I have been to a few water slides. They are all fun, exciting and exuberating. For someone like me who gets sea-sick easily and doesn’t enjoy either snorkeling or scuba diving, water slides are one of the fun things that I really like to do.

“The Leap of Faith” water slide at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island is one of its kind. Shaped as Mayan Temple, it is a 60 foot high slide with a nearly vertical angle, connecting to a crystalline under-water tunnel in a lagoon filled with sharks.

Too embarrassed to back off after standing in the long line to the entry of the slide, I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, and took a leap of faith down the slide… I heard myself screaming in a voice so horrible that I have never heard before. The next thing I felt was that my body was like a bomb shooting out of the under-water cannon. I remembered thinking of those sharks around me… they must be amused to see things like this every day!

Before I could take another breath to scream again, I found myself dropped in a calm-water pool, safe and unharmed. However nerve-racking the experience was, everything finished within 5 seconds. It was indeed a leap of faith!

Atlantis, travel, Bahamas, Paradise Island, vacation, water slides

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean called Atlantis. It has grassy plains brimming with tropical fruits, winding rivers running deep and pure, cheerful birds flying in the skies, and colorful marine animals swimming in the waters.

It is said the Atlanteans were noble and powerful people. They possessed great technical prowess and made wondrous machines; they traveled far and wide trading with distant lands. On Atlantis, arts reached the heights of expression that has never been seen since.

Until one day, the entire island was submerged by a volcanic eruption and all its civilization sank into the deep ocean within one night. Atlantis mysteriously vanished in the blink of an eye 11,000 years ago.

Thus was the tale written under the pen of Plato; thus was the story told generation by generation; thus was the endless fascination of scholars, researchers and archeologists for this lost wonderland.

At the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, we visited an excavation called “The Dig.” It is a captivating interpretation of how life may have been in this legendary paradise, and an example of aggrandized human imagination for a fabled world long lost in time…

What I found marvelous about The Dig is that it is a combination of under-water ancient ruins and a modern aquarium. There is an elaborate maze of chambers and corridors representing the ancient city streets of Atlantis, and over 50,000 sea animals representing 200 different species.

Wandering through the maze, I noticed the “well-preserved artifacts,” innovative apparatuses such as georesonant clock and wet cell battery, a crashed submarine, and the navigation system used by Atlanteans for planning their voyages…. There is even a replication of Bimini Road that was claimed as an ancient sunken wall on the sea bed of the Atlantic.

Flowing around the ruins are the world’s most exotic sea animals including fascinating piranha, moon jellyfish, venomous lionfish and much more, presenting an ever changing spectacle of sights, sounds and sensations.

Nobody knows for sure whether Atlantis has ever existed. The Dig is “a place where sea becomes land and myth becomes reality…”

Atlantis, travel, Plato, Bahamas, Paradise Island, vacation

Located in the south of Silicon Valley, Santana Row is an “urban neighborhood” with European flair. From its sidewalk cafes, to boutique stories, to art galleries, to famous brand names, Santana Row has become an upscale vicinity in the Valley.

Its Mediterranean style of villas reminded me of Barcelona. I enjoy walking on the stone-paved pedestrian street, sitting in the sidewalk cafes, listening to the live music, and watching people going by. In the nights, people are drawn to it by its very cozy and seductive ambience. Men and women are dressed up in the most fashionable way you can ever see in this Valley. It’s like in a totally different world.

Living in Silicon Valley has its pluses and minuses. We have enough open space, nature and hiking trails, shopping malls with department stores; what we don’t have is a sophisticated urban life. Palo Alto downtown is the closest urbanity we can get without going to San Francisco.

Santana Row made a difference. It has 18 restaurants with a variety of international cuisines and 70 brand name shops including my favorite stores Gucci, BCBG Max Azria, and Z Gallery, etc.

The restaurants there are indeed amazing. Not only the food is superior, they can fake you as if you were in Europe! Left Bank Bistro, an authentic Parisian-style brasserie, was reminiscent of Fouquet’s on Champs-Elysees (not quite the same magnitude). Maggiano’s Little Italy, serving lavish family style Southern Italian cuisine, made me feel like I was in Florence again! On weekends, you can’t even get in without two-week advanced reservation.

I only wish there were more Santana Rows in the Bay Area!

lifestyle, fine dining, brand names, Bay Area