Nrthwnd

^ (After checking out the link...) omg. Too - much - food. And drooling over the various platters, too.

We just came across this, at one of our larger food markets, that carries Presidents Choice brand products. And of course, we just had to bring some home... Taste? Not too bad, and it is a kind of marmalade, though not as citrus-y as the 'regular' marmalades do. And there are bits and pieces of cooked bacon all through it. We have yet to figure out how to try it first. The easiest would be on a slice of toast, but I have ideas of a glaze for country style ribsss.... Stay tuned. It tastes okay on it's own. But definitely needs something else to....enhance. (o;

~ Dinner at the Sapporo Beer Garden & Museum ~ We had heard there was some kind of all-you-can-eat thing, going on at the Sapporo Beer Garden, Museum, Restaurant. We decided to check it out and walked ourselves to it's front door. Was a bit of a walk for us, but I couldn't help but notice how quiet some of the streets were in the city, where we walked. Nothing like Tokyo, Nagoya, etc. Much calmer. And it was only late afternoon, too. I liked it! When we got to the site, it turned out the all-you-can-eat was a bit more expensive than what we had "heard". First things first, it cost for the two of us...$75 Cdn. Nearly $40 each. And the eating part - as well as all-you-can-DRINK - had to be accomplished in two hours or less. Fair enough, So we went for it. And - Best Meal we ever had in a long, long time! The server starts the whole thing up, shows you what to do,with the cooking grill in the middle of your table. You have a few veggies (onions, sprouts, cabbage) to take up the perimeter of the grill. But the main course all sits in the middle of it. Meats. All kinds and cuts. Thin sliced and flash frozen for easy cooking. Like a "Mongolian grill" type of food and cooking, if you how that works. And we kept ordering, and ordering and Ordering MEAT, LOL! It was awesome. And yes we threw in the occasional whole onion and sprouts, heh. But was definitely a Carnivore's Wet Dream eating this much. And we didn't even use up the entire two hours! Much of been all that beer I drank.... Draft Japanese beer is not reasonable in most parts of Japan. What costs me $4-5 or so for a pint back home - easily $9-10 here in Japan! So I knew that by having my fill of draft Sapporo Beer - well, the add-up would easily make the final bill...sweet. So, I believe I ended up drinking five busting LARGE MUGS of beer! Good beer, too. I was happy. We both were, but myself a bit moreso than David, lol. And on our way back to the hotel - we actually discovered our next night's dinner spot! This is where the Sapporo Beer Museum was. But we were more interested in EATING! And we're off and running! Our server first greases the grill we're using. Notice under her arm - Plate of MEAT. (And my first mug of beer). Then, the Ring of Veggies. And then as much meat in the middle as possible - for now. The whole thing, after we took over. And my third beer I believe. Mmmmm, more meat. Getting a bit messy in there - but all still awesome and delicious! On my 4th beer by this time, lol. Still at it - but starting to slow down by too much goodness! And look! Even David's got a beer now! (o: I call this ~ "Me and The Burls" ~ After dinner and much beer drinking and souvenir buying... (DbM) Interesting top to a tower on a building. We were walking back to the hotel, but a different route. Interesting. Sort of colour coded. Sort of. It's cork in those. Yep. Cork. On the other side of the train station/mall, other sculptures are found, like this one. A Yakitori House! And one of the cooks sees me snapping a pic and reacts! (o: Hmmmm. Yakitori for dinner tomorrow? Last pic before calling it a night. (And Darwin would be so proud having a pub named after him.)

^^ So who were your two buddies there with you, taking the same pix of the Booze Cafe, Chuck? Reflections don't lie, LOL.

Here are a few photos from when we left Hokkaido Greenland Park, and then when David and I set out from the hotel (on foot) to go to a suggested restaurant.... the Sapporo Beer Factory/Museum/Restaurant ... First, I noticed "that little icon" on our taxi's gps screen. Uh....okay. Even though the symbol is probably backwards, and of course means something entirely different to the Japanese... it still felt a bit wierd seeing it. I like domes in gardens. Don't know why. Just do. On the train back to the hotel - Neil gets some more 'winks'. Heading to dinner, we HEAR THIS (&%# THING BLARING down the street! And it's for something political. Figures. We thought Burg = burger. But it was just a restaurant and bar. We reach the Sapporo establishment, and are warmly greeted by an unknown strange looking mascot! Dinner up next....

