Like a Child in Glee at The Tokyo DisneySea

I visited Tokyo DisneySea theme park on a February, winter was about to end and spring time was almost looming but oh boy, temperature was still finger cracking cold.

I was going to visit on a Saturday and was told that there could be many school children visiting so I passed by the Tokyo Station the evening before to secure my train ticket in advance. It was nice to have a Japanese colleague with me since he was able to guide me to the ticket counter and walk me through the Disney line.

So on a glorious Saturday morning, I woke up like a little kid, excited for my very first Tokyo DisneySea adventure. With my good ol’ Canon camera and layers after layers of clothes, off I went to the Tokyo Train Station.

From the Yaesu entrance, I turned right and simply followed the signs to the red line, which was actually the Tokyo Disney Line. One can’t miss the platform by following the kids with Disney backpacks marching like ants.

Using the Keiyo Line, travel time is only 15 minutes from Tokyo Station to Maihama Station passing through six stations until where we stopped to embark on this lovely adventure,

From there, I transferred to another train that goes around the Tokyo Disney Resort and got off at the DisneySea. Arriving at about 930am, the line was already surprisingly long with kids and foreign visitors abound. The ticket costs about 75 USD.

As the gate opened, I was immediately charmed by the colors and unique glow that the theme park readily exudes — flowers are so red, the sky so blue and the music is enthralling.

The Tokyo DisneySea is a 70-ha theme park at the in Urayasu, Chiba,Japan, about 20 kilometers in Outer Tokyo. Built in 2001, it is amazing to note that it is the 5th most visited theme park in the world with almost 12 million visitors hosted in 2011. It is one of the two parks nestled on the Tokyo Disney Resort lot, the other being the regular Tokyo Disneyland. Having visited Tokyo Disneyland in Hong Kong already, I decided to check out DisneySea instead for lack of time. Built and owned by the Oriental Land Company, these twin parks are the only Disney parks in the world which are not owned by the Walt Disney Company.

As the name says so, DisneySea has a great nautical feel into the whole theme park. It is divided into seven sub theme areas called “ports” – American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island.

Visitors are greeted with the iconic “water globe” called the Aquasphere, which conveniently serves as the starting or meeting point. In this area also, one can find the locker rooms where they can keep unnecessary stuff which may not be needed during their daylong sight seeing.

After having my photo taken with the “globe”, I proceeded to explore the park. Upon entry, one will be treated to the romantic allure of the Mediterranean Harbor – with its Italian flavor of al fresco cafes and Venetian gondolas, the port allows lovers to fall in love more and hold hands throughout cobbled pavements. The area also hosts the Hotel Miracosta, an actual functioning hotel and other structures with architecture similar to those in Portofino and other Italian ports.

Like any other theme parks, DisneySea also succumbs to the “long queue” formula. For my first ride on the Gondola, I spent about 45 minutes in the queue before finally getting on.

The Gondola ride was an experience to cherish (for someone who has not been to Venice, at least). Passing through canals and tunnels much like in Italy, the boats are commandeered by tenor voiced boat men who sing romantic ballads all through out the 10 minute ride.

After the ride, I walked through some pavements built to appear like old Italian villages. The cold weather and the awesome music will make you forget that you’re just in a theme park.

After passing through some nice garden walkways, one is led to the Port of Mysterious Island which features Mount Prometheus, a giant volcano whuch also serves as the park’s centerpiece. It also home two popular attractions: “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. Obviously influenced by novelist Jules Verne, Victorian style architecture dominates the air.

DisneySea will never be complete without mythical creatures like The Little Mermaid, hence a port of call called the Mermaid Lagoon was strategically placed on the left side of the theme park. Much geared towards the tots and the kids, the area features simulated underwater experience on a mainly indoor area designed like the Palace of King Triton. The younger one s will also have a field day in such attractions like Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster; Scuttle’s Scooters; Jumpin’ Jellyfish; Blowfish Balloon Race; and tThe Whirlpool. It also has Ariel’s Playground intricately designed with a walk-through attraction that recreates the various settings in the movie; and the Mermaid Lagoon Theater where a musical show “Under the Sea” gives the audience a glimpse of The Little Mermaid.

After a rousing tribute to a beloved Disney movie in Mermaid Lagoon, th theme park gives another nod to a popular Disney animated film “Aladdin” in a port called the Arabian Coast.

Deliciously dark and exotic, this harbor carefully meshed the charm of Arabian Nights and the romance of Aladdin. With attractions like the Storybook Voyage, a boat transit inspired by the “It’s a Small World” staple in all Disneyland resorts, a unique double decker carousel aptly called the Caravan Carousel, and the Magic Lamp Theater, which houses a live-action/animatronic show combined with a 3D movie.

