Nrthwnd

Snow looks good on Tokyo Disney Resort.

"(They long To Be) Close To You" The Carpenters

"O Ma Ley" from the cd soundtrack of Cirque du Soleil's production... ~ AmaLuna ~ Great show! We saw it last Wed. Coming to Seattle, Calgary, and Edmonton soon!

Found this just posted. Also found out most of the layoffs will be in Montreal at the home office. But still, sad to find out. And again - I am So Glad I got to see ZED, before it shuttered.

To ahecht - Very Impressive!

"Hazy Jane 2" Nick Drake

Now before I get into this last set of pix, I must explain why no pix of Hong Kong, itself. I was so overheated and really messed up with the humidity and all, when the Hong Kong Sightseeing tour (and dinner that would follow it) came up, after our visit to Ocean Park, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I needed to cool down - fast. So, I went back to the Disney Hollywood Hotel with Robb and Hanno, took a cooling bath, did some time at the pool itself, ate my actual worst meal of the tour (not kidding - the quick pickup diner was not good), and chilled out in the room until my roomie got back later that evening. So, the rest of my photos will be of Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. But not of Hong Kong, itself. Next time, if I tour China with TPR again, I am hoping that sightseeing Hong Kong will be done and snapped by me, lol. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- With that said, we did Ocean Park the next morning, with ERT given to us on every coaster in the park! (Except the new power coaster) And we got to ride up to the rides level on the park's fairly new transport system, that being the sort-of funicular train that simulates traveling through the oceans. The only way to travel between the lower and upper parts of the oark used to be by their still-running gondolas. So the underground, through-the-hills train was cool and nice to ride. I did enjoy the coasters there, especially HairRaiser. And I was constantly amazed how they fit some of these coasters into the hillside of different parks like this one, and Knight Valley, etc. But the zoo-like area for non-aquatic animals left me feeling sad for the animals. They really weren't great enclosures. And after so much money spent on a new transport system, the new coaster and such, surely couldn't better conditions (and bigger ones too) be built for the animals? And, as the day wore on, it again got to be very humid for me, and with the heat bouncing off the pavement of the park, I really wasn't doing as well as i thought I could. So once again, the pix taken were limited, and when we were asked about who wanted to return to the hotel - I was the only one, beside Rubb and Hanno to go back to the hotel. Which was fine. I had had enough of that day, lol. And the cool bath and swimming felt soo very very nice. Got me refreshed for the next day.... and HK DISNEYLAND! So here we are at Ocean Park - on Hair Raiser - with Robb snapping an on-ride Group Photo at its station. One of my artsy Coaster Shots. With a bit of hillside in back. Looking out the other end of the station. It's a good coaster, and I rode it a number of times. Had a nice surprise of an airtime pop in the middle of it, too. Now this one is DRAGON, an old Vekoma custom looper. With the last lift hill bringing you back up to the station. It was interesting. This is one I have known about for years and years - Wild West Mine Train - which really doesn't have a lot of theming to it, but what - a - view of Hong Kong Harbour from it! Speaking of views. This is from the observation tower ride they have at the park. With a view of some of the rides there, and the ocean beyond. More of the upper area of the park, with Hair Raiser in back, the new Arctic Exhibit (and power coaster in front) in the large buildings there. Now, in the Arctic exhibit there were (yay) penguins. And the little guy between Jon and Betty just loved to be photographed! See him bobbing between them, there in the tank? Shameless little camera hog. Us three in one of the gondolas going back up the mountain from the entrance level to the upper area. This is where heat wasn't helping me, riding in this mini-sauna, lol. Even with the side windows open! Hot hot hot. And as this icky photo shows, my camera skills were starting to drain from my system. I knew it was time for a hotel break, before we toured HKDL the next day.

Finally realizing the TPR tours are getting closer!

