Must Watch: Blackfish

Hello Lovelies,

Ok, so I literally just finished one of the best documentaries I have ever seen in my life, Blackfish.  Blackfish, is directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, and it chronicles what a horrible life killer whales lead in captivity.  From wrangling orcas away from their families in the wild, to keeping them in pens, Blackfish shows just how inhuman these whales are treated for entertainment purposes.

Now, I like many of you have visited Sea World.  I was always amazed by how amazing these creatures really were.  I even envisioned myself one day wanting to be one of the trainers.  However, after watching this documentary I realized how misguided and how remorseful many of these trainer felt after leaving their jobs.  They talked about the many accidents that happened that often the fault landed on the trainer, not the whale.  After visiting Sea World numerous times, I never thought of the fact that these whales were forcibly removed from the wild and forced to swim in a "bathtub" for the rest of their lives.  I even thought that these animals loved what they were doing, that they seemed to enjoy the relationship they formed with their trainers.  What Blackfish succeeds in doing is showing the behind the scenes videos of some of these attacks or "accidents" as Sea World has claimed they are.  They show that these creatures are often fed up with being treated like show pony's who respond to verbal commands and are forced to perform day after day.  

Video from youtube

The scene that devastated me was when they showed baby orcas, being forcibly removed from their moms.  Right before that scene was shown, orca experts explain how baby whales, calfs, tend to stay with their moms for most of their lives.  After the whales are removed from the moms, to go to other parks, the video shows the moms crying and screaming while searching for their baby.  It's heart breaking because they whales are unable to protect their young.

Overall, I will give the movie Blackfish 5 out 5 stars.  It is a must see, eye-opening experience about the mistreatment of these whales.  While myself and many of the trainers in this movie believe Sea World doesn't need to shut down completely, they do need to reevaluate how they treat, train, and obtain these beautiful creatures.  As one of the trainers put it, Sea World has single handily open many people's lives to the world of marine biology and created a sense of intrigue into the mysterious world of the ocean.  The next time I see an orca, I hope it's on a whale watching tour on the West coast where I can admire these creatures in their natural habitat, where they should be!

A long vacation and short mini one!

I've been very fortunate that over the years my family has been going to Florida for 2 weeks in the late spring/ early summer months to escape the Jersey cold.  Now, for those of you who don't know me you need to understand that I love all things Disney.  As I've grown up I've learned to appreciate all aspects of what the mastermind, Walt Disney created.  Now, with that being said our family trips to Disney aren't for the faint of heart because often times we are there from early morning til late at night!

This trip to Disney was wonderful because we were able to enjoy the parks, which are usually not super crowded at this time, and enjoy the warm Florida weather without the Florida humidity.  Now for some highlights of the trip: We got stuck on the Harry Potter ride for about 10 minutes and got to see most of the ride with the lights on, I caught a lizard at the hotels pool, only to have it run up my arm and cause me to scream like a little girl.  Oh and lets not forget while we were there, there was an infestation of lovebugs, which are pointless bugs that are attached at the butt and resemble lightning bugs.  Here are some photos to document the trip!

Best part of arriving in Disney!!

Every year we try to make it to Disney for the Flower and Garden Festival bc they do such an amazing job with the topiaries.

My brother and I in front of my favorite ride in Disney: Expedition Everest! Excuse the terrible hair, this was right after a rain storm.

At Sea World

I've recently found a quote on pinterest that really spoke to me from the Dalai Lama:

Now, who can argue with the Dalai Lama.... not me.  This year my friend and I decided that we should visit places we've never been to before.  Last year I was able to go to Boston, which remained my favorite city up until recently.  This years trip was to the lovely city known as Chi-town or CHICAGO!!!! What can I say about Chicago: it's beautiful, clean, friendly, expensive, and possibly a place I want to live in the future.

Now to illustrate Chicago in pictures.

 Here I am right outside of navy pier overlooking the beautifully clear Lake Michigan.

 The picture above is from the Skydeck at the Willis Tower (which was previously known as the Sears Tower).    These views were absolutely gorgeous but the amount of time we had to wait to get through security made me feel like I was waiting in line at Disney. The picture below is taking in one of the four clear observation boxes that extend outside the building.  Not going to lie that first step onto the clear Plexiglass is absolutely terrifying.  However once you're out there it's not all that bad, but it's still a little scary.

 One thing everyone told us to do while in Chicago was to go on an architecture tour around the city.  It was absolutely beautiful and it was a great way to get a different perspective of the building from the river down below.  The building below is the famous trump tower that Bill Rancic helped manage after winning the first season of the apprentice!

 Chicago is home to some beautiful modern architecture and home to some interesting buildings.  These buildings below have petal shaped balconies.

 And you can't visit Chicago without visiting Cloudgate, or the Bean as many of you may refer to it as. We were lucky and arrived here around 9am and were able to actually capture the beauty of this monument without having too many people ruin the picture.

