Traveling Overseas

You wouldn't think I would be the person to do this- but for years I have had the desire to travel overseas someday. Lately I have been having dreams where I touch down in another country and I explore. I woke up this morning remembering that I was in Germany and I was enjoying all of the sights.

Thus I am a tourist, but I want to be much more than a tourist. I would like to be a "foreign visitor" to avoid the bad rap regarding tourists. This isn't just in Germany- but wherever and whenever a tourist visits any new country. One thing I am afraid of is the same prejudices that are found here in the US: Locals don't like tourists. I may be an American citizen but I am definitely NOT fond of our government or some ways of life. Perhaps I should do a month or two dedicated to discovering Europe? Man is that gonna cost some doh. Pictures above that I found of Berlin, Germany. Credit goes to the creators.

Blog Hiatus- For Vacation

This is a pre-typed message letting you guys know that I will be gone potentially for a week. I will attempt to find Wifi in the area but cannot gurantee posting. At approximatly this time we are making our way down to the Ocean. Will let you guys know how it all turns out!

Ocean 2007 Vacation Gallery Up

I havn't made a post in a while: I have been busy! I finally was able to get home and get my vacation photos off of my main computer. I stuck them through InfranView to get them all internet friendly. There are about 271 image files, so enjoy. Hopefully I can visit Ocean City MD next year as well, but really I am looking for that trip to Japan...

F117-A Nighthawk Spotted

You're invisible to radar but not to my camera =D

I was driving down Route 222 this afternoon back to my dorm at Penn State Berks and I noticed something odd streaking across the sky. At first glance, by the shape of the nose I suspected it to be a F-117 Nighthawk. It flew around again, this time banking left to the point where I could see the underside of the aircraft. Diamond shaped fuselage, yup I got the immediate pleasure of watching a F-117 Nighthawk flying through the area. I was sad that I couldn't take pictures while driving so I pulled into the parking lot to call the house about it and to tell them I arrived safely.

I talked to my mom (dad was asleep watching Golf, as always) and told her about the plane and that I made it safely. I hung up the cell phone and an instant later I hear a loud roar through the sky. The bird is back again! She was flying around the Reading International Airport (I believe that is the name of the Reading Airport?) and this time I swore to take pictures. I pulled out my camera, hoping it would come by again and it sure did. I switched to landscape view and got two good photos and one excellent one, it was a shame I didnt get a clear photo of the aircraft's underbelly. Ahh well, how many times do you get to see a stealth aircraft flying around for no good reason! I suspected it needed gas because I could have sworn it's landing gears were down, then it flew away to the Northeast (I think, need to check that statistic) and probably got rerouted to a nearby airport or base. Kinda cool! I'm glad I got to see one.

OC Vacation 2007: Day 5

Did a bit of relaxing today and went over to my best friends house again. His brother was in and we all decided totrade WOW cards, and basically made the other person more equally Uber. Which reminds me, I need to make a poston the WOW TCG. I am running a Horde Paladin deck. In basic terms, paladins are the warriors of the light, my friend is running a hunter deck and his brother is running a warlock deck, basically warriors of the dark (anti paladin).


I got a few cards from their raid deck collection, in exchange for some of the cards they needed from my collection (I went and purchased a booster box). We had a couple of games and ended up playing Guilty Gear X on his Xbox and had some fun. I have played these types of street fighter/scrolling games before, and I caught on very early to how the game worked. I thought it was a lot of fun and very anime-esque. I went back to my hotel luckily in time to do a little kite flying, and I'll be coming back tomorrow with my best friend to hit all of the events going on for seniors in Ocean City.

