Our 1st Proper Halloween - Pacific Coast Cruise Leg - Completed 4/24/2013 About This Page:

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

Sounds like a wonderful day at sea.

Originally Posted by pamcarey

What a wonderful, relaxing sea day!

Thank you! I don't think we could've been anymore relaxed than we were that day

Originally Posted by lauriep

Can't believe you saw a whale!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

How great that you saw a whale!

It was such a thrilling moment , even though not much of the whales were visible at any given time.

Originally Posted by lauriep

Just got caught up again. I love all the things you did ashore, and the sea days, too. Makes me want to take that same cruise along the California coast.

Thank you! I can whole-heartedly recommend Disney's Pacific Coast cruise without a moment's hesitation!

[Big Sister]

Friday, 5 October 2012: San Diego Zoo

To avoid being separated on the bus like yesterday, Nest and I got up super early so we wouldn’t be late in meeting up for our 8.45am excursion to San Diego Zoo. When we went out on the balcony to see where we were, we saw that the Wonder was soon to pull into the San Diego harbour, where two other cruise ships were already berthed (one of them being the Celebrity Century, which our Aunt and Uncle sailed on last year.) We took a couple of photos, then went down to Wavebands to check in for our excursion (today's excursion stickers were maroon Pluto ones.)

It took over an hour to get to San Diego Zoo, which was totally unexpected, as we didn't realise we'd be starting off with a tour of the city - I honestly can't remember reading about a tour being included in this excursion. Anyway, we saw a lot of interesting sights during our drive, such as:

· The most haunted building in San Diego
· The Comic Con Centre
· A bar featured in a Tom Cruise movie. Our tour guide said that it specialised in BBQ dishes, and that if we liked BBQ dishes, then not to go to that particular bar and restaurant! :0
· As we drove around the city itself, I noticed more homeless people than I've ever noticed in any other city. There was a massive mural dedicated to the homeless on a building we went by. The mural was covered in signatures, which I took to be those of the homeless people themselves.

The most haunted building in San Diego


The bar featured in a Tom Cruise movie

We also learnt a lot of interesting facts throughout our drive, such as:

· The city blocks in San Diego are smaller than usual because the planner of the city knew that the corner of the blocks could be rented out for a large amount, so he made sure there would be more room for them.
· There have been debates about building a new airport (I still can't get over the fact that the current airport seems to be right in the middle of the city!) One idea they've come up with, is to have a floating airport out in the ocean! That sounds like more trouble than it's worth, to Nest and myself!
· Only one establishment used to make fresh tortillas for their restaurant, and it has now become so popular, that all the restaurants seem to do it!
· Concerts are sometimes held in the park, which just happens to be under a direct flight path. The concert organisers have a system where they have a set of traffic lights. When the lights are green, the coast is clear to perform. When the lights are yellow, that means a plane is approaching and the singers have to prepare to freeze mid-performance. When the coast is clear, the lights change back to green, and the performers can pick up from where they left off.
· Back in the day, a lady wanted to plant more trees in this huge park we drove past, and told the sailors that if they bought her back some trees, she would cook them some food Most of the trees are from Australia since Australia and America have fairly the same climate. A lot of the trees are gum trees and pine trees. The wood from gum trees was going to be used to build a railway line, but when the railway spikes were driven into them, the wood split way too easily.

San Diego's centralised airport

We arrived at the Zoo sometime between 10-11am, and were told to be back at the bus at around 2.30pm. We were given our admission tickets as we got off the bus, so all we had to do was walk straight up to the turnstiles instead of waiting in line for ages to purchase tickets. The line at the turnstiles we went through was only short, so we got in fairly quickly, picking up a map along the way.

Looking at the map once inside the entrance, the Zoo seemed so large, that we simply didn't know where to start! We went from looking at the large area we had to cover in such a short time, to the types of animals they had, and which ones we wanted to see the most. Big cats followed by elephants, are always on the top of my list of must sees, but on this occasion, we decided to visit the pandas first, as Nest has never seen one in the flesh before, and my only previous sighting was when I was in primary school many moons ago. While we were deciding this, we kept on hearing a really weird noise coming from the bush land behind us. Eventually the noise got too much to ignore, that we turned around to investigate, hoping that one of the zombies hadn't followed us all the way from the Halloween Horror Nights . After a while of staring at nothing but trees, we eventually detected the source of the sound - a squirrel eating nuts!

