PTR - The old man tags along on TPR's China trip

[gisco]

Is there going to be a Korea PTR?

[mcjaco]

 

I see an epic fail. Where the hell is the smoke stack?

[OldJJman]

Is there going to be a Korea Photo TR?

 

Yes. Both Korea and Tokyo. I just need to finish this one first.

 

 

 

JJ

[OldJJman]

Day 9

 

Hong Kong and Ocean Park

 

We arrived in Hong Kong the previous night and we were staying at the fabulous HKDL Hollywood Hotel.

 

Now, I knew really nothing about Hong Kong, except that everything is made there. I had no idea that HK is made up of many different islands and had lots and lots of people of people there.

 

Let's go into Hong Kong.....

Hi Chuck!!

 

More pics shortly.

Yee-haw! Terra Firma!!

One way or the other, the end was near!

But, really sucky.

But, a great view.

They were also fairly sucky.

Though I had to admit, the view from the cable cars were spectacular!

Apparently, one of the Giant Pandas had too much bamboo, farted, and completely destroyed the whole front side of the park.

Time to take one of these contraptions over the hills to the "rides" area of the park. (BTW - Oh f'n joy!)

Oh f'n joy. One of my favorite kind of rides. =(

Well, forget them! We're heading into Ocean Park.

They're probably already at work here in the business district.

Seriously. Where are they?

All these millions of people and.... Where the hell are they??

Their graffiti is so much superior to ours!

Anybody need a coffin??

We go that-a-way!

Crapola!

Lots more, and we weren't even heading that direction.

One of the many cool bridges we would cross.

Our drive into HK was quite scenic. Those are some of the 100's of apt building scattered about.

[OldJJman]

More...

Evidently, the Chinese had the original coat hanger bronzed for all to see.

 

More soon.

Somehow, I can't imagine that the short train would have been anymore comfortable.

No problem!

The end couldn't come soon enough!

Oh this is gonna be pleasant. NOT!

They didn't even work the kinks out of the coat hanger first!

Not one of Ron Toomer's finest.

Translated: The Dragon will crush your spleen, torture your ears, turn your brains to mush, and possibly cause bodily harm.

Notice how KT closes her legs when the Jew gets too close!

Early artist's conception.

We passed a fresh fish restaurant along the way.

Time to head over to the "other" back of the park, where a majority of the ride were.

It had some great elevation changes too.

Can you spot the airtime hill?

 

I knew you could.

I have to agree with Robb. This probably has a better view than Tibadabo.

Lift hill shot.

Despite the helix, it was still a pretty good ride.

Wild West Mine Train. Check.

Seeing this in person quickly reminded me of the unfinished Dragon Mountain.

We headed to the back of back of the park, to ride the mine train, where the views were just as spectacular!

[OldJJman]

Continues with us walking through a couple of the aquariums.

They were proud of the Olympics all over the country!

 

Next up: Avenue of the Stars and some of Hong Kong Harbor.

On the way back into HK, we passed a massive dead people farm.

Time to say goodbye to Ocean Park.

Life must be tough.

Strange sponsorship.

Time to go see farting Pandas.

Squid anyone??

It got kind of steep in places!

Oh crap! Had to do this again!

"Sea Jelly" or ejaculate under a microscope? You decide.

Which way do we go Wilbur? Which way do we go?

Pretty cool!

Seriously!

Walkway to the "Sea Jelly" aquarium.

"Hi! My name is Bruce!"

You cannot cross a fish, an elephant and a kangaroo!

This is what happens when experiments go wrong.

Sea horsies.

This, is not.

This is how you hide so you don't end up broiled on a stick.

[OldJJman]

Rob and Elissa told us about the best place to see the harbor. It was a place called the "Avenue of the Stars". (Think, Hollywood Walk of Fame, with a better view!) It was a great place to visit, giving some really great views. They also had a harbor light show spectacular featuring all of the buildings. Joey and I would come back later on that evening to check it out.

 

 

Anyway, this day continues...

Our wonderful HKDL Hollywood Hotel.

