Have You Heard!

Here’s are some of my favorite artist’s and song’s so far this year. I’ve been starting to like more of the alternative sounding music from artist such as Florence and the Machines, Lana Del Ray, and Bastille. 

If you haven’t heard of Lana Del Ray she is winner of two brit awards for "International Breakthrough Act" and "International Pop Female Solo Artist," sold over 5 million copies of her album, and most recently her songs were played in movies such as “The Great Gatsby” featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and upcoming movie “Maleficent” featuring Angelina Jolie. Here both trailers feature her singing.

In the "Great Gatsby Lana Del Ray's highly acclaimed song "Young and Beautiful" was a perfect match for this movie and trailer, with her voice described as unique, captivating and highly emotional. 

In the movie "Maleficent" she is able to show the more somber and some what creepy side of her singing to bring a devilish and sinister tone.

Another great artist is called Bastille who had their break out song in 2013 called “Pompeii”, this band formed in London in 2010. As of February 2014, Bastille have sold over 2.07 million records in the UK alone. Here’s their hit single

The band "Of Monsters and Men" is a great indie folk pop band from Iceland that formed in 2010 a few of their hits are "Mountain sound" and "Little talks".

Another growing artist became popular for his single “Let her go.” His real name Michael David Rosenberg. Previously the main vocalist and songwriter of Passenger, Rosenberg opted to keep the band's name for his solo work after the band dissolved in 2009. One of his most successful single is , "Let Her Go", which has topped the charts in many countries.

Last we have the more well known artist such as One Republic, Phillips Phillips, Lady Gaga, and Ellie goulding. Some of their songs that I’ve been liking are “Counting the Stars”, “Gone, Gone, Gone”, “Applause”, and “Explosion”. You can check all the songs I’ve talked about on either Youtube or Itunes.

Here a link to the billboard hot 100 where you can see the top artist and songs on the billboards.

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100

If you like what you heard from these artist you can also type in their names in to Pandora and hear similar music and you might find your new favorite band!

Las Vegas here I Come!

So this summer me and my family were planning to go on a vacation to vegas to celebrate my 21st birthday. I've been doing lots of research to get ready for my trip and heres a few tips if you planning your next trip to Las Vegas. Heres my 10 tips for traveling to Las Vegas.

Tip #1 Always have a map
You need to always have a map on you just incase you get lost or if you need an estimate
d of how long it will take to get to a certain place from your location. GPS being extremely helpful if your planning to rent a car and drive around.


Tip #2 Get a Players Card
Whenever you go to a casino don't forget to get yourself a players card. You can use your players card at slot machines and table games. As you gamble you accrue points and then can redeem those points for comps (free things).


Tip #3 Avoid Las Vegas Hotel Gift Shops
Like any hotel gift shop, their items are over priced and you should never purchase from there. The reason why you should purchase from there is if you have can use your players card points to purchase things without having to spend actual money.

Tip #4 Budget Yourself
Decide before you leave how much you are willing to spend/lose in Vegas. A good rule of thumb is that if you planning to go for 5 days to bring about $1,000. This is not including how much you will need to pay for your hotel, airfare, and transportation cost.

Tip #5 Skip the Taxi
When arriving in Las Vegas try to either rent a car or travel by public transportation such as the bus. But do not take the taxi cabs, they will likely take the longer routes and there also might be traffic which will increase the fare. There are also fake taxi's which have rigged fare machines too.

Tip #6 Travel in the Summer or Midweek
Although the temperature can reach a peak of 106'F in the summer, its cheaper to book hotels and flights then in the winter. Try and book your room and flight Midweek as most people try for the weekends. The airlines and hotels know this so prices are usually higher on weekends and lower on weekdays.

Tip #7 Don't Pay for Drinks
In any casino while you are gambling cocktail waitress will be around serving any type of drinks for free. You don't have to pay anything for these drinks. As the casino want you to get drunker so you gamble away your money. You can tip the waitress so they'll come around and refill your drink more often, but you are not required to.

