#funny orca eat a burger

[sleepvines]

okay fine, heres Quay

[draco9236]

I was tagged by @joi-in-the-tardis Thank you! It’s been a while 

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: still single... I think I made my peace with always being single...

FAVORITE COLORS: (dark) red, blue

FAVORITE FOOD: burgers, spare ribs

SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: “Waving through a Window” from Dear Evan Hansen

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED: pictures of Matthew Daddario and Harry Shum Jr. for a friend’s Christmas present

TIME: 11:45am

DREAM TRIP: We are planning a trip to Norway late next year to see the Northern Lights and I plan to go on a whale safari then to see Orca whales!!! Fingers crossed it works out!

Otherwise I still want to go to Scottland, Ireland, South Africa and the West Coast of the US.

LAST THING YOU READ: Star Trek Chronicles for Star Trek Enterprise

LAST BOOK YOU ENJOYED READING: I actually quite enjoy the Star Trek Chronicles book. It’s a joyful read and really entertaining and interesting

LAST BOOK YOU HATED READING: As I am no longer in school, I only read stuff I want to read. So the last one must have been Goethe’s “Faust 2″ in school.

FAVORITE THING TO COOK/BAKE: I love to cook and bake pretty much anything. I need to do a brownie at some point, because that is definitely my favourite cake to eat...

FAVORITE CRAFT TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME: I’m nearly finished with a Doctor Who themed diamond painting and enjoyed that very much. Would love to do more of those, but I have no idea where to put them after I finished.

MOST NICHE DISLIKE: I’m not sure what this means… thankfully Joi googled it for me and wrote it says “a specific and small dislike.” Hmm… I hate when people take me for a fool. I’m not an idiot. I recognize when people tell me bullshit. I might not always point it out, because most often it’s just not worth it to me, but don’t try to color me stupid when I do point you out on your bullshit. 

OPINION ON CIRCUSES: It’s been ages since I’ve been in one. I like that we have a no animals policy over here. That way circuses here are mostly artistic stuff, which is awesome. Not much of a clown’s person, as I just don’t find them neither funny nor scary.

DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF DIRECTION: Once I’ve been to a place, I have a pretty good idea of where I need to go whenever I go back there. Even after it’s been a while. Just don’t ask me for street names. I don’t care for those. I use landmarks more than street names even while driving.

[lazyphiladelphiareviews]

LAZY PHILADEPHIA REVIEW ABBAYE

Hello. Thanks for coming back.

This is a Lazy Philadelphia Review for Abbaye, in Northern Liberties Philadelphia.

First, I would like you to know that I got a new laptop, because I spilled coffee on my old one, and it broke. So then I bought this new one, and then magically, immediately, that very same day, my old one fixed itself. So I spent 1500 dollars on nothing really, because this new Macbook Air sucks and my old Macbook air works better and I actually like it more, because this one, the keyboard sucks and sometimes it types extra letters on accident, so if my spelling gets even worse…blame the keyboard of this new macbook air, which sucks.

Okay so I am back to writing these restaurant reviews. It’s been awhile. Well it’s been like 2 hours, since I just posted one about how I got sick from Pura Vida, who tried to kill me, so I guess everything happens for a reason, including attempted homicide.

So I haven’t written in awhile before that, because I’ve been busy being a freelance writer, so that means I don’t have what some people would call a “full time job” and let me enlighten you to the fact that health insurance doesn’t pay for itself, neither does my rent, and neither does my brand new pristine and sexual 355 horsepower Audi S4 that does 0-60 in 4.1 seconds but may be even faster than that, I don’t know because the pot holes around here are terrible.

OKAY SO!

ABBAYE: First, I would like to get out of the way that this place is close to my house. Like very close. So I have been here many many times. And many of those times, I don’t remember very well, because they serve alcohol and they stay open late. But this is a restaurant review, not a bar review, and not a review of the fact that maybe I have an alcohol problem which is none of your business and besides, what’s it like to be perfect, asshole?

Okay so I eat a lot of food. Sometimes multiple times a day. And one of my favorite foods is a burger, but i don’t really fuck with dairy, so I am not a cheeseburger guy. So let’s get that out of the way right up front here. You can freak out about it all you want, but the way I see it, that just means more cheese for you, that I won’t be eating. Yes I love pizza, maybe, maybe I am allergic to lactose, I don’t know all the answers here, but I stay away from dairy okay? 

