Well, this is it, we're all back home now in Aldergrove. This place feels even tinier now. It's nice to see everyones face again though, they loved their little gifts (literally sand from the beach).
What's even better is that there is absolutely no jet-lag whatsoever; thank you inventor of timezones for keeping us in the same one as California.
I haven't unpacked anything except my Comic-Con memorabilia, we definitely need to go again next year. But for now, James, Aleks, Jordan and I are going out for one last dinner tonight. Finally have some 'real' food.
Here's to this adventure, and the many more that each one of us will endure throughout life!
As I am writing this, I'm sitting in the Starbucks at San Diego International Airport. This whole trip has been such an unforgettable bonding experience with my best buds. So many memories have been made over these two weeks: The dreary Seattle weather, Portland's rustic culture, L.A.'s active nightlife and San Diego's natural beauty....and of course all of Comic-Con.
Honestly, I just can't wait to not eat from a fast-food restaurant; never thought I'd be saying that. I miss Canada too, it's too damn dry out here in Cali, i need the forests of British Columbia back in my life.
Welp, it's here, the final day of Comic-Con. We fly back to Vancouver tomorrow afternoon so, we gotta enjoy it all today.
We got to the centre at 10 today ( Aleks took forever), so we were late on the last day. I decided we should all stick together today, no complaints were made. We all bought tickets to the biggest panel this weekend for: Marvel Infinity War Part 1. This movie is gonna be sick, especially after the comic versions. Those are my favorite ones! After the panel, we spent a few more hours walking around, looking for nerdy things to buy; Aleks bought some...weird anime sword or something, i don't know, I don't watch anime. Jordan got a new Thor hammer.
Alright, second-to-last day of Comic-Con 2016. I'm a little sad that the end is nearing, but hey, gotta make the most of it! James and I spent the majority of the day together today. We each bought some nifty life-like figurines today: James bought a Tom Hiddleston Loki and I got a Ryan Reynolds Deadpool figurine. They are so freakin' cool. They cost an-arm-and-a-leg but, well, We NEEDED them.
Alright, day two is here and the goosebumps still riddle my body. We practically ran to the convention centre early in the morning. Once inside, Jordan and I paired up today. Him and I bought tickets to the Star Wars panel they had on today. It was insane, Harrison Ford, George Lucas, Mark Hammil, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver were all there! I literally almost cried out of sheer excitement. It was well worth the money.
HERE WE GO!! Day one of Comic-Con 2016 is finally upon us. The whole gang got up early for breakfast, it tasted especially delicious with all the excitement overpowering our senses. We walked to the convention centre at 8:45am and promptly got into line. We had to wait until nine-thirty to get in, but it was worth it.
The doors opened and we made hast inside. My eyes were bombarded with so many beautiful sites. Comic books, cos-players, video games, movie props and action figures: I'm in love.
Once inside, Aleks and I went on our own, leaving James and Jordan behind. We spent hours fan-boying over practically EVERYTHING. We talked to some cos-players with awesome costumes, they were such nice and open people.
Were has this been all my life?!
So we're all still quite sore from yesterdays little adventure, so we all slept in until noon. We're gonna take it easy today, so we just went out for some Mexican food. It was this little place called Las Cuatro Milpas on Logan Avenue. It had some really good reviews online, so we thought "why not." And oh my god were those reviews true, those were the best burritos I've ever had.
For the rest of the day we just drove to the convention centre and checked out all the things being set up...we'll see them in all their glory tomorrow. Then we went back to the hotel, and just prepared ourselves.
Today we decided to take and hour drive out to Mt. Laguna; definitely need to work off some of this fast-food weight. Once we got there, we rented four mountain bikes and went all the way up to the top. I got some awesome pictures while up there; while Jordan got a pretty gnarly gash in his leg. And he's supposed to be the most athletic of all of us...psssh. We actually spent four hours up there, biking for kilometres...oh sorry, miles. James bought some actual food from some farmers market, so we're all feeling a little better today.
Alright, so today was absolutely amazing. Yesterday I found this awesome popular cove called La Jolla cove. We swam there for almost three hours, the water was so warm. Most of us haven't even swam in the ocean, so this was a new experience for sure. Everyone is so tan though, like we looked like snowman in Hawaii, aha. I'm surprised nobody has asked us if were not from around here yet... there's something satisfying about saying you're Canadian to an American, the look on their face is just ridiculous.
Last night we got into San Diego around 7:30, the hotel is amazing, I mean it better be if we're staying here for another week. It's two o'clock right now and the guys are all out getting some sushi, so I got stuck with the job of finding things to do in San Diego for three days before Comic-Con starts on Thursday. So far, obviously, I've gotten a little distracted....I'm just too damn excited, I need to write!