Continuing on our way to the pandas, we passed a variety of bears (the awesome grizzly bear (which always reminds us of Johnny), brown bear, sun bear, and Manchurian bear), a group of warthogs (hakuna matata!), and a red panda with the thickest fluffiest tail I've ever seen!

Just as we were about to enter Panda Canyon, we spotted a tiny little hummingbird darting high up among the flowers at the entrance. Nest tried so hard to get a photo, but it was too quick and eventually flew away. Despite not getting the shot he was after, Nest was very excited on having seen the hummingbird, saying how awesome it was, and how the creature was so small, that all you could really see of it was its body, as its little wings were just a blur because of how fast they were flapping. We got side-tracked in trying to find where it had flown off to, but were unsuccessful. It became a new goal of Nest's that holiday, to successfully photograph a hummingbird.

Back in Panda Canyon, we saw two pandas. Nest thought it was cool how they were just being lazy and blobbing in the one place (one was sleeping on the ground, and another was sleeping up on a highly placed log, with his paws dangling down), but I was wishing they were just a little more active, so we could see them better. We had been planning to come back later in the day to see if they were up and about then, but ran out of time.

After seeing the pandas, Nest was starting to get super hungry since we hadn't had time for breakfast that morning , so we went to the nearest eatery, which turned out to be the Hua Mei Cafe, which specialised in Pan-Asian cuisine.

Nest opted for a teriyaki chicken sandwich consisting of a chicken boosie, teriyaki sauce, grilled pineapple, lettuce and tomato on a toasted sourdough bun with fries on the side.

I got beef Pad Thai Lo-Mein Style which consisted of lo mein noodles tossed in a zesty peanut sauce topped with bean sprouts, cucumber slices, shredded carrots, scallions, peanuts and crispy wontons.

Both our meals were delicious, and we washed them down with bottles of iced water. While Nest was waiting for me to finish mine, a lady stopped by and asked him how to use her camera, as it was just new, she hadn't had time to practice with it, and it was similar to the one she saw Nest with.

Full up from lunch, we then set off to trek the Big Cat Trail, which I was massively excited about, as I love cats so much. We saw:

· An Amur leopard: He was very cute in that all you could see of him, was him resting his head on his paws from atop a rocky wall in his enclosure. His plaque said that his kind were critically endangered in the wild.
· Cougars: These guys were very active and constantly on the move.
· A black leopard: Even though we weren't all that close to this guy, you could still tell that he was a giant from where we were standing. In one of Nest's shots, the leopard looks massively grumpy :0
· Snow leopards: Even from afar, the coats on these cats looked wonderfully thick and beautiful. They were busy having breakfast when we stopped by for a look.

Other big cats (of varying sizes) we saw throughout the day as we walked around the zoo, were some beautiful big relaxed looking lynx, and a zooming fishing cat who was moving so fast, all my photos of him turned out to be blurry spots. Thankfully, Nest had more luck We had to walk to the top of a very steep hill in amongst crowds of people, to see the fishing cat, but it was worth it. His little plaque said that fishing cats, which are native to Asia, are endangered in the wild due to habitat loss.

Next stop after having seen the big cats, was going to see the elephants. Leaving the Big Cat Trail led into the Africa Rocks section of the zoo, which in turn, led us to the Elephant Odyssey section. The elephants were wonderfully large and absolutely beautiful.

Also nearby, were donkies (I have a soft spot for donkies), a super scary big hairy spider ...

...delicate looking southern gerenuk (they were healthy, its just that their limbs and neck looked so delicate, it made me understand even more how they don't have a chance against big cats in the wild), little Speke's gazelle...

...huge capybaras (the largest rodents in the world. I thought it was funny how one was sitting right in the middle of a food tray)...

The capy's at the back ... thank goodness pesky house rats/mice don't grow that big!!

...some little Aussie Parma Wallabies...

