Poppins, Pandher, PF

I have seen a few musicals that are from Disney movies and LOVED them. I had seen the Lion King and The Little Mermaid. So when Mary Poppins came to town (town being Seattle.. close enough), I got tickets and went to see a third most fantastic Disney Broadway show.


And it was incredible. Epic even. Spectacular. The sets, the special effects, the dancing, the music. Exceptional. All of it. Probably ranks as one of the most spectacular musicals I have ever seen. It was a delight. If it ever comes to Vancouver (or anywhere near where you might be), go see it-you will not be sorry! My favorite part was when Bert tap danced upside down on the ceiling.


An added bonus was going with my friend Sandy. So good to just spend the day together. Went to my favorite restaurant, PF Changs and had my favorite dish, Kung Pow Shrimp. And we walked around Seattle enjoying the day.


Some people think I am a bit musical crazed. And it's probably true. I have loved seeing so many musicals in the last few years. This year I even subscribed to two theatres in Seattle because they both had incredible seasons. Next year they are doing West Side Story, Les Miserables and Rent, to name a few... sad I will be missing it.

But when I miss the musicals, I will just skip along with a chimney sweep and sing, "chim chimery, chim chimery..."

Enjoy your Sunday!

Tokyo, Temples, Tasteless

Our final three nights were spent in Tokyo, a city of 13 million people. Sometimes when I think about population and amount of people, my brain can't quite comprehend the number of people that actually live in one place.


Saw a few more temples and different sites in and around Tokyo. Once again, the crowds were absolutely crazy because of the holiday. But interesting to see the locals and once again people watch.


And here's another shot of a cherry blossom in the middle of greenery on the mountainside-so stunning!


At the temples, sake companies often donate sake to be used for offerings. So in response they line up the barrels as advertisement. Interesting to see the cross of business and religion.


whenever you see a gateway like this, you know there is a shinto shrine behind it. According to the people I talked to, Japanese people are born as Shintoists and die as Buddhists. There is definitely a synchrotism between the two religions. And no one seems to be able to fully explain the religions they follow, which is also interesting.


Every temple has a washing/cleansing area. There is a specific routine to adhere to when washing.







Asakusa Kannon Temple is one of the oldest and most well known Buddhist temples in Tokyo. It has a lot of shops and food spots on the streets along the side. We had some of the local food and it was so tasty! I also learned here that the Canon camera was actually named after the Buddhist god, Kannon, but he changed the spelling so that it would be more acceptable in western culture. Not sure how I feel about my camera being named after a buddhist god mind you...


After seeing a few more temples, we decided to check out Tokyo DisneyLand. Turns out they have two parks, so we decided to check out then one we knew nothing about: DisneySea. First we went to see Disney's Cirque de Soleil, 'Zed'. It was amazing-such a cool stage setup as well!


DisneySea was fantastic! So fun to go on totally new rides! And we were the only white people in the park which was funny.


Our last full day was spent travelling to Mt. Fuji and Hakone. So beautiful. Went to the visitor's center and the 5th station of Mt. Fuji. The surrounding area is really beautiful too. Took a cable car up a mountain and it had stunning views.




Ah.. and the food. Now i know japanese food came from japan, but I did not like it much. It was all right, but did not have too much taste and was all kind of the same. Presentation was incredible mind you. But after a week of eating japanese food, I was excited to return to my western style of japanese. :)

The hotel we stayed at had really cool views off the top floor at night.

And thus concludes my trip. Hope you have enjoyed coming along for the journey. Thanks to my one faithful reader, Elsie for all her comments-have enjoyed reading your comments on the different posts.

Now back to regular day to day life!

Tiki, Teacups, Toad

After a wonderful week in Palm Springs, Brooke and I drove to Anaheim, where we prepped to spend the next three days at Disneyland!!


I think we went on pretty much every single ride in both parks. Covered a lot of ground. And the infamous Tiki Room I always enjoy. Every time we passed it, I'd offer for us to go in again, but Brooke wouldn't go for it. It was probably me singing at the top of her lungs that threw her off. :)


They were celebrating Mardi Gras in the New Orleans Times Square while we were there too, so there were decorations and dancing and festivities which was just delightful!


And one of the longest lines we stood in was probably for the Dumbo ride... the rest of the little kiddie rides we did early in the morning. But the thrill of flying with Dumbo was worth it.


The first two days, mid-afternoon, it would pour rain and get really stormy and windy. Brooke had a poncho, I was happy being soaked and we spent a lot of the time on the indoor attractions. However, the benefit of having it pour rain, was that in the early evening, the park was way emptier than normal and there were not many lines.


And then we went on the tea cups and even though i know they make me sick, I spun them as fast as I possibly could. And that is probably why we only went on the tea cups once. :)




Just looking at these pictures of us spinning makes me feel a little queezy in the stomach! haha

And we even got to meet a few characters out and about.

Brooke sporting her fantastic poncho.

Please observe the couple behind us in this photo. They were harsh making out behind us and it was gross because we could hear it. So we just kept taking pictures of them in the background of us and finally they stopped. And in this photo you can also observe what happens to my hair when it's straight at the beginning of the day and gets rained on. :)

This is us waiting in the pouring rain for the Peter Pan Flying ride. Worth it. Rain definitely added this new dimension to things. As you walked around in your soaking wet shoes, and watched the water pile up everywhere, it had a magical feel to it. Mind you, I'd take sun at Disneyland anyway over rain.


And then there's the creepy dolls that don't look anything like the princesses they represent. Really Disney? Could you not take a little more pride in your stuffed animals that don't look anything like they should?

