detour to radiator springs

Just got back from California at 2 am this morning, Maryland time! I spent awhile having a reunion with my cat, Violet. I think she missed me because I'm the only one who pets her daily.

We left for California on the Thursday before last to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins, Allison and Adam. Maryland seems to be plagued by badly timed thunderstorms this season. First, the derecho during the heat wave, and then a thunderstorm right before our flight! It was supposed to leave around 8 pm, but was delayed until after midnight! Luckily, we were able to switch flights and leave an hour earlier, which got us into California at around 2 am.

On Friday, we rested up and went to the beach with my cousins! We played in the water, which was ice cold, and then laid on the warm sand. We found a bunch of sand crabs, including two gigantic ones that were really frightening. Then, we played some volleyball. I was much better than I remembered being in middle school, but it still left a bunch of small marks on my forearms for a few days.

On Saturday, we went to the local farmer's market to buy groceries and eat lunch. It's one of my favorite places in California! Fruit is my favorite food, aside from desserts of course, and they have so much fresh fruit that you can't find in Maryland. One stand had 15 types of nectarines, plums, and pluots, and you could try samples of each one!

In the afternoon, we went to Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park, for the first time. It was so much fun! I hadn't realized how tiring one hour of trampoline jumping could be! It was definitely a workout.

There were a bunch of trampoline pads, even on the walls (which I am bouncing off of in this first picture)...

 And a foam pit! It took me a while, but I mustered up the courage to do a flip!

On Sunday, we had a huge Chinese lunch with my extended family in San Gabriel, and then we all went to my great grandmother's house to hang out. At the end, we had a family photo shoot. 

Later that day, we went to a complex with some Japanese stores. First, we decided to check out a Japanese $1.50 store called Daiso Japan. Cute Japanese things for only $1.50!? It doesn't get much better than that. It was way cooler than any dollar store I've been to! They sell almost everything you could ever want and things you never knew you needed. I had to try really hard to control myself.

I got some bento boxes and grapefruit lip balm. Ella got bento boxes, silicon cupcake molds shaped like hearts and stars, origami paper, and many erasers (including food shaped erasers and an electric eraser, which I didn't even know existed). Now my mom's worried that we're expecting adorable bento lunches, like the ones below. I can't believe that moms put so much time and effort into lunches! I would feel bad eating it...

Totoro... (http://www.annathered.com/)

... pandas... (http://www.susanyuen.wordpress.com/)

... and piggies! (http://dailycuteness.com/)

We also went to a Japanese grocery store next-door to Daiso, called Mitsuwa. My mom spotted this delicious looking drink... Yummy. Who wouldn't buy that? Maybe something's lost in the translation.

There were also some very large beer bottles and Pocky boxes in the drink section...

We spent all of Monday at Disney's California Adventure! I saw the new Cars Land for the first time. They had cool rock structures that you probably recognize from the Cars movie, or the southwest.

In Cars Land, we went on Luigi's Flying Tires, which was like bumper cars steered with your body! There were huge beach balls to throw around, so after we threw our first one, we spent most of the ride chasing them down and unsuccessfully trying to reach them...

We also went on the Radiator Springs Racers. It's one of my favorite rides in California Adventure now! It starts with a nice, peaceful drive around the plateaus, and then you enter a mechanics shop where the other cars prepare you for a race. The best part is the end, where you race another car to the finish! Sadly, we lost the race. But, we were still going really fast, as you can see from my flying hair in the picture below.

My other favorite ride in California Adventure is Soarin'! We waited a little longer so we could sit smack front and center. That way, we didn't see other people's feet dangling above us. I love the pine smell when you're flying over the forest. It reminds me of Christmas time. :) 

We also went on California Screamin' for the first time. I used to be too scared to ride it, because of the loop, but both Ella and I were brave enough to try it. They launch you from 0 to 60 mph! Allison and I determined that they have very loud prerecorded screaming during the launch...

This is me, Allison, and Ella on the Ferris wheel. Allison and Ella wanted to go on the swinging gondola, so I tried it... It was much scarier than California Screamin'! The gondola swings almost completely horizontal, and it feels like you're about to fly off and plummet to the ground! Afterwards I felt pretty sick to my stomach.

You can see Ella holding a cute Dumbo stuffed animal. I won it for her at the water shooting carnival game! Yes, I was actually playing against other people. It doesn't matter that they were all younger than me... Anyways, I somehow managed to aim it perfectly from the very beginning. I was so excited! Nothing like the thrill of victory in carnival games.

We went to dinner at Flo's V8 Cafe. It looked so cool, just like the old style diner from the Cars movie! Ella was disappointed that the waiters weren't in roller-skates.

(http://www.pixarcarsworld.wikia.com/)

Tuesday was our tour of Caltech, which you can read about here!

On Wednesday, after a day to rest our feet, we went to Disneyland! It was a very productive day. We went on all of the rides we wanted to! I love them all... especially Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain (three "Mountains" in a row)! I was also happily surprised by Star Tours. I remember riding it a really long time ago with my dad and feeling really sick, but this time it was great!