Okay now that that is out of the way, I have to say that for my money, Abbaye has the best burger in Philly. And yes, really it is for my money, because they don’t give me anything for free there, I have to pay money for everything. I don’t get anything for free around here, I have to live and eat like every other strap hanger and it’s not fair but it is what it is.

Abbaye is pronounced like Abby, and not like Ay-Bay-Bay, despite what any recently graduated Temple sorority matriarch will tell you, although that song is pretty good now that I think about it. Well, now that I think about it again it’s not really very good at all.

Abbaye always has like 12 beers on tap, so you can get a wide variety of beers there that are mostly ales but they always have like one cider, and a lager or two, which I prefer. They also have lots of bottles available. You may even classify this place as a “bar” and probably nobody would correct you or anything, unless they’re people who have to correct everything WHICH REALLY GETS OLD AND DEMORALIZING, MOM, OKAY?

Hey do you like dirtbikes? I was just thinking about the old dirtbike I had as a teenager that thing was awesome. Not too many places to ride dirtbikes in Philly though unless you’re one of those guys who ride up and down the street doing wheelies and scaring pedestrians and cars and white people of all shapes and sizes.

Other things you can eat at the Abbaye include … hmm I am not really sure bc I always get the burger, but hey, I just remembered my old girlfriend Alexandra, her favorite food probably ever was the seitan wings from Abbaye, and the vegan cheesesteak as well. One time she saw Legally Blonde then decided to become a lawyer and that’s what she is now, even though she is very short!

Abbaye is equipped with two (2) unisex bathrooms, and both of them have mirrors all over the place, reflecting off each other, into infinity, which is very startling if you come into Abbaye under the influence of questionable yet very effective hallucinogenic substances you took with the band at a huge concert at Union Transfer which caused you to have to leave the show during the performance of one of your favorite bands because you were considering running up onto the stage in the middle of their show to really experience the whole psychedelic vibe with them in person. Just letting you know, if you partake in that sort of thing. Totally random suggestion!

I have met the weekend nightly bartender at Abbaye approximately 3,000 times and I am pretty sure his name is one of the following:

1)    Dave

2)    Steve

3)    Brian?

4)    Steve?

5)    It’s Dave, right?

It may be absolutely something else but I’m sorry about that if it’s not Dave. Dave? Is it Dave?

So what else! Abbaye has a GREAT brunch that’s very affordable and has mimosas and big old bloody marys if you can’t get into Honey’s, which always has a wait, or Green Eggs, which also always has a wait. You should check out my review of Honey’s for information on, you know, Honey’s. But like I said, you probably can’t get in.

Hey have you ever seen We’re The Millers? This movie is pretty damn funny! “What, oh my Orca? I bought an Orca! I make a lot of money!”

Okay so Abbaye has this waiter and his name is Jorge. Pronounced HORE hay. And he is the nicest, most hardworking dude I have ever met in my entire life. I am not sure where he is from or how old he is, or what country he is from, but he is one of the greatest people I have ever met in my entire life. So when you go there, ask for Jorge, and talk with him awhile, I swear to god you will love this dude. In fact, a couple weeks ago, me Nick and Bernie went in there and Jorge was working and all of a sudden this dude is legit JACKED. Like in a matter of months, he somehow became DIESEL like … I dunno Vin Diesel. And I was like “Jorge what the fuck dude, you’re a muscle god demon now and you could twist anyone in this place into a pretzel, what the fuck dude?” And he was like “I eat right, I lift, are you ready to order?” JORGE!!! THE BEST!

Okay so this one has been super long. Check out the Abbaye, it’s one of my favorites.

ABBAYE! Go for the burger, stay for the beers, experience and admire Jorge!

This has been Lazy Philadelphia Reviews of Abbaye with Elliot.

[itdisneymatter]

Day 09 - Seaworld & Universal

TLDR: Seaworld this morning. Lunch pretty much inside a Shark aquarium. Amazing experience! Hit a few Roller Coasters including Manta which we've done before and Kraken which we haven't. Met some penguins and seen Killer Whales and Dolphins do all sorts of clever stuff. Finished up in Seaworld. Started Universal Studios. Done some Simpsons stuff, Robert won a ball, I won MIB (again) and we rounded things off with Escape from Gringott’s and buying wands in Diagon Alley. Absolutely packed day but it was excellent!

It seems like as time goes on, it's a little more difficult to wake up each day, especially sleepy-head Grace who proclaimed she was awake during the night and only got ONE minute of sleep! :P What I will say is even with the 17hr days, the weather and the rest does make a difference and makes you feel a whole lot better in general - I've been suffering from intermittent headaches of late, but haven't really had any since I left.

