Not all who wander are lost. [J.R.R. Tolkien]

    A comprehensive travel journal written by two people (Han writes in black text, Ning in brown). We take on Vancouver, Anaheim, L.A., Manhattan, Philadelphia, Princeton and other places. We did not actually surf in the USA.

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    Name: s. ning

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    Saturday, May 07, 2005

    (Days Inn, Hollywood, L.A. county)

    So we've left the beautiful O.C. behind, along with the eternally happy Disneyland. After dragging the luggage trolley all the way back from the lobby back to our room, dumping overstuffed bags onto it and dragging it to the entrance, Auntie Mae arrived. She has two sons, one in Stanford University and the other in Columbia. 0_0

    We went to a nearby Denny's for a delicious breakfast- some dude was walking around twisting balloons into various shapes for the kids- we had buttermilk pancakes and ham & mushroom platters. We cleaned our plates.

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    We later drove to South Coast Plaza for some shopping. Rode along the many freeways again- just driving along the freeway is one of my favourite activites. L.A. is extremely flat and you can see mountains and buildings miles and miles away all around you. You just have a feeling of how infinite the universe is, pardon the cheese factor. And the numerous tall skinny palm trees to constantly remind you you're in California, here we comeee...

    South Coast Plaza was pretty crowded, it being a Saturday, with lots of families milling around. I hear Spanish and foreign-accented English more than regular American accents. The Plaza was slightly frustrating at first due to the ridiculous prices and high end boutiques, but we later found some more affordable shops after limping around (yes, from walking around Disneyland too much), and purchased a purple top and South American influenced skirt. Abercrombie and Fitch has nice, not so affordable T-shirts. By the look of it, turquoise is in this summer because it is EVERYWHERE. And the kind of long crinkled flowy skirt. You could probably find a turquoise long crinkled flowy skirt in any decent clothing store in the mall. There are large signs around the mall with quotes on them- I love the way they are there simply for art's sake.

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    We have taken to taking pictures of things we cannot afford to buy, which is rather satisfying.

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    Oh and guess what we saw in a shop window for Ermenegildo Zegna [stylo men's brand that I had to dig up the South Coast Plaza directory in order to spell]? Diego Luna, [just the picture, not in the flesh, unfortunately] modelling. While his best friend is busy prancing around Hollywood making stuff like Babel with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, he's modelling. Oh well. At least it's not Baleno. And we were very happy and snapped away, while the store staff [in their snappy suits] looked wordlessly on. I'm very glad they didn't rage on about copyright infringement like they did in Korea, and elsewhere. Another funny thing is how cars actually give way to pedestrians- they literally slow down and stop when they see that someone wants to cross the road. I'm worried we'll forget when we get back and get knocked down along Orchard Road or something.

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    Angry!Diego.


    yeah, that's it. smile!
    I couldn't resist putting this one up from the Ermenegildo Zegna site, even though it has nothing to do with our trip. Why didn't they put this one up in the shop window? I'm sure they'd sell more suits.

    Guess! has especially beautiful (and pricey) clothes here. Everything is so Indian influenced, my mum says we should just go to Little India and shop instead. And what's with all the Latin America promoting clothing? It's just the stereotype of how they spend all their time dancing and drinking tequila.

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    We had lunch at Yujean Kang's Asian Bistro, which had surprisingly good food especially with a name like that. Our Chinese waiter understood Mandarin but pronounced "Mapo Tofu" with an atrocious American accent- the way it is spelled. We had a nice meat free meal with cooked vegetables. And the fortune cookies! What a joke. First sign of the angmo interpretetion of a Chinese restaurant. Mine said something like, "A sudden change of events will bring good luck in the future." Well, I certainly hope that doesn't come true. And this!

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    We walked a very long distance to Borders (I think the mall was the size of Singapore) where they had very pretty journals, though over the years I don't really see the need to buy expensive blank books that I can't bear to use. Saw a very pretty version of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, while Ning was happy to find respite in the graphic novels section.


    Viggo Mortensen. He acts. He writes. He... introduces.

