San Diego Zoo, California

One of the worlds best zoo. Thats what San Diego zoo is all about. I am tired of seeing zoos in different parts of the world. Most of them look similar. In my homeland India, some of the zoos are well maintained and some is running short of money and you could find starving animals within the cage.

The San Diego Zoo gives a different experience all together. Although I went with a prejudice that Zoos are a kind of prison for animals, San Diego Zoo is not even near to my assumption. The arrangements are made with the convinence of animals as well as tourists. A sprawling campus which is in the middle of the city is something eye catchy, more than that its almost like walking thru a planned thick green jungle.

You could see animals in a real life scenarios .Some of the attractions are Pandas , Polar Bear, Gorillas , Koala's ,Antelopes , lizards , snakes etc. Most of the variety of animals you could see are maintained in there natural environment. Sufficient and necessary facilities like rest rooms, restuarants are located conviniently. There is a sky safari over the park and it gives a good view of the greenary down. There is a bus safari which covers almost 75% of the zoo.

The exibhits include Monkey Trails, Panda Research Station, Absolutely Apes, Polar Bear Plunge, Ituri Forest, Gorilla Tropics/Scripps Aviary, Children's Zoo, Owens Rain Forest Aviary, Tiger River, Sun Bear Forest, Flamingo Lagoon, Reptile Mesa, Wings of Australasia and Kopje.

Universal Studios , Hollywood , Los Angeles

We planned a two day visit to Universal Studios. We took a rented cab from San Diego and drove to Los Angeles each day. Universal Studios is nearby downtown Los Angeles and boasts as the Entertainment Capital of LA. The amusement center occupies a sprawling campus and is a two tier park. The entrance to the park is called City Walk and consists of expensive fashion stores, momento shops, gift center etc. Variety of food chains are available. You can also experience skydiving in an artificial skydiving podium. At the end of city walk you will see the famus "Universal Studio Rotating Globe" which is straight at the entrance to the park.

In the first tier there are several interesting rides and shows. But mostly first tier is having shows. But there are one or two rides, of which the Simpsons Ride at Krustyland is the most exciting simulated ride. I would say the best pick from theentire theme park lot !!! The entire park is so big that you need to have atleast two days to cover the whole shows and rides. At first we went for Sherk-4D theatre, and its an amazing experience to have a theater show like that. Adjacent to that is the "house of horrors" , which can be exciting to children and light-hearted people.
There is a show which is a 3D experience of the film Terminator 2 by Cyberdyne systems. Besides that there are several other shows like Waterworld , Adventures of curious george etc. There are some dining outlets too.

Its always good to go to the 2-tier first finish of the rides there and come to the top. Since most of the crowd will be in the 1st tier in the morning time and then they will come down by evening. You need to take some extra cloths because there is possiblity of getting wet in some of the rides, but you have the option to buy water proof gears in the theme park itself. Another good thing is that they have a child switch facility for most of the rides. So people coming with Babies can take turns without wasting time standing in the queue again.

Some of the must do rides in the second tier is "The revenge of the Mummy Ride" and the "Jurassic park" ride which can be really a scintalating experience to your senses. "The Backdraft" is a show where you will get a real life experience of the Hollywood blockbuster movie, but it seems this show is going to be closed for ever.

Besides this you will get a chance of getting photographed with famous hollywood characters. There is a studio tour which will give you more information about hollywood movie sets as well as regarding the theme park. The two floors of the park is connected thru a long elevator , the view of LA from the elevator is really scenic.

There are a lot of ticketing options available. Check out for the univerasl studio website for better deals. But remember One needs to have atleast a two day ticket to have a glimpse of the whole park.

The whole park is planned well and its a pleasent experience to be there. Everything is arranged well with enough parking lots, restrooms and other facilities.

At Phoenix Airport , Arizona, US

Phoenix Airport (PHX), the sixth-busiest airport in the USA, is the principal gateway for Phoenix, capital of Arizona. Located surprisingly close to the city center, the airport gives easy access to the wealth of first-rate hotels and resorts that flourish in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun.