We're just on our own today for Seaworld so no pickups required (which means no coffee unfortunately :( ) , and as Seaworld is not far down the road, we were in the park within about 30 minutes of leaving the room. We picked up a big litre cup with unlimited refills for around 20 bucks when we got in the park. Not only does it do free refills but it does free Icee refills (which is kinda like Iceblasts) so for this alone I would pay double. The cup had lots of facts and figures on it too like Mako, the longest and fastest roller coaster in Orlando, to reach speeds of 73mph and heights or around 200ft... :| Yeah I'll maybe pass on that one thanks.

We were a littler later to the park that intended so we headed for the Sharks Encounter, the restaurant we had booked for lunch. This place had a huge aquarium on the far wall filled with loads of sharks! And Ann got us a table right at the side of the tank - awesome! We got carried away watching the sharks and other fish and taking loads of photos that we forgot at times we were in there to have lunch. And what do the serve at a restaurant which has sharks literally swimming around it? Seafood! When we finally did order, I went for the Lobster Bisque which was a pretty damn good soup (and the best thing I had in there), and some tempura prawns with sticky rice. Ann went for the mussels and then Seafood pasta. Food was pretty good in general - though the kids didn’t seem to have an appetite (well except Patrick I don’t think there is any time he doesn’t have an appetite). The kids still loved it though, due to the amazing views.

Coasters, Cuties & More Coasters

So we had Manta next, which after a huge (HUGE!) lunch, was probably not the best thing to be doing. Patrick & wee GG weren’t in for it so Ann had to take Roller Coaster Robert first, while I waited with the kids then did Child Swap when they returned. It meant Robert go to go twice which he loved (though Patrick was getting bored and may have regretted his decision NOT to ride Manta). I've been on this one before and its brilliant but just as were due to board we were hit with technical difficulties and they had to stop the ride, which when you have a full stomach of seafood, doesn’t fill you with the greatest of confidence. Last row when we finally did board which Robert said was the fastest, and it certainly did go fast, but it was still awesome!

In stark contrast we then visited the wee baby Penguin Puck over at Empire of the Penguin. Easy going ride even if we chose the wild side, and is one of Gracie's favourite rides - she even brought her own wee Penguin cutie (our name for TY Beanies) along for the ride. Nice ride but the highlight is when you finish and you get to meet real life penguins in their own environmental conditions (which is freakin' freezing!).

Now here’s another comparison photo from today...

And fours years ago (on the exact same day as it happens)...

Ain’t she just the cutest??? :D Anyway, The Kraken next, the one I was waiting for - a 3D VR experience on a huge roller coaster (or under the sea in the VR world). Me and Ro on this one and Ann was feeling too well and the other weren’t interested. Essentially all you see and hear is what's on the VR headset you are wearing while at the same time riding an actual coaster through big drops, banks, turns and loops (running at a top speed of 65mph according to my cup). We have a less than used PS VR at home and I love it, so this was going to be fantastic! Or at least I thought. Unfortunately my visuals reset their orientation so I was going one way but being shown another, very disorientating and not a very pleasant experience at all. A little disappointed but Robert had a good time on the ride which is all that matters really.

Its Showtime!

After that we had to run to the other end of the park to reach the Orca show - this one being Ann's pick of the day. A number of Killer Whales doing all sorts of things and really good to see a big push on education about care and conservation of these mammals within the Seaworld programme. Gracie loved this and she was shouting and screaming whenever the Orca and I think she couldn’t have stayed in the same spot for the next few shows.

And once that was done we then crossed to the other end of the park (AGAIN) to catch the the last Dolphin show of the day. Show times really screw with your park flow at times! Slightly different from before as there wasn’t really any birds or high wire stuff to speak of - they just really concentrated on the Dolphins and there were quite a few of them. This time, the family wanted to sit in the Splash zone, which they did, though I opted for a higher vantage, not to avoid the water, well just to avoid the water getting on to my camera. It turned out they didn’t really get soaked which Gracie wasn’t too happy about and she wanted to do it again so she could get bigger splashes!