    We headed back to the car to take a one hour ride to dinner. Zooming along the freeway was another experience. The combination of fluffy clouds and setting sun really made it look like the gateway to heaven. And Road Signs. Lincoln Avenue, Santa Monica. Odd buildings along the road fading into the horizon, such as crab restaurants and a gigantic football stadium. Huge green hills surrounded us as we headed further to the L.A. county, straight out of LOTR. It makes one feel so tiny and so massive at the same time. Really wished we could have stopped along the freeway to capture such beauty- it'll have to remain in our own memories then.

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    We reached Monterrey Park after an hour of wide-eyed gaping- we expected to fall asleep but there was just too much to see- it's a very Chinese district. Pretty houses, though it isn't supposed to be a safe area. We saw a Hispanic(?) dude selling flowers randomly along the road, sticking his head into passing cars when they stopped at the traffic lights. The income gap here is questionably large. When we were looking for a parking space some junior street punks on skateboards zoomed by, one almost crashing into our car.

    The seafood restaurant we intended to go to was absolutely packed, so we went to a little noodle house instead. Being slightly ill we couldn't really finish our food, but it was nice to be among some Mandarin-speaking people again. (And NOT Cantonese.) An American Chinese girl took her black and Hispanic friends to eat there.

    We went to a nearby Chinese supermarket to buy fruits to cleanse all the oil and grease away. Church posters are pasted on lamp posts around the area. I was delighted to see that they sold Hello Panda there! Halfway across the world. Saw a Chinese guy with a haircut that would look more appropriate on a Singaporean secondary schoolgirl. I suggested going to the Mummy Museum the next day since it will be Mother's Day. Mum isn't amused. We see Seoul Raiders and Kungfu Hustle movie posters in the shop windows.

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    And it was time to head to Hollywood! We passed the county jail on the way. It looks pretty good for a jail. Creative graffiti and murals on the city walls. We pass the CNN headquarters, filming studios and the Hollywood sign on the hill. It's a pretty seedy area but nonetheless fascinating. Carson Daly is due at a show according to a theatre signboard along the way. We see more budget inns, and the Nickelodeon studios.

    Days Inn Hollywood is rather grubby compared to its predecessor. No Asians whatsoever, which makes for an interesting stay. The counter ladies look on mildly as we tug our luggage up the steps, sans ramps. A fire truck wails by. We later discover that there are no shuttle services to the places of interest, so we'll have to wander around on our own. We removed our luggage from the trolley and dragged them one by one up more steps- while I was holding the door open so Mum and Ning could drag the luggage through a woman in orange overalls outside a nearby room started talking to me in gobbledegook. She was probably drunk.

    As we attempt to arrange our luggage around the room, there are bangs and thumps from above as well as the adjourning room. People conversing in ghettospeak routinely walk past our window. This entirely alien setting will have be confronted- and explored thoroughly- tomorrow.

    posted by s. ning | 8:39 PM | 0 comments

    Friday, May 06, 2005

    I'm sitting in the toilet writing to save time in my own strange manner, since Auntie Mae arrives at 9am tomorrow and the room is in a whirlwind with my mum trying to pack everything even though she needs them in the morning. I'm writing this with the pen I stuck into the 3-pin adaptor several times to create a 2-pin plug, and it has gone all rough as punishment for my maltreatment. I foresee a long night.

    My legs and toes are completely numb now and it' funny the way I can't say it's because of some hard long distance workout, but instead, due to walking around and around Disneyland! Reminds me of how Gina sprained her ankle coming out of the bath and Mamaleng told her she could at least blame it on a swimming accident, while for herself it'd be obvious she fell out of a bathtub or something equally stupid.

    We all lay abed a bit too long this morning. It rained on and off in short bursts for about an hour, making us all irritable because we couldn't decide when to leave i.e. mum wanted to leave right away, I wanted to wait until the rain cleared up properly so I wouldn't have to wear a huge, embarrassing raincoat that makes me look like a bat. I still had to wear it, and anyway, when the guys across the street are wearing tiaras and Matrix style coats, no one's going to stare at anything.

    The plan was to finish up Fantasyland rides first, which was what we did. The weather turned sunny and very warm as we queued for It's a Small World- probably about the third ride my mum has been on at all- and we amused ourselves taking pictures of the animal grass sculptures. The lion in particular was ridiculous looking, with bristly horsehair sticking out of his green head for a mane. After about fifty renditions of the song, I still feel like it's a kind of freaky alternate universe. Here are the Swiss, dancing on mountains, ducks bobbing their heads mechanically over an over again forever more. Let's all sing together, the Hawaiians underwater, while the Chinese sow their crops to the same beat. But the stereotypes have to come first, right, before we can begin to learn anything.

