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.

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 !

Shanghai and A Smile

First Impression – Shanghai is like Singapore – only, it is pokerfaced.

 

My very first trip to China is a history of sorts for me – I went there few days before Beijing rolled out the red carpet for the 2008 Olympics and arrived on the year’s hottest day in Shanghai on record – a whooping 39niner on the Celsius scale.  

 

Yep. It was summer in Shanghai alright but 38-39 degrees at nighttime is just as mean as it can be.

 

Shanghai is PROC’s largest city with a population of 20M and is listed among the cities with the fastest growing economies in the world.  Special Economic Zones aside, it is a city characterized by tall, glass encased office buildings and tens and thousands of condominiums.  

 

The city is an eclectic mix of Eastern and Western architecture that displays the styles of traditional Chinese building designs but garnishes them with an undeniable European flair.  Shanghai proudly showcases one of the most appealing lines of art deco buildings.  Evoking quiet history through its the turn of the 20th century feel – the city has everything from the Classical, Romantic, Parisian, Tudor, Old Chicago or even London.

 

Much like Singapore or Macau – without a smile.

 

Arriving at the Pudong International Airport (PVG),  Shanghai’s gateway to the world situated 40 km to the east of the city,one gets an eerie feeling of a city in a robotic pace.  It’s like everyone was programmed to do something ala Stepford Wives.  It might have something to do with the language barrier but still, I was expecting to see even half a smile from a local.

 

We took off from the airport via the much vaunted Maglev Train which at that time was touted to be the fastest in the world.  Engineered with magnetic levitation technology, the train does not touch the tracks and hits a maximum speed of 431 km/h (267 mph). 

 

Regular train speed goes at 301 km/h and costs ¥50 one way (¥40 if you have a flight ticket) or ¥80 for a round-trip ticket (good for up to seven days from date of purchase). There is a “VIP Class”, which gets you snacks but the coach is not much different environment from the regular ones.   Schedule of train departure is every 15-30 minutes.

 

Touring the city, I was amazed by hustle and bustle which seemed like watching a TV in mute.

 

First Sightseeing Stop was the The Oriental Pearl Radio & TV) located in Lujiazui, Pudong district, by the side of Huangpu River and opposite of The Bund.  At 468 m (1,535 feet) high, it used to be the tallest structure in China from 1994–2007, before it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center.

 

Queuing to get to the observation deck can be tedious with only a handful of elevators servicing the visitors. Even at a pace of 7 meters per seconds, the elevators prove to be inadequate on a busy day for the tower.  

 

The observation deck at 263 metres high and 45 metres in diameter is the best place to get a view of the city and the distant views of Sheshan, the Chongming Island and the Changjiang River.

 

 

 

There is also a higher level where one can venture out to a glass-bottomed balcony and have pictures taken.  For one with an extreme case of acrophobia, I couldn’t care to walk out.  Ticket Prices are at 30-40 Yuan.

 

The colonial feeling is relieved after a refreshing visit to The Bund, a famous sightseeing stop where one can take awe at the blending of ancient and modern architectural influences. 

 

This waterfront district is the city’s most famous landmark with about a thousand visitors daily. The word Bund means “embankment on the waterfront” and runs from Persian /Indian origins.  From the open space fronting the river, one can see the Oriental TV Tower on the opposite side and a cool row of international trading houses and five star hotels on Zhongzian Road.

 

 

At night, one must try out the Evening Huangpu Cruise which can take you a rendezvous on a river which divides the Bund into two sections, Pu Dong and Pu Xi, relating to the “east of river” and “west of river”.

Shanghai locals honor the Huangpu as “the” Mother River and visitors will find the waterways bathing in excellent, colorful lighting. 

Position yourselves on the upper decks to get the most of the river cruise.

 

When you still have some time to spare, you can try visiting the Yuyuan Gardens or see the exciting Chinese Acrobats in one of the theaters in Shanghai.

 

All in all, it was a unique and disarming experience in this eerily quiet but lovely city.

 

Still, I wanted to see that familiar, warm smile I am used to back home.

 

Going home, I was half relieved that I’ll be finally off the frying pan.  Just before checking in for my departure to Manila, I ran off to a nearest wash room and changed my shirt. After freshening up, I tried to squeeze in all my things in my wee, little travel bag.  Sadly, I couldn’t close the zipper up.  I tried in various positions but I just couldn’t.  The lady in-charge of the wash room saw me wrestling my luggage. She quickly dropped her broom and dust pan and squeezed my bag with all her might.  Finally, I get to close my bag for checking-in.

 

I said “thank you” and gave her a wide smile. She smiled back – wider than I did.

 

At last, a smile!

 

She couldn’t speak a single word in English.  But it seemed like she opened the whole People’s Republic of China for me

 

 

 

Saigon and the Dance of the Motorcycles

 

My Ho Chi Minh (HCMC from hereon) experience was fairly enjoyable and tiring at the same time. The rendezvous started via Philippine Airlines PR592 which flew to the Broadway-famous city without much hassle. Tan Sonh Nhat International Airport is a lot better than other Southeast Asian City Airports. There is wide span of area allocated for the immigration counters which I would estimate at around 50 counters which quickly extinguishes the whole idea of a “long queue”. In stark contrast, Manila’s T2 has only about 8 to 10 counters crammed in a very small space with arriving passengers taking each other’s oxygen.

Talk about first impressions.

More famously known as Saigon, HCMC is a small city of 10 Million people and is often mistaken as Vietnam’s capital – Hanoi is the capital. Characterized by narrow streets and a raucous mix of old and new architecture.  What makes Saigon distinct is its on-going love affair with motorcycles – an astounding 7 million motorcycles for its 10 million-population. That is almost one motorcycle to one adult or maybe an adolescent! For most of the three-lane roads of Saigon, two lanes are almost eaten out by motorcycles. With the current improvement works and construction all around Saigon, it will be easy to assume the Vietnam government is getting ready to promote the city as the next hot tourism destination in Southeast Asia. Small as it is, the city has some areas of interests which are mostly of historic of nature. There’s the Rex Hotel, the Reunification Palace and the War Museum. The latter being a showcase of war atrocities committed to the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War through pictures, actual warfare weapons, fighter planes and tanks. The destination I was really looking forward to was the Notre Dame Cathedral; a very beautiful Roman Catholic Church built in the 1800s. It turned out to be the trip’s biggest disappointment because when we finally got to the area, it was raining so hard, and there was no chance to do photography. I tried to make the most of the visit by going inside the church where photograph-seeking tourists were limited to the foyer area so as not to disturb the church-goers. The church interiors were designed in typical baroque style – very European in execution.

The trip’s highlight was the visit to Cu Chi Tunnel, a popular tourist sightseeing spot in Saigon although the place was a rough two-hour drive from the city proper. Cu Chi Tunnel was basically a showcase of the Vietnamese warfare ingenuity – a complex web of tunnels stretching 250 km from Saigon to the border of Cambodia. Not exactly your soothing nature fare as most tourist attractions are, Cu Chi has land mines, traps, armories and the complete warfare A-Z. It is like visiting the set of Nam, Tour of Duty (aww, admit it, you know this TV show).

Our flight back to Manila was 10am. Our pick-up time from the hotel is 6:30am. The distance between is 8 kilometers. Can you imagine? All because we had to inch our way amidst a sea of a million motorcycles. It was a sight which will be tattooed on my mind for a long time.