Homer & Harry

It was late afternoon at that point and we did all of the things we wanted to do, so decided to call it a day. We missed a few animal encounters and one or two of the later shows but as we have free parking ticket we could pop down for a quick visit one evening if we wanted to. We though at that point it would be a good idea to head to Universal Studios (to catch up on a few of the rides we missed the other day), for the last few hours instead of turning in early. It was exceptionally hot today though (over 100 degrees) and no rain for the first time in a while, so we popped back to the hotel room, which was on the way, for a quick shower and change. It was just after 6pm so no parking fee - result, we might just need to do this more often! We got into the park relatively quickly, though there were still loads of folk going in, and went the opposite direction to the way we normally go to hit The Simpsons first. We stopped by Doc Browns train for a quick pic before getting to our destination.

When we go to The Simpsons ride it started raining!!! That's like the third time in a row (including the last visit two eyars ago), when it started raining when we get to this point in the park - its bizarre! The Simpsons sheltered us from most of it which was good as we were only packing my camera and left the rainjackets at the hotel room to save carrying an extra bag. The Simpsons though even though it replaced my most favouritest ever ride - Back To The Future - you cant fault it, hysterical family fun.

With the rain not really coming to anything, though we still had to occasional claps of thunder, we stopped to grab the boys a bite to eat in the form of a Krusty Burger, while I took Grace on Kang & Kudos, a wee fairground type ride going round and round and up and down in spaceships. We were travelling in a spaceship called Citizen Kang (they all had punny names), and Grace was the primary pilot on this one. I also took a nice wee video and a few photos on my phone but got reprimanded while I was on the ride so had to switch it off :(

Before we left The Simpsons land, Robert wanted to have a shot on the Basketball stall. He LOVES basketball and is pretty good at it, even having inherited both his parents shortish genes. Shooting 1-3 hoops got you a specific prize, and he wanted a new Basketball, which was two hoops. BAM! First one went in right off the rim. That's a winner right there! Next one he missed. It was all down to the final ball to get him his preferred prize. We told him to take it calm and line up the shot (like my advice on Basketball is any good, but I need to try). It went up.... and IN! Woot! Well done Roro, he got the ball he wanted and was all happy with himself and so he should be!

Next one was one of my faves, Men In Black! A shooting game were you score points by shooting aliens and win enternal glory among your family. After Toy Story the other day I had this one in the bag though Ann seemed to think she was going to give me a challenge. Well let the scoreboard do the talking shall we? :P

GG: 209,875 (ka-POW! :P)

PG: 20,750

Roro: 19,725

Ann: 11,525

Wee GG: 7425

Our final area was Diagon Alley and we didn’t have a lot of time left before the park closed so managed to get on to Escape from Gringotts which had a low wait time due to the time it was. We were waiting to go in and at that moment the Dragon on top of Gringotts sent out a fireball and Gracie literally jumped out her skin. It was really funny but she didnt think so (Im pretty sure shell laugh at it later ; ) This ride is great and the journey to getting on the ride is equally as great, through the bank, passing goblins and moving painting along the way, getting to see Bill Weasley give a wee intro and then down a huge elevator before putting on the required 3D glasses and boarding the minecart. Special effects match that of Forbidden Journey with a few extra characters inc luding Bellatrix and Voldemort thrown in. A definite ride we will be returning to when we visit the park again in the next few days.

Expelliarmus!

We had been planning to pick up some Harry Potter wands and we had a few minutes before heading home to pop into Ollivander’s which was pretty quiet (its usually not). The kids picked interactive wands this time, and allow they didn’t get an opportunity to use them this evening, well bring them back and do a full afternoon of Harry Potter goodness. We have a few wands already so Gracie opted for Ginny's, Robert her brother Ron & Patrick picked Snape's (without missing a beat). They all got they own wee wands bags and they skipped out of the shop and down Diagon Alley to head for home.

In preparation for a late night blog update (its been a long day), I picked up a Starbucks Toasted Coconut Cold Brew (which tasted real good), as the others popped into Transformars for the last five minutes in the park (I think they were the last ones on for the day).

Still not satisfied with getting to the exit without doing anything else we popped in a wee cult classics shoppy to look at the comics and memorabilia. I opted for Harley Rebirth Vol.1 and Patrick, The Killing Joke Noir  - a really really nice book and Patrick go into a Joker lore conversation with the attendant who was even geekier than me. Exhausted we finally reached the exit and through Citywalk and as we passed the Cinema, Robert asked if we could go see the new Despicable Me movie as we missed it the other night. 10:30 at night and he wants to go to the pictures! LOL!

Tomorrow well have our first real water park (finally, say the kids) before heading off to Magic Kingdom in the eve for some Fireworks fun. And Patrick don’t impart any of his wisdom on us today so Ill make sure he gives us double for tomorrow's update! :) See ya.