OC Vacation 2007: Day 4

I woke up later today around noon. My sister and her friends went to the local waterpark and myself and my parents tooka trip to the boardwalk for some exercise. My dad wanted to check out the Ocean Gallery store, and I wanted to get out ofthe condo and feel that nice ocean breeze. What's nice about being down in Ocean City is that once you get down here, itis so much easier to breathe at sea level. In the Lehigh Valley PA, we are 3000 some feet above sea level. At Ocean City, we were at sea level, so I did get a temporary nose bleed due to elevation change. We visited Thrashers and I had some of the best french fries (THE BEST) in the world. I highly recommend that you stop near the entrance to the boardwalk, and you musttry Thrashers french fries. We walked down the boardwalk and spent maybe 45 minutes in the Ocean Gallery store.


Out of all the places I have been to here, this store actually impressed me. There is so much art that it is ridiculous, if impossiblenot to stop and admire the art. I made a comment about how it must have taken a lot of effort and time to get all theartwork on display. I really liked this one painting, and my dad decided to get it for me, which I appreciate a lot. It'sa photo of the ruins of a watch light tower beign hit by a huge wave. Really great detail, and I am definatly hanging it up in my room. I walked it all the way back to the old ford (SUV) and we loaded up and went back to the condo. My sisterand her friend met us back there and we had a small brunch. Sister is sleeping, her friend watching TV, both my parentsare taking a nap, and I am here on this laptop (without internet access typing up this post in notepad. This evening I amgoing to go out and try to get my kite up in the air and hopefully get some footage. I think I am gonna leave my dad thecamera so he can get video of me launching and flying, among other pictures. I bet if there is a nice sunset; its gonna looksso cool.

OC Vacation 2007: Day 3

Got the privilidge today of heading over to one of my best friend's house. We've been friends since 6th grade (so that makes it 6 years then!). I clearly remember the day when I met him; crystal clear. There was a really bad snow storm, andthe snow piled up to about 3 feet in most areas. We both got off the bus and all we could see was an endless view of white.He couldn't find his house, and I had no idea where it is. Turned out that I we were actually going in the wrong direction,but we did eventually find it. We flew him up to Pennsylvania for my graduation. I am so glad he was able to make it upfor the occasion, graduating was important to me and with my best friend watching, it made it that much better.


He was over at his girlfriends house, so we got directions there and eventually, I arrived. We had a lot of fun, looking at anime musicvideos and playing the WOW TCG. We talked a bit about college and stuff, and eventually we went down to my best friends house.I pulled out a suprise. Before we left on vacation, I went to Best Buy to browse around. While browsing the anime sectionI found a few awesome releases: Hellsing, Full Metal Panic Fumoffu! (which I picked up) then something that almost made meshout FUKAREZUNA!! (WTF?!?). I found the collector's edition, english release of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni.


No arguement,I picked it up and went to checkout. The quality obviously went up as Geneon did a fantastic job with the english dubbing.I had predicted they would rape the anime, but Geneon knows what they are doing. We watched the first 5 episodes and playeda little of his Xbox 36 (I am considering purchasing one). We played with his voice changer and a little more of the WOW TCG. He had to work the next day, so I got a ride back and fell asleep back at the condo. During my interesting day, my parents, my sister and her friend (herein "gang") visited Assateaque Island right outsideof Ocean City. I heard they had a good time, and got a suprise visit on the beach by wild horses! One got so close to mydad that he ripped the book out of my dads hands while he was reading it! (he got the book back). They got tons of amazingpictures, and I was sad that I couldn't get video footage for the family vacation video. Plenty for the slide show, but I really need more video.

OC Vacation 2007: Day 2

I havn't really done much today (June 17th) other than go out and relax around the condo. We were treated to a nice showoutside full of speedboats and helicopters. Before we got into town, we had lunch at a local Bob Evans restauraunt. I satagainst the window, and noticed someone was pulling a friggin huge purple boat, upon a closer look I figured out that it wasa speedboat. They must have held a race, because the track was set up like one. They had helicopters chasing the speedboats so I assumed they were filmers taking aerial shots of the boats. The coastguard was around looking for something, and at first I thought it was a part to a boat or something. But even as I type later in the evening, the coastguard chopper still is hovering around, obviously now looking for someone, dead or alive is a good question. (later edit- a 19 year old drowned at sea fighting a rip current.)