 

So ended the day, and this update.

 

Next up: Day 2 in Hong Kong, Macau and the insane TPR members on (and off) tha Macau tower.

 

Thanks for looking.

Ten minutes after 9pm, and 7-11 is already closed. =(

Time to head back to the hotel.

The following pics were all taken during the "Harbor Light Spectacular". I think that Joey and I stayed there about 5 minutes once it started. Kinda boring.

The Hong Kong rail system was very easy to understand!

Hi Chuck!

Not too crowded.

Still a bit of British influence in Hong Kong.

i do believe that this is the Disney train.

The station was pretty cool!

Inside the train station - The world's smallest "7-11"

The train station was right next to the entrance to HKDL.

At this point we headed back to the hotel, but would come back later by train.

The "bank" building from "The Dark Knight".

And, of course, the number one money making movie star of all time, Jackie Chan. Seriously.

Chow Yun Fat (Is he really that popular?)

Jet Li

There were tons of stars for people I've never heard of (not surprising). This is Bruce's.

One of the very few statues on the "Avenue of the Stars" was that of Bruce Lee.

If you like architecture and tall buildings, Hong Kong is paradise!

[gisco]

I like the night shots of Hong Kong. The pictures are a lot better then the show.

[JimmyBo]

Great pictures Old Man. I agree with Bob and I really like the night pictures of Hong Kong. That place looks amazing and it seemed weird that there were no people around the town.

 

I can't wait to see the rest of your updates.

 

Do you have High Resloution pics of some of the night shots? Or maybe some stiches?

[OldJJman]

Do you have High Resloution pics of some of the night shots? Or maybe some stiches?

 

Yeah. I do have the full res pics (7.2mp). I can post and/or bundle them together at the end if anyone would like them.

 

As for the "stitches" (panoramic shots) I'll start a different thread whenever I get this one finished. It will have all of the stitches I've attempted.

 

But, I don't think that the night stitches came out all that well.

 

JJ

[Rastuso]

Are you joking with questioning Chow Yun-Fat's popularity? He's an enormous film star in Hong Kong. He and John Woo made basically the greatest HK action films ever together. Just because his American films all fizzled, doesn't mean he still isn't the godlike star of The Killer and Hard Boiled.

 

-RO

[OldJJman]

Day 10 - Macau

 

Today was a kind of cultural day, as quite a few of us took the option to go to Macau, the biggest, fastest growing, gambling mecca in the world. They also have a large tower, with some interesting attractions up on top. We then got to either go sightsee more in Hong Kong, or go to Disneyland.

 

 

Enjoy!

Some of the major casinos we saw along the way.

 

More shortly.

Apparently, this was some sort of entertainment complex that recently lost their coaster credit. (Maybe they should try HRP here!)

... Hello Macau!

Goodbye Hong Kong...

Some of the TPR contingency.

Our luxury ferry.

One last look at the terminal.

Another perspective of the office and apartment buildings.

The ferry that would take us to Macau.

Bob was happy, as Starbucks had invaded the terminal.

The gold building there was the terminal for the ferry we were going to take to Macau.

Even the buses in Hong Kong weren't Chuck proof!

... not too far from another apartment complex.

It appeared that another office building was going up....

Coming soon to a Walmart near you - One of the thousands of containers stacked at the busiest harbor in the world!

Heading back into Hong Kong.

Nothing like a great breakfast to start the day!

The sun rises on another beautiful (albeit HOT!) day in Hong Kong.

[OldJJman]

Continued...

It's nice to see that Rich's finger has healed nicely since the Spain trip last year.

 

More soon.

The guys were checking out Don's progress as he climbed to the tip of the tower.

Bye Steve!

Steve (still sober) getting ready to jump.

The boys are out on the walkway.

These brave souls will take the hour long walk around the top. (They did photo ops and some stunts etc.. during that time.)

Steve, in a rare moment of sobriety, decided to jump off the edge.

A couple of them would bungee off of it!

The walkway out there was to be walked by several TPR members.

