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6/24/23

London 🇬🇧 🎡💂🏼‍♂️

Hey everyone! Yesterday I shared with you guys what I did while I was in Paris, but today I'll be talking about London! 

• Especially if you're not from Europe, I recommend merging Paris and London into one trip since you can commute between the two easily using the Eurostar! 

• In London, one of the things I enjoyed was taking the underground everywhere, as I feel like it's a whole experience in itself! Doing things like reading the daily newspaper, and exploring the designs of the various station are some of the great benefits you get from taking the underground! 

• If you want to go shopping, definitely go check out Oxford Street! It's a long street full of many different types of stores!

• I don't' know if they have this everywhere, but in Knightsbridge (where I was staying) you can find rental bikes! Throughout Hyde Park, they have special bike lanes, which make for a very scenic and fun ride! 

• In London, the major museums are free to see most of their artwork, except for a few special exhibitions! On this trip I visited The British Museum, where they had special collections of artwork from all over the world! The thing I loved about this museum was that you could go just to admire the artwork, or learn a lot about the history of everything! The museum also provides free guided tours for the big sections, so if you're specially interested in something definitely take one of those!

• The Shard, which is now the tallest building in London, is one of the great places to go to! You can either go to a restaurant of just buy a ticket to go to the top, and I went to a restaurant called the Aqua Shard, which has a really good tea time menu and view of the London Bridge! 

• Another one of the great places to check out if Piccadilly Circus/Leicester Square! There are many great street shows to see and stores like M&M world to check out! 

• Even though it's London, there is a lot of great Indian food - it's praticaly part of the culture! While in London definitely check out an Indian restaurant! The ones I went to were Dishoom, and Papa-Dum which were both amazing! 

London is definitely one of the top picks of places to go, and with so many great things to discover I definitely recommend taking a visit if you can! 

6/23/23

Paris 🥖🇫🇷🥐 

Bonjour! I recently got back from a trip to Paris, and I wanted to share about it with you guys! Here are some cool things I did that I would definitely recommend for you guys to do!

• I flew in to London first, before taking the underground to Kings Cross St. Pancras and taking the Eurostar to Paris. The scenery during the ride is so beautiful and a part of France you wouldn't get to see otherwise! 

• One of the first things I did when I got to Paris is see the Arc de Triomphe, which is something that I felt is so much more different in person than in photos

• On the same street as the Arc de Triomphe (Champs-Élysées), I went to Pomme de Pain which had the most delicious and fresh crêpes! 

• On the second day, I went on 1 hour cruise along the River Seine! I had so much fun doing this as there is so much beautiful architecture to see and I got to learn the history behind all of it. I would definitely recommend taking this cruise especially if it's your first time to Paris and want to see a bit of everything! On top of all that, the best photos I got of the Eiffel Tower were on the boat!

• Right next to the River Seine is the Eiffel Tower, and that's where I went after the cruise. I wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower but they had gone up to capacity of going to the very top and the wait to just buy the ticket was 2 hours, so I would definitely recommend to book very advance if you would like to go up the Eiffel Tower!

• While going anywhere in Paris I definitely suggest walking! Even if the walking time is over 30 minutes, you won't even notice how long it's been since there are so many sites to see and you'll never know what you'll find! 

• I'm sure everyone knows that Paris is known for all their wonderful retail stores, and one thing I did and recommend others to do is to visit different flagship stores for many brands! Their displays are so beautiful and the interiors are always decorated so nicely! 

• There are restaurants on practically every street, but I suggest going to a restaurant on Champs-Élysées because most of them have lovely outdoor seating! 

• While in Paris, definitely get dessert since they made it really well everywhere whether it's french toast with ice cream or crêpes!

• Going to the Louvre museum is another thing that is very popular to do in Paris and is worth it! There are so many exhibits to see, so I definitely recommend booking in advance to get tickets earlier in the morning. People tend to stick to the exhibits around the Mona Lisa after seeing it, but I recommend going to the other parts of the museum too where you find things like the history of the Louvre and the rooms french royals used to stay in. 

• Along with crêpes, a lot of restaurants make really good waffles! Although they will be very sugary, they are so delicious! I also recommend trying their baguettes, since they are not something you often find in the US!

• One thing that I was surprised to find out in Paris was that their McDonald's is very different! On top of the regular stuff, they have special burgers and extra desserts including things like macaroons!

• Paris is an outstanding city with so much to see and do, and I would definitely want to visit again in the future! 

4/2/23

New Zealand 🇳🇿 

Kia ora everyone! The phrase 'kia ora' is the Māori (the indigenous people of NZ) way of greeting people, which many Kiwis use. After my trip to Australia, I visited the amazing country of New Zealand! I went to 5 cities: Auckland, Queenstown, Wānaka, Christchurch, and Rotorua. Here is some info about each city!