...and these amazing birds I hadn't heard of before, called secretary birds. They were very tall with long legs, and ran back and forth in their enclosure, with their wings held open - I had never seen anything like it before! They are natives of Africa, and their name means hunter bird (I thought it was funny how their plaque started off by saying, ''They don't take messages'' ) They hunt on foot for other birds, large insects, small mammals, and snakes.

The main attraction for us in the Northern Frontier section of the zoo, were the polar bears. They were absolutely massive, but had taken a leaf out of the pandas' book, and were having a rest when we popped by for a visit. The fur of the polar bear nearest to us, was all wet, so we must've just missed him having a swim to escape the heat of the day, before he decided to settle down for a rest.

Feeling hot ourselves, we stopped at a nearby refreshment stand afterwards, where Nest got a chocolate coated vanilla ice cream, and I got a frozen lemonade cup. We walked down a hill (a welcome change from seemingly always walking up them ), viewing zebra (I didn't realise they were endangered in the wild), flamingos, and pretty flowers along the way.

Time was getting on by this stage, and we both really wanted to get to the Hummingbird Aviary before it was time to catch the bus back to the Wonder, so we headed towards the front of the zoo to locate it in amongst the crowds. Excited to have located it, we went inside, and to our dismay, there was no hummingbirds Nest didn't think it should have been called the Hummingbird Aviary if there were no hummingbirds in it Having said that, there were still lots of nice birds in there, such as the plate-billed mountain-toucan, and the eastern blue-necked tanager. There was also a little display of hummingbird nests, one of which included a little egg. It was so small, it was about the same size as a small jellybean.

After surrounding ourselves with nature for most of the day, it was now time for a bit of retail therapy. We went to the San Diego Zoo Store near the exit, and after looking around for a while, all we came out with were some beautiful wildlife postcards for my collection. All this looking around made us hungry, so we went to the San Diego Zoo Sandwich Company for a very late lunch.

We both had a wheat bun with turkey, Jack cheese, and avocado, with bottled water. We chose potato salad for our side, and we also unexpectedly received half a huge pickle each?!

For an emergency snack on the bus trip back to the Wonder, we picked up a packet of popped (''never fried, never baked'') sea salt and vinegar potato crisps.

We had a little time left after lunch before having to go back to the bus, so I suggested we go on the skyfari aerial tram. We headed on over, but on seeing the queue, decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to join it, as by the time it would've become our turn, it would've been time to go and catch the bus.

And on that note, we decided it would be safest just to go out and wait for the bus so we wouldn't miss it. We waited for about ten minutes, and then it turned up. We got on the bus and was relieved that the air conditioning was put on for us. We had to wait a bit for everyone to get back on the bus, but that was ok, as we were quite tired by this stage. I was so surprised when the drive back to the Wonder only took fifteen minutes, after it took us over an hour to get there!

A return visit to San Diego Zoo is definitely on the cards, seeing as we didn't get to see everything during this visit. Next time, we plan to visit on our own, so we can arrive at opening, and leave on closing, hopefully enabling us to see and do everything on offer. We'd also love to visit the nearby San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

As soon as we were dropped off at the Wonder, we returned to our stateroom, where I crashed on the sofa and slept for the next two hours , and Nest layed on his bed watching tele. Luckily, I woke up in time to get ready for that night's Pirate Night celebration. Popping out onto the balcony for some fresh air, the ship next to us was leaving, and people were waving back and forth. Later on, a party boat went by, and I could hear songs from the 80s, such as Material Girl by Madonna, and Walk Like An Egyptian by The Bangles. After that, it was out of earshot, but it sounded as if everyone on board were having a great time.

As soon as I knew Nest and I would be going on this cruise, and that it involved a Pirate Night, I excitedly got my pirate costume ready. My outfit consisted of a white gypsy blouse, a black vest, a maroon crushed long velvet skirt, and a black and white striped headscarf which went with the wrap-around bit to my skirt. I accessorised it with a snake ring, a dangly lucky-charm bracelet, and an oversized red glass heart necklace. Nest played it safe and wore an eyepatch

Our pirate themed dinner was held in Tritons. Two of our table mates were dining at Palo that night, so there was only six of us at our table. Our table cloth was bright yellow, and our main server had kindly made us origami Wall-E's each out of matching bright yellow paper.

