Again trying to dig into a few old and sweet memories before letting them escape. So, jotting down in April 2012.
This is by far the most enjoyable trip. After learning my lessons from the 'Trip to Orlando', I understood that more than the place, the people make the trip memorable and have decided to choose my travelers carefully.
This time I was invited by one of my very few best friends. Praveen to visit CA since it was about 2 years since we last met.
To give you a brief intro about Praveen, he was my school mate where I knew him as an acquaintance and was one among many friends. But, our friendship grew as we lived in the same neighborhood and both of us joined CBIT in different departments. He slowly became my friend, philosopher and guide. Soon, we spent almost all our free times together, traveled together to college (almost 4 hrs a day), prepared for competitive exams CAT, GRE, TOEFL together, used to play cricket and soccer in the corridors, ping-pong on dining tables, infact we played chess together and defeated the computer for the first time, which built so much confidence in me that I ended up playing for the college team in a few months. I knew him inside out and so did he.
Now, getting an invite from him to visit CA was irresistible and I knew that we belong to the same psychological frequencies and so would not face any issues I faced in my last trip to Orlando. I happily accepted the trip to CA.
Luckily, for the first time, my flight was on time and I reached Los Angeles. Praveen along with three of his friends drove all the way from Tempe, AZ to Los Angeles and picked me up from the airport. We all then drove to Six Flags Magic Mountain Park. Bought our tickets using some student discounts and employee discounts and then the adventure begins......Rides and Roller Coasters all along....
We covered all the MAX thrill rides which meant the scariest ones. However, the most precarious one was Goliath. It takes us about 300 feet high and drops us a speed of 85 mph into a tunnel 120 ft below ground level. Its ferocity multiplies as the harness is only at the abdomen and not for the torso.
After finishing the day with rides, the special attraction of the Magic Mountain awaited us, 'X2'. We had to stand in the queue for almost 2 hours but the anxiousness coupled with few kissing couples and other mundane surroundings passed the time. Its strange that South Indians have to make an analogy with Tirumala whenever a queue of such magnitude is visible :)
The ride lived up to its expectations which states, "State-of-the-art visual, audio, and sensory effects move X from the 4th dimension to the 5th as it transforms into X2!".
We drove to Long Beach after the adventurous day. Closing the eyes in the car meant sitting back on a roller coaster again. We had a quick dinner and stopped at Long Beach. My junior from CBIT provided us accommodation and we troubled them late in the night as it was close to midnight by the time we reached their place. We slept over and then started for the new day of adventure.
We started for the Malibu temple located in the Santa Monica mountains. The temple was beautiful and the scenery was mind blowing.
We then visited the Santa Monica Beach and drove all the way to San Diego and retired for the day.
The new day started with Sea World and all that I missed in Orlando's Sea World was covered here. The Killer Whale Shamu as always stole the show and the act by Dolphins was no less.
After Sea world, we decided to have more fun as there was some time left for sunset. So, we decided to try out jet-skiing and here starts the adventure.
I and Praveen rented out a jet-ski and started out in the middle of the Pacific ocean. There were lot of weeds in the ocean and we were told that we might need to get into the water and remove the weed from under the ski if it gets in. Praveen started riding it and I was with him in the pillion seat. After few minutes, the weed got in and I was too scared to get into the water with my bare minimum swimming skills. With no choice left, Praveen himself got into the water and removed the weeds and got back. After a few minutes, he was riding close to 40 mph and sitting back with the waves of the Pacific ocean, I had no choice but to hold him. Suddenly, his hands slipped from the handle and both of us flew into the ocean with me having no idea about what was happening. Before, I could sense anything I was atleast 2 meters under water and for a split second was wondering if I would float and live or drown and die. The life vest was good enough to help me float and I swam to the jet ski and got onto it. I did not get a hang of the jet ski as I was going in circles and creating a whirlpool around us (However, I mastered it back in Austin and now ride at speeds no less than the max. possible speed a jet ski can withstand - 55 to 60 mph).
After the adventurous day, the next day was meant for Universal Studios. We reached early and visited most of the rides before the crowd started building up. The main attractions were the hollywood sets and an act made by TV actors (snaps below). The act looked so realistic and with no 2nd takes. It was a fitting finale.
I bid my adios to the beautiful city and my friends and left for the mundane week ahead.
The best part of the trip was that we were five people and still punctual enough to leave the hotel rooms between 6 to 8 AM. This was by far the best vacation I had ever spent.