A few more views.

Standing on it was bad enough!

...though it wasn't nearly as bad as the people sitting and jumping on it!

Laying on the glass floor kinda freaked me out....

The level we were at was 233 meters (764 ft.) which was still a long way down.

It gave some pretty spectacular views!

The one and only destination for about half the group (including myself) was the Macau Tower. (Not the Lego version!)

[OldJJman]

Continued...

I'll end this day with a stupid picture of the wheel that tossed a hubcap while taking the Disney bus.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Next update will be Hong Kong Disneyland.

One of the train stations where we had to change trains.

Time to head back to Hong Kong.

Fortunately, these Chinese ladies were more impressed with the intelligent ones who chose not to jump!

About 2 minutes later, Mike was caught trying to impersonate an officer.

Where's the restroom?!?!

It's a damn COP!!

What the hell is that?

 

It's a bird...

 

It's a plane...

I don't care. It's still a helluva long ways up!

Though Alex was swinging out over the edge.

As was Leo...

Dave was seriously testing the restraint systems.

Too late to turn back now! (He survived!)

Meanwhile, Chris and Callum discuss who will end up with Natasha in case Callum goes SPLAT on the bungee.

They were all getting pretty comfortable up there.

After about 15 minutes, Mike was getting bored with the whole thing.

[spaceace12]

Forget Rich's finger...is Dave levitating?

 

 

Is there a glass floor or something? It serious looks like Rich and the person behind is normal and dave is a few inches above.

[sfne2005]

That's because he was jumping...which may explain the tremor that Macau experienced that day

[miniviews]

^Hence, me sitting on the walkway while the tower swayed . BTW, I highly recommend anyone with a fear of height to conquer this phobia via Skywalk X on Macau Tower.

[SteveC]

Dave IS levitating - truly AMAZING!

 

Jeff - you captured a lot of moments I overlooked because I either

 

a) didn't turn on the camera in time

b) had the wrong shutter mode on (same result as a)

c) left my camera on the bus! - (no result there then)

 

Get your stitches up asap -they ROCK

 

Cheers

 

SteveC

[cfc]

Hmm--I think I'd draw the line at bungee jumping off that thing (although the walkaround would be kind of tempting).

[OldJJman]

I guess it's time to work on this some more.

 

Day 11 - Hong Kong Disneyland

 

OK. This place was absolutely beautiful, and ridiculously small. Not much to do, but everything, including the cast members was top notch. It's a wonderful (albeit small) park, with a great chance at growing into a great park.

 

Time for pictures.

In we go!

 

OK. I didn't tell the whole truth. Somehow, Robb worked his magic and got us ERT on SM. THANK YOU ROBB!!

 

More pics shortly.

People were just flocking to the SM FastPass machines!

You have to admit, it does look pretty damn cool!

First stop, Space Mountain!

The Astro Orbiter thingy on top looked pretty cool!

Venturing into Tomorrowland.

Themeing of said misters.

It was nice to see misters on a blazing hot day like today! (It was 90+ that day.)

With the throngs of people here today, it was amazing that you could still find your camera sitting in the middle of the street!

OK. I think they took "Disneyland" as a model WAYYYY too seriously, because that's a itty bitty castle! Made even smaller by the hills in the background.

It was also a bit odd that all of the signage was in English.

Main Street, like the rest of the park, was immaculately clean!

Anyone ever seen the "Midtown Jewelry" movie?

We were only there 10 minutes and Rich was taking his final pictures before heading out.

Way too many people for my taste!

Like all Disney parks, this one was packed!!

This looks vaguely familiar.

Mickey and some dork.

Mobs of people heading for the entrance. Not! Just the TPR peeps.

[OldJJman]

More...

The children's water play area in Tomorrowland.

 

More soon.

Bob getting his POV.

The foliage throughout the ride was quite spectacular.

"RAMMING SPEED!"

Cruising.

Paused.

Journey into the future? Honda? I don't get it.

Next up was the Autopia.

Damn! Look at the crowds pouring in!

