When I was around 16...

When I was around 16 years old or so, things were a little different. I remember waking up pretty early to go to school, say around 5:30am or so, getting ready, going to school, spending a good portion of the day there, and then spend the rest of the day doing other things. By the time I got to bed it was probably around midnight or a little later.

Hours of sleep per night? Approximately 5.

For most humans this would not be considered enough. However, after another 5 hours worth of sleep I would wake up, pretty tired at first but as the day goes along all exhaustion related problems cease to exist. Of course, this only last for the first four days of the week. Now, the first day of the weekend, which was Wednesday in Bahrain (by US/UK standards that would be a Friday), was a little different. I understand that most of you believe that day is considered, but I beg to differ. Let us just put it the way the teacher in my last class of the day used to say; "The Weekend starts here".

Anyhow, during this day, my bedtime seemed to move from around midnight to around 6 in the morning, meaning me staying awake on that day just a little over 24 hours. I would be able to make up for all of this by sleeping until around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and stay up all night on the second day of the weekend (first day of the weekend for most of you). Again, a similar routine on the third day of the weekend (or second day for most of you), but I would sleep around midnight this time.

(If the last two paragraphs confused you because of the use of too many numbers, please stop reading my blog. I would appreciate if only the people who can juggle lots of complex information around easily to make use of my writing.)

To sum up the situation, I would deprive myself of sleep on week days, and make it up on weekends. It seemed normal for my body to be able to handle the tiring routine over 5 days, as long as I made it up in the last two. Similar to a camel, that would store enough water over a short while to last it a long time, perhaps? Anyhow, the point of this blog is, I can't do that anymore.

Ten years later, I struggle to keep myself awake past my bedtime if I have to, or wake up early if I haven't had a long enough sleep. The above was just an example of a routine I used to go through. Other interesting things that happened during my school and college life include sleeping for 2 or 3 hours a day during most weekdays, sleeping till 4 or 5 in the afternoon on weekends, not sleeping at all during exam nights and going to the exam the next day in a fully awake state (thank you Red Bull), and on one occasion actually staying up for almost 70 hours in a row (followed by 20 hours of sleep. Damn.)

So why can't I do this anymore? Well, since my return to Boston i've been sleeping really late (ie, 5am) and waking up pretty late too (ie 4pm). Besides the fact that such a routine is not very healthy, Boston in general shuts down around 6pm; so by the time I wake up, take a shower and get ready to go out, most places have closed. Also, theres no more sun (the point about this is when Boston gets dark on a cold winter night, you don't want to be outside).

So I decide, hey, i'll just wake up early the next day. A few alarms and a week later I still didn't manage to wake up earlier than 3pm. So I decide to shift strategies; instead of going to sleep early in the morning, I can just stretch staying awake until around 8pm or so.

Lets just say that by around 9am I was dying. By the afternoon I was pretty much dead. How I actually made it to 5pm, I still don't know. What a horrible day.

I ended up waking up at 2am; everything was dark, it was cold and raining outside, and I was hungry. Not much in the fridge to hold back starvation, so a quick trip to the 24hour supermarket, some croissants, juice and miscellaneous munchies kept me on track. Now with my body used to a specific routine (ie, that of sleeping early morning), I started feeling tired around 9am. Unbelievable. Anyway, I stayed awake and fell asleep around 7pm.

With gradual change, I was able to sleep at around 10pm every day (got to that point 2 days ago, finally), which is a very reasonable time. Now back to the point of this blog; why can't my body handle such quick change any more? Am I really getting THAT old? Is my body getting used to a specific routine as I get older? Or is there some other sort of explaination? Hey, I don't know the answer, but if anyone does, send me an email.

I guess a lot of things have started changing; I get tired more easily, I feel more pain here and there (back pains, etc), my stomache is starting to argue with certain types of food I eat. Dammit. I think I really am getting old. Mid-life crisis at 26.


Oh, and you want to know what the funny thing is? At the time of writing this blog, it's almost 2am.

