Louise

Kyle managed to stay asleep while I got ready and packed up... Our goodbye went something like this. Lou: *shakes Kyle* Kyle, I'm leaving now! Kyle: *half asleep* Where are you going? Lou: Germany! Kyle: Why? I gave up and left. I'm so glad you finished this, it was an awesome report!!! Can't wait to do it all again (well, in different countries)... Hopefully '09, right?

I'll often comment that I "like" a particular actor or artist, but rare that I'll describe myself as "a fan", but I really am a fan of Heath Ledger, I think he was an extraordinary actor who would have had a long and successful career ahead of him had he lived longer. It's rare for a celebrity's death to affect me but this one has really got to me, to be honest. According to the media (I take this with a pinch of salt), the autopsy today was inconclusive and no cause of death could be determined, but they still have to wait for the toxicology results, so it looks like it is drug related, whether it be illegal narcotics or prescription drugs, suicide or accident, who knows, but chances are it'll be something in his blood that killed him. Such a tragic loss to the film world. I feel terribly sad for any child who grows up having lost a parent, my thoughts are with his little girl and family. I hope for their sake that this was somehow an accident and not something he chose to do, I know from experience that suicide can be one of the hardest things to move on from, knowing that somebody chose to die. Our celebrity-obsessed culture makes me sad. Seems like so many young rising stars just don't even make it through their 20s these days. My friends and I take bets on which stars will die in a particular calendar year... Heath was never mentioned. I have Britney, Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty on the predictions list for 2008. Kinda makes me sad that I feel pretty sure that at least one of them won't make it through the year.

