Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

Premiered on April 4th, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, is now out in theaters! One day after the premier, on April 5th, I graced with a trip to Cineplex. I've got to admit... I've been dropping by movie theatres a lot these days-- especially since I watched Divergent on the 29th of March, and then Captain America a mere week after! Feeling a bit spoiled, yet ready to enjoy a good movie, I sauntered into theatres.

To say that the theatre was busy would be an understatement. It was packed. I don't think I've seen theatres that packed since... well... the Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire. Then again, that was a great movie.

To put this out there, I'm not a huge huge fan of superhero movies. Mostly, I just watched this one because I wanted to stay in touch with the Avengers-- besides, I'd already watched Iron Man 3, so like, why not? But I hadn't really seen any of the first Captain America movie, so I had a small span of knowledge of Capsicle's history. I mean, yes, yes, the serum, seventy years ago, yeah yeah, he's a hero, huzzah, blah de dah, rumours flying around with about this movie. Everywhere. Other than that? It was just kind of up to the movie to explain. Set after The Avengers, you can meet up again with Agent Maria Hill, Black Widow (Natasha Romanova), Director Nick Fury (Nicholas Joseph Fury), and last but not least, Captain America (Steve Rogers). Oh, and don't ask where Hawkeye (Clint Barton) is. Nobody knows. Along with these three from the Avengers, you can also meet a few other Agents, the Winter Soldier (James Bucky), as well as Agent 13 (Sharon Carter). Seriously, how many characters do they have up their sleve?!

To any Marvel fan, or superhero fan, this movie is a definite must-watch. And for Captain America/Black Widow/Nick Fury fans? Even better. I have to say that I enjoyed this movie, because even if there was a lot of action, it wasn't without context, which I appreciated. Like seriously, I don't want to watch 2 hours and 30 minutes of attractive-gone-old guys fighting each other for no apparent reason... However, if I had to choose between Divergent and Captain America? Divergent all the way...

***I give this movie a 8.2 out of 10!***

Caffé Central

Located right next to the place that we parked at in downtown San Francisco, Caffé Central is arguably the worst cafe I have been to. Yes. The worst. Admittedly, it is well decorated in the inside, and had it not been opening out into a parking lot, the view would have been very nice. However, the quality of the drinks, were spectacularly... bad.

 

The shop was clean, and the bubble tea not extremely expensive. To a passerby, it would be seen as a nice, quaint shop-- clean and polished. Even the bubble tea was huge! Any passerby would be set to go to the place. Believe me-- I was too. However, don't let looks fool you. 

The bubble tea was extremely overly sweet, with only a tiny amount of bubbles compared to the amount of juice. Also, according to my dad, the coffee was undrinkable. 

"I've never had any hand-dripped coffee that tasted that bad," he recalls.

On no account do I recommend this Cafe to anyone, other than someone wanting to drink some really bad coffee, or sickly sweet 'bubble' tea. If you want a good coffee to go with after a good dinner, let Starbucks lead you the way. 

**I won't attempt to rate this, for obvious reasons, but I can't say that I could give this place a rating higher than say... 5. Believe me, if I go back to San Fran, I know at least one place I'm definitely not going to!***

Double Tree Hotel (by Hilton)

Indeed, I really do make a habit of going to really nice hotels. I really just can't stand really cheap hotels. Yea yea sounds like a spoiled brat, but really. I can't. And I was glad to say that DoubleTree hotel (by Hilton), met up to my standards. There were even cookies! <3 p="">

No, seriously. They were some seriously good cookies. And the hotel was nice and clean, and the hotel was gorgeously huge. The washrooms were pretty clean too! Impressive. I enjoyed my stay there, even if it was only for one day. Well, I stayed at the DoubleTree in Seattle for one day, and stayed at the DoubleTree in San Francisco for three. Both were really well-kept hotels that served free cookies. Yum~!!

The lobby is massive, by the way. If you're thinking about going to Seattle and need a hotel to book in, I strongly recommend this hotel. However, during the time that I was booked there, there were a lot of people there, and getting into the parking lot was no easy feat. The hotel's nice, though, and the front desk people are pretty friendly. I enjoyed my stay there! 

I recommend this place to anyone who likes a little bit of a fancy hotel, and cookies! :D

***I give this hotel a 9.5 out of 10!***

California Academy of Sciences (and my 200th post!!!)