Space Mountain: one of my favorite rides!

We liked to make crazy faces for all the pictures. Sometimes it looks like i'm scared but really it's just me making a face. Phewf.


Finding Nemo Submarine Ride: also one that makes your stomach feel gross. But nice to watch the different scenes from Nemo underwater.


Alice in Wonderland caterpillar ride. One of those rides that you stand in and every other adult there is with a child. But hey, we don't need kids to have fun on the little kiddie rides!




Next up: More pics from Disneyland and some from California Adventure as well!

Land, Lindie, Laughter

After a delightful and full 24 hours at home, I met my friends, Jenn and Lindie from Calgary at the Vancouver airport. The flight down to LA is nice and short and we saw the most stunning sunset.


Do you ever have those sunsets that you just have to keep looking out the window and have to perpetually stare at it, because it's so beautiful that you wonder if it's actually real. This was one of those. I kept glancing and staring in awe of the beauty of God's creation. Finally I had to go snap a quick photo because sunsets and sunrises from planes are generally pretty spectacular, and this one was no exception.


First stop: Downtown Disney. Dinner at The Rainforest Cafe. Love it. It is literally like a jungle in there. There are gorillas, elephants, massive fish tanks. Every 20 minutes there is a thunderstorm and all the animals start going wild and it rains in certain spots. We sat by the waterfall, so listening to the sounds of falling water while having dinner surrounded by greenery was simply delightful.


One of my favorite rides is the Jungle Cruise (okay, I admit, I have about 20 favorite rides.. but all for different reasons!). Sometimes you get a horrible guide and it sucks, but when you have a good guide it's a lot of fun. :)



And some how there was a slit of light shining on the river perfectly and it looked beautiful and I was transported somehow to a tropical jungle somewhere. I think that's what I love about Disneyland-it's like you're in an entirely different world and you can be fully present there and enjoy every second of your visit and all other worries and cares seem to melt away.


Jenn, Lindie and I have been friends since our time in Quebec together. The summer I was on staff at Capernwray, Jenn, Lindie and I were all staff and lived together in a little house we endearingly called 'Le Chalet'. It was such a fun summer, despite challenges along the way, but it was wonderful to live together and get to know one another and I'm so thankful for their friendships and the fact that we can keep in touch even though we don't live in the same province! And how fun to all take a trip together as well! I love having friends you can just pick up with and that you can be yourself completely.


And Lindie's new thing, as I discovered on her last visit, is kissing everything. So on Triton's carousel, it was no different. Of course, the animal I picked to ride was at its high point, so I had to hike up the thing to get on, but it was worth it for the incredibly fast paced, crazy ride it was. Okay, it's a carousel, it wasn't that fast. But still fun.

Toy Story 3. Love.

Ferris Wheel. Dumb Ride. Although gives you a nice view.

California Adventure Rollercoaster. Awesome Ride.

Smile while you scream. It's a given. Then again, I seem to just laugh and giggle hysterically on any ride I'm on...


Grizzly River Run. Fun. Until your entire backside gets soaked and you get stuck a metre away from the exit for 10 minutes while the ride is broken down. But still fun. :)


Hollywood Tower of Terror. How could you not love a ride where your butt comes flying off the seat as the elevator shaft falls at rapid rates?


And Stitch. Lindie gave me her camera and went to the bathroom. I thought she just wanted me to hold it. Oops. Turned out she wanted a picture.


Mickey's Dance Party. I probably should have jumped up on stage because I have some pretty awesome moves, but I held back. Besides, watching all the kids jumping around and dancing is pretty awesome as well.

Disneyland at Night. Fantastic.

Breakfast every morning right outside Disneyland was great too. Fed the birds (even though they wouldn't come land on my stretched out hand) and got our sustenance for a day full of walking.


Love this sign. It sums up all my wonderful fuzzy feelings of Disneyland and as I pass under it, I just know I will have a delightful day of adventure and discovery and fun.




Since Mickey and I are pretty tight, I decided to opt out of the full body shot and we took a self-portrait instead.


Misty joined us on the Saturday which was a lot of fun to see her again and have some good laughs.


Here Jenn, Lindie and Misty are demonstrating how to lift your arms on a rollercoaster without getting them cut off by the tunnels you are going through. Lindie tried to hide her terror but it's written all over her face.


Hands up! For some reason, for the rest of the day, the hands up thing was hilarious. You probably had to be there though.


Big Thunder Mountain Railway. Love this ride. Love love love. As in, I could keep going on it multiple times because I love it so.


And they were celebrating the lunar new year so there were a lot of festivities going on and dancers and ribbon dances and everything. It was fun.

Finding Nemo Submarine!

Space Mountain. Also Love. (but you probably could have guessed that).

Monorail. We talked about it the entire time and finally took it to go back to the room for a kettle popcorn break and to put on some pants. For some reason this ride was hilariously funny. Once again, the hilarity would probably require your presence.


All day, we saw the Jedi Training happening about five different times. Never seen Star Wars nor do I plan to so I thought it was kind of silly. But when we walked by in the evening, it was a band, so we decided to go right on in and start dancing. Okay, Lindie just stood there mostly laughing at me, but I danced.


Indiana Jones. I dont' know why we let Misty drive the jeep... but at least we got out of there alive.


Lindie kissing her ice cream that we took about 30 minutes to find. I think it was worth it for her though. :)

Walking through Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

All in all, a fantastic time at Disneyland. And by the time this post posts itself, I will probably be in Disneyland again. Enjoy the weekend!