Even more fascinating are the Arabian styled shops and houses which makes one feel like it is actually navigating through the narrow streets of some old middle eastern villages.

At the farthest end of the park, one can find the Lost River Delta. Complete with a Mexican Aztec pyramid which features such atrractions like the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, The port also serves as the station for the DisneySea Steamer Line which transports guests back to Mediterranean Harbor. Visitors are also roused from their peaceful walk by ‘Mystic Rhythms’ a live show by the jungle and a scary roller coaster ride called Raging Spirits.

A theme park would not be complete with a zone for futuristic visions. At DisneySea, this is where Port Discovery comes in. With a faux Center for Weather Control, Port Discovery boasts of three major attractions — a simulator ride called the Storm Rider, an overhead train ride called the DisneySea Electric Railway and Aquatopia, a high tech boat ride.

From the future, one is transported back to the vintage era at the American Waterfront. Simulating the early 20th Century US Northeastern Seaboard, this harbour comes like pages from the movie “The Notebook”. Further divided into two sub zones, Old Cape Cod and the New York City Harbor, the area is dominated with two huge pieces – a passenger ship SS Columbia and the Tower of Terror.

With sleepy, laid back American architecture on the background, American Waterfront also hosts musical shows like the Big Band Beat which features swing music with energetic singers and dancers abound.

The lighthouse is good place to looknat the port from afar, and where one can sit comfortably to rest and breathe the fresh retro air.

After the American Waterfront, I was back at the Mediterranean Harbor where a nice elevated walkway provides a good viewing deck to see the The Legend of Mythica, a 25 minute story parade teeming with day time fireworks and amazing special effects.

Unfortunately, on the day of my visit, the nightly fireworks show called “Fantasmic” was cancelled due to the weather. Nonetheless, I will never ever forget the day I visited DisneySea, the cotton candies, the lovely popcorn canisters, the colorful balloons. On that day, I rediscovered my inner child.

The Colors of Disney Sea Tokyo 2011

Breezin Through Hanoi

Jan 30, ’08 2:33 AM

Vietnam is not a breeze. Literally, that is. Going into my recent trip, I checked CNN.com for Hanoi weather just to make sure I was bringing the right set of wardrobe and man, I had a blast seeing the five-day weather had clouds and rain droplets in its visuals. I’d welcome rain anytime. What? With the temps ranging from scorching 35s to the feverish 40s, I’d pay the rain gods for some good and mean thunderstorms.

The trip was also destined to be a historic one for me. I was a “Vietnam newbie” and was taking my first Cathay Pacific flight. The flight to Hong Kong for the stopover was so rnuch like the Pinatubo trek- it was overcast and bumpy. In one instance, the plane hit an air pocket and dipped a bit too low for comfort. It was so scary that someone actually screamed in panic. So much for my highly vaunted CX maiden flight. So ok, fast forward to the hanoi trip. In this trip, I’ve learned a ton about Vietnam but i’m just going to share with you eight:

1. The Vietnamese people are the best elementary school models for “herbivorous” animals. Their daily meals consist of green, leafy vegetables in epic proportions. Our host was very gracious and offered us their authentic cuisine all throughout. I had no choice but to consume an amount which is 300% higher than my self-lnflicted monthly vegetable intake. And I’m talking about a 3-day stint. On my last night, I begun to have this creepy feeling that I’m gonna wake up the next morning to find out that I’ve morphed into the Green Lantern or the Incredible Hulk (Think Green).

2. Artificial skin care products have no market in Vietnam. The Vietnamese have great looking skin – fair, smooth and almost creamy in consistency and no, I’m not talking about ice cream. Know-alls attribute this to the Vietnamese diet which like I said, is composed mainly of green, leafy vegetables. So Dra. Vicky Belo, you can forget about putting up your 71st Forever Flawless branch in Hai Phong. You can just concentrate on hiring attendants who are not attractive to star basketball players who are marrled to multi-millionaire actresses/once-presidential daughters/attempting to become elected future Philipine presidents. (now that is more than enough “slashes” to last a lifetime)

3. Hanoi Vietnam’s infrastructure plans, once in place will make the Philippine DPWH drool. Several construction are now on-going for new roads, flyovers, bridges and walkways aimed to convert Hanoi into a world class city.

