Cities I'd like to Visit

            1. Washington D.C. 

            2. New Orleans, LA

            3. St Louis, MO 

            4. Philadelphia, PA

            5. Niagara Falls, NY

            6, Salt Lake City (Bonneville Flats)

            7. Memphis, TN 

    

            8. Dallas, TX

 

            9. Miami or Orlando FL

 

            10.  Charlotte, NC  

Chabot Space & Science Center

 Chabot Space & Science Center

     Every summer, our class would go out to the local park and go see a movie after.

  But now since the theaters are no longer offering discounts for school groups, we

  decided to vote on our next field trip. We chose the Chabot Space & Science Center.

  

    Located up in the hills of Oakland, this science museum has many exhibits that are

 educational as well as interactive. When you first walk in, you'll notice an ancient

 gold seismograph that shines perfectly in the sunlight. On the right is a dark room 

 dedicated to the formation of outer space, the planets and even black holes. Small

 kids will get a kick out of the neon laser dots covering the room, reminiscent of 
 glow sticks at clubs.

   On your way up to the second floor, take note of the old space rocket that extends

 to the ceiling. There are more interactive things for the little ones such as a space 

 capsule console simulator and an exhibit about the moon and lunar eclipses. They 

 have a giant telescope but couldn't see it due to construction going on nearby. 

   Making your way on the overhead bridge are replicas of satellites used during 

 the Cold War. There is even a small capsule for little kids to sit in and pretend

 they're astronauts.

   Moving further along there are more fun stuff to do such as a soundproof booth 

 designed for screaming & shouting as loud as you can. As you walk further in,

 a whole floor dedicated to astronauts including how they sleep, eat and get fit 

 while up in space. This floor was crowded with day camp kids running around

 so be careful coming here.

   After eating in the downstairs cafe, we ended our day by visiting the Planetarium.

 The short titled "Tales of the Mayan Skies" featured Mayan culture and how 
 they perceived the way the world worked according to the stars.

   

   All in all, it was a fun trip learning about outer space & seeing many exhibits

 dedicated to it. I hope to come back sometime in the near future.

Class Outing: Clayton

         Downtown Clayton

    Some students in the Life Skills Program went on an outing to downtown 
 Clayton. After catching an early bus, we proceeded down to the bocce ball
 courts. Our teacher, Teri taught us how to play bocce.
     It was fun rolling the balls down the courts trying to hit a smaller ball called 
a pallino. The object of the game is to have the ball come as close to the pallino
as possible and the team with the closest ball gets a point. 
    The students followed up playing bocce ball by heading on over to Ed's 
Mudville Grille for a bite to eat. The waiters and waitresses were very 
accommodating for such a large group of students. Since it was way too 
crowded to eat inside, we ate out on the deck enjoying the cool fresh air.
It was far better than staying in the classroom and watch chair fitness
videos & campus jobs.

Class movie 2: Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

     Director: Paul Feig

     Cast: Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth

      Yesterday, I went out to the movies with my class and saw the new Ghostbusters. It
  stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon as paranormal scientists 
  investigating hauntings caused by a former bellhop named Rowan. Meanwhile a
  subway attendant (Leslie Jones), joins the team after experiencing ghostly sightings.

     Chris Hemsworth (Thor) plays their handsome but incredibly stupid secretary 
  who is mostly used for a cheap laugh here or there. SNL star Kate McKinnon
  steals the show as gear head Holtzmann, the inventor of cool gadgets to fight off
  the ghosts.

     Directed by Paul Feig, this is a remake of the Ivan Reitman scifi/comedy of
  the same name. Despite the major backlash due to the gender reversals, ruined child
  hood nostalgia, lack of originality, I went into this thinking this would be awful
  but actually it wasn't. Although the plot, while silly and predictable, is better than
  the recent schlock that has come out but this past summer. It's slightly better than 
  Ghostbusters 2 but that's not saying much. The climax of the movie where they 
   were shooting ghosts was my favorite part.

    Clearly, Sony is desperate for a hit after losing the rights to Spiderman to Marvel. 
  This is not the way to do it. They have no idea how to run a successful studio. True
  Ghostbusters fans know that when Harold Ramis died so did the franchise. I felt
  like the characters in this movie were trying too hard to be funny which didn't work.

     Coming from a big Ghostbusters fan like myself, I thought the best scene came when
   Holtzmann busted out the proton guns. The Scooby Doo special effects were ridiculous.
   Had this been a proper sequel rather than a lazy remake capitalizing on nostalgia factor,
   I would've like it better. It really wasn't a bad movie just an average one at best. Wait 
   for this to come out on video instead.

Grade: C (6/10)

Crab Cove

    Today, our class took a trip to Crab Cove in Alameda that has a long history. Not
 only was it once a Naval training facility but also an amusement park in the early
 1900's. It is now a part of the East Bay Parks district. 

    We ate our lunches in the large park and walked around a bit before heading into 
the visitors center. We learned a bit about the bay and how the seawater mixed with 
fresh water creates brackish water. The entire system is called an estuary.

    In the visitors center we learned about the different type of fish that live in the 
bay even seeing them in the small aquarium. I liked seeing and feeling a sharks 
vertebrae and seeing how big their jaw is compared to a humans head. 

     There was a small beach that we walked down to. Some students waded ankle 
 deep in the water finding tiny seashells. There were even some tiny crabs that
 washed up on shore during low tide. I had a fun time and hope to come back
 soon.

My Trip to Costco

     Since we weren't able to blog today, just thought I blog about something myself. 
  This morning, the Travel Training Class took a trip to Costco on Monument Blvd. 
  I had a fun time looking at all the different types of meat, bread and pastries that they
  had. My favorite part of the trip was going to get my lunch for the day. I got a hot dog 
  and soda for just under $1.50! 
      While walking back to catch the bus, I accidentally spilled my soda in parking lot. 
  Having ample time, our teacher Teri took me back to Costco and get a refill before
  the bus arrived.

Class Movie 1: The Jungle Book

    This past summer, my class went out to the movies and saw "The Jungle Book" 
 It tells the tale of an orphaned boy named Mowgli living in a remote part of the 
 jungle. He befriends a bear named Baloo. 
     I can't give a review of this since I was out sick with a bad cough and didn't get
 a chance to see it. My classmates reported back and said they enjoyed it alot. I 
 did see the 1967 animated version when I was little. My favorite character in the 
 movie is Baloo.