Also waiting for us in our place settings, were maroon coloured Pirates of the Caribbean headscarves with pirate Mickeys all over them. The menus were beautiful too - golden coloured with a burnt effect around the edges. Pirate Mickey was up the top, with Pirate Minnie in the bottom left-hand corner, and Pirate Goofy in the bottom right-hand corner. While deciding on what to have for dinner, we ate Johnny cake with pigeon pea relish, which was quite delicious.

Nest had:

· Drink: Diet Coke
· Appetiser: Chicken salad - bed of lettuce with dressing, plantain chips, grilled spice-rubbed chicken
· Main: Castaway Chicken Breast - rubbed with Pirate Island Spice, rice and beans, and fried okra on rich spiced glaze
· Dessert: Fruit Cobbler with vanilla ice cream

I had:

· Cocktail: Pirate's Nest - sparkling sweet wine, Malibu rum, and apple pucker (came with two cherries in the bottom of the glass)
· Appetiser: Pearls of the Caribbean - crabmeat, shrimp, and salmon mixed in pearls of couscous with a lemon grass infused vinaigrette (I have to say that this was the most delicious appetiser I've ever had! I'm glad I was brave and tried something new - it most certainly paid off! )
· Main: Jack Sparrows BBQ marinated beef short ribs - rubbed beef short ribs with tamarind-barbecue sauce served with onion red bliss mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes - mmmmmmmmmm!) and plantain chip (Such a deliciously awesome main dish! )
· Dessert: Sweet temptations - a trio of fruit cobbler, floating island (crisp meringue, vanilla anglaise and marinated fruits), and chocolate cake (I'm glad they have these little taster plates, as it makes it so much easier for people like me, who have trouble choosing just one thing )

As it was Pirate Night, I celebrated and followed up my feast with a shot of sambuca - aaaarrrrrr!

In-between mains and dessert, there was a pirate dance where cast members got everyone in the entire huge restaurant, up and dancing around the room (everyone, that is, except for Nest - he's very reserved If you want to see him dance, it would cost you dearly, and there would probably be a strict no photography/videoing policy enforced ) To get back to our tables, you had to do the limbo. One of the ladies in front of me, bent over forwards instead of backwards. I followed suit, thinking it a very good idea, as if I went splat on the floor, I would've needed help getting up due to my current level of fitness not to mention the stupidly uncomfortable shoes I was wearing.

After dinner, we briefly returned to our stateroom so I could get changed into more comfortable clothes (I kept my pirate headscarf and accessories on though), before going up to deck ten to the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party. I was very surprised to find we had left port long ago, and that we were surrounded by inky blackness. Before we had left Triton's, Nest had asked Charlie, our dinner server, which directions the fireworks were going to come from, so that he could set his camera and tripod up in the best position to capture the show.

View from setting up tripod

When we arrived on deck, the song, Safety Dance by Men Without Hats was playing, and Captain Hook was on stage, shouting, ''We'll be safety dancing for all eternity!'', to which Smee said, ''I don't see many people doing it!'' I don't think many people were safety dancing, because even though there wasn't yet a spotlight on him, people could see Mickey Mouse harnessed up on a fly wire way up high in the darkness, getting ready for his big appearance.

Once Safety Dance had come to an end, Captain Hook exclaimed, pointing, ''There's Mickey Mouse!'' A spotlight revealed Mickey to thunderous applause, and he flew across the ship to the opening bars of I'm Holding Out For A Hero by Bonnie Tyler, saying, ''I promised you a party, so here's a party in the sky!'' And with that, fireworks began erupting one after the other, illuminating the once still night sky, as the Bonnie Tyler song played out in full. There were gold and silver starbursts, multi-coloured starbursts ending in gold and silver twinkles, red starbursts ending in green twinkles, finishing off with loads of different coloured starbursts all going off at once - it was fantastic - certainly a sight to behold!