JAPAN!!!! So a whole bunch of us flew over to Japan from LA together, which was a lot of fun as I despise flying alone. Upon arrival, I was *INSTANTLY* smitten with the place, even at the airport I was astonished at peoples' efficiency and good manners. Jeff asked an airport worker where a smoking area was, and he didn't just point out a sign, he actually walked us over there, smiling and bowing the whole way. We also got to take our first train ride, on the Narita Express from the airport to Shinagawa, our first base camp. I've always loved trains, but I think all others will pale in comparison to the Japanese rail system and in particular the Shinkansens. After meeting a few more people at the hotel, we all headed up to our rooms at about 6.30pm, arranging to meet back in the lobby at 8 if we wanted to go into the city for a few hours. Our hotel was ridiculously awesome too, the place is like a mini city complex complete with 24 screen cinema, 25 karaoke rooms, a 51st storey bar, a giant food court and several other restaurants, 80 lane bowling alley and arcade, roller coaster, pirate ship, simulator, and dolphin show. Very cool. About a dozen or so of us got on a local train to Shinjuku... I'd heard from various people that your first time in Japan can bring on a complete sensory overload... They weren't kidding! Within minutes of being off the train I was just astounded at the number of people, the sounds, the lights, the awesome-smelling food, the buildings, the arcades... I just loved it. Completely unlike anywhere I've ever been before, and yet I've never felt so comfortable in another country. I can't wait to go back. Somehow I ended up near the front of the group... Which is always a bad idea. Robb knew where he was going though.... McDonald's! My first meal in Japan. *sigh* We were all far too tired from travelling and way too excited for a proper sit down meal though, and hey, Japanese McDonald's is a hell of a lot better than in any other country I've had it! Stupid as it sounds (as there ARE neon lights in other places after all), these buildings just look so distinctively Japanese. Robb and Jeff playing the drum game. I didn't try it this night, but over the course of the following days, I feel in love with it and played it whenever I could. To be honest, I'm not a major lover of arcade games, they're fun, but there are very few I really like, but I became a total Taiko addict, I could've spent the whole trip playing on these things. If anyone knows what this is, I'd be greatful for the explanation. It appeared to have dates on it, but not ALL dates, if you see what I mean. So I really have no clue. Busy Shinjuku side street. Amazing how there can be so many people and yet I never felt crowded or uncomfortable. Back at our gorgeous hotel, ready to crash out for the night.... After a few drinks in the bar, obviously. You gotta love Japanese toilets. Dave will testify to the fact that I experimented a little too much with it, it then attacked me with water and deodoriser and tubes and stuff when I tried to use it. The next morning, whilst Robb, Elissa, Dave, Dan and a few others went to TDR to pick up tickets, the rest of us had a lie-in and then either went credit-whoring or else did what I did and just hung around the hotel exploring and chilling out. Just as I was debating what to do for lunch, the Disney group arrived back at the hotel, so we headed to the food court for energy and then headed straight for the bowling alley! Believe it or not, those rather pretty trainers I'm wearing are actually bowling shoes. Which just proves my point that those atrocities of fashion they make us wear in bowling alleys here really ARE just to make us look stupid, and are really unnecessary. Oh, and that giant foot is Chris's, he can't wear bowling shoes. It makes me sad that this hotel bowling alley is nicer than the massive one my huge town has. Notice the camera on the screen above Dan's head. It's pretty cool to watch somebody bowl from both the front and the back... Especially if it's somebody pretty like Dan. Dan whooped our asses. And yes, they did transcribe my name as "Low". This is the moment the addiction started.... After we bowled, Shane and Ryan and I headed up to the bar at the top of the tower to check out the view. Industrial side. Dramatic clouds! Yeah, we're tourists. Notice the bandage on my finger? This is what happens when you poke Robb hard in the stomach: Half your nail will fall off, I mean, halfway down to the quick. He looks soft, but seriously, that belly has power! The bar/eatery area is lovely. This was the only time I saw it in daylight though! Everything is so close together! You can see for miles from up there. Skyscraper are surrounded by residential streets and smaller office buildings. Another of the towers of our hotel... Complete with helipad! Told you this hotel had everything! Eventually we all reconvened and headed to another part of the hotel for our ride on Galaxy 999! Kindof a WTF coaster. This is us preparing to listen to the safety instructions for the coaster, which includes a complete description of the layout, warning us about a sharp left turn... I do wish I'd heeded that warning. Ouch. Jeff shows off a map from his credit whore excursion that morning... Teehee, it says "old and small". (Love you Jeff!) This is a terrible picture, but does at least show that the pirate ship (once again, in our hotel!) has pretty good theming!! Apparently Rich and I are surprised to be heading to LaQua! Ice cream on top of flavoured ice... It's the future. Chris makes love to his crepe. In Japan, not only do you wash your hands when you go to the bathroom, but you also clean the toilet!! This bathroom also featured babbling brook and bird sounds, much to mine and Falafel's amusement. LOL. This was at the truly awesome drop tower which was the best ride at the park! To briefly discuss the rides while I'm on the subject... The mouse was okay (Dave and I actually spun quite a bit if I recall correctly), Thunder Dolphin sucked and I got yelled at for having a name tag around my waist and a lip balm in my pocket, and GeoPanic gave me endless amusement. We're in space... Now we're in a cave... And now we've gone 70 million years back in time... Back in space... WHAT IS THIS?!?!?!?! Oh, and Linear Gale was okay but nothing particularly special. This picture also sucks but is the best I could get. Miles, Steve and I hung out in the bar for a while, this was the view at night: Truly stunning in person, I promise you. This bar was really nice, but really kinda pricey. Not by British standards, but by Japanese... Yes. Nice atmosphere and good cocktails though! Arty shot of Miles enjoying his beer. I wussed out and went to bed around 1am... God knows what time Miles and Steve were up until! At Yomiuriland the next day, Rich and I assaulted this dog. I quite enjoyed this park, though as with many of the parks, there were no really amazing coasters. White Canyon was actually fine and nowhere near as bad as I would've expected (though there was one particularly bad SLAM around a corner which sent my skull flying into Mike's shoulder), Momonga was fun, and Splash Bandit was pretty damn cool! An average ride, but the water was a nice touch, even if we stayed pretty dry the time we rode it on a wet cycle. Rich was just thrilled to be in such an enclosed space with Jeff and I. This Ferris Wheel was not made for people over 5'6". Brian and Bill have no idea of the wetness about to descend upon them. Miles got himself a Panther! I think I speak for both he and myself when I say the rest of the gang was missed! Brian's wet ass. Hungover much, Steve? (Not pictured is Miles sitting opposite and trying desperately hard not to vomit. ) Back in Shinagawa, we picked up Aussie Richard (who continued his tradition of arriving on trips a day or two late ), grabbed our bags, and headed back to the station to catch a bullet train down to Fukuoka. A few of us ended up sitting in a smoking carriage, and I had a very enjoyable journey chatting with The Hoffman Guy about life, the universe and everything. I loved watching the trains go by at the station, and I don't have the words to express how amazingly well the system runs and how efficient and comfortable the whole thing is. Why can't all public transport be like that?! More Japantics (see what I did there?) to follow, umm, "shortly"...