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    I saw a guy who looks exactly like a cross between Macaulay Culkin and a Hanson brother, I SWEAR. He was in the line behind us for Peter Pan's Flight, which garnered a line way too long for about three minutes of pseudo-flying. It was solid pseudo-flying, anyway. I wish the stars were that numerous.

    And it's lunch-time already. Due to our breakfast limited to over-sweet cinnamon pastries, we were hungry. Han and I led mum back to New Orleans Square to explore delicious/beautiful dining ambiences. We settled on the Blue Bayou, sitting waiting in the lobby for a while- set up to look like an old-fashioned parlour. I listen to a woman in one of the waiting groups reminisce about one guy's first visit to Disneyland when he was a wee lad. Now he's about 20ish (my guess), in a wheelchair (nothing too serious from what I see), solemn, but still happy 'cos you can't be anything else here! Disney should employ ME for promotion of Tired Taglines.

    The Blue Bayou is entirely in darkness, just as we saw it when we sailed past in a pirate boat the day before. Only candles on each table and colourful lanterns light the area. I wonder what the waiters do when customers lose things on the ground- come around with torches while they crawl on the ground and search I suppose. It is strange and exciting eating while monkey/other assorted wildlife noises punctuate the background murmers and boats pass silently by every few seconds beyond the veranda, their not so silent passengers whooping like hyenas/waving giant Mickey four-fingered hands, golden ears glinting in the gloom. The simulated sky is the coolest part- the moon constantly shapeshifts or disappears "behind a cloud" momentarily. It makes me think of a certain wizarding dining hall, only it wasn't dark out while we dined on clam chowder and spicy seafood rice.

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    (I am confused now, writing this two days later, on the mean streets of the real L.A., i.e. Sunset Boulevard, where everything is disturbing yet bewildering. It will take some time for me to revert to the Happy Place that is Disneyland mode.)

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    Where your resident princess can pay you some attention.

    We headed for Mickey's Toontown which made me feel exactly as if we'd wandered onto a Version 7.0 King's Quest set- a LIVING CARTOON. Bright plasticky buildings with exaggerated curves and dips in the doorways and windows, and the sun suddenly emerged, drowning us in hot light. Han and I decided to be childish and take the Go Coaster with a lot of little kids climbing over the dividing walls. A kid behind us: "Do you think I'll be scared?" "No, dear, there's nothing to be afraid of." "Can I scream like this (insert anonymous frog sound) when I'm on the ride?" "Yes, but not now." It lasted for about half a minute, truly, but it was great fun, whooping over the shrieks. We emerged to meet mum scarfing an ice-cream from Daisy Duck's Yoghurt Stand (or something like that).

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    The D.U.H. (Department of Untapped Hilarity) are EXCELLENT and LAME. They were doing a series of comedy sketches reminiscent of Whose Line is it Anyway? where they write down a series of actions e.g. Going to Chuck E. Cheese in a Santa Suit on Anita Baker Day (yes, it's all-American lingo) based on audience suggestions and they have to act this out to another cast member speaking in nothing but gibberish. Do they have a special code language? Your guess is as good as mine (it sounded like Simlish to me). But they were great, particularly in Disney parodies. One of the guys, who we suspect to be the Juliet from the day before, made a superb HissyFit!Cinderella.

    Our feet were still killing us, so we debated on going to California Adventure at all, but I'm very glad we did. It's beautiful, with wilder rides and an avalanche of couples having romantic nights out. The faux Hollywood area we wandered into devoted much time and space to animation, which we nerdily adore. The theatre combined several screens, transitioning between the best Disney-song moments from Hercules, Pocahontas, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, etc. Hercules, Cinderella and Sorceror!Mickey were wandering around in the flesh. I tried to queue for a picture with Mickey, but he went and wandered off halfway to star in his show. What a diva!