So - this is it - our last day in Mainland China - and by evening we're in Hong Kong at a Disneyland Hotel!!! But still, there was Happy Valley Shenzhen to visit for most of the day. The hot, overly humid day. Another one to get through, for myself. And in the end, I again didn't take too many photos this day. Was just too hot, and constantly re-hydrating myself so i wouldn't fall over from the heat! And it continued the following day for our visit to Ocean Park. But that's another post. HVS was an interesting laid out park. By looking at it from outside, I would have never guessed it covered so much property. But it did, and was quite the work-out to walk back and forth through. There was this new dive coaster we were to get a very good credit on - but we were upstaged by some fool Canadian stunt guy (had to be,right?) doing something involving get off the track before being run over....? Something like that, lol. Anyway, they were cleaning up after him (ha), and he got into talks with Robb, found out other Canucks were on the tour (JonLocke is there a pic from you of this?) and somehow managed to help us with the ERT on the coaster before it opened to general public! I missed the meet-up with the guy, but I do want to thank him for helping us with our ERT. It was awesome. And the coaster was pretty great too! Then - The Bus To Hong Kong..... Actually, and surprisingly - it was three busses to Hong Kong. The one we'd been on and had our luggage in, stopped several miles from the China-Hong Kong border. Seems we had to unload ourselves AND the luggage and transfer to another bus - and driver and guide, yes? - which took us to the actual Border Crossing Building. And then, another unload, everything to and through customs etc etc. (I nearly lost it at this point having not found The Card I needed to save for exiting Mainland China - did find it, but geez!! Still hot and humid at this time of night, too. Ugh.) And then, driving to our last hotel of the tour Hong Kong Disney's Hollywood Hotel. And I called it a night. Too hot and exhausted to do anything else, though I "heard" the swimming pool got invaded and abused by some of the tour people and.....Goofy. On our way to our final Mainland China park - Neil's happy about that. Front Entrance to Happy Valley Shenzhen - me with a couple of True Credit Whores (and only in a good way!) - hi George and Richard! What we were supposed to get some early ERT on - but - we got it later in the day. And it's a nice coaster. I liked it! Betty, Jon, and myself with IT in back and above us. And strange things on the right of us. I liked this shot. Not perfect. But not too shabby, lol. The coaster was called BULLET COASTER btw. Simple and easy, hmm? I was by this time, staying in as much shade as I could find. And herds of schoolkids kept moving by me. This was one of the last ones I saw, before we left the park for.... Toto! Pause. No really, all of a sudden, I saw this in there park's bathroom. And it made me laugh and think of "that Toto." So = took a pic. And NOW we get on the ( first of 3) bus and FINALLY head over to.... Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel Room! Very nicely laid out. We had inner courtyard view, and of pool and out to water a bit. Nice. The beds. Nice and comfy, IMhO. The all-important bathroom, with alll those toiletries Mickey-style, LOL. And, OCEAN PARK tomorrow!

I Hotel Hightower! Great shots, Hanno.

^ There's a new musical treatment of the film Kinky Boots, with a libretto by Harvey Firestein (La Cage Aux Folles; Newsies), and a score by.... Cyndi Lauper! Previews start in March, and it's scheduled to open around the beginning of April, I believe. You might be interested in checking this one out. Out of town (Chicago) reviews have been good for it.

I just found out (and posted) about SMASH (the tv series) finally "getting it," and putting together all the musical numbers that made up the in-series "musical" called BOMBSHELL, about Marilyn Monroe. The cast cd comes out mid-Feb. So excited about this!

Woo hoo! This was just posted at Amazon. Release date: February 12. With the numbers that made up the "score" of the musical, through-out the series' episodes. I cannot wait for this. "Don't forget me." I was hoping so much they would do something like this, compiling the numbers all into a "cast album" type thing. And - they did!

