Day 3: (Tokyo) Disneysea, Ikebukuro

waking up the next day was absolute torture. ugh. chuuling and hanbin didn't want to go to disney for two days, so they headed off for their own day trip (ueno, ikebukuro) while alvin and i got up in the wee hours to go back to maihama. we found bon bread while walking through nakano broadwalk the day before, and bought so much food man! but in the process because it was rush hour, by the time i left the train the breads were a little squashed up. haha.

But it still wasn't as bad as yesterday... People so tightly packed you could fall asleep and you wouldn't fall over (I think I saw someone who did.) And even if the person beside you moved over someone would just take over right away.

HAHAHA!! i really love rush hour in japan man. A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE. :D

alvin and i got to maihama before wai liong and alanna, so we headed down to disneysea via the monorail first.

map of Disneyland and sea:









cinderella's castle which is VERY VERY FAR AWAY.



donald the explorer:



disneysea is HUGE. and even more grand and detailed than Disneyland. less bright colours and more rustic too!



this little girl was enamoured by the band. so darn cute!



wailiong and alanna arrive and our disneysea adventure begins!!



oh man check out the huge volcano. it's the same height as cinderella's castle.



we went straight to fast pass Tower of Terror first. here's what we saw on the way:





then down to the seaside-ish areas. the weather was actually kinda warm... darn it should've dressed up when alvin suggested it. i thought it was going to be bitterly cold!

Yeah so funny... didn't want to dress up. Only when it's not necessary to...

YAR YAR YAR. -_-











before going into the simulator ride, we had some instructions and a brief introduction:



HAHA THE RIDE WAS GREAT! they simulated rain and alvin had a huge death ray gun that almost landed on him. heheheh.

IT NEARLY DROPPED RIGHT ON ME!!! Wai didn't warn me.... =(

that was pretty cool. now for the indiana jones' ride. you see, they could have skipped a lot of detail - we wouldn't even have noticed nor complained anyway. BUT IT'S ALL THESE PERKS THAT WE SEE AND APPRECIATE. like this abandoned plane on the river banks:

Look closely, it says C-3PO.

and then we can see the Incan temple!!



the landscaping is unmatched man. it's a whole new world.



waiting for its sacrifice:





we watched a ritual being done... between 2 tourists.



i guess both of them had been waiting ages to act that scene out together. so many japanese walked past and giggled!! hahaha!

I think they giggled nervously at our ritualistic sacrifice.

the queues at disneysea are so much shorter than disneyland. good. inside the crystal skull ride:











the indiana jones' ride was great. full of rolling boulders, shooting darts and puffy smoke. *thumbs up* The smoke ring was awesome!!!!

Heh heh... they didn't update the crystal skull to look like the one in the movie, which wasn't that bad of an idea actually... stay away from weird movie plot, I say.

then we met pocahontas:





she came, she spoke and welcomed us with an airy and gentle voice, posed with us, then said goodbye and glided off to someone singing 'have you ever heard the wolf cry...'

well ok the singing's imaginary but we ALL imagined that because she was like... really pocahontas-ish. wow.

finding a good spot to watch the float parade (we watched 4 parades that day! siow man! haha!)



the opposite banks:





everyone gathering for the parade (these people were there since 10am when we strode into disneysea):



tinkerbell!





MARIE!!!! AGAIN!!! XD





filming marie, mostly. yay for digital zoom!

yay for 20x optical zoom on the Canon Powershot SX1S!! (too lazy to cary a DSLR)



wailiong and alanna:



OH MAN I REALLY LOVE MICKEY AND MINNIE SO MUCH.

Here they are, about to kiss!

scrooge's pond:





then we heard a racket on the way to another show, so we went to check it out...

OOH!







these bunch of guys were so funny. they're no stomp, but they made it up for their immensely entertaining personalities. they kept dropping their drumsticks one after another until at one point one of them asked the leader, 'daijobu desu-ka?' to which he replied in a strangled voice, 'DAIJOBU JENNAIIII!' HAHAHAHAHAHA!

now, they're about to teach us how to dance:











and Q.E.D.!



great bunch of guys. :D next stop - a very happy and touching story of 2 orphans stowed away on a ship bound for america because they need medicine for their sick mother:

(you mean you understood the story? HAHAHA)

(alanna explained it to me!!)



the captain of the ship is no other than:



and his lady:



oops:



this old couple is super funny. very well written:





the girl:



minnie wants to revamp her look:



the ball (SEE THE AUNTIE!! HAHAHHAHA!!):





the girl and her nerd:



minnie and daisy are pleased with their efforts:



gasp! they've found the stowaways! chase them!!! through the audience!!



wai liong who was sitting closest to the aisle gave them directions, to which the crew members bowed and said 'HAI!' i was delighted!