4. Motorcycles are the new bicycles in Hanoi.

Seen those postcard pics of Vietnam? Those people who take the bike en masse, pedalling their ways in their salakots? Gone are the days. Motorcycles now dominate the streets of Hanoi taking three lanes out of four. In this city, the motorcycles are the kings of the road. Cars and automobiles take pains in avoiding these motorcycles and thereby avoiding accidents. Well, I look at it on the bright side -more motorcycles means more girls in shorts and more legs on sight.

5. Vietnam has free wi-fi everywhere. As opposed to Manila where wi-fi comes with a price we wonder why turo turo type restos, offices, and coffee shops offer the service here for free. 6. Vietnamese driving offers a unique method of overtaking in highways – Tailgate. Honk incessantly. Flash your lights non stop until the vehicle in front moves away.
7. One of Hanoi’s prime commodities is one of the arts.

According to some information, there is one village near the region where Vietnamese ladies do unique art pieces of mostly paintings. At the Departure Area of Hanoi International airport, tourists of mostly Western descent are seen lugging rolls of canvass for ”take out”.

8. One of Vietnamese Airlines’ flight attendants is an actual deadringer a Filipina celebrity. I’m so hooked with her that I actually refused to deplane for some time. What can I say? I’m exaggerating through my teeth. Only this much is true – she was oh so beautiful, I’m kinda planning to change gender.

So there. Eight beautiful things about Vietnam and its people. Visit them sometime.

Sadly, I found out one more thing but its not about Vietnam. Its about CNN and their freakin their weather forecasts! So entirely erroneous. Boys, it was like Al Gore’s inconvenient truth out there – deep fried hot !

Oriental TV Tower Shanghai China

The Royal Splendor of Vimanmek Palace

One of Southeast Asia’s shining stars will always be Bangkok, Thailand. With its flamboyant colors and a charming east-meets-west vibe, the city embodies Thailand’s nickname as the “Land of Smiles”.

In the thirteenth annual World’s Best Awards Readers’ Survey of globally leading travel magazine Travel + Leisure, Bangkok was named as “World’s Best City 2008”, beating 2007 winners Florence, Italy and Bali, Indonesia. With an diverse offering of rich culture, fantastic food, excellent shopping, vibrant sceneries, nightlife, and more, Bangkok has no doubt, have become a well-loved destination – a city which one would go back to, again and again.

For one in constant hunt for new travel discoveries, perhaps visiting the temples, the Reclining Buddha or the Grand Palace may no longer be as exciting. But just recently, we were lucky to find the Vimanmek Mansion located in the Dusit area of Bangkok with the main entrance on Ratchawithi Road.

One of the less popular and underrated tourist sites in Bangkok, the spot has been attracting a lot of tourists lately and is touted as the world’s largest teakwood palace. It was built in 1901 by King Rama V (Chulalongkorn) and has an astounding 72 interior rooms – all using teak wood!

Inaugurated in March 1901, the Vimanmek Palace was used as a royal residence by the King for five years until the completion of Amphorn Satharn Villa in 1906. By 1932, Vimanmek Palace became only a storage place of the Bureau of the Royal Household.

In 1932 however, Queen Sirikit was authorized by King Rama IX to renovate the teak palace and in turn, converted it to a museum to commemorate King Rama V.

The mansion became a historical attraction with an impressive collection of royal photographs and personal effects – a grand showcase of Thailand’s rich national heritage. Many of the gifts and treasures that King Rama V collected during his travels are also displayed in the museum.

Today, one can walk through, albeit without shoes, to marvel at the former palace of the King of Thailand. It is absolutely a unique experience walk along the grand staircase where many royals of many nations have walked on and to be awed by the ivory pieces, musical instruments, the preserved deer heads and antlers which were once conversation pieces during many royal gatherings.

For an entrance fee of 100 Baht, one can get an exciting tour of the Vimanmek Mansion as well as the other buildings in the palace grounds such as the Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall and the Grand Palace. The tours are coordinated and with English – speaking guides to boot. The place is open daily from 09.30am to 4.00pm with the last tour usually at around 3:15pm

A word of caution though – as Vimanmek is a royal mansion, it is considered sacred and dress regulations are in place. Shorts, skimpy tops or tight skirts are not allowed for ladies and men should wear long trousers and shirts with collars. For unplanned visits, Sarongs are available for sale if your attire is deemed to be inappropriate. It is a must that shoes are removed and stored in a designated area before entering the teak-wood building.

The administration also do not allow mobile phones, bags and cameras into the palace. But they provide secure lockers at 20 Baht per locker. You can only bring a wallet or small purse inside the palace where an airport-style security is in at the main entrance to check visitors.

So if you ever get tired of Bangkok’s red-hot charm, visit Vimanmek Mansion for a change and be prepared to be amazed with a little taste of history and some reserved royal opulence.