Los angeles

As i have been in Los Angeles for quite some time thought of listing the places i have visited.


1)Hollywood Boulevard --Hollywood Walk of Fame
2)Universal Studios
3)Malibu - Zuma Beach
4)Malibu Hindu Temple


1) Hollywood Boulevard--Hollywood Walk of Fame:

A tribute to over 2000 artists who have made significant contributions to film, radio, television, theatre and the recording industries. The first star placed on the 9Th of February 1960, was for Joanne Woodward. One of Hollywood's most popular tourist attractions, the Walk of Fame lies along both sides of Hollywood Blvd. from Gower Bl (on the east) to La Brea Ave (on the west), and along both sides of Vine Street from Yucca St. to Sunset Bl. The Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo at La Brea Av at Hollywood Bl, the start of the Walk of Fame, should not be missed. The complete list of over 2000 stars and their exact locations can be found
It was fun seeing certain celebrities names as we walked.



2) Universal Studios : This is a must see place in LA and located in the heart of Hollywood and its a fun for the whole family.


Bought annual pass from http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/ as you can visit the park for whole year, while purchasing read their conditions carefully.


While entering the park don't forget to take the visitors map so that you can see the show timings and plan accordingly. There will be so many characters will be walking around the park, you can meet your favorite charter and take picture with them. Like Frankenstein, The Simpson's ,Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey,Dora the Explorer and her friend Diego,Sponge Bob Square Pants,Curious George,Alex the Lion and the Penguins from 'Madagascar' and many more.


We started our tour with House of Horror, It was a unique experience as i haven't been to any horror house before it was really scary and fun too.


There are so many shows don't miss any of them like Terminator-2 3D, Shrek 4D, Water world, Back draft,animal show etc and rides like Simpson's, The revenge of the mummy and Jurassic park.


Don't forget to take picture in the bike near the Terminator2 3D it will come very well especially if u take during night time.


We loved Simpson's ride and took it twice. It was a motion simulator ride and it really felt like you were moving; I even got that tickle in my tummy as we went down the roller coaster. It was just so amazing....you cannot miss this ride! At the end of the ride they take picture you can collect them or for $5 they will email you the photo if you provide your email id near the collection center.


The Revenge of Mummy ride, it's an indoor roller coaster - it was super fast and it goes
super fast in reverse, too!! couldn't get to try Jurassic Ride as its been closed for renovation during our visit but heard friends saying that its a cool ride but the drop is really crazy.

Water world show is also good but don't be late for this show otherwise you will get wet!!!!!!For animal lovers there is a pet show as well.


Finally studio tour, this is included in the park tour,If u have the annual pass no need to wait in the queue for trams you will get the front row seats if you show the pass . This was also fun as you can see how Hollywood magic happens and you can experience all new movie sets like Witness the explosive special effects of the Fast and the Furious: Extreme Close-Up.
Check out actual Skull Island set pieces from the movie King Kong. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... Jaws is waiting deep beneath the waters on the back lot. You'll wish you were on a bigger tram.


Finish your day in the universal city walk where u will find lot of restaurants, shopping malls etc. Totally this is family fun and do visit or don't forget to visit when you are in LA. If you go to the above mentioned website you will find all the missing information.

3) Malibu- Zuma Beach: Zuma is a great beach not too far from the County Line (Los Angeles and Ventura) It costs $7 to park but even on a weekend in the summer you can usually find a place and the park runs along the whole beach so it is never a long walk to or from the car.

You can also do free parking by the road side but you have to be very care full while doing so otherwise that might lead to an accident.

There are several lifeguard stations and a couple of food places to get snack type food. Restrooms are available. The sand is typically clean and the crowd ranges from teenagers to families. There is plenty of beach to play on and the beach is sandy and nice. You can wade out into the waves or boogie board if you like or just spend a day by sitting on the beach. Bring lots of sun screen and enjoy!

4) Malibu Hindu Temple: If u live around LA and looking for a hindu temple to visit the malibu hindu temple is one of them.

You will get all the info about temple in this website
http://www.hindutemplesoutherncalifornia.org/

If you drive further down from the temple you will find pepperdine university and a beautifull view of ocean.

There are lots of other places to visit i will update the blog when i visit them :)

San Diego- Things to do

On July 4Th long weekend we visited San Diego as its one of the must see places in California.

We have purchased our tickets from Costco, which was a 3 in 1 pass and included,

1. Sea world
2. San Diego Zoo
3. Wild animal park

You will find some good deals on Internet as well.

Sea world: Is a great place to take the family for a day. Its got something for each family member, From the fun shows to the amazing visuals, If you like sea life then you don't want to miss it.

The shows were great especially Shamu show,dolphin show and sea lion show. There are several show for shamu but the night show will be good so don't miss it even if u have seen day show.