Dumbo the Flying Elephant! It's always the first ride of the day. There's Allison and Ella in the first Dumbo and my mom and me in the second.

Here we are entering the mouth of a whale at Storybook Land! All the mini plants and houses are so cute.

 Here's me and Ella looking focused and determined on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

 In Toontown, Ella and Allison took a nap on Minnie's rock-hard bed. How does she sleep on that?

 Also in Toontown, we took a ride on the Jolly Trolley!

As always, our trip to California included some excellent restaurants and snacks. Shout outs for Souplantation (aka Sweet Tomatoes in the south because maybe plantations conjure up some unpleasant memories) which I absolutely love! Musha which is a cool Japanese fusion restaurant with dishes like cheesy brown rice in a big slab of parmesan. And the always special Yogurtland!

Our trip to California was magical as always!

surf and turf

hey!

i am writing this exactly one week since my last blog! wow, i'm not blogging once a year anymore! *cheers in the background*!! summer's almost over *boos in the background*, but it has been an awesome summer! though there are still 2 and quarter more books that they are forcing me to read...

at the very beginning of the summer, i went on a road trip to ottawa, canada with my dance group! and, since i live in maryland, it took over 12 hours. now, whenever traveling takes less than 12 hours, it feels completely short to me. the hotel room had 2 queen beds and one pull out bed. sounds pretty spacey right? but no... we had to squish 7 people onto the beds. but on the plus side, we got a standing ovation at our performance! not bad, eh?

the first camp i went to was a gymnastics camp with my little sister, ella. we did some balancing poses for the parent show on the last day. ella was so good that they should’ve recruited her to a chinese acrobatic act! really should’ve.

the second camp was an outdoor rock climbing camp, on real mountains, which was awesome! it was an hour drive from my house, but there were buses that picked us up. so the whole time, we would sing bus songs! lalala! before the last day, we stayed over night to go camping... and i got over 10 spider bites. man, they take forever to go away.

then, i did an art camp with ella. we made so many things in one week. but, considering how much of a perfectionist i am... i'm surprised that i finished most of the projects! last year, when i went to the camp, i was still working on the first thing on the second to last day. things i made: color wheel (i had to draw long arcs by hand), paper mache penguin (a really fat penguin in the shape of a ball), fake fossils with leaf and shell imprints and a clay tile that i decorated to look like the beach... since it's summer!

i also did a music camp that i love. it was my 3rd year there. i was in the advanced orchestra, which was actually sort of sad because they sounded worse than the regular orchestra. a really cool part about the camp was the "spirit days." one day was crazy hair day, and so i decided to go full out. i bet you're wondering how i got my hair to be like that. i actually put a bottle in it. yes, it hurt... a lot. i came into orchestra rehearsal a few minutes late, walking behind everyone. right then, the conductor called my name for attendance. everyone turned around and were totally surprised (since mostly no one else did anything at all for spirit day. lame, i know). for lunch, we sit outside in front of a giant window where people walk by. and since the camp was at a music school, there were a bunch of tours. and every time the people would walk by, everyone would gawk at me and point.

i am part of the dance company culture shock dc... and the youth programs are mini shock (for ages 8-11) and future shock (for ages 12-17). for the auditions, they taught us a dance. the music was incredible... (by lloyd). and after we knew the dance, they would play the song over and over again until it was our turn to audition. and, i danced it full out every single time they played the music. i was sore. everywhere. but i made it in! :)

california:

we went to california to visit my uncle michael, aunt rosie, and cousins allie and adam. they live close to the beach, so we went to the beach a lot. it was surprising that one day, my dad actually agreed to let me and ella bury him in the sand. ella found out how hard it is to cover his feet with sand.

my cousin allie and i did a surf camp together in the mornings for one week. i thought i would be an epic fail, but i wasn’t that bad! from the parking lot, there was a super long hike to the beach where we were surfing (the word super is dedicated to uncle michael, allie, and adam). my scariest surfing near death experience: i let the surf board sit on the water, and when a wave came, the board shoots upward vertical to the water. i look up, and the spikes of the surfboard are coming straight at my face!! eeks!! luckily, i have super fast reflexes (not really) and shielded myself... safe!

we went to disneyland, where the churros are delicioso! we got there 15 minutes after opening a.k.a 8:15 am, and left after the fireworks at 9:30. wow, over 12 hours at the happiest place on earth! we went on a lot of rides. as you can see, to the right, we love the classic rides, like dumbo! my cousin allison and my sister ella are sitting in the front dumbo, and me and my cousin adam are sitting in the back dumbo. i also went on a bunch of new rides that i wasn't brave enough to go on before like: haunted mansion, indiana jones, and pirates of the caribbean. i ended up liking all of them! my aunt rosie is awesome to go on rides with, because she can tell you the scary parts before they happen!