Bob was still looking for his "joystick"!

"Young Jeff" just couldn't get it up!

With the multitudes of people now coming in, we were given placards showing us our assigned seating.

Next up we decided to try the Orbitron.

I almost burned my hand on "Wall-E" waiting for Bob to take this picture. (Note to self: Don't touch blazing hot metal!)

Then the cast members took us over to Buzz Lightyear, for some added ERT!! WooHoo!

Mike is still shell-shocked from the jump off of the Macau Tower yesterday!

Of course you get a trainload of happy TPR peeps!

Inside did look much different than the others. (Of course, SM at DLP doesn't count, cause it sucks!)

Even a safety training video.

Nice entrance to Space Mountain.

[thrillerman1]

Space Mountain is gorgeous. Loves it! How was the ride?

 

It's so hard to believe how empty the park is. Did it ever get busy? Jeff thanks for sharing these awesome photos!

[OldJJman]

More...

Due to the crowds, we had to wait an additional 45 seconds for an English speaking tour guide on the Jungle Cruise.

 

Those pics soon.

One of the new attraction for 2008 was the spitting penii.

Adventureland. Last land in the park.

Due to the heat, we sought refuge in the Chinese version of Mickey's Philharmagic.

 

More shortly.

Hi Lou!

Really pretty, but nothing to do.

King Arthur Carousel looked very nice.

While the two Leo's and I took in the sights, Bob managed to find the camera.

Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy!

 

(We're DEFINITELY NOT in Tokyo!)

At least all of the animatronics worked.

Why not?

Robb's favorite.

Actually, this would be Larry's favorite ride.

An indoor queue. What a concept. Perhaps the original Disneyland should try something like that.

It was awesome to have the air-conditioned queue on this HOT day to keep the crowds calm!

Even the nooks and crannies of this place were immaculate!

So we opted for Larry's favorite ride..

We also passed on "The Golden Mickeys" at the Storybook Theater, as the English version was much later in the day.

On the way to Fantasyland, we passed on the Stitch Encounter. The English version wasn't till later in the day.

[OldJJman]

More...

On the way to the train station, I ran into this Muppet contraption. Odd, to say the least.

 

Train ride and night pics coming up.

Entrance to Tomorrowland.

The crowds have certainly taken over!

A little street entertainment.

I know where the lamp is. I know where the lamp is.

This is where the wooden, inverted standup is going next year.

Water. Fire. Good.

It even told the story.

The treehouse was pretty cool. Lots of things to explore, ala Tom Sawyer's Island.

So long suckers!

Treehouse time.

Douse fire with water.

 

Good system.

Start water on fire.

 

There was actually a LOT of fire. I just didn't capture it. Fail.

Start fire.

Now for exploding water!

Same "getting it in the end" joke too.

It was so hot, Robb decided to jump in!

They have the same Mother-in-law joke in China. Go figure.

Oooooooo. Wildlife.

Though they appear to be a bit lazier.

Gorilla filled base camp.

YAY! Piranhas!

Elephant bathing pool.

Off we go...

Tarzan's Treehouse was on the island in the center of the Jungle Cruise.

Tarzan's Treehouse.

 

(From the Jungle Cruise)

[OldJJman]

More...

..and blow it to smithereens!! (Afterall, with 1.1 billion people, they just rebuild it every night!)

 

So ends day 11, and this portion of the PTR.

 

Coming soon (yeah, right) Lotte World!

 

Thanks for looking!

For the finale, they torch the castle...

Aaaaaaah!

Ooooooo.

Getting started.

Night time, and time for the fireworks.

Evening at the park.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this tree in Guy's yard in Tennessee before too long.

Layout of the HKDL resort.

Back at the hotel - Just as we usually don't have a 13th floor due to superstition, the Chinese have the same superstition about the number 4.

Very nice!

The following pics are from the train ride around the park.

I was fortunate enough to ride with TPR Royalty. Though KT had had enough pictures taken for one day.

Train. Complete with smokestack!

Yay! Train ride!