 Now, for those of you who have visited Chicago, you know that it is an expensive city.  With ridiculous sales tax, most people are always looking for a way to save some money.  Well, my friend had the brilliant idea of renting these divvy bikes.  For those of you who have been to NY it's the same premise of the Citi Bikes.  Here you pay 7 dollars for 24 hr access to these bikes.  The only negative aspect of this bike share program is you need to drop the bikes off every 30 minutes to avoid the $1 late charge.  Despite that little annoyance I really enjoyed seeing different parts of the city while biking everywhere.  We were able to eat and drink whatever we liked and we hardly felt guilty about it because we had biked so much before that!

 Now here's a little tid bit that I didn't believe and had to actually figure it out for myself.  Now for all my 21+ readers, if you'd like to go to visit the John Hancock building but don't want to go to the observation deck, I have an alternative option for you.  A great way to see the gorgeous Chicago sunset is to visit the Signature Room, which is on the 95th floor of the building.  The Signature Room is home to a swanky restaurant and bar.  Now, the drinks on the menu are pretty pricey, but each one looked absolutely delicious.  I would whole heartedly recommend the Lakeshore Lemonade, it's not too strong but it is definitely delicious! Now, for the interesting fact: all ladies should venture into the women's bathroom with their camera.  Now I'm sure you're thinking why am I bringing my camera into the bathroom? Well, you need to do this because when you walk into the bathroom the first thing you see is absolutely gorgeous floor to ceiling views of the city.  The photo below is from the bathroom.  Now don't be embarrassed to take a bathroom selfie, most of the women in there are doing the same thing!

Now it wouldn't be a vacation if I didn't find a way to Segway.  If you'd like a great way to see the city in a different way please go check out City Segway Tours of Chicago! I've toured with this company in DC and absolutely loved it there and Chicago was just as fabulous!

 I think this post has gone on long enough!  Next time I hope to update you on the copious amounts of clothing I've bought during my 6 month hiatus.

Until Next Time!!!

FLORIDA 2012

Greetings from sunny NJ, I’m finally back home!!!!

These last couple of weeks have been very eventful for me.  I had finals, graduation, had to move out of my apartment/move back home, job hunted and went to FLORIDA for two weeks which leads me to the theme of this post. 

I’ve just come back from spending 2 weeks in the Orlando area.  I absolutely love all things Disney and love going back to the parks because it makes me appreciate all the hard work that went into making these AH-MAZING attractions.  I was a little disappointed that two of my favorite rides were closed for refurbishment (Test Track and Big Thunder Mountain) but my other favorite rides did not disappoint!!! My absolute favorite ride Expedition Everest never ceases to amaze me and if I could I would go on it over and over again!  Another favorite is Tower of Terror, which I actually didn’t even go on until last year which is embarrassing because I love roller coasters and thrill rides but anything having to do with elevators scares the crap out of me.  With my irrational fear set aside I rode Tower of Terror maybe 15 times and wish I rode it more. 

But the real highlight of my trip was getting the opportunity to do the Around the World at Epcot Segway Tour.  I’ve ridden a segway once before and loved it.  My parents knew how much I enjoyed the experience in DC that they asked me if I wanted to do it again in Florida.  Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity so me and my mother decided to take the tour.  The tour is about 2 hours long, with the first hour being devoted to learning about the segway and learning how to ride it.  The second hour is lead by a Disney Guest Relations cast member around all the different countries at Epcot.  Our first hour of training was lead by Mike, who was probably one of the funniest teachers I’ve ever met.  He taught us the ins and outs of the segway and taught us how to maneuver ramps, hills, and the pesky maintenance workers at Epcot, who will not move their hoses to avoid you. 

After the training was over, Conor, the Guest Relations tour guide lead us to International Drive and explained how Mr. Walt Disney came up with the idea of Epcot.  After admiring the World Showcase from International Drive we traveled to China where we learned all about the Foo Dog and the significance of them in Chinese culture.

After stopping at China we made our way over to Germany where we learned that this area was one of Walt’s favorite vacation destinations.  After Germany we headed over to my favorite place, Italy and learned all about the various restaurants which represent Rome, Tuscany,and Naples.  We also learned about Piazza San Marco and the tower that has 5 bells.  Word to the wise, never walk between the two pillars because when the 5th bell is ringing (it sounds like jingle bells) it means a public hanging is going to be taking place and the Italians use to walk the victim in between the pillars.  Our tour guide told us to always enter from the left or right of the pillars.

 

Finally our tour commenced at Morocco, which is a new favorite place of mine.  Morocco is the only part of the world showcase that is actually funded by the country it represents.  The president of Morocco flew artist and designers to Epcot to help make it as authentic as possible, and boy did it pay off.  The design work is impeccable (but not perfect and with out flaws because the only one who can create perfection is Allah)!

Although the Segway tour is a bit pricey it really is a great experience and I learned to appreciate the World Showcase at Epcot that much more.  I will be posting some videos and pictures after this and expelling them a bit more!

The was by far one of my favorite Florida trips!