At Charlotte Airport , North Carolina, US

The airport is crowded one and there are long corridors connected by circles where they are having counters of airline companies. Relatively I could find less number of shops in the airport. The display terminals are on old fashioned CRT terminals which looks rather clumsy. US Airways the low cost airline is operating from charlotte and its one of the hubs used by them.

At Raleigh , North Carolina, US

I got a chance to visit Raliegh for a week or so. Although my travel was related to official purpose I could get a glimpse of the place. From San Diego I took a flight to Charlotte and then from there to Raliegh. I reached Raliegh at around midnight. It was freezing cold outside and it was something that I expected but the intensity was a bit higher than I expected. I catched a hotel bus from the airport, my stay was arranged at Sheraton.

I visited a SouthGate mall. Its a huge mall with lot of eating and dining places surronded by all huge chains. The Raliegh airport seemed to be congested. But still it doesnt affect my travel and didnt result in a delay. In Raliegh I could see roads surronded by huge plots of unused land and with lots of woods surronding the roads something we find it difficult to see in California.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

San Diego wild park is situated little away from the Downtown San Diego. Its a open park and not like a zoo. Plenty of open space is provided and there are open rides into the places where animals are kept. You need to pay extra for these rides. There is African Safari, where you can see plenty of animals like giraffe , rhino etc. You will be taken on open vans and you can feed the animals and take snaps with the animals. Hot air baloon is available but it will not go beyond some height as its tied to the ground with a cable. There is a ground where Elephants are kept and Baby elephants are pretty. You could see plenty off other animals which are rare , or say which you cant see in other zoos. Gorillas are kept in there natural habitats , like other animals like tigers , ducks etc. Carousels are available for kids where they can play

At San Diego SeaWorld , San Diego, CA

We decided to visit at morning and come by evening, so that we can cover lot of blocks in SeaWorld, but soon we realised that even one day is not enough for watching all the shows at SeaWorld. But our ticket is a two day multiple entry ticket so hope to go again once more.

We reached there at around 11 am , enough parking space is provided and there is a biometric finger print scanner at the entry. There was a small queue there but we spent only 10 minitues in the queue. The whole park is divided into several subsections.

We went to Sea Lion show and to Dolphin show first. Later we visited some aquariums and went to a resturant inside. Bye the time we completed all these it was dawn and we decided to go back. We plan to visit again in December and that time the start shamu show there. Its a whale show and its quite famous.

At SkyDiveSanDiego at Otay Lakes Road, San Diego , California , US

We started from here to Otay Lakes Road by around 10 am, and reached there by noon. The whole place is surrounded by mountains and is scenic. You have to sign several documents saying that the risk is only on your part , and they are not responsible in the event of an accident.




After a short training by the instructor , we waited for our turn. The jumps are done in several lots and ours was 12th lot. Each lot is having around 10 to 20 jump men including the instructors and camera man.

We could see skydivers coming to the ground after successful jump from the plane. The camera crew jumps along with you to take the photos and they reach early to the ground so that they can capture the video of the jumper coming in parachute. Tandem and Solo jumps are available. Less experienced can take the Tandem jump , where you will get assistance of the Instructor.




The aircraft will take you to a height of around 13000 feet above sea level. It is the scariest part to jump from the plane, rest is comparatively easy :) once you are in position then you will fall down at a speed of 120-150 miles per hour. After a 1 minute fall you will be deploying the parachute and you need to control the parachute, in a way so that you will land in the base station. Its one of the thrilling moments in life i ever had.

At Yosemite National Park , California, US

Yosemite National Park is near the Fresno, California. San Jose and San Francisco are the nearest cities. I went along with my collegues and started from San Diego at around 1 am. Towards Yosemite we took the journey via Tioga pass. The whole highway is serene. Long mountain ranges are on both sides of the road.



We had a break at the corwley lake , where we can enjoy the view of Caldera mountain ranges.After reaching Yosemite, straight away we went to Yosemite visitor center. The wards there are extremely helpful and could provide information required. We went to Yosemite creek campground and put the tents there. One need to reach early to book a place in the campground.

