Moody Gardens Rainforest Pyramid

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR, I hope that 2014 is an awesome year for everyone. As for me, 2013 definitely had some good parts, but it also had some not so good parts, I'm eager to move onwards with the new year, and hope the best for 2014.

So, yesterday, Fiance and I decided to venture to the mysterious island known as Galveston, and check at the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens, which we haven't been to before. We have been to the Aquarium pyramid, due to a strange obsession with jellyfish and turtles, back in 2012, but we had never been to the Rainforest Pyramid, and it was something to do.

We went into Galveston, on NYE, around 1 pm, or so, and there was literally no traffic on 45, which was a nice bonus, and Moody Gardens, itself, wasn't even that crowded, and there was plenty of parking.

The Rainforest Pyramid advertises itself as "a rare, up-close and interactive experience with endangered plants and animals ranging from Giant Amazon River Otters to Saki Monkeys and Chinese Alligators. See it all in one of the truest replicas of a real rainforest."

The prices are: $21.95 per adult and $17.95 per child . Those tickets ONLY get you into one exhibit, each exhibit is priced separately, however, you can buy a 1-day Pass for $49.95, which would give you access to each of the pyramids at Moody Gardens. There is no discount, at all, for anyone.

Anyhow, the Rainforest Pyramid was enjoyable. There's a really cute sea otter that you can see through the window as you're walking towards to Pyramid. There's an interactive area before you enter, where you can step into footprints and hear the different sounds that the animals make, my fiance particularly enjoyed the part.

Anyhow, you enter the pyramid. It's supposedly humid in there, but I thought the temperature was pleasant, possibly because it was forty-something degrees outside, but also possibly because I live in Houston, where humidity makes a typical summer temperature around 113 degrees, so the humidity of the rainforest didn't seem that bad in comparison.

The first section is a very small butterfly section. There weren't many butterflies. We stood there for about twenty or so minutes, and only saw about four butterflies. Then you enter into the rest of the pyramid.

The pyramid was nice, but it isn't anything to brag about, to be honest. I enjoyed seeing the Cotton-Top Tamarin, and all the different birds. There was an Asian Fairy Bluebird, Scarlet Ibis', and some other birds. There are some cool areas, where they show nocturnal animals like porcupines and bats, as well as frogs, lizards, and snakes. There are also stingrays, fish, and a turtle. The plants themselves are beautiful, all sorts of different trees, and orchid flowers. There are several waterfalls, and I love waterfalls, and both boyfriend and had a good time.

One possible con, water drips down from the rainforest ceiling, so the rainforest will rain on you, it's not a lot of water, just a few drops, but if you're an aquaphobe, or  are very picky about your hairstyle and cannot get your hair wet, I'd probably skip this exhibit. The water is most likely just dripping condensation from the water cycle and humidity in the forest, and it's not even a lot of water, just a few drops,  but it's worth being noted.

Also, I suppose with humidity comes with mosquitoes. I walked away from the Rainforest Pyramid with a mosquito or some sort of bug bite on my arm. So, either wear long sleeves, or wear bug spray.

Personally, I think the Houston Museum of Science is a better deal, if you're looking for a rainforest habitat. They have a beautiful butterfly garden. And it's a huge butterfly garden, with tons of species of butterflies and ample opportunities to see those butterflies in natural habitats. However, Moody Gardens, has MORE animals, they have birds and amphibians and reptiles, but the HMOS is more interactive, and butterflies sometimes even fly on you and attach themselves to your clothing.

For the price of admission to Moody Gardens, HMOS is also a better deal because you can see the entire museum and the butterflies, instead of just one exhibit.

I would say they're both equally interactive for children [or immature adults like fiance and I]. Moody Garden has a lot of interactive things for children like they would enjoy, such as the animal sounds part. HMOS, the entire museum is interactive. Both give children ample opportunities to interact with animals, as well.

Overall, if you just want a Rainforest-like experience, I would suggest the Houston Museum of Science, which is one of my favorite places in Houston, so I may be biased, slightly, but at the HMOS, you definitely get the better bang for your buck. But if you have the time to experience all day at Moody Gardens, including the Aquarium, then I would say that's better worth your time/money, so really it's all about what you prefer for you and your family, both are fun times for all members of the family.

I prefer the Aquarium at Moody Gardens over the Rainforest Pyramid, but fiance prefers to Rainforest Pyramid over the Aquarium.

We also both picked up at least 7 people in Mii Plaza throughout the time we were there, and I got a random compliment on my black Beatles shirt. 

Anyhow, onwards to pictures:

Warning: Pictures of snakes and frogs and lizards, if you don't like those animals, I probably wouldn't click the link. 

I AM NOT A PAID PROFESSIONAL, THESE OPINIONS ARE MY OWN, THESE PICTURES ARE MY OWN, I'm just a girl, who likes to write snarky reviews, and take pictures with a digital camera for my own entertainment and enjoyment. I make nothing from these :) I just like sharing photography.