Seems someone either went overboard or got caught in a rip current and died of exhaustion. We went to Higgins crab house, although I am not a crab (or seafood for that matter) eater, I did have their mozzerella stick appetizer which I found to be really good. We finished up crabs and I got to take a peel inside the Kite Loft off on 7th Street.A lot of the kites impressed me, but honestly I am happy with my 10 foot Delta Kite. I really am considering an abstractflyer or stunt kite next year when I come down. I bought a tail for my 4.5 foot Delta, a 110 pound (80 pound too weak)line along with a matching (but different) 24 foot tube sock for my 10 foot Delta. I was talking with my father about howrecently, I was becoming more frugal and careful with my money. A lot of stuff in Ocean City gift shops really impressesme, but I realize it is stuff I will forget about or really don't need. I'm still looking to get an Aloha type shirt though.

OC Vacation 2007: Day 1

Finally at the Ocean on Vacation. I have been looking forward to this trip for quite some time now, since aroundFebruary. The condominium we rented out is pretty sweet: a 700 square foot condo conmplete with a washer/dryer, two full bathrooms, an oven, microwave, 24" screen TV, a DVD player, a fridge, toaster, blender, you get the picture. Entering our room, I couldn't help but notice the nice small ammenities adorning the room: figures and pictures ofthings collected around Ocean City, or in the theme of it. I walked out onto the patio and found that we had an Ocean-sideview from the second floor- the ocean was beautiful, and it was really easy to breathe in a sigh of relief as you couldbreathe in the salty air coming in from the ocean.


We drove around a bit and decided to walk at the beginning of the boardwalk when my sister and her friend went off anddid other stuff. I remember having a very delicious orange sherbert custard. We walked by a lot of stores and I reallydidn't find anything that interested me. We stopped by this one store and they had dragon sculptures, but I thought theywere to expensive for iron recasts. We walked about a fourth of the way down and decided to head home. We crossed theroute 5o bridge and saw a lot of seamen and fishermen attempting to get a nice catch. I remember my mom making a comment how the seagulls were standing on water when they were actually standing on a sandbar catching the fish that got too close.

Asateaque Island

Is an island right outside the DelMarVa area and is right outside of Ocean City, Md. The place is great and has its own natural beach. You can see horses running the beaches freely at night when the electric fences are turned off. Wild horses and ponies do live here, so driveby and you will probably see a few. Other life lives there too including deer and the such. Its a must see if you go down to Ocean City MD.

WARNING.
To help the Park Rangers Im putting this disclaimer in. Do NOT FEED or PET the wild horses. Don't get out of your car either. You not only get a citation and a fine, my dad got nipped in the back of the butt by a horse that had a sense of humor. It's better to keep the horses out of the road so they don't get hit by stupid tourists (us).

Dunes Manor Hotel: Ocean City

Im thinking about the beach in -18 degree weather heh ^_^


Last year I took a trip to Ocean City Md. We stayed at the Dunes Manor hotel, located (I think) on 35th street in Ocean City, Maryland. Ocean City is a big tourist destination for lots of people during the summer, and especially this summer- Senior Beach Week. If you are looking at going to the Dunes Manor for a stay, allow me to provide some input.


The hotel is Victorian, definatly. As you walk in the ceiling is high and there are two stairwells up to the next floor with a genuine Victorian piano and the main desk. We stayed on the 4th floor, but I have a thing where I love to be on the top floor of the building, as high as I can go to see the farthest I can. We stayed in a double room, I think it was a normal sized one it may have been a Queen. The room is victorian, but its more sandy/beachy in a way. Clear gloss/glass tables, a kitchen, TV and an old cable box (I LOVE the older cable boxes). The carpet is well kept and the rooms are very clean. I would recommend NOT sleeping on the cots they bring in; the cots are fine and I can sleep on them, but they are not the best things. If you're into the sort of detail, the maids are a mix of foreign/local, 50/50. There are local maids that can talk to you and give you good information.