Recent Ratatouille "Kitchen Calamity" construction photos have been released at Disney And More. The last shot really shows the details they're putting into the walls, etc. Over view shot of the new area. The Restaurant, Gusteau's. The attraction entrance. Corner facade on the cast costume building. With Disney, it's all in the detailing. (o:

I wish'd we'd been able to do Galaxy 999, after we arrived at the hotel. But we didn't give ourself enough time . Yes, the pre-show is about three times as long as the ride itself (ha) but it's a pretty good experience. Especially when some people don't actually know there's a ____ in the ride. (no spoilers here) And in Hong Kong Disneyland - did you find out what that "ribbon cutting ceremony" was all about? Didn't look to be a big audience draw, heh heh, Great start to your tours! Looking forward to seeing more.

This was shot from our Sky Wheel at Playland (at The PNE) a few days ago... Lovely shot of our North Shore mountains. And the PNE race track below, lol.

^ Nice action shot of you.

Here's a picture of US - David and me - together for over 41 years now. In front of Cinderellla's Castle in Tokyo Disneyland. Dreams DO come true, lol! I wished we'd be able to visit this together - and we did! (July 4, 2013)

The Mine Train Coaster will be awesome, as per Disney usual.

^ From the mouths of babes... We're an "old married couple", and I got the dumb bastard to go to Tokyo Disney Resort, hee hee! Can't be better than that, lol. ^^^ And welcome to the dialogue! The proof - and people kept staring and SMILING at us. Wonder why....

^^ I agree and ^ I agree! I thought the "ride op" at the first mirror maze we went through, on that hill, was one of The Most Enthusiastic Ride Ops I had ever seen. She was amazing! High fives and everything, heh. And two mirror mazes, too! It was really a fun park, I do agree. And that parking lot staff was KILLER! They were a - ma - zing!

June 30 ~ Hokkaido Greenland Park While David went in search of (hopefully) getting his glasses fixed, I went with the group to our first of two parks in the Sapporo area - Hokkaido Greenland. Our method getting there was an (ahem) "Amazing Race" way of doing it - taking the train first, then taxis to the entrance gate. Works every time! The park has sort of let itself 'go' in places, most notably the decrepit chair lift stations and towers that hadn't seen much winter use in years. But it was still a great park for kids, and those who wanted thrill rides, too. And three go kart tracks! David would have loved that, heh. I tagged along with Michael and Karthryn from Australia; nearly killed myself on a monorail peddle cycle thing - and Kathryn on my tail, pushing me along, LOL; a great little Mad House, which I originally thought was an Ice House; some fun games in the arcade; great ops pushing us thru the mirror mazes; and some cool stuff in the gift shop. A great day there - and David (sort of) got his glasses fixed - later on with Cary's duct tape supply - all a good day. Just before we got our taxis from the train station - we saw this. And it had nothing to do with the park we were heading to. "Things that make you go hmmm..." The Entrance of Hokkaido Greenland park Look! They know we're coming! Strange animatronics (low key) greeting mini-welcome show at entrance. I taped, but too much wind to actually hear it. Ladybugs were the chorus girls..... So apart from the coasters we rode, there were three go kart tracks! And here's Jason and Neil showing how having a great time, has nothing to do with one's driving skills. Same goes for Jon and Jolie. Happiness does not = good go kart driving. Hey Steven and Jes! Yeah, you're looking great - eyes on the road! And then there was Michael..... (He did better, later on.) We do the Sky Wheel. Michael and his lovely daughter (and OMG coaster screaming), Kathryn. Shot of some of the rides and coasters. Now we move the focus over just a bit - VOILA - new shot! And the rail peddle thing-ugh that nearly did me in, is over on the upper left there. Horrid thing. The jet coaster called....ready?..... GO ON. Seriously. It was okay. Nothing I hadn't seen on a jet coaster that went on and on and on and on and..... yeah. After the Wheel, Kathryn made some new friends. Though their personality was a bit...uh....stiff? Never try this at home, kids. The Mad House I thought was an Ice House. It was fun, nonethelees. I like these little ones. Always have. Want one in my back yard, some day... Where Sky Wheel cabins get recycled - into winter cabins, kind of! Michael does the other go kart track, and SUCCEEDS! And this is (literally) The End of our visit to Hokkaido Greenland Park. (And thank you Ben for your...uh...output?)