Tip #8 Learn the Rules of the Game
Learn the rules of the table games before you arrive. Although there are some casinos that have classes on learning how to play not all do. Dealer can also teach you how to play, but you don't wanna look like an amateur. Also other player might get annoyed if you take to long to make your moves.

Tip #9 Stay Hydrated
Especially in the summer, walking on the strip can get hot and you will sweat. Make sure to drink lots of water. If you are consuming alcohol make sure to consume even more water. There are usually small vendors that will sell bottle water for as cheap as a $1.

Tip #10 Have Fun
Most of all remember your there on vacation and to have fun. Let your stresses go and get wild. But always drink responsibly.

New Car, Decisions, Decisions?

So recently I've decided maybe its time to get my first "new" car. I currently own a Toyota Yaris that I bought used on craigslist for $10,000. That was my first car and only car I've had so far. Over the years I've had no problems with it, but I  decided I need to get a new car because the milage is high up there and its beginning to have rust problems. I've been looking into two types of cars so far, the Toyota Prius, which is the highest selling hybrid in the market and the BMW 328i which is another popular car.

Some of the pro's of the Toyota Prius is that it gets great milage due to its hybrid system. Being able to run on both electricity and gas. It also has an aero dynamic body that allows for low wind resisted and a high expected mpg. The cons are the interior wind noise as well as the horsepower being low.

While the BMW 328i is the cream of the crop for sport/luxury cars. The BMW 328i has 240 horse power engine, leather interior, quiet ride, and alloy wheels. The few cons are the lower estimated MPG and higher maintenance cost and initial cost.

While the Prius comes in at about $29,000 and the 328i at $32,000. Although the 328i cost more, it does come with added features that the Prius does not, such as the leather interior, quieter ride, horsepower, and alloy wheels.  The Prius does getter better fuel economy, has a high resell value, and rated as one of the most reliable cars. 

This is a link comparing both car brands BMW vs Toyota brand

It basically comes down to high fuel economy or power, extravagance and luxury.

Heres a videos a couple videos by Consumer report reviewing both the Toyota Prius 

 

and the BMW 328i. Let me know in the comments below which one you think is a better car! I currently am leading toward the Prius since gas is getting more and more expensive, and living on Oahu I don't spend much time driving in my car anyway.

Meeting YouTube Celebrities!

Just another day at work...

So just a little background info, there is group 5 guys on youtube called "our2ndlife" which has over 1.4 million subscribers. This group consist of notable youtubers such as Conner Franta, Ricky Dillion and others who create weekly theme and challenge youtube videos. They are currently on a tour called "digittour 2014" which is a youtuber/music festival. This tour is traveling throughout the state from Hawaii, Washington, New York, and many more places. Their first stop being here in Hawaii for the first time. While I knew they would be in town this week I had no desire to pay $25 dollar, and I don't really watch their youtube videos either. So I thought that if I see them I see them but if I don't, life goes on...little did I know.

I work at the Honolulu Cookie Company in Waikiki so I thought that of course I would probably have a higher chance of seeing them because most likely they would walk around Waikiki and who wouldn't want to go into a cookie shop for free cookies. While at the register ringing up a a customer, out of the corner of my eye I see someone who looks familiar. At first he looks familiar but is wearing sunglasses, then his friend walk in next to him and then I know for sure who it is. Its fellow youtubers  who are friends with the our2ndlife group, Tyler Oakley (with the sunglasses) and Troy Sivan. Tyler Oakley a very popular youtube with almost 4 million, thats right 4 million subscribers and Troy Sivan with 1.7 million subscribers. I also had seen Tyler and Troy as guest in some youtube videos that I watch such a Mamrie Hearts channel "you deserve a drink" in a video called "Edward forty hands". If you wanna watch it heres the link, it pretty funny

Apparently they were here because they hosted the digitour and interview our2ndlife on stage at the festival. This being what I learned by striking up a conversation with them. I also ended up getting a picture with them too, while other fans ended up coming into the store, once other people found them. Just another exciting day working in Waikiki...