There are only two elevators, but the time isnt bad. It can get kind of packed if you are sharing an elevator with a group moving in. The hallways are all exactly the same. If I were to go on the 3rd floor and see a soda/ice machine, one is directly above and below it in the near exact place. They are all very pretty, and there are mirrors and comfortable chairs by the elevator. I don't know if this is me, but hotels like this always smell nice and fresh. I don't know why, but its different and very comfortable.


You can literally walk off of the deck onto the beach. There are rocking chairs on the main deck and you can fall asleep very easily. There are signs posted not to feed the gulls though, so if one does drop a bomb on you complain about peeps upstairs feeding gulls. Nightly there will be someone playing the Victorian piano, usually a lady (I am not sure of her name). People do sing a long and have a good time, but this is for the older crowd. There is a small gift shop selling cameras, batteries, tylenol etc, and porcelin clowns. I HATE CLOWNS. If you go down past the bar torwards the pool, you will see that the walls have a lot of pictures of the hotel and Ocean City in the 1900s, the old old old days. Feel free to ask anyone who has been working here about the history of the hotel =).


Now the all important topic: the bathrooms. Bathrooms and maid service I think comes in twice a day to clean up and make the place nice and spiffy. The restroom for all guests is by the pool past the bar, and let me tell you the bathroom is the 2nd best bathroom I've ever been in (YES I count). Clean bathroom, plenty of soap, sinks are great, its like an actual outdoor shack type of bathroom. Ventilation is good and the toilet paper is quality, so don't worry about them going cheap on you. Again, great bathrooms.


They have a "gourmet" restaurant that has great prices and good food. I had breakfast lunch and dinner there over my 5 day stay. Their pancakes are pretty good, and their hashbrowns (home fries) ROCK. Bacon is delicious. One night for dinner I had Mozerella Sticks there and they were ok. There burgers are pretty good as well. I like it well done and the burger was indeed pretty good. Eatable of course and good but not the best I have ever had.


We have been here before when I was 4 or 5 so my family are frequent customers. The prices are pretty good I hear but GET THOSE RESERVATIONS IN BEFORE SENIOR BEACH WEEK. The entire point of this post was to warn of that. Once senior beach week hits, there goes reservation across the city. Have fun! Ill update this post with more information when I remember it =) The Dunes Manor hotel is a great place to stay.

Ocean City 2006

Ocean City, Maryland. If anything, Ocean City is not only known for its fabulous beaches (Rehobeth Beach is right down the road) but also for it's crab and ribs (JR's Ribs). I took of from work to spend some quality time with the family and relax a little. Ill go by and caption each frame as it was taken.

We got to the Ocean on July 5th; you can imagine that it was PACKED for the July 4th weekend. To illustrate my point, we took this picture when we got here. Seems everyone checked out (signed out) of the hotel that evening or the next morning (saw many people packing up to go home). That is how busy the beach was, at 2:00pm on July 5th. Not too many people, perfect kite flying weather, but I needed to get a kite!

We stayed at the Dunes Manor Hotel, a nice Victorian style hotel with its own hottub, pool (wow big whup) but also an amazing lobby, a huge chandolier, antiques, HUGE paintings, a piano, its own gift shop, and of course its own gym, bar and casual restaraunt. I love coming down to listen to the piano player in the evening; they play everything from folk onto classical (thank the heavenly maker there was no singing of Opera or such sort). The gift shop is cool, sells what you think it would: Postcards, keychains and what not, but as a Victorian Style hotel, they specialized in Jewelry (at affordable prices) and a lot of porcelin... The only thing I did not like about the hotel is that some of the dolls were not only porcelin, but clowns. More on this in the future, but clowns frighten me; they are the agents of the Devil. Discussion Ended. The food is pretty good there I must say, but it is nothing spectacular or amazing. I had a quick burger there for lunch and I would give it a B+. Tasty, edible, but nothing "OMG this is sooo good!" The picture is of the boardwalk from the 4th floor of the hotel. The Dunes Manor is located not even 150 feet from the boardwalk, a 3 mile long stretch of walkway where shops galore sell their wares. We call it the boardwalk because the walking surface is planked with boards. There you can find all kinds of shops, antiques, a picture gallery (Seinfeld fans, my dad bought a picture of Kramer for his office), home items and decor, T-shirts, beach necessities, tatoo parlors and what not. The one place we always stop at on the boardwalk? THRASHERS French Fries. The absoloute best french fries that have EVER had the PLEASURE of entering your mouth. They are so good I would go as far as ordering them shipped to my house kind of good. Not overcooked in grease, and at affordable prices, you know your paying for good stuff. 3/4 of a medium bucket is enough to fill me for the afternoon. Sometimes there are long lines; trust me it is worth waiting for.