New York

December 30th

Left Boston today to New York. Its a 4 hour trip by bus through Greyhound, and their buses are sort of comfortable (sort of), so it wasn't a bad drive. Will stay in New York for around a week, mainly to celebrate New Years in Times Square, plus get to see a few other things here and there...

December 31st

I guess there should be a bit of a warning for anyone wanting to celebrate New Years in Times Square; GET THERE EARLY! We got to Times Square around 6:00pm and figured we were pretty early then, 6 hours before. Well, I guess some people were probably waiting since noon or maybe even earlier! The place is packed with people from all over, statistics say around 700,000 people or so; police officers had their work cut out for them! Here are a few shots from around:





The place was totally full! With a bit (a lot?) of squeezing and pushing, I managed to get a good view for the countdown and the celebrations:



It really is something else; after the countdown it is unbelievable how quickly times square clears up!

The next few days were spent going around the main spots in New York. A great place to check out is the Empire State Building. Currently the highest building in New York, you can get whisked up to the top for amazing views of the city. Although I managed to go on a regular weekday, the wait is pretty much ridiculous (approx an hour plus to get to the top). But still, the views of the city are amazing; I managed to go at night:



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With so many people going in and out of New York, you just might see someone famous! I met Will Smith there:


Ok, not really, that was actually me in Madame Tussaude (for those who don't know what that is, its a Wax museum full of famous people. Heres me and Bill Gates:


Also, the most obvious New York landmark has got to be the Statue of Liberty. For a few dollars, you can get a ferry ride to Liberty Island, and see Lady Liberty up close. It does look kind of scary though, almost like she might come alive any second and attack the city (or maybe I watched too many GhostBuster movies when I was younger):

Can you spot the statue?


View from the ferry


Broadway has a LOT of the best shows and musicals on earth. I wasn't really keen on going to any of these, but actually watching one is really something else :) I watched Oprah's The Color Purple. I definately recommend seeing it


Sorry, couldn't take any shots of the actual show, since photography and video inside is not allowed. But it really is a nice show.

Also, if you're in New York, Times Square is definately the place to check out. Sure, it gets crazy on new year's eve, but even on a regualr day its pretty damn busy. Some people say "If you stand in Times Square on a long enough time scale, you will see everyone in the world". Sure feels like it:






New York has so many things to do, but thats all the time I have to spend here! Back to Boston!

Disneyland (Anaheim / Los Angeles)

December 25th

Last few days in California :( 2 more days in Disneyland then its back to Boston! Anyhow, just a bit of advice for anyone planning to go to Disneyland for Christmas.



A bit of advice; DON'T! Although we thought it might be pretty empty, what with most people celebrating Christmas with their families at home and all, turns out its the total opposite! When we got there the tickets were completely sold out! Luckily I had already purchased CityPass tickets, so luckily I was able to get in. Not very happily though, the place was ridiculously full!





However, the parades and everything else are still there; sure they're great, but with the crowds its just not worth visiting the park. According to advice from the guys who work there, best time to visit is from September to around Thanksgiving.





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However, they do have two parks; the first is the regular Disneyland park, and the one opposite it is the Disney's California Adventure. California Adventure is not as busy as the normal Disneyland, and has some more interesting rides (riding in an elevator shaft that falls out of nowhere, cool rollercoaster rides) as compared to the regular Disneyland which is more or less aimed at children, so the rides aren't as thrilling or scary. It depends more or less on whether you're going with a bunch of friends, or with the family and children.


December 27th

After two days, had to drive back to LAX airport to leave California (sniff). Had a few hours to kill so passed by Venice Beach. For anyone who doesn't know about this place, tis a stretch of beach with shops, restaraunts, board walk, people skating, street performers, etc. Its a really nice place and usually very busy; however today it was pretty windy. Make sure to visit if you are ever around; it really is a nic place:





It was time to leave for the airport... I don't want to leave...


Last shot before going into the airport... so sad...


That was such a perfect trip... Almost! But still, I would jump at the chance to go back to California again... Anyhow, going back to Boston, and then visitin New York for a week to celebrate new years, and kill a few days! CLICK HERE for the story!