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    The exhibition was fascinating, not least of all because Hercules and Cinderella got tired of being ignored and started chatting with one of the staff. Han aimed her camera at them to catch them in such a perfectly dynamic act, but Hercules must have caught on and scooted off. DARN. Did you know that Pocahontas was supposed to be accompanied by a raccoon, a hummingbird and a turkey, but they cut the turkey in the end? Or that Sebastian the crab in The Little Mermaid originally went hippie with dreadlocks and a mustache?
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    Not the hippy version, just a strange, cheeky, cloaked one
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    A short but exceedingly cool live show included Mushu the Mulan dragon, on screen, arguing with our live host. The intro was the best. Mushu hops onto the screen, glares around at the host ("Who are you?"), glares at the audience ("Who are they?"), then stomps around a bit ("I'm a real dragon!") only to find '(c)DISNEY' stamped on his tail and looks horrified. Background disappears to be replaced by a bluescreen ("Where's China?") Priceless, I tell you.

    The spooky Hollywood Hotel we saw looming out above everything turns out to be a ride. It is furnished to look like a fancy but dusty, abandoned hotel.
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    We crowd into a little room similar to the one in the Haunted Mansion, carpeted with bookshelves and spooky music, and watch a black and white TV show that tries to eerily describe how previous guests have dropped into the Twilight Zone through the ill-built elevator, which is what we are ushered into eventually by staff dressed as bellhops. If you have nightmares about falling several stories in a broken-down lift or felt ill while reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, this is not the ride for you. That's what we did- rise, drop into complete darkness, rise high enough to a window that is actually the crumbling-away bit of the top of the building where you see right onto the streets far, far below, then drop again. My stomach literally fell into my feet.

    We exited the area to find ourselves smack in the middle of a Bloc Party, involving Pixar character waving on floats- the caterpillar and stick insect from A Bug's Life, Mrs. Incredible, Sully from Monsters Inc. etc.- and very energetic dancers who continually waved signs proclaiming things like SCREAM, SHOUT, DANCE. The music was a poppy but wonderfully danceable remix of stuff like Celebration, Hey Ya ("shaaake it like a Polaroid picture!"), Footloose and the Macarena.
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    After snacking for a while at a bake-place fashioned to look like a high tech train carriage, on white chocolate chip cookie and juice, we took a slow walk to Paradise Pier, designed like an expansive wharf overlooking still water, with carousel-style music giving the whole place a most magical air. We dashed to the Orange Swings, which literally is a ride involving swings flying in wide arcs inside a giant orange- you get a wonderful view of the sea and all the lights on the shiny-happy rides around it. We rode it twice. I realized that sticking out your feet indeed make you swing a lot higher.

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    There was this ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL-looking rollercoaster I would not go on in a million years. It looked even worse than the Lethal Weapon ride my brother forced me to go on at Movie World, after which I felt as green as an apple. So we opted for the ferris wheel, which even then is divided into Swinging and Non-Swinging ones. My mum was horrified to find we were in the Swinging queue and dashed to the Non-Swinging one by herself. We were in the same carriage as this couple I estimate to be about college age, and the girl kept laughing and scrambling all over the place, while the guy looked queasily and the dizzying height. It was FREAKING COLD up there and car slid up and down precariously as we proceeded higher, but again, the view was amazing. It was so sparkly and quiet being above almost every other being in the amusement park.

    After alighting, we tried Ariel's Grotto for dinner, but it was "closed for the day". So we found an open area in the heart of the wharf, food court style, and settled on Mexican joint Cocina Cucamonga, eating tacos and nachos, which in my opinion was just like junk food, aside from their avocado and bean sauce (the latter tasted like sweet potato).

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    Hitting Downtown Disney again afterwards, thing is- there's still lots of shopping to be done! Han and I were continually fascinated by store after store. We bought OC bag at Roxy (which strangely had a very wide, unfamiliar range), engraved earrings at Something Silver (where I saw an enchanting silver bangle with turquoise dragonfly charm and just eye-feasted for a while), message pins from a little bookstore with an impressive range of children's fiction. Also found an autograph shop selling- Bob Marley autographed guitar, HP/LOTR posters signed by cast, etc., all for astronomical prices. Of course, loads of browsers, wonder how many are mad enough?
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    And on the way back, we spotted the legendary House of Blues, raced into the pounding music to fannishly examine merchandise. As usual, all cool designs are guy-size. Do they honestly think all girls want to wear heart and flower/swirly design tees? I said as much to the guy at the counter, and he just grinned.