i saw lots of family on my mom's mom and dad's side. got to meet, no, not elvis presley's daughter, but my 2 and a half year old second cousin! lisa marie! after i introduced the game of ring around the rosie to her... she was a bit obsessed. after every time we did it she would pop up from the ground and say "i want more!" and we had to do it again, and again, and again. and whenever we tried to play a different game, she would just hold our hands.

while my mom's side of the family was visiting my grandma's house in california, we all decided to take a walk to caltech which was very close. at first we were all walking together, but there were so many fountains... which my cousins, my sister and i liked walking and playing in. we got distracted, and eventually we didn't see them anymore. while we were walking, i saw a really ironic sign, and took a picture of it. "absoulutely NO STAPLES OR TAPE use push pins only." but they taped that sign on. i thought it was hilarious.

we went to the park, and there was this one thing that kept us amused for a long time. it's more fun than it seems! first, one pair would rock side to side, while the other would rock front and back. then we would switch. then we would rotate who got each seat. that was probably the thing we spent the most time on at the park. you should try it sometime.

we also went to adventure plex in california. they had an outdoor climbing wall. you could just climb up, or you could climb up on one color. each color was a different difficulty. and so i was doing fine (as you can see in the picture to the right) until the guy out there asked me to try the hardest trail. it was so hard, there was barely anything to hold on to! and the fact that i'm short doesn't help much either. i stood there just trying to get up just a little bit. there wasn't anyone belaying us, it was a thing that let you down every time that you let go. so i would go up a little bit, then fall. go up a little bit, then fall. over and over again. i kept trying, and he was so nice, he added handholds to make it easier. and eventually he belayed me so i wouldn't have to go down every single time. i made it!!!! (after an hour of trying, but lets not think about that part).

if you read my "curled by cousins" blog 2 years ago, you would know that my first cousin once removed, kevin, who's now in london, could curl ella when she weighed 35 pounds. now, she is 50 pounds and he can still curl her!

school starts in less than 2 weeks *tear*, need to finish the work they gave us... it's bad to be behind on homework before school even starts. i better get to it.

check back later, i'll try to add some pics of me surfing!

beatriz atsavapranee

soarin' over california

hi all,

today we went to disneyland at around 9:45 for brunch at a pretty nice buffet where several disney characters walked around. the food there included cute waffles in the shape of mickey mouse, lots of fruits, cereal, bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage and ham, etc. we saw minnie, pooh, tigger, chip and dale, captain hook, pluto, and the fairy godmother. ella was so excited that she was going to meet minnie, she wore a nice dress, but changed into casual clothes for the park later on. ella really wanted to find donald duck and daisy duck, but apparently they weren't working today... except for the parade.
after that we went to california adventure, the other disney theme park in LA. all the rides were really colorful and bright. they had a beautiful mosaic near the front and a replica of the golden gate bridge. we went on a ride called "soarin' over california". you sit in a chair that lifts you up towards a big screen which makes you feel like you are flying over beautiful scenes in california. when planes or helicopters passed by on the screen, it was actually very noisy. we also went on a little rollercoaster called mulholland madness that was pretty short that featured sharp turns, steep hills and sudden braking. we went to "turtle talk with crush". it used animation and the turtle could respond to questions from the audience. when he said he had 65 kids, then someone asked what his kids' names were, he responded with "my-shell, me-shell, john, paul, george and ringo, tito, jermaine, michael..., the teenagers are named leonardo, raphael, michelangelo, donatello, crush jr., crush jr., crush jr. ... well, there are 25 crush jrs." he also explained how you get boy and girl turtles. he said, "if the eggs are laid on the cool side, then they become dudes, and if they're laid in the water, they become chicks. that's why dudes are cool, and chicks are totally hot!" he also said "don't make an enemy of an anemone". try saying that three times fast.

beatriz

disneyland turned goth

hey everyone,

sorry that i didn't post yesterday, i had dinner in disneyland at about 7:00PM which is 10:00PM in maryland. i was really tired and decided to write in my blog this morning.
yesterday... we all went to disneyland! my favorite ride is big thunder. it was so fun, but ella was a little scared and kept asking when it would be over. in the autopia ride, my car wouldn't go so someone had to go into the car and press the accelerator pedal for me which was really embarrassing. a lot of the people in disneyland were goth that day. i think they were meeting up sometime at night, i heard some people talking about it in the ice cream parlor. and someone came from new york just to go to this goth convention. it was scary seeing so many goths. some had pink, bleach blonde, red, or green hair. mostly black hair though. a lot of them had fish net tights, pierced noses, a lot of black make-up, or striped tights which was totally unfashionable in my opinion. some people even put their toes into the holes in the fish net tights and wore black (of course) flip flops. a lot of them were also carrying big, lacy, black umbrellas. some of them seemed semi-goth. they wore red lipstick, purple shirts, etc. i even saw some baby goths. we had lunch then went to california adventure. we saw an aladdin broadway show and genie was really funny. we went to dinner at one of the disneyland hotels which was nice. the iced tea woke me up a little.

beatriz atsavapranee