Everyone was clapping and cheering in response to the fireworks, but that still didn't stop a cast member from saying afterwards, ''Disney Wonder make some noise!'' Then as the lights around the deck began flashing, Mickey Mouse, now down on stage, said, ''Keep on dancing!'', to which Captain Hook asked, ''Why?'', and Mickey replied, ''Because we can can can!'' And with that, a dance version of Because We Can Can Can by Fatboy Slim came on. Joining Mickey, Captain Hook and Smee on stage, were Minnie, Goofy, and Chip 'n Dale. They all began dancing, and encouraged everyone to join in. All too soon, the characters left, with Minnie's parting words being, ''Remember we all love you!'' Cast members took over the party hosting from there, getting the crowds to copy their dance moves, then freestyle, to the song, DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again by Usher.

Despite recently having had a big dinner, Nest and I went to Beach Blanket Buffet after the dance party, to partake in the Pirate Night buffet. It was so crowded in there! I wanted to stop and take photos of everything, but I was conscious about holding the line up, so made do with a few shonky shots, before getting down to the business of food. As we entered Beach Blanket Buffet, the place where the cast members give out your trays and plates, featured a large skull wearing earrings and a bandana, next to a canon.

In amongst the troughs of food, were impressive food sculptures, such as a mouse's head (not Mickey's) expertly carved out of a whole watermelon, with an apple for a nose, and carrots and cherries for eyes. Further on down, was a pineapple in bloom with flowers made from oranges and carrots. The last food sculpture I took a photo of, were these huge pink flowers carved from watermelon. What a fun job that must've been for someone!

As for food on offer, there was: a massive selection of freshly cut fruit (rockmelon, honeydew melon, watermelon, pineapple, garnished with bunches of grapes), all neatly arranged in rows; an assortment of rice dishes; trays of turkey legs; salads; and a variety of desserts. As I wasn't feeling all that hungry, I made do with a few pieces of watermelon and honeydew melon, a tiny pink cake topped with whipped cream and a chocolate squiggle, and the piece de resistance, a turkey leg (I so love turkey legs! )

When we got back to our stateroom with our food, there was a towel dinosaur and two gold covered chocolate coins featuring a treasure chest, waiting for us.

Unfortunately, I cannot recall what sort of food Nest got, but I do remember that he went back for seconds He remembers that when he got back to our stateroom with his seconds, that I still hadn't made much of a dent in my turkey leg (I could've done with a second stomach that evening! ) We certainly didn't go to bed on empty stomachs that night!!

Next entry: Ensenada, Mexico

[chezp]

What a great day - you're bringing back great memories of our visit to San Diego Zoo. I remember arriving and thinking "where do we start?" as there's just so much to see.

[lauriep]

As always, you really know how to get the most out of a day in port! Fabulous animal photos, especially all the beautiful big cats.

[pamcarey]

Great photos from the San Diego Zoo!

[clio]

Great updates. I've finally gotten caught up again. My internet was down for a while and I really missed a lot. The zoo pictures are wonderful. I love the pictures of the big cats. We really like going to the zooes around here. Pirates night sounds like fun. I can't wait to read more.
Liz

[Dlandmom2]

Another great update! When you said you saw the most haunted house in San Diego, I knew exactly what you were talking about! I'm fascinated by ghost stories but also super scared of them, if that makes sense! I had watched several shows that had mentioned the Whaley Houe but had never seen it. About two years ago, I was in San Diego for one of my daughter's skating competitions, and we stayed in a hotel in Old Town San Diego. We walked a few blocks from our hotel and then saw a sign that said Whaley House in front of that building...I tell you, I had chills! I was too scared to walk on the sidewalk in front of the house, so I made sure to stay on the opposite side of the street!

San Diego Zoo is really great! You definitely need to go back because 3 hours isn't nearly enough time to enjoy it!

Love your pirate costume! Even Nest got into the spirit with his eye patch! Looking forward to reading about what's next!

[lauriep]

A very packed-full day in San Diego. Love all the fun facts. I never thought about making the blocks shorter so you'd have more corners!

[shazza]

Great photos from the zoo - and of the Fireworks on Pirate Night. Really enjoying your report.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

What a great day - you're bringing back great memories of our visit to San Diego Zoo. I remember arriving and thinking "where do we start?" as there's just so much to see.

Thank you Next time we're at San Diego Zoo, I'm hoping we have the whole day at our disposal (as well as a 'spare' day to fall back on, in case Nest gets distracted in trying to photograph a hummingbird again )

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by lauriep

As always, you really know how to get the most out of a day in port! Fabulous animal photos, especially all the beautiful big cats.