Final Jeopardy music playing in the background I like how "tomorrow" is in quotation marks. I knew if I didn't put the quotation marks people like Bob would be all "hey, it's tomorrow... Where are the pictures?"... Figured I may as well not lie.

DO IT. That is all. Great pics!

Wait though, weren't there other riders in the TPR group who had a different ending to us??? Maybe there was at least one other ending room working at that time?? I'm clutching at straws to try and hold onto our positive idea of our own skills!! Kyle, I'm *SO* glad you decided to finish this, I love your reports, this cracked me up!! I'll say again for the hundredth time, so many great memories, I really can't wait to see the DVD from this trip. LOL at that pic of me and Jon on the bus. And the one of you with hairclips in. I'd forgotten you'd gone into the city that night! This was the night that the random guy from the band forced me to dance with him in the bar, and then Rob, Trev, Robb, Ron, Steve and I gatecrashed the Spanish wedding at the invitation of the best man and dismay of the bride's family!! Somebody needs to post those pictures somewhere too. Looking forward to seeing Parque Warner!

^ The Westin was a wise choice, at least you didn't have to listen to Ryan's voice half the night and all of the morning. My biggest regret of 2007? Not buying white chocolate dipped Oreos in Spain.

*ahem* I guess Oreos mean nothing... dt DAMN IT!!!! I was so confused about who was there! In my defense, I do not remember where or what we ate or anything from that meal, I only remember arriving back at Robb and Elissa's and Kyle agreeing to stay for dinner!! I had to debate for a good few minutes as to whether Jahan was even there or not... It's your fault I forgot you because you stayed at a hotel instead of sponging off Robb and Elissa! And don't EVER think that Oreos mean nothing. If you didn't Google this, then you win one thousand Lou Dollars! You can't buy anything with them, but... Yeah, you win 'em. My favourite musical, pretty much.