There is a tram entrance/exit at the end of each side of the boardwalk so you can get to the end and back within about 10 minutes, instead of walking for an hour and a half or so (Hey, good exercise!). One thing I would like to point out though, is every year sand sculpturs come and sculpt beautiful art into the sand about 1/4 to half way down the boardwalk. They are usually done by Christian artists; and the art and attention to detail is absoloutly amazing. One was done of Jesus on the Cross and it read in sand: Thankyou Jesus. I felt guilty letting myself know I didn't put money in that water cooler jug. Probably the best art I have ever seen not on some form of paper.

My advice to you, is WEAR TENNIS SHOES YOU SOCK WEARING SANDLE LOVING TOURISTS. Wear tennis shoes while walking on the boardwalk, or its blister paradise for you back at the hotel. I warned my Dad not to wear his sandles because I wanted to walk a bit, but nooooo. I ended up going to the Kite Loft about half way down the boardwalk, and ended up purchasing a better kite for myself. I wanted a kite that could withstand heavier winds, faster winds, but still be freaking big and awesome. I ended up buying a 10ft wingspan kite along with a nice windsock (its 24 feet long but I thought it read 24 inches, go fig) and a 110lb line, heavy duty stuff. I didn't take it up until the day after due to thunder storms.

Another Shot of the beach that morning on July 5th, later on when the sun was going down.

And then everyone else shows up! more Tourists! there will be no kite flying here, and I stayed up in the hotel room watching TV and playing the Playstation 2.

Me the next day getting my kite up at about 6pm. It was easy to put together and behaved VERY well in the wind I was given. No heavy tension on the line, no flapping of the kite, It behaved like a gem. The sock really helped out, I nearly flipped out (in a good way!) when I saw the tail sock! This is a shot of me (see my pretty face) from the 4th floor of the hotel getting the kite somewhat up there. Later on I let it out fully, and I was amazed at how big the kite was; but how tiny it was in the sky!!

The kite, zoomed in. I forgot to move the side bars down a little, thus the "V" shape, it still held up fine despite MY screwup. Notice the length of the tail, hehe. The end did not have an opening in it, but the front did, adding extra stability to the kite. Always, when you can put a tail on the kite, because nose-dives down back to earth can tear open the kite (old one, fixing it it wasn't that badly damaged). I bought it of Nylon material so it will last, and the pockets are extra big for the side bar. Awesome kite, but for something that is reliable and works, with accessories, it cost me $95 USD, or 75 Euro, 52 GBP, or 11,054 Yen. The money variations are linked, because although the links will always change with the fluctuation of money, other currencies vs. each other ALWAYS change.

Backside view of the Dunes Manor Hotel. It is all beachside viewing and it is great. We stayed on the 4th floor (the lowest rooms count as 2f, so count up 3 from the deck and thats the 4th floor) all the way to the right. It was PERFECT viewing.

And that is it for now on my 2006 vacation! you can visit the gallery of it at http://www.maj.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=118630 , I will add new pictures as I find them and obtain permission. You may use these photos that I have posted and taken, but I ask that credit is given is all. You don't need too, but it is appreciated. Thanks!