As soon as we reached there we could see a bear walking around. We got little bit frightened. But it didnt do any harm. Usually they come looking for food items. Locks are provided to keep food items and those who violate this rule by keeping food items outside or in the vehicle can be cited by California Federal Rule.

Next day we visited the Toulmne peak. Came back to May lake and then had a hiking at Mount Hoffman. Mount Hoffman is the highest peak in the entire You-smite region. Its almost one third height of Everest. 10500+ feet from the sea level. As we reached the top it was extremely cold and it was really difficult to climb until top.



We spent the night at Yousmite Campground and in the morning Bear came very near to our tent. We went to Yousmite valley , but didnt wait there for long , came back via Fresno and reached San Diego at around 9.30 PM.

At San Diego , California , US

San Diego is a beach city at the south west tip of US. Its a small city in the western state of California.I Arrived in May 2008 to service my job. The city is having pleasent weather always. Terrain include beaches on one side surrounded by small hilly regions. The city hosts lot of tourist attractions like San Diego seaworld, Numerous beaches, San Diego zoo etc. Mexican culture is prevalent as its very near to Mexico.
San Diego, as San Diegans love to say, is America's finest city. It is the sixth largest city in the US and is blessed with wonderful sunny weather all the year round. It also has lots of pristine beaches, snowy mountains and arid deserts; all within driving distance.For more details about each attraction, please click on the links.

Attractions

Zoo
Wild Animal Park
Coronado Island
SeaWorld
Scripps Acquarium
Legoland
Palomar Observatory
Flower Fields
Beaches
Mission Beach
Pacific Beach
La Jolla Shores
Oceanside
Lakes
Lake Poway
Lake Dixon
Lake Hodges
Lake Morena

Piers

Crystal Pier
Oceanside Pier
Ocean Beach Pier

Camping

Lake Perris
Lake Cuyamaca
Mt Palomar
San Onofre

Fishing

Lake Poway
Oceanside Pier
Fishing at Sea
Freshwater Fishing

Parks

Balboa Park
Cabrillo Monument
Point Loma Lighthouse
Shelter Island

Military

Aerospace Museum
Airshow
Fleet Week
USS Midway

Misc

Outlet Malls
Casinos
Mt Soledad
Gliderport

Nearby Attractions

Julian
Temecula
Disneyland
Knottsberry Farm
Wineries
Hot Air Balloons
Raging Waters
Big Bear

City provides a traffic system called San Diego MTS. Also feeder services like coaster services also exists. There are sprinter train services to downtown area and the other regions . Due to high oil prices and due to health reasons you can find lot of people using bicycles now. Inorder to use the MTS system you need to know several things , otherwise it can be little funky to use those services. Once you are familiar its very easy to move around the city. Monthly bus passess also available at reasonable prices (64$).San Diego has almost all sports assosiated with Sea. I had found out common entertainment facilities everywhere in and around San Diego. There are facilites for ice skying , figure skating, ice hockey near the place where i have put up. The place i stay is very near to University of California , San Diego campus. The countries famous hospitals like Thronton , Scripps are located here. The place where i stay is called La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) is little costly but one can afford to stay if money and time can be saved for commuting to work location.San Diego has lot of Technology as well as Bio tech companies. The company i work for Qualcomm is one among the leading companies stationed here. Qualcomm have a big campus with around 30 or more buildings.San Diego hosts citizens from lot of countries and all types of food items are available. All major banks and shopping malls have put there shops in and around San Diego. Wal Mart, Vons, Albertsons, Macys you name it San Diego does have all that like any other US city.You can see lot of Indian establishments near the Black Mountain Road region. Indian hotels are plenty and you can see lot of Indians and Chinese population in San Diego. There are malayalee assosisations functioning here sdmalayalees@yahoogroups.com and http://www.sdmalayalees.com/ are some of the resources. Also there is orkut community called San Diego Malayalees.