And now that Group Meals Time is over.... Into the final week of this long and EPIC TOUR, lol. And once again, Robb decided to switch a couple of parks around, making it easier (I assumed) for getting the most out of the time we had, each day. So today we did Knight Valley and Window of The World. Knight Valley at first look, was a part of a bigger residential and sports/spiritual resort for the locals. Most of it all built up against (and at the tops of) a mountain and several large hills, lol. It was also the home to one of the more unique wooden coasters in China, being designed and built into the terrain of the mountain itself. Like Boulder Dash - only higher up, lol. The coaster (called what else? "Wood Coaster") was very cool, hugging the hillside with rapid speed, good tight turns, and a great adrenalin rush, every time I rode it. Which I did, several times, lol. The rest of the park, was unfortunately without all its escalators running (up and/or down) so it was quite a workout getting around, and the heat and humidity wasn't making it any easier, for myself. The cable car was down as was the neat looking flume ride there, and the Journey to Centre of Earth attraction was down for maintenance. But we rode the bobcarts, got to the top of the mountain for a 360' view of everything around us, and eventually ended up at (where else?) Pizza Hut for lunch, followed by a cool delish iced frappucino from Starbucks. I was happy. Then we headed to Window of the World, which is basically another one of these miniature (well not so miniature) iconic buildings park. But this one to me, seemed to be the biggest of those I had ever seen before. And there was a CREDIT in it! Called the "Greenland Underground Exploration", it was basically a coaster-in-the-dark ride and not much else. The only really cool thing about this coaster was the train we rode in, shaped at front and back like a long Viking warship, lol! That was cool, but the rest of it was meh. The rest of the park was really nice and very spread out, divided into different sections of the world. It was very nice walking around, and there was a mini-rail to ride there too, if one wanted to see a lot of the park "from above". And then just before leaving the park, a few of us met one of the 'regulars' there. And he even posed for a few shots too! Nice kitty. Heading to breakfast, I liked this arrangement in our (current) hotel lobby. Part of breakfast. That's pork shavings there on the end of this 'pastry'. And it was good! On our way to Knight Valley. And the clouds of _____ open up for us...just a little. Here's the map of everything at Knight Valley - now where the heck were we??? Wood Coaster's lift hill. And after the lift hill...heading back our way! Through the station and then some great intense turns and stuff. I really enjoyed this coaster. Going up the mountain on the funicular train, and looking down to the rest of the park, and beyond. That long thin rectangular 'roof' was where a lot of the shops and eateries (incl.The Hut and SB) were. Another view of it all, from up above. And you can barely make out any Coaster track to the right of that white square 'roof' nestled in the trees. This is a shot with my digital camera. A bit closer, a lot clearer. And some coaster track you CAN see on the left, there. I forget what that multi-level roofed thing was over on the right there. Looked interesting, though. Looking the other direction. Religion and Golf, in harmony with each other. (o: The entrance sign for Window of The World. Looked great when all the neon lighting eventually went on. And of course, The Louvre Pyramid in front. It's generally a mash-up of countries' iconic structures, depending on the direction you see things. Speaking of a mash-up.... Um. It's been over ten years now. It just looks and feels...creepy. And just before we left the park, we ran into this little local. Who decided to finally get up and start posing... Pretty good pose, hmm? Sweet cat. And just before we got back to our hotel, I saw these free-standing poles undulating in their various colours. Did that sound dirty? (o;

Well, everybody (most) will still ride the thing for the credit value. And that's about it.

Is a documentary still happening, about the project? I remember that for support pledging purposes, there was a cut-off date, some time ago, last year. Still interested, and curious.

I just shivered when it hit the Zero-G Roll! Yes indeed. 2014. Mmmm.

I finally went to a FATBURGER here in town, and tried one of theirs. It was - okay. That's all I got.

Woo hoo! I got an email from the current Cirque show in town ~AmaLuna~ with a killer 1/2 price sale on remaining tix in it's last week (next week) here. So... we're going next Wednesday/16th, with really good seats to see it! Yay us! I haven't missed one Cirque show since they started touring to Vancouver, and only the tent shows, not the ones onstage. I was really afraid we might not get to see this one . But now we're going! (EDIT to add: Actually, I must admit, I did see a Cirque show in a theatre - the one specially built for the now closed Tokyo Disney / Cirque show ZED! It was amazing and again, it was only open for two years! Am so glad I got to see that. And I got the CD too, lol!) One of the ads for the show here. Only for another week or so.

"Restless Fugitive" Willie Mason

It's not my absolute favourite series, but Once Upon A Time starts/ed new episodes today!

^ It's my mistake, I meant to be more specific. The coasters in Toronto, and Puyallup are/were there all year, every year and open ONLY during their respective fairs. I think it's more wooden coasters that I was wondering about, those that can't be portable like (most) steel ones can for fairs and carnivals. Sorry, for not clarifying.

This reminds me of the roller coaster only open during the Puyallup Fair, north of Seattle. Which is in September, every year. Which makes me ask, are there other coasters that are (or were) in this kind of situation - only open during a fair, etc? Just curious.

^ My 400th coaster! And I enjoyed it, regardless of the overhype. (2010)