finally we could move on to dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe. Talk about a fancy looking place! Everything was so nice and spacious. The food was better than anything I had so far. I had the blue cheese salad, it was actually very big. After dinner I was feeling way beyond stuffed and couldn't wait to get back to my room.

So here I am now, and I should sleep much earlier than I did yesterday. I don't want to be falling asleep with butterflies all over me.

Travel Diary Day 1

As I continue my quest as a journalist, I can cross off some of the things I have already achieved. I have been an Editor-in-Chief, won an award for my writing, and got a lot of free stuff. Now I can cross off being a backpacking journalist, because I am now on my very first press trip in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

I had a mixed feeling of excitement and fear in going because I would be traveling alone, something I haven't done ever. Still there was one thing that made me happy about going alone; I would finally have my own room. My whole life I have never had a room alone, so this was what I was looking forward to.

I had left packing for last night which had my stomach all in knots because I could feel the time passing which put more pressure on me. My flight wasn't until 2:35pm so that meant that I could kind of sleep in, but only a little bit. I still managed to waste my time in the morning because I was not expecting my taxi to come 25 minutes early. It actually was crazy! They called me to say they were outside and I was just beginning to get dressed.

So you know how they always advise people to get to the airport three hours in advance? Yeah, well I didn't need that. It took me all of 15 minutes to check in, get past security, and find my gate, so then I had 3 hours to kill before my flight.

Now I'm not a happy flier, the whole process makes my stomach turn, so getting a window seat didn't make me feel better. I was surprised that my flight actually went well, I didn't have to get up and use the bathroom, no turbulence, I got to watch the TV shows I liked on those tiny screens on the backs of the seats, and the plane landed early.

Once out of the plane I called the guy in charge of the press trip so he could pick me up and take me to the hotel. As the driver took me and another journalist with her kid to the hotel, he gave us a tour of the area we were in. Then there it was, like a white castle upon a hill, our hotel, the Pelican Grand Beach Resort.

When I checked in they gave me a complimentary bag of stuff from the good people taking us on this trip. What a cute tote it was! Hot pink, big, and water resistant. then it was time for what I had been waiting for...my room! Once I opened my door a smile spread across my face as I saw the huge room that was all mine. It has a big closet, huge bed, two TVs, a living room area with two sofas, and a balcony facing the beach. I may have jumped up and down from glee. There even was an envelope with my name on it with more free stuff.

I couldn't enjoy my room for too long because I had to be back in the lobby for dinner in 15 minutes. Tonight for dinner they took us to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, the chain restaurant based on the Forrest Gump movie. I don't know, I just found the whole place weird. It really wants to be a kid-friendly place, and they have alot of cute things that are interesting that kids might get a kick out of. the problem is that their whole focus is about the movie they were based on. Now that's fine, they should be like that, but why would kids be interested in that? For example, the coloring book they give has trivia questions all from their movie. How would a 6yr old know that?

Another thing I thought was stupid were the signs they placed on the table. They were metal signs, and if you wanted attention from the waiter you would turn the sign to say "Stop, Forrest, Stop", and then if you didn't need them, switch it to "Run, Forrest, Run". Haha, I get it *eye roll*. Anyway, I was very hungry because all I had was a small bag of pretzels from the plane. I ordered their dish, Shrimp New Orleans, because I'm a big believer in getting food they're named for. The wait was long, the presentation was nice, and I can't say anything food about the taste. At first I thought it was good, it was a nice portion of shrimp over rice in a good tasting sauce. After four or five bites it didn't taste so great anymore, it actually made me feel a little sick.

When I decided to stop eating, I couldn't wait to come back to my room because the traveling was catching up to me, and I wanted to rest. Before I went up, I decided to get a milk shake from the ice cream parlor in the lobby for dessert. To my dismay they were overpriced, I paid $6.30 for a small milk shake.

Now I'm just back in my hotel room, enjoying this lovely experience and the free internet. I debated getting room service because that disappointing meal left me wanting, but I'll just wait for the morning. I must think of a way to horde food so I can eat when I'm not with my group. I should sleep soon, I have an early morning filled with activities, and I promise myself I will blog every day I'm out here. I mean, how can I be a writer if I don't write?

