Six Flags Marine World, Vallejo

On the top of my to-do list, before i grow old & die,
is to be on some MEGA corkscrew roller coasters!
And so, Six Flags Marine World was a fabulous fix for my craving.
So there, one more item struck off my list ;)

A must-go for those who can handle butterfly stomach,
wobbly legs, spinning head & sore throat... solid.


1. V2 or Vertical Velocity. It took us up to great heights (see how high it is? maddeningly high!) and released us by free fall... freaking AWESOME feeling. And we took the front seat, FULL VIEW of entire world zooming past us... was half hoping someone would puke too :p


2. ROAR. This structure was actually made from wood!
Yes, W--O--O--D... wood! Scary OK! Using only wood to support a roller coaster?!! Then i realised it has no corkscrew, PHEEEW... Nevertheless, dont look down on this ride. Though it may be from wood, but it packs a great punch, probably with added fear that it is made from wood. Personally it was one of the best & scariest rides :)


3. White Water Safari. A very very very wet experience. By some strange fate, i had to be buckled on the side of the bumboat that went passed a waterfall. Result? All dripping wet & cold... brrrrrr. Haha, it was fun though :)


4. Hammerhead Shark. 360 degrees clockwise & counterclockwise, multiply that a few times. Hmmm, if blood doesn't rush to your brain by now, u probably have an empty cavity in the head :p


5. The Boomerang. Guess it is called The Boomerang coz u start the ride in forward motion, and end the ride in backward motion? Must try, i simply love it. But my friend felt giddy after that hahaha.


6. Medusa. Number 1 favourite! Fantastic corkscrews and crazy fall from great heights. Madly cheered in delight, haha think my sore throat got worse after this ride :p


7. KONG. Possibly the giddiest ride, coz there was a section where you just spin like screwdriver. The last major ride i took, thankfully did not eat before this. Head got a bit heavy after a while, and stomach got a bit weird (but i think most likely cos i was super duper hungry)


8. "Hello there Mr. Walrus, nice to meet u"


9. Shouka, the Killer Whale, on land showing off her tail and side body :p


10. Flamingoes... they just look so exotic!


11. Kois, in their pond. Taken behind a dripping waterfall... damn cool


12. "What u looking at huh?"


13. KING KONG!!! haha i took this photo just for a cute someone :p *wink*


14. And as a finale... the picture of the evening sky at the Six Flags Marine World :) Nice?


NB: The author will like to take this opportunity to thank his sponsors, Six Flags, for paying him to advertise Six Flags Marine World for free in the blog world.

Mission Peak

You know something,
it's just damn hard to get some exercise when u are abroad.
With all the good food & leisure sightseeing,
getting fat is sooo easy!

BUT... inspired by some colleagues,
i decided to do something i have never done before...
to conquer a mountain!
in my case, it is just plain Mission Peak,
not Everest or K2 or Kinabalu or Kilimanjaro.
just Mission Peak... no climbing gear needed whatsoever.


Mission Peak up ahead. Few days back, said i was going to climb this mountain, but then a cute gal made me realise it was actually walking up this mountain. Oh well, technicality... :p
So there, my goal, to conquer this peak by WALKING up the nicely prepared man-made trail (By the way, there are plenty of signboards to show u the way up, so even an idiot won't get lost).


A pair of cows hogging this bench... darn couldn't even rest my own ass.


This picture shows 2 very important things.
Firstly the rocks lying around the grassy areas was caused by an earthquake which shooked pieces of rocks off the mountains in the background. Yup yup, California lies in the earthquake zone, along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Oh and secondly, this cow is damn furry.


And now for next picture.... finally conquered the Mission Peak. Took me more than an hour and a half to get up here, slowed down by some phototakings and marvelling at Nature's creation.
The view here was quite refreshing, though not as scenic or grand like the Yosemite. But good enough considering i came up here all on my own.


The view from the top, overlooking Fremont and part of the San Francisco Bay (just the shallow sedimented parts though).
Notice the approximate "boundary" between the human township & the mountains? This is the Hayward Fault, and I am standing on it.
California is nicely sandwiched between the San Andreas Fault and the Hayward Fault. And so according to Professor Chin (from the Institute of Lost Monkey City, which was destroyed by earthquake many years ago), California should shake like jello when Earthquake strikes.

"Monterey Bay-17 Mile Drive" Road Trip

A cute gal once asked if i had gone for road trips,
i mentioned going to Penang for some car rally treasure hunt,
but that was still in Malaysia.
And so as we set out on our "Monterey Bay-17 Mile Drive" Road Trip,
i realised that i've been on many overseas road trips,
eg road trip to Los Angeles, road trip to Yosemite-Lake Tahoe.
now how abt that?


#1 Fisherman's Wharf: Our first destination, located near Monterey Bay... nice chilling winds though. hehe got a seagull into this pic too.


#1 Fisherman's Wharf: Sea lions clustering to sun bathe? or having a mass orgy? :p

#1 Fisherman's Wharf: Check this out... sea lion posing for camera whor :)

#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: The 2nd destination. This place studies and conserves the ocean, as well as gives some endangered species a living sanctuary. how cool is this man? coooool...


#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: Some seabed fish (forgotten the name, did not write it down also). Anyway see how well they camouflage?


#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: "Sea Dollars"... a filthy rich ocean ;)

#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: Finding Nemo! and i present to you, Dory & Scarface! :)

#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: Finding Nemo! And then i found Nemo :p ok ok, i know the pic's a bit blur, but oh well, Nemo swam quite fast n disappeared. And this was the only shot of the clownfish. so too bad, geeez


#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: March of The Penguins? hehe


#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: The Great Kelps (ie seaweed) with some fish species (don't know the name again hehe)

#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: And the dangerous boneless wiggly watery Jelly Fish.

#2 Monterey Bay Aquarium: Sea Anemones... nice green.

#3 Some rocks by the Pacific: 3rd destination, some rocks we passed by... looks fun enough to climb to the edge, and so we did :)

#3 Some rocks by the Pacific: The view from my left. Nice wave, nice rocks.

#3 Some rocks by the Pacific: The view from my right as we headed towards the furthest edge of the rocks

#3 Some rocks by the Pacific: Breaking waves, cool rite? That's it, the furthest we could go. No more rocks to climb or step on, unless we want to be swept away by the Ocean.

#3 Some rocks by the Pacific: See the distance? that's how far we went. though some of the rocks were slippery and treacherous, but it was still fun HAHA

#4 Seventeen-Mile Drive: The last destination of our road trip. I guess this was what 17-Mile Drive has to offer, a "Ghost tree". Wwell, that's about it, & need to pay toll some more. What a rip-off! The journey before reaching 17-Mile Drive is so much better and FREE.

USA Training Trip II, 18th March 2006

And so i have touched down in California again.
This time I AM DRIVING MY OWN CAR,
rented under my very own name.
Driving all the way from San Fran Int'l Airport to Fremont,
driving all over nearby places too :)
Sounding like a mega mountain tortoise,
i cant help but keep beaming about getting to drive!
Ahhh it is just so nice, experiencing a different kind of joy.

just an entry...

tired man, tired soul,
sometimes alive, sometimes stoned

wake up wake up
get your act right!

work smart, not just hard,
so use your brain, & you will see results.

anyway California here i come!
shopping! sightseeing! phototaking!