Moody Garden's Festival of Lights 2013

Ever since I moved to Texas, which was really only a year ago, we've made the yearly winter tradition of attending Moody Garden's Festival of Lights. I love Christmas, which I suppose is hypocritcal since I'm Jewish, but I've just always loved Christmas lights. I have tons of early childhood memories of driving around NJ, on Christmas Eve, with my dad and brother, looking at Christmas lights, while listening to the radio's Top 100 Christmas Carol Countdown, to this day, my favorite is Do You Hear What I Hear.

There was always this one house in NJ that went all out, it was covered from head to toe in Christmas lights, and Christmas decorations, and the owners always sat out on front on Christmas Eve handing out candy canes to people, who came by.  Granted, in NJ, we actually get snow, and Christmas tends to be anywhere from 30 degrees to 0 and below degrees, and occasionally we get snow and have a white Christmas, so we don't really have anything like The Festival of Lights that Texas has.

The Festival of Lights is a yearly tradition held at Moody Gardens from aproximentaly November 16th to about January 4th. It has more than 1 million lights within 100 sound-enhanced animated light display. There's also an ice slide, an ice rink, a bonfire, where you can toast marshmallows and make Smores, a train ride, and also you can visit Santa. Admission is about seven dollars, and the hours are usually from 6 to 10. On Fridays, if you bring a canned good, you can get a two for one admission special.

There are several different scenes within the Moody Gardens' Festival of Lights. The entrance has soldiers, and ballerinas, as well as a Menorah. There's an animated display of the nativity story with sound, music, and lights. It was working this year, last year, that section did not work. There's a Fairy Tale Forest, where there are characters from Fairy Tales such as Cinderella and Pirates. There's an Under the Sea section with fish and Spongebob and Patrick. There's a forest section with lots of different animals, and then the Christmas Village. 

It's a lighted trail, about 1-2 miles. It gets very crowded. Last year, fiance and I went on a  Monday right before NYE, and we didn't have much of a crowd. We also somehow walked half a mile more last year, we're not sure if it's because there was an additional section, last year, or we just parked further away.  This year, we went on a Saturday, and it was VERY crowded. The plus side is that I met about 10 people in Street Pass for my new Gameboy 3ds, HELLO EXTRA LEVELS IN POKEMON X!!!! It was still a good time, I just prefer less people, there's more room on the pathways to walk. If you do go, I recommend, going during the week, and going later on in the night. Usually if you go between 8:30-10:00, there's a lot more parking spaces available and you don't need to park miles upon miles away, and it may still be crowded, but there will be less people than if you go at earlier hours. It is slightly colder at the FoL because Galveston is right on the water, and you get the breeze from the water, but it really is a nice time.

PROS: Pretty Christmas Lights, great opportunities to meet people on Street Pass for Gameboy 3ds, a great family outing, lots of people willing to take pictures for you if you take pictures for them, they don't neglect Judaism [that one Menorah means a lot], and it really is a nice time with friends or family.

CONS: Having gone both this year and last year, the lighting displays were exactly the same, there was no variety between the lights from last year and this year. Lots of People on Weekend Nights, so it can get very crowded.  Moody Gardens has plenty of parking, but when it is crowded, you may park far away.

OVERALL: Definitely worth going to, especially if you've never been there before.  Moody Gardens also has a lot of other stuff you can also. There's an Aquarium Pyramid, which I have been too before, and is definitely worth a visit. There's this one area of the aquarium, where it's like you're underwater because the fish are swimming above and next to you, if you've ever played Final Fantasy VII, it's a lot like Junon Underwater Reactor, and is pretty cool. There's a Rainforest Pyramid, which I've never been too, so I can't give any personal recommendations for, however it is humid in there, so if you have frizzy uncontrollable curly hair like me, be forewarned. There's also a little water park called Palm Beach, with a few water slides, a wave pool, and a lazy river, but obviously it's not open until Spring/Summer, so Moody Gardens is worth a visit, there is tons to do, especially for a family, or a bored couple, who have nothing better to do over their Christmas/Spring break.

Anyhow, onwards to the Festival of Lights pictures.

DISCLAIMER:  I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, I'M A GIRL, WHO LOVES HER DIGITAL CAMERA, I TAKE THESE PICTURES FOR FUN AND ENJOYMENT, AND MAKE NO PROFIT FROM THEM.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, December 27th, 2013, West Band, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

So the idea for this blog came to me after seeing a TSO concert, last night. I love photography, specifically concert photographer, I'm pretty sure I get more of a kick out of taking videos and taking photographs of the artists, who I just paid an insane amount of money to see, than actually watching the concert.

I may also post pictures from other places I travel with my camera, so this won't just be a concert blog, it may also just be a photography blog.


I already have my youtubechannel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JamieLyssa, which I've been posting concert videos on since 2009, when I saw Alice in Chains at the TLA in Philly, but I've never actually posted the pictures of concerts I've seen anywhere except facebook, so here we are, the launching of a concert photography and concert review website.