So this hotel we stayed in was by far the nicest, comfiest hotel so far. And they have a free continental breakfast!! It was incredible.
After breakfast today we checked out of our hotel, packed the car up, and explored L.A. until 5pm. We went downtown too the walk of stars, got so many pictures of dead people's stars (living the American dream). Then we went hiking in Griffith Park; Aleks stumbled upon a rattlesnake, so....he almost died aha. We're now on our way down to San Diego as I write this; San Diego here we come!
Alright so we made it into Los Angeles today. The sky is so insanely blue and the sun shines brighter out here. We're staying here for the night, and maybe most of tomorrow; it's difficult to leave this paradise. James and I went down to Venice beach earlier, just to check out all the iconic shops and people down there. I don't think I've ever seen so much diversity in one place ever before: different races, religions, ages, it was an experience...that's for sure.
Well, we left Roseburg at 6 this morning. Sleep was decent I guess; sleep on a budget for sure. Stopping at fast food joints so often so far has been somewhat decent, don't feel terrible just yet. We're all a little tired from yesterday, good thing we have headphones because we might get into stupid arguments. Today we'll make it into California, i can't wait to experience all this gorgeous weather that everyone keeps taking about.
Alright so we drove for eight hours today from Roseburg to some small city called Los Banos; about 267 miles away from L.A. Another hotel...woooohoooooooo:/
Today, Jordan, Aleks, James and I left lil' old Aldergrove for San Diego. We got up at 5:30, quickly packed up the car with our suitcases and some snacks, got some breakfast at Tim Hortons and got on the road. The border crossing was pretty much empty, so we got into Washington at 6:30. We passed by Seattle at around 9:00. The entire drive was nothing but rain, which I actually enjoyed. We stopped driving after nine entire hours of driving! We're currently in a motel in this quaint little town called Roseburg in Oregon.
Food:
Let’s be real, we’re only going to eat fast food for the whole time; on
average, a meal for one at a fast food restaurant costs roughly $6.50. So for
two weeks, four people, it would cost around: $364.
Hotels: For four people, sleeping at
different hotels for 13 nights would add up to, on average, $120.01 per day. So
for 13 nights, one room, it would cost about: $1560.13.
Gas: The average new car gets roughly
36.4 mpg. The trip from Aldergrove to San Diego is about 1,336 miles. The
average gas tank holds around 14 gallons; so your car will be empty every 510
miles. That equals out to about 2.5 stops at the gas station. The cost per
gallon of gas is $1.80 (USD); so to fill your tank two and a half times, it
would cost about $63 (USD)
Admissions: The price of a badge for three days
at comic-con are $74 per person; $296
for everyone.
Souvenirs: This is a heavy variable, but odds
are we’ll all get at least $100 worth of
stuff each.
Total: Roughly around $2683.13 for everything and everyone. So per person it would be $670.78.
As soon as possible, I would love to travel just about ANYWHERE. From going back to Europe, to exploring Asia, the U.S., Africa...but above all other great places in the world, I need to go to Australia. Maybe it's the wildlife (even though it's incredibly deadly), maybe it's the absolutely gorgeous scenery; whatever the case may be, I just need to explore this wondrous continent.
Sidney, Australia
The cities I would love to visit most are: Sidney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane; pretty much the basic, tourist-y places. Well, I mean, the outback could definitely be very fun, so we'll see.
Perth, Australia
New York, NY
Aside from Australia, I really want to explore all of America. So far, I've been to Seattle, Portland and Anaheim and loved every trip to the states. I'd love to go back to Seattle right after school ends and go watch a Seahawks game. Then I'd love to visit all of Los Angeles; Denver, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, New York, etc. There is just so much to see and do.
Los Angeles, USA
Lastly, I'd love to go back to Europe at sometime in my life. Two years ago, I went for a complete month. For the first week, I stayed in London -which was just so full of culture and diversity- and then for the other three weeks, I stayed in Norway - visiting distant relatives.
With the end of high school only four months away, it's obvious that alot of the grads this year are thinking about what they're going to do come the end of June, including me. While this whole process is stressful and brings out the existentialist in all of this, it is exciting isn't it? To think, that my friends and peers that I've known more or less since grade six, will all become young adults starting their own lives. It's absolutely unreal.
Needless to say, I've put alot of thought into my post-high school life; what my hours of thought and planning have come up with is: firstly, I plan on taking half a year or so to just work full-time and save up some money. Then, I'll apply to Kwantlen Polytechnic University and/or UFV. At university I'd like to take a journalism course and a scriptwriting/creative writing course.