He said "arigato!" I believe, while nodding in recognition. Very good ad libbing.



the chase scene where the orphans run through tons of doors! the action was so well done!!











oops, they opened the door on mickey and minnie sharing a kiss:



and they are CAUGHT.



but it's a happy ending! mickey gives them tickets for free, and one extra for their mother!!







and now... for the Tower of Terror. IT'S SO FREAKY I TELL YOU. everyone is sombre (the place is staffed by very sombre staff, unlike the rest of the cheery disneysea) and the whole place is decorated like an abandoned hotel.

years ago, the hotel's founder was in the elevator when it crashed but he was never found... could it be the work of the statue he brought back from africa?





it's so freaking unnerving. first they put you in the waiting room while the host explains the history. then you're ushered into the drawing room where his statue is... THAT SUDDENLY STARTS TALKING. and then it vanishes!! GAHHH.

while waiting for our elevator to arrive:



oh man it was not good. i sat right at the edge of the elevator (i'm the one with the ears):



right next to me was NOT a wall, but a grill where you can feel the chill coming in. i was so spooked... then the elevator went up and we watched the statue kill the explorer. the statue turns towards us and we're next!!

the elevator pulls up one more time and the doors open to reveal a mirror. we all made funny faces first then suddenly... our images disappear. my skin was turning cold... then we hear maniacal laughter. the elevator drops for abit and i screamed, then the elevator pulls up again, this time right to the top of the building and you see disneysea for a brief second (OH GOOD GRIEF WE'RE SO HIGH UP) -

WE FALL LIKE A STONE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT. OMG. FREE FALL IS NOT FUN AT ALL!!

but no the lift stops for a brief moment... then it drops again! WAH LAU KIDDING RIGHT, SO MANY TIMES??!?!?! T_T

this was me crying after the ride. it was bad man. so bad.



i was shaking like a leaf by the time i came out. *sob*

took me awhile to settle myself, so we went to watch the next water parade:

I think I'll introduce the next parade right about here, since it looks as if Vivien ran out of words to say. Here's the next parade! It's awesome. I preferred this one over the first, it was all very epic and awesome.

seriously, the characters don't just stand there and wave - they laugh and clap their hands, spin around, dance, everything! i love them so much!!

now, 20,000 leagues under the sea!











it was very cool. you sit in a little submarine and it very cleverly makes you think you're lowered into the water. then you cruise around and see the kraken and various sea creatures. good stuff!

we also tried the roller coaster next to indiana jones. NOT EXCITING ENOUGH.



onwards to the arabian coast and little mermaid's castle. we didn't have time to go in though. T_T















yes, this was all we saw from the outside, then we left for our fast pass: Journey to the Centre of the Earth.



it was a coaster ride as well, but so better. the start is very slow, they bring you creeping around caverns and you watch the weird creatures and caves full of diamonds and precious stones. suddenly a monster attacks (alvin yelled coz it jumped straight at him hehehe) AND THE CART PULLS AWAY AND ZOOMS OFF! the speed is insane, u hit breakneck speed in the matter of 2 seconds, then suddenly you swerve and pull up a really high slope then you burst into sunlight and down into a looming blackness. then it's the end of the ride. wow the last bit was thrilling man!

good stuff. we grabbed ourselves a huge gyoza and found a spot (we picked where marie would be dancing) to wait for the same parade we watched previously (the one with tinkerbell):



















THEY'RE BRAIDING IT!! WOW!!





YAY MARIE!!! XD





what the... nekopony??!?!







haha she's so cute (that's the tower of terror right behind):

Marie made a boo boo here and dropped her scarf, but she reacted really well :)

i have that on my video!! :D

marie and her minder:







by then it was getting late, and after all the joy from watching marie, i felt brave enough to try the tower of terror one more time. the winds were picking up, so the guys offered to check out if the fireworks were still happening (it'd be a shame to miss it twice!!) while alanna and i rushed to the loo.

we met again before entering in... and this time it was better!! i actually enjoyed myself without getting spooked too much.



that's us in the front row on the left (alanna's the nekomimi now, not me):



next, we caught the performance at Big Band Beat - the jazz performances were so fun! especially when marie came out to dance (i almost died from squealing about how cute she was) and sprightly mickey came out to play the drums. woah. most active mickey we've seen so far!

I was so tired that I slept thru most of it. Jazz.... not my thing.

night was upon us when we left for our last parade of the day:

(the tower of terror at night)















the volcano explodes!



the phoenix rises:







after the show, alanna and wailiong went to check out good spots for watching the fireworks. we quickly ran over to join them there; the fireworks began and i starting recording it down...

but then i felt a tap on my shoulder... what is it?

ALVIN PROPOSED!! XD

yes I did!! XD Vivien said yes!









the people who made it happen:





:D:D:D

Heh... don't know what to say about this here, but I think I'll blog about it, since it's open knowledge XD

Oh, and we went for dinner at Mutekiya. I had tsukenmen again, but warm this time. Pretty darn good, I finished everything up.

at least you know the name of the place dear. i only remember i was FREEZING queuing outside the shop for so long. brrr.