Mind you, I'm a poor teacher, and I don't get to see that many concerts, so I can't promise this will be an extremely active blog until I actually see a concert, although I may archive some of my older concert photos and add them to this website, as well. But, I will do the best I can, when I do see concerts, moving onwards:

The concert that pops the cherry on my new blog is Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the West Coast Band, seen on December 27th, 2012, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

I've never seen TSO before. I remember, in NJ, always around Christmas time, they'd always show commercials for their shows in NYC, and there'd be all these men with crazy 80s rock hair and they'd play their mash-up of carol of the bells [which I didn't know the true name of until my fiance told me last year] and there'd be snow falling on the stage and crazy men playing pianos, mind you this was the early 90s.

I had heard of TSO, once facebook was released, I always heard people bragging about how awesome their concerts were and how they looked forward to them every year, but didn't think much of it.

Anyhow, my fiance was/is a huge Savatage fan, and even has the hair to prove it. Last Christmas, we were driving and listening to Savatage on my iPod, and Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 started playing, and I was like, "It's the song from the TSO commercials", and that's when, one: I learned the real name of the song, and two: learned that TSO used to be some band called Savatage, but then they broke up and realized they could make a shit ton money in TSO [and good for them for figuring that out] and became Trans-Siberian Orchestra as we know it and love it today.

Since, he could never see Savatage again, and the closest thing we could ever come to a Savatage show was seeing Trans-Siberian Orchestra, we bought tickets to the Houston show, this year, and we weren't disappointed.

First of all, TSO has some CRAZY dedicated fans, all the people in the audience with us, had seen TSO like fifteen times or something crazy like that, and it seemed like their main fanbase consisted of middle aged women. We somehow managed to get seats on the floor, I figured out how to use the flashseats application on my phone, which was pretty bad-ass, and crushed like sardines, we awaited our first show. 

Fiance was pretty pleased with their lineup. We had Al Pitrelli and Johnny Lee Middleton, who were both original members of Savatage, on lead guitar and bass guitar. We also had a hot electric violin player named Asha Mevlana, who was insanely talented, and I also love the sound of string playing in rock music such as in the band A Perfect Circle. I also really liked the two guitarists, even though they looked exactly alike, so I started nicknaming them Kili and Fili from The Hobbit since they sort of looked alike and had that dwarf long hair, but they were both very talented.

This was the set list:
1. Time and Distance
2. Winter Palace
[The Lost Christmas Eve]
1. Faith Noel
2. The Lost Christmas Eve
3. Wizards in Winter
4. Christmas Dreams
5. Christmas Nights in Blue
6. Christmas Jam
7. Siberian Sleigh Ride
8. What is Christmas?
9. For the Sake of Our Brother
10. Wish Liszt [Toy Shop Madness]
11. Back to a Reason [Part II]
12. What Child is this?
13. Christmas Canon Rock
14. Different Wings
[Act Two]
1. The Mountain
2. A Mad Russian's Christmas/Nutrocker
3. Someday
4. Sparks
5. Dreams of Fireflies [On  a Christmas Night]
6. O Fortuna/Carmina Burana
7. Beethoven
8. Requiem [the 5th]
9. This Christmas Eve
10. Christmas Eve/Sarajevi 12/24

They played for three hours straight. I'll admit, I wasn't too into the really slow and depressing stuff because I'm more a rock lover, but the pretentious progressive rock songs such as The Mountain and Requiem [the 5th] were awesome.

I was sort of bored by The Lost Christmas Eve story-line, maybe because I'm a heathen and a Jew, who didn't know what a manger was. I liked some of the songs such as the title track, Christmas Nights in Blue, Christmas Jam, and Back to a Reason, Part II [which fiance tells me is originally a savatage track].

I much preferred Act Two, I really enjoyed The Mountain, which was originally Prelude into Madness from Hall of the Mountain King, by Savatage. I loved a Mad Russian's Christmas/Nutrocker because I love the Nutcracker and a hard rock version of it was pretty awesome. O Fortuna/Carmina Burana was pretty bad-ass too, and definitely one of the best versions I've heard of that song, much better than when my college  choir performed Carmina Burana during my sophomore year. Requiem the 5th was nice and hard, my type of music. And of course Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 was awesome and probably the one song everyone looked the most forward too, well at least, I did :x

Their stage show was AMAZING. The backdrop was this movie of a castle that changed into a hotel, a hospital, a toy shop, and a cool movie screen with awesome cheesy cg like a gigantic dragon. There were pyrotechnics and lasers galore. It snowed on the audience, although only the very front section of the audience gets snowed on. There were stone statues that looked like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, DON'T BLINK. There were rotating platforms on the stage, and in the back of the crowd on the floor that several band members were on and played at the platforms rose.

The only thing I didn't like were the very tall people with the big heads, who sat in front of me, and got in the way of my photography.

But I can definitely see why TSO are top ten ticket-selling bands in the first decade of the new millennium, and they were definitely worth the hype. We both really enjoyed the show,and plan to attend next year, although I think I'm going to pick different seats.

Anyhow, here are the photos, I hope you enjoy them.

Note: I am NOT a professional photographer, I'm just a nerd with a digital camera, I was not paid to take these pictures, these are not professional pictures, just pictures a fan took :)