If you book the showtime picnic you will get reserved seats in the Shamu stadium and they will bring you a picnic lunch to eat to your seats and will get to watch the pre show entertainment and then the show.
Shamu show is the main attraction of the sea world, Its a classic show. Dine with Shamu was also worth booking as you get a buffet meal next to the training tank. You will be less than a metre away from these amazing creatures. The trainers will tell u a lot about them and show you some of the things they do with them. It,s like having a private show (To get the best tables book early)

You can also do dolphin encounter which means you could see the dolphins up close, feed and touch them as well as talk to a trainer. If you got kids this a great thing to do will be a lot of fun.

The other displays and aquariums were also good and a 3D show,Circus show was also good.There are lot of shows will be going on so Make sure you plan the shows and special attractions you want to see then explore in between those times.

The sky/cable ride over the bay was nice and provided an excellent aerial view of the sea. There were nice little touches, such as the smaller aquariums and the tide pool where kids could briefly hold starfish and other innocent sea creatures. Educational and environmental messages were delivered in a tactful and subtle way throughout the park.

I am very afraid of the rides, but still went on a The Journey to Atlantes ride and i was able to come out in a single piece ha ha ;) there are some other rides as well but we couldn't get explore because of lot of crowd.

If you are an animal lover don't miss the pets Dog/Cat show.Look over the program carefully to make sure you are coordinated with respect to show times - they are staggered throughout the day and many shows run concurrently. It would be easy to miss a good show if you don't plan accordingly earlier in the day.

As went on Independence day weekend there was a Fireworks show in the park. This was very good and lasted for an half an hour...

There is lot of thing to do in sea world, This is a must see if you are in the area with children and have even the slightest affection for animals.

San Diego Zoo: This is a nice zoo. It is entertaining and educational. As we entered the zoo found out that there was a bus tour. One of the thing i liked was they were putting seal on the hands for the bus tour was kind of cool.Its was fun riding the bus and guide was explaining about animal and their behaviour...Bus dropped us in the forest from there you have to walk and explore the animals.

Panda,polar bear,flamingos were cute and the big elephants . Also you can feed to Giraffes and got to take tickets for that. Sky ride was a lot of fun and a must do. Park is very clean.We didn't get a chance to catch any shows but heard that they are kind of cool.

Overall Zoo experience was interesting,entertaining and educative.

Coranado Island : As we had some time left in evening after the Zoo we went to Coranado Island, Its got a beach so you can spend some time on the beach & few shopping malls as well. There is a ferry which will take you to the downtown San Diego. you can take tickets for ferry from ticket machine available on the beach. Ferry will drop you on the other end and you can walk around the downtown or rent the bicycle and make sure to take a note of last trip time of the ferry to come back to the island.

There is a USS Midway Museum, is a real naval aircraft carrier that served in the United States Navy for 47 years. Large and very impressive, it has real jets and real airplanes up on the flight deck, that travelers can actually walk into and even sit in the cockpits of some planes.

San Diego Wild animal Park: This is the part of trip which i dint like much. As said earlier we had 3 in 1 pass and one pass was for this park. we reached the park , Took "Journey into Africa" tour which was a kind of guided bus tour, so we hopped into the bus with great expectation. But it dint stand up to our expectation. All of the animals in the open range are hard to see because of the distance, unless your lucky enough that they happen to be close by the edge.

The variety of animals in the open range aren't very interesting and there are very few occupying a large of amount of space. Giraffes, a few Rhinos, Small gatherings of Antelope deer animals, Gazelles, Water Buffaloes a couple of ostrich and if there is anything I missed its because I couldn't see it or it was not memorable. The Journey seems like it lasted 20 mins.

If you plan on bringing a camera, you better have a high quality zoom lens or you wont capture very much. When you see pictures or even the name of the Park "Wild" and "Animal" you get the feeling you will be seeing all of the animals that are large areas, acting and as if they were in the wild. Sad part was we couldn't see any lions and tigers.

There are lot of other option for taking rides. Like hot hair balloon ride which will take you around the park , Safari ride & also other tours, you have to check in the counter.

So enjoy your trip to San Diego..... :)

Palm Springs-Aerial Tramway

As me and my friend planning to go somewhere after days of planing my friend came up with a place Palm springs.

As we live in California and don't get much of a snow so we decided to head towards Palm Springs to enjoy some snow & cold weather.

One of biggest attraction in the palm springs is Aerial Tramway, which is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world and also a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of San Jacinto Peak. The trams rotate constantly throughout the duration of the journey so that the passengers can see in all directions without moving no matter where u are standing in the tram.

Its a eight and half minute ride from the valley station to the top of the mountain peak. its like a way up to snowy wonderland.You get to see both a rocky mountainside and a constantly changing Eco-world, as well as a breathtaking view of the entire Coachella Valley. You can feel it get cooler as you make your way up - it's such a cool experience.

Be sure to take your cold cloths and gloves because it will be lot colder at the top.

If you go in winter months bring Sled, sledding is a lot of fun.

There is also a equipment rental 'shack' just outside the main lodge. You can rent snowshoes and cross-country skis.

Overall trip was a lot of fun :) I think that the Tram is a perfect getaway destination.