So You Think You Can Dance 5/21

After a really lame and horrible season of American Idol, finally that talentless cloud has lifted and here we are with the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5. It's a wonderful feeling, just hearing that theme song I know good times have finally come. The show started off in Brooklyn, New York and already I can see talent. Their names? The hell if I know! Chimichanga? I do know that there was a very sweet and charming Japanese guy who liked to pop and lock. The one thing I really love that Idol doesn't do is bring alot of positivity. Whether the dancers do good or bad, they don't make them feel like shit. I don't know, everything just feels more free. Everyone just dance! After New York, the 2 hour premiere moved to Denver and I wondered like I always do, when the camera people have time to shoot the dancers' life story. Do they know they're going to make it before hand or do they wait until they already make it to shoot it? Anyway, I'm waiting to fall in love with a dancer like I always do to make me feel more pumoed for the upcoming season. Benji, Neil,....*sigh* Mark. It may be too soon to tell, it usually takes time for me to fall for a dancer. Also, for the first time there was a male dancing couple..yes only a DANCING couple. Too bad they kind of sucked, like falling on the floor by accident bad. Then the judges had to dance around the awkwardness when judging them. Then there was the girl dressed like a lion who danced with light sabers to the Star Wars theme. She was bad, but poor girl really didn't go as a joke. Overall, this was a great start for the new season and I can't wait to see more.

Nip/Tuck Season 6 Review

My love affair with Nip/Tuck started when I randomly came across an episode of season 2 when I was channel surfing. It kept my attention and I soon became a fast fan. It was edgy, used good music, had great plot lines, and Christian Troy was hot! The first season built up the characters of the two plastic surgeons and their lives, and they delivered excellent story lines. A priest getting surgery to remove evidence for his molestation charges; they went there. They also created a trademark for executing nice sex scenes that looked hot, not sleazy.

The second season was my favorite, it had edgier plots, more surprises, and they added a masked serial killer, the Carver. The third season is where it kind of went down. While it was still fun to watch, the storyline got kind of stale. Only the fact that we would know who the Carver was, kept my interest up. Even that became annoying because the killer became obvious, and the writers were doing everything to throw us off. Then the fourth season came, and I forgot everything about it. The fifth season came, and it became hard to watch. Their edgy plots turned to outrageous stories just to get shocks. Even the relationships and sex scenes became disgusting, I mean they paired Matt with Kimber, Kimber who slept with both of his dads!

So this long overview brings me to the new season, season 6. I was actually excited to watch because the commercials for this season were great. I guess I can thank Kanye West for that. Now I have only seen two episodes for this season so far, and already I am severely disappointed. I'm going to drop a lot of spoilers right now so if you don't want to know what happens, I wouldn't read. Sean is in a wheelchair because he was brutally stabbed by his psycho stalker. Even though Julia has amnesia, she still has the ability to be pissed at Sean like she has been for five seasons. Matt is starting to shape up and not be weird and creepy like he always has been. Then Christian...Oh, what they have done to Chrisitian has made me so upset! They gave Chrisitian breast cancer!

I heard that this was going to be the last season, and I hope they're right. It's nothing like what it use to be. Instead of being interesting and addictive, it actually makes me cringe to watch. I mean so far in two episodes I've seen a girl put a diaper on Sean during sex, a nasty hooker beating up a weak Christian, a young Indian guy getting a blowjob from an old ugly lady who use to be a guy, and Liz, the lesbian, having sex with Christian. This season will only get more disgusting and sad to watch, there is no doubt. I'll only continue, because I have to know how it ends.

- Nessa C.

Animal House

“Lions, and tigers, and bears, Oh My!”
Doesn’t even begin to illustrate this Auschwitz-like Toys R Us dream.
The faces are a complete comfort to stare at after a long, agonizing day.
“Yay! Mommy is back! We love you!”
A family of sitting ducks migrate to nowhere.
A slew of alligators lay quietly and never stalk any prey.
A barrel (or two) of rambunctious orangutans stay calm and collected all day long.
A pride of lions relax peacefully and serenely against the stone colored wall.
A family of emperor penguins gleefully enjoy their non-Artic, mid-temperate location.
Everyone else in between, claims the overloaded wicker chair.

This is my room. My very own house of stuffed animals.

-Sha T.

American Idol Fanfiction

Title: Cry Me A River
Pairing: Cookleta, Castroleta, Mavid, and if you squint slightly, Johnstro
Disclaimer: Do not own these guys whatsoever because if I did, I'd make all four of them perform sexual acts in front of me.
Summary: It's time for some sweet revenge.
Rating: PG-13... yea, i'll go with that

You were my sun
You were my earth
But you didn't know all the ways I loved you, no
So you took a chance,
And made other plans.
But I bet you didn't think your thing would come crashing down, no

Sighing exhaustedly, David Archuleta returned to his bunk on the tour bus, after signing autographs for his adoring fans. Lying down on his back, he closed his eyes to get a couple of minutes of relaxation when he felt his phone vibrate in his pants, notifying him that he had received a new text message. Taking out his blackberry, recognizing Jason Castro’s ring tone, he glanced at the screen and read the message…

”David, come to the back entrance. I think there’s something you should see.”