Originally Posted by lauriep

A very packed-full day in San Diego. Love all the fun facts. I never thought about making the blocks shorter so you'd have more corners!

Thank you I felt guilty zonking out once we got back to the Wonder after our Zoo excursion - we had been planning to go to the nearby Corvette Diner for an exciting meal. Yet another thing to add to our list for next time. I'll pass your photo compliments onto Nest, which will make him happy

As for the smaller city blocks so that they'd be more expensive corners to rent out, I would never have thought of that either!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Great photos from the San Diego Zoo!

Thank you! I'll let Nest know

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by clio

Great updates. I've finally gotten caught up again. My internet was down for a while and I really missed a lot. The zoo pictures are wonderful. I love the pictures of the big cats. We really like going to the zooes around here. Pirates night sounds like fun. I can't wait to read more.
Liz

I can imagine how frustrating your internet going down must've been. With most things being electronic these days, there's not much you can do when the internet decides it has had enough for a while. It happens on the odd occasion here at work, forcing us to do 'old-fashioned' tasks such as updating the odd rare paper manual!

Glad you loved the pictures of the big cats. Nest knows how much I love cats, so he takes extra care when it comes to photographing them. Once he took a series of photos of all kinds of cats' noses as a surprise, as he knows I think they're super cute

Pirate Night is what you make it, and we had a lot of fun joining in with the celebrations, feasting, and dressing up

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by shazza

Great photos from the zoo - and of the Fireworks on Pirate Night. Really enjoying your report.

Thank you very much Will let Nest know too

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Another great update! When you said you saw the most haunted house in San Diego, I knew exactly what you were talking about! I'm fascinated by ghost stories but also super scared of them, if that makes sense! I had watched several shows that had mentioned the Whaley Houe but had never seen it. About two years ago, I was in San Diego for one of my daughter's skating competitions, and we stayed in a hotel in Old Town San Diego. We walked a few blocks from our hotel and then saw a sign that said Whaley House in front of that building...I tell you, I had chills! I was too scared to walk on the sidewalk in front of the house, so I made sure to stay on the opposite side of the street!

San Diego Zoo is really great! You definitely need to go back because 3 hours isn't nearly enough time to enjoy it!

Love your pirate costume! Even Nest got into the spirit with his eye patch! Looking forward to reading about what's next!

loads!

I looked up Whaley House after reading your comments, as we weren't given any detailed information on it during our tour. I found it very interesting how the spot was used for so many different functions (court house, theatre, etc.), and therefore had such a rich history. I love learning the folklore of places I travel to. Just last night I was reading a ghost story, and then when I was getting ready for work this morning at 6am while it was still dark outside, I thought I heard someone knocking at the front door. Thinking it was one of my bros (he leaves for work at 5.30am - I thought he had forgotten something), I rushed to answer it, only to find it was actually something up in the ceiling making one almighty racket , which immediately made me think of the ghost story I had read the previous night, as thats how it started out! Sounds in the ceiling always freak me out, as I always worry about what's making them, and if they'll find their way through the airvents and get me (I shouldn't watch so many horror movies!) So in short, I totally understand why you changed to the opposite side of the street when walking by Whaley House!

Yes, San Diego is definitely on our list of places to re-visit I'm currently planning a big trip for my 40th in three years time (but a big part of me (pardon the pun ) is busting to fit in a sneaky trip to WDW this Christmas as a treat for me and a massive surprise for Nest (last year's trip was meant to be a surprise, but I could only keep it to myself for around three hours ), but I don't think I can quite manage it financially )

Thanks for the compliment in regards to my pirate costume (and Nest's eye patch! ) I didn't include a full length shot of my costume, as it wasn't very flattering It was my second choice costume, as the first one I ordered, didn't fit. I was so gutted, that I tried forcing myself into it, but immediately stopped on hearing the stitches splitting Maybe it could fit in time for our next cruise (I'm trying to watch what I eat, and I **think** about exercise often - surely the panic it brings to mind, eliminates some of the calories from my problem areas )

I hope to post my next entry next week, as I've gone a bit over my allocated lunch break today, and I don't have the internet at home