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    We leave Disneyland and the O.C. tomorrow, but I'll leave a bit of myself behind, and bring some of it with me- this utopia, which, how many times in a person's life, can one experience? The Happy Place exists mainly in imagination.

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    And of course, only in your imagination, you can sit in a teacup.

    (All pictures from Anaheim here, and here)

    posted by s. ning | 11:00 PM | 0 comments

    Thursday, May 05, 2005

    We set off early after an odd breakfast of caramel buns, tea and raspberry lemonade, which we ate while admiring the Spanish-style scenic paintings on the walls of the breakfast room. After wandering around blurly and questioning several locals, we wind up on the squashy tram to Disneyland. We are crammed between several families, all American, one mum telling her small son to hold on to something or else end up flying across the tram floor, and one of the many Spanish-speaking families we encountered. Hispanics make up more than 40% of the population in California, which is a startling statistic. Spanish is more or less the second language here.



    The ticket lady asks where we are from. "Singapore? Is that in China or Hongkong?" That woman needs geographical help. [I think we should be gratified that she actually knows the difference between China and Hongkong.]

    We are truly very fortunate to plan to arrive in Disneyland late 4th May and start visiting on 5th May- because the 50th Anniversary celebrations start precisely today, and the park was closed yesterday to prepare the fireworks, floats, special Hidden Mickeys etc. What if we had decided to arrive one day earlier and ended up losing an entire day? The bad thing was, of course, it being extremely crowded. We couldn't move for a couple of minutes, because of the crowds of people standing around watching the opening ceremony. LeAnn Rimes was there performing. I could HEAR her singing, but I couldn't exactly see her. [MMC alumni crawl out of the woodwork! But was LeeAnn actually from MMC?]


    Couldn't take a picture of the Disney statue today thanks to the area being blocked up and only to be entered by the media and invited guests. We'll have to come back tomorrow.

    Anyhow, Disneyland California is beautiful. I still am amazed by its atmosphere, the detail, the architecture. It must have taken years and years to build. And it is undeniably the Happiest Place on Earth - that's all you can feel there. Even though the weather was grey and drizzly, it was still fantastical with quaint little shops, odd people, silly rides and wildly-themed restaurants. Pretty much everyone was walking around with those special golden ears on. If there's one thing I really have to commend angmohs on, it's that they're never afraid to look foolish.





    The main square was teeming with media coverage staff - live broadcasting for radio stations, camera-men, important-looking people in black suits with media passes. A particularly cute DJ [At least I think he was a DJ] with earphones around his head drew my attention as he was gabbing to his neighbour in Spanish and looked like Gael Garcia Bernal! Here is a poor photo of him.

    He's the one in the center with his eyes closed.

    It must be noted that a cute guy always has an extra body part - a girl draped over his arm [either that, or he is gay, remember the rule]. I guess some things never change, no matter where you go. I saw so many couples today, old and young. If you think the PDAing in Orchard Road is bad it is ten times worse here. [I don't think PDA is bad. Here, it's an indicator - watch a guy-girl pair for two minutes and if they don't start PDAing, they are Just Friends. Back home, everyone likes to keep you guessing.] Anyway, the couples were cute. Lots of multi-racial ones.

    The first ride we go on is a new Buzz Lightyear ride which was extremely silly and enjoyable - you shoot targets from the moving, steerable car. Both Ning and I wound up on Level 3, which was rather mediocre [it was not! It was only slighly below average!] Then the nice jerky Indiana Jones ride at Aventureland [where we were gravely informed of mortal perils such as man-eating bugs and ceiling-high boulders] where we also ate spicy kebabs for lunch.




    One of our favourite "lands" would be New Orleans Square. It has elaborate architecture, classy open-air restaurants under trellises and umbrellas - one had a jazz band with a magnificent trumpet and a trombonist cum singer - and artists doing caricatures. The town bursts with creativity/starving artist vibe. [Which is what I picture Greenwich Village in New York to be like!] [Is it?] [Okay, so it wasn't in the least]






    Another cool restaurant was the Blue Bayou- it's inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and is beside the water where the boats go past. One thing I particularly enjoy is the silly costumes the poor ride assistants have to wear for each ride- explorer uniform for Indiana Jones, hick outfits for the Pooh ride, dresses with puffed sleeves for the girls and Victorian rentboy getups for the guys for the Haunted Mansion. Ning ate an ice-cream sandwich in the shape of Mickey's head, mum and I munched on churros. Yum! Absolutely drowned in sugar.