Last Day in California - Tourism Time! On top of accidentally leaving my power adaptors at Robb and Elissa's when I moved to Chris's for our Disney days, I also left my camera charger, so thanks Kyle for lending me your camera for this day! Kyle was my Spain roommate and had promised to show me some of the sights during my California visit. It was nice in a way to have a guide who wasn't a native Californian. Despite everybody telling me how crappy and tacky some of it was, I couldn't wait to see the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame. We had gotten to Kyle's quite late the previous night, stayed up talking for a while, and then I got a much-appreciated lie-in the next morning! Thanks Kyle! This place was great, French toast whilst watching people walk by and a nice ocean breeze... Love it. After a wander on the beach and dipping my toes in the Pacific, we headed to the Jeep for the start of the tour!! I think I remember a lot of the road names and stuff, but at the same time my memory has failed me so much in this thread (and well, everywhere else, really), so I won't attempt to sound like I know what I'm talking about. Instead, I'll just say, this is a road and we're driving somewhere. I have so many of these random shots that are really of nothing and are badly framed, but I love them because to somebody who's watched movies and tv shows her whole life and said "I wanna go there!!!", THIS is California. I just finished reading a book in which somebody was murdered at one of these overlooks. California is so.... dry. Joey, why don't you study here? We did the Mulholland Drive run, and seriously, even driving as carefully as Kyle was, this road scared me. The fact that people drive so crazily up there is terrifying to me, though I guess they have to relieve the frustration of spending half their lives in LA traffic! Mountains. <3 <3 <3 Pretty views! This totally blew me away. I seem to remember Kyle pointing out a couple of houses here and telling me who owned/used to own them, but I don't remember now. When I win the Lotto, I plan to buy this house. As well as the one on the lake at Indy Beach. Blue sky! After passing 62 signs, I finally remembered to snap a picture of one. Apparently I am closer than I appear. After stopping off in a REALLY tacky store for me to buy some naff Hollywood souvenirs, we wandered into the Kodak theatre... I tried to find a column to snap that had all decent films listed on it.... It was surprisingly difficult, seriously, a whole bunch of crappy films have won Best Picture!! Graumann's Chinese Theatre. So cool! I LOVED looking at all the footprints... But all the tourists irritated me GREATLY and got too in my way for me to spend too long there. I'm such a hypocrite. Either Judy had teeny feet, or Kyle's are *huge*!!! You choose. Hi Wes! Think of Meryl Streep. (Bonus cool points for anybody who gets this reference.) We did walk along a chunk of the Walk Of Fame, though I didn't really take any pictures. I did pause to spit on Tom Cruise though. There it is!! It really *IS* much smaller than I would have expected. Cool to see though. I don't care if it's dirty and anticlimactic, it's still so iconic. Maybe I'll hike up there next time. Oooh! Oh, and I totally failed at pointing at it. I think I'm pointing at a valet parking sign. That's hot, baby. We sat and watched 10 Years Younger being filmed for a little while... I love how fake the "reveal" is!! "Hey, you, her sister and friends and stuff? Can you look a little bit happier and way more surprised? Much better, thanks." La Brea tar pits! This just made me think of Homer Simpson. Not sure what that says about me! I'm so immature, the bubbling noises amused me endlessly. The place was totally deserted, we saw one jogger and one scary guy and that was pretty much it. BLINDING sun!! It's tar.... THROUGH THE BARS. Oh no, Kyle is being attached by a giant beaver!!! Oh wait, he likes the beaver? Okay then! This place has better theming than most parks!! A cardboard pig and a hen?! Awesome!! I deemed this building cool enough to be photographed. There's that jogger I mentioned! The sun looks really cool in this photo. After leaving the tar pits, we went over to The Grove, a really nice shopping and dining area. I loved this place but my feet were tired and we knew we'd have to head back up to Valencia within an hour or two. This is another place I'd like to spend more time when I'm next on the West Coast, I liked the atmosphere very much. We parked on the top level so I could take a few more sign and building pictures. So much pollution! More mountains. I personally think that a mountain backdrop makes almost anything look pretty. Another (slightly distorted) picture of The Sign! I like how this picture turned out, credit to Kyle's camera, LOL. I was very excited at spotting the CBS building there. Anywhere that has anything to do with CSI excites me. It's a really attractive area. Kyle, do you remember all the effort we went to for me to get this picture?!?! OPERATION GOOD ELEVATOR. We were determined to get one on the right side!! Next time I come out I want to eat at that restaurant, the one with the red umbrellas. The Grove really is nice, they had a Crate & Barrel (new store for me, loved it) and a giant Abercrombie and Fitch with the funkiest decor and loudest music of any store I've ever been in. And naked men on the walls is always a bonus! The market area is gorgeous too, I can look at cheese and desserts for days. They had a ton of fresh pastries and stuff, and lots of international stuff, I stood and gasped at the expensive British stuff for a while! Gorgeous statue, as seen from near a very attractive fountain. I really did like this place. Beautiful pink sky at sunset. I should crop this really, but we've already discovered that I'm lazy. (And photographically incompetent, I made two attempts at this before Kyle took this decent one.) Taking a quick spin through West Hollywood (with rather a dramatic sky behind us!) before heading back through the ridiculously heated Valley and back to Valencia to have dinner with Robb, Elissa, Kristen, and Jahan. It was lovely to have a nice chilled out dinner before going back to the Alveys' to meet Ryan, and pack for Japan... Of course, me being me, I procrastinated over packing until 2 in the morning. I even went so far as to change into my pyjamas in an attempt to FORCE myself into the frame of mind of packing, only to have Robb and Jahan stick their heads around the door to say they were going to run an errand... So I pulled jeans on over my PJs and went along, only to procrastinate for a further hour upon our return. *sigh* But I got there in the end. And I was so excited to get to Asia... Which I'll post "tomorrow".

