The picture says it all. The service workers at UCLA had been on strike for a week already and today is the last day. This is something that doesn't happen in Singapore but I don't find it fun or interesting. This is because service workers include the canteen staff and the strike affects me adversely. My meals this week have decreased both in quantity and quality because of the strike. The mealtime hours have been reduced and the quality of food is lowered because temps are hired to cook. I think the strike is ridiculous. Their wages now are at a minimum of 10 US dollars. 10 US dollars to do cleaning, cooking, washing and other menial chores. It translates to 14 Singapore dollars. And they are hankering for more. I think strikes are very disruptive. There will never be an end to strikes because Man is never satisfied. If for the selfish interests of a few, the society has to suffer, I think it is very unjust. Unless the workers are really being exploited, I don't think there's any reason not to go to work. If they are unhappy, they can always switch jobs. A mass movement of uncooperation causes a lot of inconvenience, and in some cases may even endanger lives, as the service workers in this case includes hospital care staff as well. I certainly hope the strike ends on today as stated.

XXX

I have been taking an interesting module this summer called Pornography and Evolution. Today's lesson was by far the best. The Professor invited 2 porn stars to our class and share their views and experiences.

One is a lady called Nina Hartley (shown in first photo) and the other is a guy called Howie Gordon (second photo). I didn't know any of them before their presentation. The third guy in the photos is our professor, Neil Malamuth, just in case he's mistaken for a porn star as well.

Nina Hartley, apparently, is a legend in the porn industry. She claimed to have starred in over 600 films and had a career spanning 25 years. She is still active in the industry and her last film was just last week. She even bragged that the total length of all the penises she had sucked would go up to 300 miles long. She has an interesting sex life, to say the least. She claimed to be a bisexual, an exhibitionist, a voyeur and so on. She is also a polygamist and had many affairs even when she's married. And that's perfectly fine for her and her husband. She is of the view that people should be free to do what they want to do and be themselves. Some of the views are too liberal for me, especially her polygamist views. I don't think there can be any kind of relationship when any party is sleeping around with other people.

Howie Gordon is a retired porn star and did his last film about 20 years ago. He has a family and has 3 children. His family is supportive of him going into the porn industry. His wife even encouraged him to fulfil his fantasy of having sex wih a porn star when he first told her that. I find Howie Gordon to be humorous and he was constantly joking.

He recalled his first experience as a porn star and told us how much pressure there was on him to ejaculate as and when the director needed it. Being a porn star is not as much fun as it is made out to be. He told us about the pitfalls of being a porn star, of being rejected by the mainstream society. And I could feel his resentment at being ostracised. Actually, after talking to them, I realised that porn stars are just humans. They are not much different from any of us, just that they chose a different path. And it is a path that has many difficulties. They told us of many young girls who do not know the consequences of going into the adult industry. Lured by the temptation of easy money, they didn't realise that what they are doing will stick with them forever. Anywhere they go, they are bound to be recognised by someone in the street.

It was a memorable lesson, one that can never happen in Singapore and this is something that I will remember for a long time to come. A lesson with porn stars. Unbelievable.

San Diego

We went to San Diego the past weekend and visited Legoland on the first day, Seaworld on the second and the San Diego Zoo on Sunday. I've already talked about Legoland so I'll talk about the other 2 attractions. Seaworld was not worth the admission price. The only mesmerising part about Seaworld was its killer whales. The animal show with the killer whales and their trainers was the best animal show I've seen. I could spend the whole day observing those magnificient animals. Other than that, there's nothing much to Seaworld. We spent the third day morning kayaking at one of the beaches at San Diego called La Jolla Beach. It wasn't good because the water wasn't clear and the water was filled with brown giant kelp. We left for the zoo after that and it was quite a rushed walk through the zoo because we do not have enough time. The San Diego zoo was not as world famous as it had been acclaimed. The only 2 attractions which are good are the pandas and the koala bears. The rest of the exhibits had very few animals and most of them were just sleeping.