^ "Hot Ice Beyond Belief" (Just a suggestion.)

We arrived in Sapporo Airport, with no problems en route or at the airport. Then, we took a train to the station closest to our hotel - and we arrived! In Sapporo! Ready for our next two parks' visit, in the next couple of days. And a couple of really REALLY nice dinners we had, there in the city. (More on that later on.) The train station we arrived at, from the Sapporo Airport. (DbM) Interesting glass structure, in front of the station. Statuary around the station. (DbM) Group Shot. (DbM) Yay! It's our hotel! (DbM) Left view from our hotel window. Lots of city in there, but it feels like it's more spread out, here in Sapporo. And some nice park land in the right side shot from our window. And hills/mountains in back.

A scene from "Madama Butterfly" by Verdi

And now - a short break while "en route" to Sapporo... Remember this building in my earlier report? V Well, long story short, on the way back to our hotel, I tried to get David to see it, and he had to lean across to see it through our train window (he was on the aisle). And as some times things happen, my right elbow somehow made contact with his glasses, and literally snapped the left stem off of his glasses! So, we had to find somebody or some where that could put glasses back together again. At our Sapporo hotel they were so nice and giving, in trying to find what tools we could use at the hotel itself. Then there was a tip about a jewelry store in the mall that is connected to our Sapporo Train Station. So David took that tip, skipped our first park here (Hokkaido Greenland), and went in search of a good fix. For his glasses, ha ha. Not entirely successful, I found out when I returned from the day's tour. But in time - all was right, for now. So THANK YOU! to Cary for the supply of duct tape, which held everything together until we returned home, and David knew where to take the glasses, etc. But THIS is The Reason, you won't see any photos of David in the next day's tour... He was off, working the mall, LOL! This be the building that caused the OOPS on David's specs. Now fixed, and good as new.

^ Farina was one of my all-time favourite character actors. He could be so dirty and mean in one film - and then be the sweetest guy (and sometimes funniest) you'd ever want to know, in another. Good acting with good scripts. He will be missed.

Happy Birthday Today ~ Mick Jagger!* *And you don't look a day over 50, my dear.

QFT And here's two pix - Some of us at the Nagoya Airport, ready (drinking) to fly up to Sapporo. And... flying up to Sapporo, LOL! And no matter where we are: TPR = Instant Partys! At the Nagoya Airport *** Par - tay!!! Here's the view as we head towards Sapporo. The usual - clouds, blue stuff, height (DbM)

"Hang The Moon" Bernadette Peters & Megan Hilty the cd soundtrack of "MARILYN" from SMASH

Too darn hot.

^ Oops. Thanks for the catch. Fixed.

I may have said it in an earlier post, but... To me still, The Ultimate in Lightwater Valley has the lamest ending AND the not-so-great beginning of all the coasters I have now ridden, around the world. It starts out (too) slow and (too)steady on this massive not-so-high hill, then hits the ground running...and running and running in a pretty straight direction, and on the ground. Then it manages speed to climb up a half turn-around... And this is when the coaster goes nuts and is actually (to me) the best part of it's whole circuit. But after you've been thrown here and there through out the forest - you come out of it... And it - ta - kes - for - e - ver to get back to the station. I am bored already, telling you this. Sorry LV. It's still not that great to me. Back to you later on the Best Ending.