At Los Angeles , California, US

Los Angles downtown is a area where you can find a fast moving public. Downtown does have lot of places of interest and lot of commercial activity also happen here. My intention was to move around Hollywood area. Once you reach hollywood, you can see lot of tourists thronging the streets of hollywood visiting different places of interest related to flim industry.
The pavements of Hollywood is having tiles lied all over and they had written the movie artists name on the tiles. I had taken a photo sitting near "Britney Spears" tiles . This pavements are called walk of fame. Lot of small restaurants like McDonalds , Berger king etc can be seen here like any other part of US. I took my lunch from McDonalds just near to Kodak theater
First i went to see the kodak theatre where the grammy awards functions take place. Its a very big hall and it seems its the largest amphitheatre in the whole of US with more that 3000 people seating capacity. After that we searched for a guided tour to Beverly Hills, LA. This is the place where all the movie stars and celebretis live. I took a guided tour. There are several pacakges available. I took a tour which will go to Hollywood hills and then to Beverly hills . They show us all the houses of celebrities like Britney Spears , David Beckam etc. From hollywood hills one can see a long birds-eye view of the city.
After that we together went to Ripleys Believe it or not museum. Its really a "believe it or not" museum. Soon after that we went to a tamil movie. Lot ot Mallu population surronds this city. Even malayalam movies are running in some theaters.

At Troy , Michigan , US

Troy is in the northen part of US. Its a small area near Detroit, Michigan. This is the place where all the big names in Automobile industry like Ford , Chrysler etc are located. You can see very huge roads and one thing you can notice is the width of the roads, its very large than the usual american city roads.
The bad thing about this place is there is no public transport system. The locals say its because of the Automobile lobby that they dont allow the city to come up with a public transport system , so that people will stick to buying a four wheeler. The area is lying near to Canada border and you can go near the Canada border and have a panoramic view of some parts of Canada.
There is Indian population here too, but less compared to other US cities. The place is calm and cool. Winter can be extremely cold and terrible. Its May 2008 and US economy is in bad shape , moreover the city of detroit is facing a downturn in there economic might since automobile industry is facing economic challenges. This is partially due to high gasoline prices.People are hesitating to buy Automobiles and finally the companies here are suffering due to that. Although the roads are very big the condition of some roads are bad due to this economic slowdown. Life without a car can be terrible here.
Its cheap compared with stats like California, you can easily get a condo for around 800 to 900 dollars per month.
There are some Indian hotels here and there. But one Andhra hotel i had visited is having a nice buffet with reasonable prices. That is the one south indian hotel i had seen there. All shopping centers like Vons, Rite Aid, Longs etc can be seen everywhere. The summerset mall is a treat to the eyes

At Detroit Airport, Michigan , US

Detroit airport was big than i expected. It was too crowded and people where rushing to get to thier destinations. Similar kind of crowd we can see in normally in Indian Airports. There are a lot of hotels inside the airport. I was running out of time and didnt try any of the hotels.
While departing from the airport , there was heavy checking of the baggages. But the airport staff is friendly once we obey to thier instructions.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Internatonal Airport , Atlanta , Georgia, US

The airport is a major international airport and a major transit point. Most of the North West flights operate from here. It acts as a major transit point not only for international travellers but for domestic travellers too. Its a very big airport and does have a modern look. Travellators and Elevators are provided at every place. The elevators are very huge in size and the elevation between two floors are also higher than usual. I arrived in the morning and there was a huge floating population inside the airport. Lot of hotels are there inside the airoport , but i coudnt find out something veggy inside

At San Diego International Airport , San Diego, California , US

I arrived San Diego after hearing about this six largest city of US a lot. The city is well known for its tourist credentials. San Diego was famous for the climate and pristine beaches. But as the flight took off from Atlanta and was nearing San Diego I couldn’t notice greenery. When I was peeping out thru the Aircraft window I could notice only desert like aerial view.But all my concerns where soon away as I crossed some mountain ranges. I could see thick clouds on one side of the Mountains and thru it I could see lush green fields and bright blue beaches.
Nearby San Diego airport , I could see several other airports. Its not a very big airport, but still all facilities are arranged. The baggage collection is in the ground floor and the arrival hall is in the first floor. A taxi stand is just in front of the San Diego airport. I felt internal space is less in San Diego airport and gives a little crowded look since there are no Big hall like structure.