Well, this is my 200th post, so I decided to make it something special-- my favourite tourist place in San Francisco. The California Academy of Sciences. This may be slightly confusing, as I was just in Seattle a post ago, but... 200th post. Something special. I didn't want to waste my 200th post talking about my hotel (which was pretty swell), and Panera Breads (I still think Tim Horton's is better). Anyways, moving on to the California Academy of Sciences. This tourist place was in the middle of my trip. I went on Monday, which did me well. There are reviews of it being extremely busy and the parking expensive, but the parking is free for 4 hours if you manage to park on the road, and don't mind walking a little. Also, save the few school groups there, it was relatively calm.

The size of the Academy of Sciences took me by surprise. I didn't expect it to be so small. That being said, it's the perfect size to just whisk around. The aquarium exhibit is really downright impressive. I really loved that the displays were nice, and the fish seemed to be well-kept. As a big animal person, I knew that part of me was against looking at the exhibits of animals, but then I decided that I really needed to see them. So I went.

Just look at that adorable turtle!! The Academy of Sciences is really amazing, and somewhere you have got to visit. It's an absolute must visit tourist spot!! And I haven't even got to the rainforest yet!

This certain exhibition was definitely something. it had a ramp leading through all the levels of the Rainforest, and in each level, the temperature changed. It was full of life-- flora, and insects and macaws. Absolutely beautiful, it was that touch of nature within a man-made place! I loved it. Absolutely loved it.

Two things left to talk about, including Dark Universe, and the penguins...

Seriously, I can't say that the screen for Dark Universe wasn't impressive. It was really impressive. Huge, while we're at it. However, if you're really no comsology person, just don't watch it... It nearly put me to sleep. That's not saying that it wasn't good. The film was extremely educational. It's just saying that it went in one ear and out the other for me....

Last and least, the penguins. I refused to take a photo at those poor souls. You would think that a place that took such a hefty admission fee would find the time and money to offer them a much better home! I demand their release- they looked miserable and terribly groomed!!!

However, that being said, minus the penguins, this is a great place and I did really enjoy it! Everyone should visit there at least once, in my opinion! I recommend this place to people who love nature, wildlife, and science in general!

***I give this place a 8 out of 10. Because of the penguins,***

Seattle Premium Outlets (and Costco)

No, Seattle Premium Outlets was and still is not in San Francisco, but I thought it was a good place to start, seeing that that's where my vacation started.

To get this clear, yes, my destination was San Francisco, but my trip looked somewhat like this: staying one night at Seattle, taking the plane to San Fran, staying in San Fran for 3 days, and then coming back to Seattle, and back to home on the 25th. Busy? Heck yea.

But I get too far ahead of myself. Let's back track to the beginning. Seattle Premium Outlets. Seriously, this place is kind of amazing. I don't normally enjoy shopping vivaciously, but Seattle Premium Outlets has everything from leather jackets and boots to dresses and makeup. I'd really rather go with the leather jackets and boots, but really, this place is fit for pretty much everyone! As for shopholics? Really, safer to stay out... Home of cheaper prices and everything you could want to buy (except groceries... Seriously, this is turning into a Macy's commercial...), I suggest everyone should at least drop by if they are off to Seattle!

The other shopping part that I wanted to get over with does cover your groceries. Costco is amazing. Really. Buy everything from fruit to books. What's not to love? Talking about books, you can get tons of amazing books from Costco at seriously cheap prices!! (Compared to Chapters, anyhow). Of course, there's not as much variation as there would be at Chapters, but occasionally, you can swing in a few really interesting ones. I came back from the U.S. with 4 new books just from Costco, anyways~! Looking forward to giving them reviews!

That seems to be a sufficient start off to my vacation for now! After all, all I really did at Seattle on the first day was eat and shop. And check into my hotel. But I'll ramble about eating and hotels later!

Ciao for now,

Ivy

San Francisco!

Hi everyone!

I have just come back from San Francisco! It was an overall really great trip especially with this time of year, seeing the great weather! Really, nothing like Vancouver.... I think spring is an ideal time to visit San Fran, with all the blooming flowers, and the beautiful sun that blessed me my whole entire trip!

For the time being, I will probably be posting tourism posts on San Fran, so please stick with me, as the book reviews will take some time!

Thank you!
Ivy