Quit posting pictures of me with a cigarette in my hand!!!! I loved Ling Bao, that hotel was so freaking awesome... We are staying there on the Europe trip, right?? Hector, whole TR was awesome, thanks for posting it all!! And thanks for saying you would never have spoken to us on the street... LOL. This has me all hyped up for Europe!

I'm seriously considering it. Because I did so much travelling this year I've got a bunch of miles saved up (not enough for a flight to the US, but enough that I'd only have to buy about £200-worth of them to make up the difference), so it's do-able even with sometimes inflated flight prices at that time of year, and my dad might donate some of his to me as well as he doesn't seem to use the Star Alliance as much these days... Then again, maybe if my financial situation improves slightly I'll use those miles towards trying to get back to Japan, or I could get my Europe flights for free... We'll see, but don't be too surprised if I show up at some point in 2008.

I figure late this year (I'm definitely planning to be NOT in this country for Christmas this year) or else sometime in the next few months of 2009. I'll keep you posted. It really was a great group, I need to quit being so repetitive but I had such a great time!! So many laughs. There were definitely a few much-loved people missing, but I think this trip definitely proved for me that TPR people in any combination pretty much works!!

Thanks guys. Oh, and screw you Bob (love you too though!!). Yeah, Colossus wasn't fun but I didn't have any arsonistic urges towards it either. Ghostrider had me reaching for the matches. ^ I was glad you were able to come along too!! Chris had said you were really nice and cool so I was obviously expecting you to be an idiot who I would hate, and I was pleasantly surprised that Chris was actually right for once!! Kyle, there were crazy people who thought we were married (which I totally forgave because the phrase "your beautiful wife" was used), a guy with a sign saying he'd tell jokes and give abuse for beer, and at Santa Monica the week before I got to see a guy doing tricks (NOT turning tricks) to make money because he "just got out of jail"... I at least got a little bit of a taster. Besides, I live in Stockport, I've probably seen far worse than what you can be exposed to in Venice. Will try and catch up this weekend, sorry I got behind and left big gaps!!

