Wednesday, May 30, 2007

...Disneyland!...To feel young again...

We made our way back to LA after Vegas and headed to Disneyland the next day!

Woke up bright and early.... and it was my birthday too...what better way to celebrate my birthday than to spend the day in Disneyland! :) Got into the hotel shuttle....can't wait to get there!


Can feel my excitement??!! heehee


Disneyland....so pretty....



Started my day in Disneyland with a nice hearty breakfast....Sausage, potatoes, eggs & croissant...
and apple pancakes....


Put on a Goofy hat, hoped onto the tram and was ready to go!


First stop...The Star Wars tour.....

It was quite fun but I got a little giddy because the ride was a simulated one...enclosed space and fast moving visuals is not quite my thing I guess.... Went out and caught a show where they were 'training' kids to be Jedi warriors....



The kiddies were really cute all draped in the cloaks and swinging around their light sabers....but erm...an Asian Obi-wan or Luke Skywalker??!! Hmmm....

Next stop...Pirates of the Caribbean....looked quite exciting...had signs that warned us that we could get wet....



Didn't get wet.... Saw this guy dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow....Aiyoh cannot make it lah...how to compare with Johnny Depp?!?!? Sigh...

Proceeded on to the Indiana Jones ride....I must say that the set was quite realistic and it really made me feel like I was in some exotic lost city.... And the ride was quite exiting, lots of sharp turns and drops and the set inside was really nicely done up too...shiok!


The sun soon got pretty hot and we had to cool off....Ice cream! And so many to choose from...which one shall I have....



Finally ended up at the Space Mountain ride....while waiting in the queue, I witness something quite scary. A ride just ended and was coming into the station....and this girl was hyperventilating so hard and was looking around so frantically like she was calling out for help but couldn't speak....Her friend had to quickly jump back into the carriage to try to calm her down and the attendant also quickly shifted that carriage out to another track and moved it out...It was really quite scary cos she was obviously having so freaked out from the ride...and I could see her expression quite clearly and she was really having a hard time breathing and she looked so scared.... scared me too...wondered what sort of ride this was and was I ready to go through it.... Went on it anyways...but kept my fingers crossed...


I could see how the ride could freak someone out... It was in total darkness except for lots of laser lights blinking and it was a pretty fast ride with lots of sudden turns and drops....So you dont know what to expect and the blinking lights can make you quite 'kan cheong'....Not for the faint hearted...

Passed by the tea cups ride....got dizzy just looking at the cups go round and round.... :P

Passed by the 'lake' and saw people canoeing by....gila these people, weather was so hot and you have to 'work' the paddles... too tiring for me...hehe...


Basically every ride which we took, there was a massive queue...people were everywhere....




But I had fun waiting in the queues....afterall, how often do we get to go to Disneyland right? :P


So enough of Disneyland....we went on to the California Adventure Park that was just across...


And there was a parade going on... all the characters from the Pixar movies were out and having a party!


And they got all the audience up to dance along with them too.... there was this cute little japanese girl all dressed up as Snow White...so cute!

Went on this 'white water raft' ride....
And got soooo super wet! Not funny! BBrrrrrr.....

Finally reached the most exciting ride of all....the Roller Coaster!


But I was feeling kinda lousy already after such a long day so I didn't rwant to take the risk...in case I threw up! So I just watched as my colleague went on the ride.... :P Next time....

After a looong day, I was pretty wiped out.... the day got darker and darker and it was time to head back.... But what a pretty view as you make your exit...


It was freezing by the time we got out and waited for our bus....and I was still soaked from the water ride...very very cold....


Even though I was shivering and totally shacked out, it has been a wonderful day, couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday! All the rides and beautiful sights....sigh...Disneyland... the most wonderful place to be!

Monday, May 28, 2007

....Lights...Money...Excitement....LAS VEGAS!

After our classes in LA, we hit the road and proceeded on to the city of sin....LAS VEGAS! YEAH! I've never been to Vegas before so I was quite excited! Have been watching the series Las Vegas so quite looking forward to seeing the place for myself....is it glam as it looks like on TV?

So off we went on our trusty tour bus....it would be about a 5-6 hr ride....sleep on the bus....sleep-wakeup-sleep-wakeup...shack!

Caught some nice scenery on the way....the desert, miles and miles of nothingness except terrain, dried grass and the clear blue sky...quite pretty....

Stopped at factory outlet on the way to do some shopping...and boy did we shop!

I shopped a little but our Vietnamese dealers as well as the Singapore dealers went bersek I tell you! Especially at the Coach outlet! It was like a madhouse in there, everyone was grabbing everything that they saw and not just 1 piece per item but as many as 4 or 5! They said that it was so much cheaper than in Singapore so they were buying as gifts and for friends. Amazing I tell you, I've never seen such madness in a premium brand store....well except for LV & Gucci during the sales.... phew!

After about an hour and a half of shopping (we had to go grab those stray shoppers to bring them back on the bus!), we were back on the way to Vegas..... After more snoozing & waking up & snoozing, I finally caught sight of things Vegas... signboards....


And more signboards....

We were finally here! Well.....didn't look quite nice in the day....everything was kinda grey and some of the buildings looks quite runned down and old....We stayed at Circus Circus hotel and it was so difficult to get to our rooms because hotel was quite huge and there were many wings and we had to change lifts and walk from one end of the hotel to get to the other lift....so mah fun! And when we got to our room, it wasn't centralised airconditioning so I had to go switch on the huge monster of an aircon at the window....and alamak...it was so freaking noisy! Making all that churgling noise like an engine! How to sleep?! Sigh....



Walked around to explore the hotel a bit....and it has a huge amusement/entertainment centre within its premises, with a roller coaster and ferris wheel! A kid's heaven!


So I was kinda disappointed that it wasn't quite that glam....but the city in the night did live up to it's reputation of being the city of lights....


The hotel looked quite nice all lit up too...


Even MacDonald's had to light up so as not to lose out...hehe...A glam Macs, quite happening! :P


We went to Fremont Street to catch the light show, it was quite spectacular because of the huge and long 'screen' and it was really colourful...


I also caught the pirate show at The Treasure Island...but it was basically a show with semi-naked women prancing around and shaking their booty....


But at least the ship 'blew up' in the end and it was quite beautiful actually...

Went to their Chinatown for dinner...it was more like a compound....like a huge mall with restaurants and shops... And the first thing I noticed was all the funny names....like this one 'Hua Guo Shan...', isn't this the Monkey God's cave?



And what the heck is 'BOBA TEA"?? Somemore it's No. 1!! hehe...



And this one named itself after a hugely popular Hong Kong drama series....funny people...


So I didnt' gamble at all in Vegas, not a single cent, they don't have mahjong mah! :P I found Vegas to be a place where you'd go only if you want to gamble or are going with people who gamble, wasn't that impressed in the end....suspect I won't be going there anytime soon, unless it's a free trip of course! :}