    The Blue Bayou



    We then headed off to Tom Sawyer island on a raft.








    Later back on the main shore we headed to the Haunted Mansion nearby. We saw Funny People- the people we dub the Growing Up Gotti gang, beefy and in singlets, who still found the need to cut the fast-moving queue, and a bunch of 6 high school/college students- 2 PDAish couples, and another non-couple guy and girl. Can you imagine how uncomfortable they felt? They were making polite conversation and trying their best to ignore their peers. They were in front of us in the queue, and we could feel their pain. The Haunted Mansion is quite a riot, with holograms aplenty- I want to go again!




    Growing up Gotti gang

    We also visited the Pirates of the Caribbean. In the midst of the (water) ride we whooshed downwards and Ning's hat flew right off her head(!) We thought it had fallen into the water, never to be found again, only to discover it 2 seats behind after the ride ended! I guess we should be glad that the hat flies in a straight line. When we were in the line for this ride we were between 2 middle-aged couples (still PDAing, but milder). The couple behind us raved over our camera, over how small it was (I reckon it's a pretty average sized digicam). And they were amazed when I showed them how the lens could be rotated so one could take pics at any angle, it was just funny.






    We later proceeded to the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, which is just so happy and colourful, we felt like we were stuck in a giant greeting card. I heart Pooh, though the classic version is still better. We watched the people dressed up in Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore costumes get tortured by small children. One kid tried to put his hand inside Pooh's mouth, so Pooh covered his mouth with his large paws.




    "Get away from me!" Pooh is thinking, glad that he looks so cute and benign in that costume.

    We crossed by Frontierland again and caught a slapstick performance of Rodeo & Juliet. It was pretty funny when the 2 sides of the crowd made feeble "bang bang" sounds at each other when we told to be feuding families.



    We reached Fantasyland and caught a few more rides, and then lunched at a Pinocchio themed restaurant, which included Mickey shaped chicken nuggets. A friendly local pair asked where we were from after Mum offered them our pizza. "Singapore." "Wha?" "Singapore." "Ohhh...?" [the kind of tone that you get when you tell someone what unknown primary school you were from]. Mum told the guy that he had a pretty girlfriend (she had sparkly eyeshadow). They were amused as they were merely co-workers.





    We walked all the way back to the main square to get a good spot for the parade, a good hour or more early. But it was all right- people watching is fun. A blonde girl in an Ireland jacket and a silver-haired man in dark glasses chatted languidly in Spanish, little kids in fairy princess outfits bounced around. And we treated to the sight of two very cute fellows [brothers or cousins, no less!] who were scruffy haired, red-cheeked, and had beautiful eyes. In fact they were so good-looking it seemed almost unearthly. (They were probably younger than us, since dudes our age here look about 25, and if happened to be remotely good-looking, would, of course, have a girl glued to their arm) Anyway time passed quickly 'cos we had something to watch while waiting, haha. One of them looked like Diego Luna from the side (at least I thought so) :)




    How to look hot even in golden Mickey ears and a Disneyland jumper.


    The parade itself was much shorter than expected, considering it's the 50th anniversary celebrations! But it was colourful and bright and fun, and had a good view. There was a rhino (probably two people or more stuck in costume) that clomped along to the beat.








    After the parade ended the 2 dudes stood up- one is a full head taller than the other. That's pretty scary 'cos they look like twins when they're seated. Sadly I had to leave my eye-candy behind (HA) and we decided to buy a Winnie-the-Pooh concept art poster, though we favoured an oil painting of Pooh and his friends playing soccer because it is SO CUTE, but of course it was well beyond our financial means!

    And now we're back after scarfing down newly bought cup noodles, seriously considered the best meal of the day after 2 days of solely pizzas and burgers and other junk food. We have to make up by eating lots of salad. I realize that I quite enjoy watching the sensationalistic US news on TV (particularly Fox), where they even include Justin Timberlake's throat surgery.

    posted by s. ning | 11:47 PM | 0 comments