Ever since grade school I've realised that I possess a passion and a talent for writing. I love telling stories that connect with people, make them feel something deep down, come to terms with who they are, make 'em question who they are. I got into writing because it gave me a healthy release from alot of the negative emotions that enveloped me as a young teenager. I can deal with anxiety, anger and sadness, all with writing.
My biggest inspirations are: Jim Morrison, Kendrick Lamar,Stanley Kubrick, Stephen Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino,William Shakespeare, Peter Jackson, Stephen King and many others. One day I'd love to be either a somewhat successful script-writer or a sports journalist.
What I believe the world will look like and what I want the world to look like in the 22nd century are two VERY different things.
In the world I would like to have in one-hundred years is one of peace and renewability. Countries world-wide are prospering, green energy has filled the empty hole that oil has left behind. The environment has become front and centre in the world's priorities; the Earth is now beginning to heal and global warming has slowed and/or started to reverse itself. Diseases will never go away, but hopefully with the advancement of technology, cures are easier to discover and mass produce. The population has stopped rapidly growing and has evened out, easing the strain on resources and space. Racial and gender equality has advanced tremendously and has levelled the playing field for jobs and education.
Pretty much everything is on the up swing and improving in some sense, this is the world I'd love to have my grandchildren grow up in...but i genuinely don't believe this will happen whatsoever.
The reality I think the human race is destined for, is much darker than the one mentioned above. I think that with the current strain on the worlds resources and the ever-increasing global population, the fight for oil and fresh water will become a harsh reality. Oil and water will be bought up by the wealthiest countries in the world and the unfortunate countries that can't afford the two resources...will either go to war for water and oil, or starve industrially and physically. With the war for resources at it's peak; I think that the more radical countries such as North Korea, Saudi Arabia and China will resort to all-out nuclear war; devastating the world. Billions will die as result of the initial bombs and also the nuclear fallout and winter that will follow. Earth will become an irradiated hell-hole and only the select few who can afford to go into nuclear fallout shelters and underground bunkers will survive and possibly have the chance to repopulate the earth; but the world will never be the same.
Obviously I don't want this to become reality, but by the way the world is run and how any helpful, progressive idea is shot down by short-sighted, small-minded people who only care about one thing: money, I don't see any long-term positive life for all of us.
The Revenant; directed by Alejandro G.Iñárritu, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Will Poulter in the film adaptation of the novel, The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke. The movie is set in the 1820’s in South Dakota and focuses on a crew of several trappers working for the American Fur Company. The main character Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is viciously mauled by a grizzly bear and is found by his men barely alive. The captain of the group hires three of the men to stay behind with Glass until they can come back with help; one of these men is John Fitzgerald (Hardy). Throughout the movie Fitzgerald and Glass have had obvious tension built up. Fitzgerald then kills Glass’s son and leaves him for dead. The rest of the movie is Leonardo DiCaprio crawling through miles of untouched wilderness, trying to avoid death’s many faces. This movie does an exceptional job at creating realism in every scene. The violence isn’t over the top, the fight scenes are slow, brutal and full of tension. Like Alejandro’s last movie "Birdman", the Revenant contains several long shots filmed in a naturalistic style to create a sense of realism. There are also many metaphorical shots in this scene I personally enjoyed, but they can easily go over most people’s heads. The lead cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki definitely deserves an Oscar nod at least.Every actor is this movie gives an exceptional, believable effort I'd recommend The Revenant to anyone who likes intense, inspiring movies about the strength of the human spirit and the will to live. I'll give this an 8.5/10.
The Revenant; directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Will Poulter in the film adaptation of the novel, The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke. The movie is set in the 1820’s in South Dakota and focuses on a crew of several trappers working for the American Fur Company. The main character Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is viciously mauled by a grizzly bear and is found by his men barely alive. The captain of the group hires three of the men to stay behind with Glass until they can come back with help; one of these men is John Fitzgerald (Hardy). Throughout the movie Fitzgerald and Glass have had obvious tension built up. Fitzgerald then kills Glass’s son and leaves him for dead. The rest of the movie is Leonardo DiCaprio crawling through miles of untouched wilderness, trying to avoid death’s many faces. This movie does an exceptional job at creating realism in every scene. The violence isn’t over the top, the fight scenes are slow, brutal and full of tension. Like Alejandro’s last movie "Birdman", the Revenant contains several long shots filmed in a naturalistic style to create a sense of realism. There are also many metaphorical shots in this scene I personally enjoyed, but they can easily go over most people’s heads. The lead cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki definitely deserves an Oscar nod at least. Every actor is this movie gives an exceptional, believable effort