So after a few hours sleep (but not many, because Chris, Dane and I were up half the night talking about feet and the Midwest trip), I FINALLY got to go to Disneyland!! After a slightly eventful journey (Chris, Elissa would not be impressed... ), we arrived to meet up with Jimmy, Jon, Guy and Jahan. And I was handed a 1st Time Visitor badge, which made me ridiculously happy for some reason. I was all excited on the first ride of the day (Indy) when a CM was all "Hi there, welcome to Disneyland, have a great day!!", but then nobody else spoke to me all day and I was sad. LOL. Anyway. This was an amazing day, definitely what I would consider to be a perfect first visit to Disneyland, so I'll just shut the heck up and get on with posting pictures. Chris, Dane... It's Nada Bus. I think it says a lot about my excitement levels that this was REALLY funny to me this morning. Boys on the tram. SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!! I adore the letters. Not heading in yet, but we'll be back!! I consciously don't do much research or reading about Disney parks until I've been to them, as I'm all about the magic and love to be surprised... Despite reading bits and bobs about Indy over the years I was essentially clueless about the ride system which made the ride all the more awesome. So good. Oh, and I think at this point Jahan was still in stress-mode. That smile is so fake. LOL!! I love Disney. Guy and I were confused by the point of the photo spot. Seriously, if people need directing to take pictures in particular spots... Then they shouldn't be allowed to own cameras. Or lungs. The boys took me on a detour.... to show me boobs. I was thrilled. I'm not really sure what it says about Jahan that all the others are reaching for the titties and Jahan is grabbing Guy's arse... I was attempting for this to be a candid shot, but half of them looked away, and Chris and Guy looked right at me. Fail. Seriously, I find this hysterical. Don't even ask why, I just do. So freaking funny. I've ridden two Dumbos previously but don't remember ever being given a feather before! Much excitement. And Chris is pulling that face, because this Dumbo, unlike Tokyo's, has a climax. Right Chris?! I wanted an orange Dumbo and I got one. This makes me happy. And Jim too, apparently. Check out my awesome badge!! Jahan had got us Blue Bayou reservations, and the staff there very helpfully allowed us to up our reservation from four people to nine. As awesome as I thought he was for sorting out lunch, Jahan cancelled out any brownie points by spoiling one of the first "we're being normal and smiling" TPR pictures in history. Such a lovely restaurant, and very cool to be so close to the river!! I liked the atmosphere very much, and the food was great... Unfortunately a bottomless bread basket plus some AWESOME gumbo meant I could eat barely a third of the gorgeous Monte Cristo. Oh, and Jahan took this photo. Thanks J-Boy. "L is for Lou". If "California" had a U in it I would totally have posed in all three letters of my name and then had the three pictures put in a frame. But it doesn't. I slightly embarrassed myself and jumped up and down when I spotted Pluto... I love him. I've already started a Pluto pin collection, I'm determined to get more pins and memorabilia than that lame Pluto Guy who insulted me on camera on one of Robb's last visits to DLR!! One of the standard Paradise Pier pictures that everybody takes. I gotta say, I really REALLY liked DCA, way more than I expected to!! And I looooooved Screamin'. Jimmy and Hector swig Margaritas. I passed on the alcohol this day and stuck with the strawberry. Very nice it was too! Probably the biggest highlight of the day, we got to meet Mickey! This is one of my favourite pictures from the whole trip, I never thought I'd really get into something like this, but it's such a great memory looking back, and I really can't emphasise enough how much fun I had this day. From left to right: Hector, Guy, Jahan, Jimmy, Mr. Mouse, me, Dane, Jon, Chris, Linda, Carl. Jahan clearly once again didn't get the memo. I kissed the mouse. Fulfilling a promise I made about six months before my trip. And for anybody who cares, I much prefer the LEFT side of the Matterhorn (can never remember which is which). Aaaaaaand, back at DCA, we (well, most of us) decided to tackle the Sun Wheel.... I believe it was Jahan, Mike, and TJ (who had joined us later on) who got in the "We Are Not Swingers" line... Cramming eight of us in there was fairly amusing... Guy, Sam and Dane don't seem to mind so much, though Hector looks slightly concerned... Or nauseous. See, I *look* scared, but I'm crammed in a confined space with seven hot guys, so really I'm jumping for joy inside. Sooooo pretty. And I adore parks (and particularly Disney) at night. By this point I was already itching to get back to Disneyland and get ready for