Auckland:

Since this is the capital, there isn't much nature to see here but you'll find many great restaurants and shops to go to. There is a lot of east asian food around the whole country, and Auckland had amazing food! 

Queenstown: 

Queenstown is the place of the famous Milford Sound where part of Lord of the Rings was shot! I definitely recommend taking a boat through the sound! Definitely come prepared with a poncho though, since half the year it rains and I got completely soaked. If you can I would also try to book a helicopter over the sound. I wasn't able to do it as it was raining the only day we had in Queenstown but I've heard many great things about it! 

A must if you go to Queenstown is going to Ferg Burger, those burgers might have been the best I've had in my life! If there's a long line, the service is really quick so don't be afraid to wait in it!

Wānaka/Mount Cook:

I only went to Wānaka for a few hours as I stopped there driving from Queenstown to Christchurch. There are many great shops to visit and beautiful lake views! After Wānaka I stopped at the top of Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand! Even though summer had just ended, you could already see snow on the mountain tops. While I was near Mount Cook, I passed Lake Pukaki, which is a really beautiful light blue lake. If you are near it, I recommend visiting it to see it's beauty with your own eyes!

Christchurch: 

Christchurch is a city with many sites to see! There are many beautiful art museums and galleries to look at, and there's even a lot of cricket matches if you're into sports. While I was in Christchurch I went to try some authentic Kiwi food, which includes various kinds of meat! I tried some local deer, which is not really my kind of food but if you're into that type of stuff it's available all over New Zealand! 

Rotorua:

Rotorua was definitely my favorite city out of all of the ones I visited. Before reaching Rotorua (we drove there), we stopped at an amazing Thai restaurant in Hamilton called Chim Thai! To this day I can't believe how flavorful the curries were (even coming from an Indian)! In Rotorua I went zip lining through the forest canopies (Rotorua Canopy Tours), and got to experience Māori culture! While zip lining, I also got to learn about local wildlife, and experience the kindness of the people in New Zealand. At the Māori dinner you get to learn new words from their language, experience their traditions, and taste their amazing food. There is so much more to do in Rotorua but I only had one day there!

Overall New Zealand is a great country that I would love to visit again. If I had to give you one tip though, be really prepared for rain as I wasn't and ended up catching a cold there. 

3/26/23

Australia 🇦🇺 🐨 

G'day mates! I recently went on a week-long trip to Australia so I thought I would share it with you guys! During my visit I went to 3 cities: Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne. 

Sydney: 

Sydney is an awesome city I definitely recommend visiting! Here are some recommendations of what to do!

• Watch something at the opera house (I got to watch the Kronos Quartet on there last night!)

• Take a boat touring the Sydney Harbour - there is a lot of nature, houses, and more to see 

• Go see koalas and other Australian species - I went to the Sydney Koala Park and loved it!

• Go to Bondi beach - since I didn't have much time I just drove by and enjoyed the views!

• Go shopping/eat downtown - there were so many great shops 

Canberra: 

I stopped in Canberra for a night as a stop while driving from Sydney to Melbourne, and it definitely has less tourist attractions, although they have many great restaurants (you can see a picture from the greek restaurant I went to above)! I didn't really get to do much there, but walking the streets was fun!

Melbourne: 

Melbourne, like Sydney, is another great city to visit! Here are my recommendations for Melbourne:

• Go shopping at Queen Victoria Market - there are so many great shops that sell things authentic to Australia! It's great for souvenirs.

• Visit Philip Island - this was one of my favorite parts of my entire trip! At Philip Island you get to watch the famous penguin parade, along with other things near it like seeing koalas, learning about Antartica, seeing barn animals, and getting to look for all the cute wildlife (like wallabies) on the roads!

• Visit Albert park - it's like the Central park of Melbourne! 

• Eat at the restaurant "Pink." - for pink lovers like me, it's like heaven on earth. Everything from the decor to the napkins were pink! 

• Go see a sports game, if the season is right! I wasn't able to watch a game, but in Melbourne it's great to watch either cricket, rugby, Aussie rules, or tennis!

Overall, Australia is definitely a country worth visiting - from its wildlife to culture it's definitely outstanding! 

1/30/23

Photograph Quote 📸 

Hey everyone! Today I wanted to share with you guys this quote about photography. I like how it shows how photography can just capture really special moments that people will cherish forever, and how rich a photograph can become. 

I recently got interested in photography and capturing moments and making them look like real life with the right editing and angles. I wanted to share my photos for you guys to see! I will be adding a new section on this website with some photos of travel, food, and much more (all taken on my phone)! 

1/2/23 

Colombia 🇨🇴 

Hi Everyone! I know it's been a while since I've made a blog post, but I wanted to tell you about my trip to Colombia! I went to 3 different cities: Bogotá, Cartagena, and Medellín. They were all amazing cities in their own ways! 