The trip to San Diego was the first time we had rented a car. The journey to there takes 2 hours. It was tiring driving there and we had a few scares on our way back from San Diego. Ho Teck was doing the driving and he was driving almost close to 200kph at some stretches. We ran out of petrol half way through the journey and had to find a petrol kiosk. The fuel level was dangerously low as we exited the expressway. the first petrol kiosk we found was empty and could only accept local credit cards. We had to find another petrol kiosk and using the GPS, we found a petrol kiosk a mile away. Faced with the possibility that our car could stop anytime on our way to the next petrol kiosk and feeling afraid in the dark deserted roads of Los Angeles, we made our way to the petrol kiosk. Fortunately, it was open 24 hours and we successfully pumped more petrol into our car. When we reached back to our hostel, it took us a while to settle down and get our senses back.

We were just glad to be back in UCLA and it's an experience I wouldn't want to relive again.

Legoland

I've finally been to Legoland. A dream that started more than a decade ago has finally been fulfilled. Words can't describe how I felt when I saw the Legoland California sign appearing before my eyes. Lego is my childhood. I played with it for hours at end, creating my own characters and structures, and imagining a world of my own. With those tiny little bricks, I can create anything that I want by stacking them up bit by bit. I remembered watching a TV show that showcased Legoland in Denmark. In that programme, I saw famous structures being replicated on a smaller scale using Lego bricks. It was immensely beautiful and from that day, I told myself I had to go to Legoland one day.

Legoland's main feature was a section called Miniland. In Miniland USA, famous structures in cities around the States were replicated. The structures were replicated beautifully, every detail was never too small to be overlooked. The beauty of the structures may not be apparent at first sight, and only through closer scrutiny will a sense of astonishment be felt. I think most people will not appreciate the beauty of these Lego structures, only Lego enthusiasts will appreciate the difficulty in creating all these. Personally, I felt the Capitol building was the most well done. The detailing was immaculate.

However, sadly, I think some of the structures were poorly maintained and wear and tear was apparent. Legoland is not as glamorous as Disneyland or even Universal Studios and its budget is clearly lower. Even so, I think it is the most value for money theme park. I took so many photos that my camera battery went flat. And I had to use my handphone camera to carry on. Even then, I still feel the urge to take photos of every single thing in there.

It's truly a magical place and I felt sad as I took a last look back at Legoland before I had to go off. I would love to visit the other Legolands if I have the opportunity to. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to fulfil my longest dream. I will cherish the memory forever in my mind.

The Lego motto: Det Bedste er ikke for godt. Only better than the best is good enough.

Disneyland

I went to Disneyland on Saturday. It was not as memorable a experience as it was claimed to be. Maybe I am just not into the fantasy land kind of theme park. Disneyland is more of characters and theme buildings rather than exciting rides. The effects of Disneyland are pretty good, the robotic characters of Pirates of the Carribean were very lifelike, the Haunted Mansion had good 3d animations and the rest of the things were quite well made. If I was a kid or crazy over Disney characters, then I think I would have enjoyed it. I wouldn't say it was bad, but it wasn't worth the 60 plus US dollars that I paid to get in. After the excitement of Magic Mountain, I found myself dozing off in some of the rides. Most of the rides are family orientated rides and only the space mountain ride was worth the wait.

Disneyland is an expensive place to visit. The food there was expensive and I didn't buy anything there to eat the whole day. The souvenirs were also expensive and not worth the money, in my opinion. We got back late at night and I finally had my dinner after nearly 12 hours of starvation. It doesn't feel good to be cold, tired and hungry at night. I skipped my meals at almost every theme park I visited. Most of the time, the food there is expensive and we usually do not have time to visit all the attractions.

The best part about the Disneyland trip are the fireworks. It was magnificient, and against the cloudless Californian sky, the fireworks showed their magic. It was a magical experience seeing the fireworks in Disneyland.

There are still some places to visit, San Diego, Las Vegas and Legoland. My money is dwindling fast. I probably shopped a little more than I should. It's a good thing that I'm staying in a hall so I don't have to worry about food most of the time. I'm getting a little immune to how much things cost over here. Their standard of living is higher and the things are more expensive. Nonetheless, I will still try to keep to my budget.

That's all for now. I'll be trying to update more the next few weeks.