At Newyork JFK Airport, Newyork , US

The JFK airport is one of the biggest airports i had seen. Each section is linked together with a skytrain. Similar train is seen at the Singapore changi airport. Although i couldnt see convinient travellators like in Singapore airport. The departure and arrival terminals are placed in a multilevel structure. Elevators are provided to travel between different levels. The airport does have facility for Internet and phone calls , but internet service was too costly.
I think the airtraffic is too high here , as we look into the runway , we can see either a airplane going up or coming done every 30 seconds or so.

At Brussels Airport, Brussels, Belgium

Belgium is trying to promote the Brussles airport as a gateway to Europe. Brussels being the headquarters of European union , this push to create a gateway to Europe is quite understandable.The airport does have all facilites and acts like a transit point for international flights. Its not big like singapore or dubai airport , but does have a unique ambience. Lot of chochlate shops i can see as i go thru the malls inside the Airport.

At Sharjah Airport, Sharjah , UAE

The airport is not that big but they have given a makeup to an old construction reflecting the architectural flavour of that region , along with modern amenities. One need to take IRIS scan before entering into UAE. The airport staff is very cordial and most of them can handle multiple languages. There are very less number of shops for shopping and dining here.

At Dubai , UAE

Dubai is modern , flashy and one among the major cities of the world. THe city tries to proclaim itself as a city of the modern world. City authorities are trying day and night to make the city as modern as possible. There are lot of locations which are of tourist interest. This is my second visit to this city and lot had changed after my first visit three years ago. Mainly the change is near the shaik Syed Road, the life line of Dubai. City is burstling with lot of commercial activity and is one of the ecnomic hub in the region.Normally Indian and Arabian food are available everywhere, although you could find other flavours of food here and there. Weather conditions are normally dry, but does have some part of the year with pleasent cold climate.At present lot of real estate activities are happening in and around Dubai. The worlds tallest building Burj-Al-Arab is coming up in Dubai, I could see lot of construction happening in and around that building. From a very long distance we could see the glimpse of the tallest building.Although Dubai does have lot of malls , IBAN BATUTA MALL and MALL of Emirates are the major attraction. IBAN BATTUTA MALL is divided into sections representing major countries of the world. An ambience is created for each of the sections in accordance with the culture it is represnting. Indian and Chinese pavillions are quite interesting to see. One can easily spend a day inside the mall, or i can say its a mall of malls.Dubai marina is an upcoming real estate venture. Lot of water bodies are created inside the real estate venture that it looks like a modern venice, where one can see lot of speed boats parked around big sky scrapper flats. As we move towards jebal ali free zone, we could see lot of industrial units. Traffic is a major problem in Dubai. Even though the roads are good, number of vehicles jam the roads often. Rent in dubai is high, so people are moving out to outer regions like sharjah to live and they wil commute to dubai daily.Karama center is a place where lot of keralite population is working and doing jobs. We went to a hotel called Soorya , and had a typical mallu lunch there. Shawarma (an eatery) which is made of marinated meat and grill is one of the favourite dish. Its taste had take it to other parts of the world. I had seen shawarma in some of the south Indian states.Dubai Sree Krishna temple is very near to Shiva temple and is a place of worship for Hindus here. Near by the temple we can see the Dubai Museum. Its a big structure built underneath the earth. It does explain about the resurrgence of the modern city Dubai. Shaik Syed played a major role in developing this city in the present form.