fireworks time. After another ride on Space (I think somebody else has the on-ride from that, I need to dig it out, I have it somewhere...) and a quick dinner, we set up camp for Believe! I think Hector was tired by this point. Me with Chuck, who met up with us after work that evening. Chuck, honestly, you're one of the few people who really gets how important this day was to me, I had SO much fun. Thank you all for being there and helping out so much, I really did have an amazing day and appreciate it all more than I could tell you!! I decided we looked way too happy on our Matterhorn shot (which was rushed and messy) and I needed a pouty one. This was right before we watched a movie... I must have been tired at this point because I remember nothing about that movie except that it featured Donald Duck, who I want to kill. An instruction everybody should follow. The next morning, unfortunately some of the group had to go back to work, school, etc. Myself, Chris, Jim and Jon were all still on "vacation" though, and Dane managed to skive his shift (LOL), so we slept in a little bit, then headed to Knott's for a couple of hours before going to spend the rest of the day at Disney again. We'd planned to do this little side-trip at some point, but this seemed a good time seeing as on Disney Day One we had pretty much done the whole of both parks. Seriously. I think we had five attractions left to do on the second day. This is the view of Knott's from IHOP, by the way. Hee hee, it's a giant cock. I was actually gonna pose ON it, but it was hot. I LOOOOOOOOVE Lucy!!!!! Sierra Sidewinder was Jim's 300th! And check out his AWESOME sign, which is made from a pancake house napkin and some eyeliner! Not at all ghetto!! Sidewinder was fun, but not worth the wait (which was around half an hour or so apparently but it felt like over an hour to me because there was NO SHADE), and didn't quite live up to what we were expecting from watching so long whilst in line. I had fun though. Hi Cameron, Clint, and Richard!! Guy had crippled Jimmy earlier in the week so he wasn't riding as much as usual, so he was our lovely photographer. We would be the group in the back seats with arms up. Montezooma's was great!! Oh my GOD this felt good. Soooo worth the wait to get drenched on such an uncomfortable day. Just to cover some other stuff at Knott's... Ghostrider seriously kicked the crap out of me. That piece of crap needs burning to the ground, and I don't say that about many coasters. Our onride picture would have been hysterical, I was grabbing Chris's shirt and shouting "MAKE IT STOP!". Silver Bullet was really good, and I adored Xcelerator, we got a couple of re-rides on that with no line. Great coaster. I didn't have a BAD time at Knott's, but... It made me sad to hear Chris and the others telling me what it used to be like, and looking around I could totally see the potential for it to be a much better park, but it just... wasn't. And that kinda made me sad. We didn't want to spend too much of our day there, so... Back to Disney!! The first obvious priority was to head over to DCA for Margaritas. I'm pathetic and couldn't finish mine. Jim shockingly volunteered to help! This might have been an entertaining picture of Jon and I if Chris hadn't spoiled it with his giant thumb of doom! Grrrrr! But I got my revenge. (Don't ask how because I'm really not sure.) So apparently Screamin' scares Chris... Me trying to make the Bug's Life (best 4D movie ever!) glasses look good.. Jon seems to think I succeeded, but he's on his own. I like this picture very much. DCA is awesome. Back over at Disneyland, time to say goodbye to Jimmy and Carl. Chris, Dane and myself consoled ourselves by heading for the Carrousel. Jon consoled himself by filming Nemo subs! Such nostalgia from when I was a kid, seriously. After the fireworks that evening, we ran straight over to Nemo and managed to get on in around half an hour, or a few minutes over. I actually kinda liked it! Half an hour is about right though, I would've been disappointed if we'd waited an hour for it. Definitely a fun (and long) journey though, and the projections impressed me. I only really cared about seeing the seagulls though, I freaking love those things. "MINE! MINE! MINE!" I really don't know what else to say about DLR, it would be pointless me talking about specific attractions as I honestly loved everything (well, except Buzz Lightyear, duh). Besides, I have another day at this place in about four weeks (of trip time, not update time), so I can talk then! Kyle had met up with us for Nemo and for he and I to drive to Venice, ready for a day of being tourists the next morning! It was sad to say some goodbyes this night, but I was hyped up to catch up properly with Kyle, see all the Hollywood stuff I've been itching to get to since I was about 12, and then head to Japan the day after that! Yay!