This is by far the most enjoyable trip. After learning my lessons from the 'Trip to Orlando', I understood that more than the place, the people make the trip memorable and have decided to choose my travelers carefully.
This time I was invited by one of my very few best friends. Praveen to visit CA since it was about 2 years since we last met.
To give you a brief intro about Praveen, he was my school mate where I knew him as an acquaintance and was one among many friends. But, our friendship grew as we lived in the same neighborhood and both of us joined CBIT in different departments. He slowly became my friend, philosopher and guide. Soon, we spent almost all our free times together, traveled together to college (almost 4 hrs a day), prepared for competitive exams CAT, GRE, TOEFL together, used to play cricket and soccer in the corridors, ping-pong on dining tables, infact we played chess together and defeated the computer for the first time, which built so much confidence in me that I ended up playing for the college team in a few months. I knew him inside out and so did he.
Now, getting an invite from him to visit CA was irresistible and I knew that we belong to the same psychological frequencies and so would not face any issues I faced in my last trip to Orlando. I happily accepted the trip to CA.
Luckily, for the first time, my flight was on time and I reached Los Angeles. Praveen along with three of his friends drove all the way from Tempe, AZ to Los Angeles and picked me up from the airport. We all then drove to Six Flags Magic Mountain Park. Bought our tickets using some student discounts and employee discounts and then the adventure begins......Rides and Roller Coasters all along....
We covered all the MAX thrill rides which meant the scariest ones. However, the most precarious one was Goliath. It takes us about 300 feet high and drops us a speed of 85 mph into a tunnel 120 ft below ground level. Its ferocity multiplies as the harness is only at the abdomen and not for the torso.
After finishing the day with rides, the special attraction of the Magic Mountain awaited us, 'X2'. We had to stand in the queue for almost 2 hours but the anxiousness coupled with few kissing couples and other mundane surroundings passed the time. Its strange that South Indians have to make an analogy with Tirumala whenever a queue of such magnitude is visible :)
The ride lived up to its expectations which states, "State-of-the-art visual, audio, and sensory effects move X from the 4th dimension to the 5th as it transforms into X2!".
We drove to Long Beach after the adventurous day. Closing the eyes in the car meant sitting back on a roller coaster again. We had a quick dinner and stopped at Long Beach. My junior from CBIT provided us accommodation and we troubled them late in the night as it was close to midnight by the time we reached their place. We slept over and then started for the new day of adventure.
We started for the Malibu temple located in the Santa Monica mountains. The temple was beautiful and the scenery was mind blowing.
We then visited the Santa Monica Beach and drove all the way to San Diego and retired for the day.
The new day started with Sea World and all that I missed in Orlando's Sea World was covered here. The Killer Whale Shamu as always stole the show and the act by Dolphins was no less.
After Sea world, we decided to have more fun as there was some time left for sunset. So, we decided to try out jet-skiing and here starts the adventure.
I and Praveen rented out a jet-ski and started out in the middle of the Pacific ocean. There were lot of weeds in the ocean and we were told that we might need to get into the water and remove the weed from under the ski if it gets in. Praveen started riding it and I was with him in the pillion seat. After few minutes, the weed got in and I was too scared to get into the water with my bare minimum swimming skills. With no choice left, Praveen himself got into the water and removed the weeds and got back. After a few minutes, he was riding close to 40 mph and sitting back with the waves of the Pacific ocean, I had no choice but to hold him. Suddenly, his hands slipped from the handle and both of us flew into the ocean with me having no idea about what was happening. Before, I could sense anything I was atleast 2 meters under water and for a split second was wondering if I would float and live or drown and die. The life vest was good enough to help me float and I swam to the jet ski and got onto it. I did not get a hang of the jet ski as I was going in circles and creating a whirlpool around us (However, I mastered it back in Austin and now ride at speeds no less than the max. possible speed a jet ski can withstand - 55 to 60 mph).
After the adventurous day, the next day was meant for Universal Studios. We reached early and visited most of the rides before the crowd started building up. The main attractions were the hollywood sets and an act made by TV actors (snaps below). The act looked so realistic and with no 2nd takes. It was a fitting finale.
I bid my adios to the beautiful city and my friends and left for the mundane week ahead.
The best part of the trip was that we were five people and still punctual enough to leave the hotel rooms between 6 to 8 AM. This was by far the best vacation I had ever spent.
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