At Fujairah , UAE

UAE has a number of emirate states. One among them is Fujairah, its a state not so developed like Dubai, but still with all the facilites for a modern lifestyle. The state is on the eastern side of UAE. The weather conditions most of the time dry. Temperatures can go up to 50 degrees plus. Sometimes dust storms also appear , mostly during the dry season.There are several beautiful corniche to do brisk walking by the seaside. Khor fakan beach side is a major attraction. Its a beach with a small park nearby the beach. Lot of people come in the evening and spend time at the park. There are several dangerous roads by the seaside once you travel thru the khor fakan route, but the whole way is a scenic beauty. Kalba chorniche is beautiful and we can go to Oman border which is very near by.Mostly Arabian and Indian food are available in this region. Lot of companies surrond this area which is directly or indirectly linked with petroleum products. Traffic system is good and violations of traffic rules attract heavy penalties. In the recent years lot of developments had happened in Fujairah, and you could see lot of real estate development happening.There is a huge Indian presence in this region. Indian Social Club of Fujairah is an apex body where all indians come together. Mainly the keralite population is high like any other part of the gulf.

At Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore

This is my 12th visit to this airport, and probably this is the most visited international airport in my life , till date. Each time i visit , it was my luck that i got enough transit time everytime i reached here so i utilized the Singapore round trip tour that Sinapore authorities had provided me. Singapore and Dubai airports are my most favourite airports and the most flashy ones i had seen. Changi airport staff is very helpful and the airport is maintained very well.Singapore airports are divided into several sections. Between each section sky train is provided. There are several shops of interest inside the Singapore Changi airport. There is a South Indian restaurant in the First floor of the airport. I usally doesnt fail to take some snaks from the south indian hotel.There is a shop run by Singapore airlines , which is of my interest. They sell several sundry items which is Singapore specific. Other than that lot of free internet browsing terminals are provided by the airport authorities which i found very useful , even during the transit time you can get in touch with the outside world.I had gone thru several electronic shops to buy some electronic products , but what i feel is there is no major difference compared to the prices in India. Nowadays some of the items you will find much cheaper in India.

At Seoul Incheon Airport , Incheon , Seoul , South Korea.

This is my 12 th visit to this airport. I reached from the hotel to airport thru the limousine service. City authorities had provided service of bus service from several pickup points through out seoul. Around 13000 korean wons is the ticket price , the arrangement is quite helpful. This time i stayed at Novotel Ambassador Gangnam, one of the luxruy five star hotels in Seoul. The bus comes to all the major hotels for pickup , before leaving to Airport.The airport is not as big as Changi airport , but the airport is well maintained. The departure faciltiy is a huge hall with a chormium finsh roof. Once you enter the facility on one side several small cafeteria is visibile , along with that there are several banks counter for currency exchange. Woori bank, ShinHan Bank etc are major ones.This time i was travelling with Singapore Airlines. Once you do the checkin and baggage scan you enter to a shopping area. Lot of duty free shops are seen , but most of them are little costlier.

Singapore Transit Tour, Singapore.

This is my 6th time visit to Singapore via Singapore transit tour. Usually one need to report to the transit tour counter to take the free transit tour. They will take you only if enough time is there for transit.The travel is convinient as they take you in a AC bus with enough leg room. They take you to the financial district and other places of interest. You cannot get out of the bus and explore things out there. You can see second hand things being sold for cheap prices (thiefs street) at a location. Sinaporeans say this is the place to look for if you have lost something stolen :).You can find lot of tamil population in this part of the world. There are temples and mosques of indian style located. The whole country is very small and some of the construction is going on reclaimed land. The city has good public transport system and the authorities demotivate people from buy cars. Statistics show that the number of citizens in the country is lesser than the number of tourists in an year. Singapore is the home for one of the largest containter shipment terminals in the world. The whole region depends on Singapore for container traffic.Indian street and Chinese streets are there where you can find lot of Indian and Chinese culture. The government tries to restore the old buildings which reflects Singapore culture. So modernity buildings with buildings with old style of architercture is interwoven and blended nicely in this city.Private flats are too costly , but there are a number of government flats that normal people rely for a leaving. The city is having an entertainment and leisure center called the sentosa island. A new casino center is coming up in the city which is build after the casino center models of Las Vegas.