Scrunching his eyebrows in confusion, he got out of his bunk and discreetly made his way towards the rear entrance of the arena. Taking in his surroundings, David was about to call out to Jason when a shadowy figure made his way over to him.

Not saying a word to him, Jason led David to two rather large doors that were hidden behind boxes and supplies. Jason pointed at the tiny crack of opening and motioned David to look inside.

David gave him a puzzled look, stepped forward and peered inside. His jaw dropped and he almost stumbled back in surprise at the scene before him. Each second felt like a stab in the gut, he wanted to scream but forgot how to. Clenching up his fists tightly, David fought back the tears in his eyes.

Jason finally spoke, “I know you two were never officially together, but I can tell by the way you look at him, you care so much about him. I know how much this is killing you, he -” his throat closed up suddenly, he couldn’t continue speaking. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he pulled David away from the door and quickly took them both back to the tour bus. Sitting David down on his bed, Jason glanced down at him with empathy. "I have a proposition, if you’re interested." he whispered.

David slowly looked up at Jason, and simply stated, "Whatever you have in mind, count me in."

You don't have to say what you did
I already know, I found out from him
Now, there's just no chance for you and me
There'll never be
And don't it make you sad about it

Positioning his video camera accurately towards a slightly larger bunk bed, Jason tossed all the pillows to the floor to give some extra space for the task. Walking back towards the camera, Jason flipped the switch 'on', and went back to positioned himself on the end of the bed, waiting. "David, are you ready?" he called out.

David entered the room and stared down at Jason for a few seconds before removing his t-shirt, and sauntered over to him, pulling him into a hot, angry kiss. Jason wrapped his arms around him and kissed him back with equal force, hands digging into David’s soft, spiked up hair. Groaning, David pulled back, tugging at Jason’s shirt. Jason nodded, peeled of his shirt, and kissed him back. Pulling David onto his lap, making the young man straddle him, he raked his fingers down David’s back, leaving red marks down his flawless skin. David gasped slightly at the action and then moaned in pleasure. Jason roughly pulled David against him, their chests touching, and cradled David’s head in his hands, almost in a loving fashion. "Are you alright?" he asked breathlessly, his chest heaving. David looked into Jason’s blue eyes and gasped out, "Not now," Licking his lips, he then added, "but I will be." Jason nodded and pulled David into a fierce hug, whispering comforting nonsense into his ear, with the camera still rolling, but neither party paid any attention to it.

I know that they say
That something’s are better left unsaid
It wasn't like you only talked to him and you know it
Don't act like you don't know it

Later that night, David Cook entered his bunk bed and noticed a video tape on his bed. Picking it up, he looked at it with confusion and read the little post-it that’s on the tape…

'From Archie'

Smiling slightly, he was about to pop the tape into his portable VCR, when Michael Johns entered his room. "Hey man, I just found this weird note on my pillow telling me to come look at some tape you have." Raising his eyebrow at his Aussie friend, he looked at his hand, which also held a post it. "I guess Archie left this is for both us." he reasoned. Michael shrugged and sat down on the bed. Popping the tape into the VCR, Cook sat next to Michael, grabbed the remote, and pressed 'Play'.

At first, all they saw was Jason sitting on Cook’s bed. "When was he on my bed?" Cook questioned to himself. Not a moment too soon, another person entered the shot…

I refuse, you must have me confused, with some other guy (I'm not like them, baby)
Your bridges were burned
And now it's your turn (It's your turn to cry)
Cry me a river

Cook and Michael could not believe at what they were seeing. Their two friends were passionately kissing on Cook’s bed, shirtless. Michael tore his eyes away from the image and looked at Cook with a panic-stricken expression. Cook ignored him as he dropped his head in his hands, wanting to cry his eyes out. His David was kissing another man, why would he do that to him?

You don't have to say, what you did
I already know, I found out from him

Looking back at the screen, they both saw another image that made their stomach drop a little more. It was a single photograph of Cook and Michael in a compromising position from earlier in the evening, with a caption that read, 'We know what you both did'

Now, there's just no chance for you and me, there'll never be
And don't it make you sad about it

Cook and Michael quickly left the room and halted when they caught sight of Jason and David, both on their laptops with their backs facing them. Somehow knowing they were being watched, they both turned towards the other two. Jason looking squarely at Michael and David fixating his eyes towards, what he thought, was his reason for living.

Still looking at them, Jason hums a familiar tune, while David sings the final verse…

Baby, go on and just
Cry me a river
Go on and just
Cry me a river

-Jess D.