Bogotá has chillier weather as it's up in the mountains. There was a really cool revolving restaurant I went to there that had amazing views! 

Cartagena (photos 1, 2, 5, 6, & 8) is the most touristy city and the most hot since it has beaches and is sea level. While I was there I went on a boat tour and got to see various islands, including a party island! 

Medellín (photos 3 & 4) is my personal favorite, as the weather is perfect and there is a lot of cool history. While I was there I went on a tour of the city and got to see beautiful murals (photo 7) alongside streetshops. I also went on a Pablo Escobar tour which was very interesting as well as told me the truths about Pablo (since the shows about him contain many false facts  as the tour guide told me). Medellín also has amazing lights for the holidays that has a new theme for every year. While I was there they were all Encanto (the movie) themed since Encanto actually took place in Colombia! 

Colombian people are so friendly, making conversations with us, and trying their best to communicate with me with my broken Spanish. Colombia is an amazing country that I would definitely recommend traveling to!

12/29/21

Visit to Universal Studios Hollywood

Welcome back everyone! Today I visited Universal Studios. It was a really fun experience especially if you love roller coasters. Like the last two posts, I will be posting some recommendations for Universal Studios. 

• Like SeaWorld, download the app. It is really helpful because you can get directions to every ride, see which ones are in the area, and see all the wait times right on your phone.

• Try to come as early as possible, even if you come 30 minutes before opening it takes a while to get parking (this is in winter break so that might be why)

• When you come you should first go to Harry Potter world, the Simpsons ride, and the studio tour. I didn't go to the last two early so I had to wait in a really long line.

• I recommend getting a donut from Lard Lad Donuts, in the Simpsons area (you will see a lot of people walking around with a big brown or pink donut from Lard Lad Donuts)

• Remember which area your car is in. It will be called a character from Universal (I was in the ET parking lot as an example)

• Definitely take some time from rides and watch the shows. One of the shows (Water world by some guy named Kevin Costner) has some stunt actors from movies who fall in the water from really high, and has a bunch of things blow up from fire. The other one shows animal actors performing, like one of the Dalmatians from Cruella, and an owl from Harry Potter.

12/27/21

Visit to SeaWorld

Welcome back everyone! As I said in my last post I am currently in California and I will be visiting the zoo and SeaWorld. Today I visited SeaWorld so here are my recommendations:

• There is no paper map (at least when I went) so be sure to download the app (which is called SeaWorld and has a blue arrow as its logo). The app includes all the animals you can see, all the experiences (like feeding seals), all the rides, the shows/their timings, and directions from the point you are standing to the location of the entertainment you want to see!

• Watch the shows! Orcas, Dolphins, Seals and the special Christmas show..  They are very cool to watch and have very good synchronization and are always right on cue with the trainer

• Like in the zoo you should come really early (like 30 minutes) if you want a good seat in the soak zone (which is a place where you will get wet from the animal shows). If you come even 10 minutes before then you will struggle to find a seat (that happened to us a couple of times). For most of the shows there is entertainment without the animals as you wait for the show to begin.

12/26/21

Visit to San Diego Zoo

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! I am currently in San Diego and visited the zoo. I wanted to share some of my recommendations to you guys for when you visit. In the next couple of days I will also be going to the SeaWorld so come back to see more about that.

Recommendations:

• Definitely go on the bus tour it is 35 minutes long and covers about 70% of the park

• There is a kangaroo bus which is kind of like a hop on, hop off bus (it is a way of transportation you can use so you don't have to do as much walking)

• Visit the stores in the area of your favorite animal (since I like koalas I went to the store in the Outback which is the Australia area)

• Watch the shows that are featured on the map that you get as you walk in. I strongly recommend  watching the Aurora show if you visit during the holidays (to get a seat be sure to go early since the seats get packed really quickly)

• Try to visit at least a little bit of each area so you get a wide variety of different animals!

• Make sure to visit your favorite animals earlier in the day when there is sunlight so that the animals will be awake (unless its a koala) and you can properly see them!

11/25/21

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 🍽 🇺🇸 

Hello Everyone! I hope you guys are having a great thanksgiving (if you celebrate).

For thanksgiving, I wanted to share a special quote with you guys, "The simple act of practicing gratitude, consistently, is your invitation to a new life. Accepting the invitation is now up to you." - Josie Robinson.

I wanted to share this with you guys so that it inspires you to give back and have gratitude!

If you would like something to do to celebrate today, watch my video on how to make a caramel apple turkey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsTK_tzEf8w

11/8/21

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone! I will be starting a blog where I will be posting when videos come out, travel/food recommendations, quotes I think you guys will like, and just updates on things in general. I will be posting here once a month although I will try to do more if possible.

To start off the blog I would like to share a quote that I really like: “What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.”

I really like this quote because it is telling you not to waste time on things that aren't important but make sure that everything you do is beneficial to you and makes you happy.