^ That's rich coming from the guy who had WEEKS worth of gaps in his Japan TR!! I'm doing my next update tomorrow, I promise!! I was doing so well, too. Still great pics Hector, you're really flying through these!! Can't wait for Phantasialand, those days were so much fun.

^ LOL, that's really funny: As I was typing that last post, I thought to myself "was the female half of that couple pregnant... Nah, my memory is playing tricks, that'd be TOO ridiculous!!!".

Bahahahaha!! Great pictures, fantastic memories. I remember this day talking to Dave and Ron and myself and at least one of them had at various points "seen" Kyle and Jon in the park... Funny how your mind plays tricks when you're missing people!! Hector, was it you that took a close-up of Robb's face on the boat jump?? Somebody got one, and it was blurry, but HYSTERICAL!!!

Someone in the group I was hanging out with that day got a picture of a REALLY funny Woody and Buzz Lightyear (one of whom was female) costumed pair. Was it Chris??? Whoever it is needs to post it, they were great!!!

^ Really?! I knew from us talking in Japan that you had been in California, but didn't realise our schedules had coincided particularly closely!! We were at Disney Mon/Tues 27th/28th so if you were there those nights you may well have seen Chris, we were there til closing both days. ^^ Alright alright, don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm working on it!!

Firstly, why do you love that picture of me, you freak!??! Secondly, LOL at me rubbing sunscreen all over myself. Thirdly, GREAT pictures, and you reminded me (again) of stuff I'd forgotten at that park, like the Mad House, and that I missed the Marvin show. That picture of me and Kyle at dinner is actually a really nice one. Parque Warner really was so nice. But WOW that place needs more shade. Seriously. As much as I've said that after Asia I'll never complain about heat and humidity before or again... That day was pretty bad.

Bonus update!! Great pics from an amazing resort. Can't wait for the Korea pictures!! Chuck, I was curious about that too, I also must have missed that painting!!

LOL Guy!! In my recollection you weren't even asleep when we took the picture, I thought you were just chilling out!! It was after the fair before we started carting stuff over to the clubhouse!! Thanks *so* much Wes!! Even having a few is so much better than not having ANY!! I'm used to being on the trips where almost everybody has a camera, not being the only photographer! I liked the post-JP one muchly, and LOL at "Countdown to Ryan Crying".

I just *cried* laughing at that poncho picture, I had completely forgotten about Wes taking that, that's put the ride in context for me now, Wes didn't ride, he took that picture on his iPhone before we all did, and I do recall more now. I did too freaking much this summer, all my memories are all confused! Guy, how can I respond to all that!! I wasn't "afraid" to meet you, I was just a little concerned that you would be too full on, as you do come across as slightly manic online. In person you were a joy to be around, and I enjoyed being your co-parent over Moons Over My Hammy and All-American Slams. For anybody who cares, number 3) on Guy's list of responses may just explain what I didn't have anything to do with in the installment that included Chris and Jimmy playing with dry ice... And oh my GOD how could I forget the Queso. That stuff was goooood. I actually was in a supermarket before Christmas that had all kinds of weird processed cheese and I was looking for that stuff but couldn't remember the name... Began with V, right? I only didn't post the up-the-shorts picture because I didn't think people needed to see Guy's red panties!! But seeing as there's demand... Incidentally, a shameless plea: I don't remember if anybody else had a camera at Universal or if it was just Wes with his camera phone... Anyways, I really regret not taking pictures there, so if anybody has any at all they'd be willing to send... I'd appreciate it muchly, my collection has a giant gap!! Thanks!!

FAO Dave Thomas!! Notice in this picture- I am wearing on my wrist a neon bracelet (unpopped), which I believe was one of Hector's awesome Elissa Bingo prizes. I thank you. "One of these things is not like the other" cracked me up so much!!!! Hector is hysterical. LOVING it.

^ I was far too busy being pissed at Chris for lying to me to notice anybody else's scary moments!! Frankenstein HAS to be the least scary!! Why would big strong Guy be afraid of him?!?! Jahan, Dane, I'm looking forward to posting the Disney pics! Though they'll probably make me cry!! I wanna go back so much!!