Photo TR: Bill's Japan-Tastic TPR Tour! (2011)

[vuurvogel]

Did you have that bags shipped? How did you get all that souvenirs home? And is your house big enough?

[Nrthwnd]

^ LOL, EB! And to answer your 3 questions....

 

#1 - No.

#2 - I brought everything back with me and

did not ship anything home ahead of me. I

did buy a new cloth bag, that I was allowed to

bring on as carry-on for my flight home, along

with my Balder backpack! (o:

#3 - Our house is pretty big, so I think everything

will fit into it just fine, heh heh.

 

Here's a sampling of everything I brought back with me. One is what I call the "assorted stuff" group. And the second is from the soon-to-close Cirque du Soleil production of ZED.

An ashtray from Nasu Highland; a pressed penny from Sea Paradise; an outdoor rainbow mobile hanger from Parque Espana; the only two postcards I bought on the entire tour... all on top of the cloth bag I bought and used to haul some of the lot home, heh heh.

The ZED stuff. Souvenir programme, a washcloth and a Cirque wristwatch. I already owned the wonderful CD of the show, when it was first released over a year ago.

And here's the cd soundtrack of the wonderful ZED - closing 12/31/11 at TDLR.

[thrillerman1]

Postcards!

[Nrthwnd]

^ Hi Mark! Yeah sadly, I picked up only two postcards from the whole trip. And these two weren't even from a theme park, LOL! I picked them up at the (last) hotel's convenience shop. One of that "famous wave" (I keep forgetting what that's all about, sorry) and of course, the wonderful Shinkansen = <3 Bullet Train! <3

 

So these sets of souvenirs in photos were collected and bought mainly for wearing....and waving? Here we go...

The white hankerchief I won from the duck race at Wonder Rakutenchi; a cap from Fuji-Q (!); wrist bands from TokyoDisney and Fuji; another (now lost) kerchief from TDL; and this year's EARS!

Pins from Universal (as welcome gifts, Thankyou USJ!), and Disney; free pins attached to bought drinks; a Disney pinbag; and a sad lonely (one only) fridge magnet from Cosmoworld.

And I ended up buying SIX fans! All great ("We are Happy Hippies!" on yellow one, Pokemon below it), and the (red plastic) one from Disney even lit up! And two light-up neckthings from TDS' Fantasmic! and TDL's Monster,Inc. All very "cool" stuff, heh heh.

And just to show I actually USE some of these souvenirs... Here I am at the Opening Night (Aug.11) of our queer film festival, Out On Screen. My Japanese pig anime' shirt on , light-up TDL fan in hand, and Fantasmic! around my neck, .

[gisco]

I miss Japan!

[wesley815]

Wow! Thanks for all the great pics and even 'after-trip-report' of souvenirs, was very Japan-Tastic!

 

[Nrthwnd]

^^ Agreed, Bob.

 

^ Thanks. But wait! There's more souvenirs to show! (o:

 

This set of photos is about food and food-related souvenirs.

As well as some nice bathroom things to bring back with me.

 

Sorry that the first photo is a touch blurry. These photos were taken

right after I returned home, jet lagged and all.

3 food sets of erasers (!) there; a large "sundae" from Toys'R'Us that is actually a pen-holder; tea and coffee mugs from TDL; chopsticks and toothpicks holder; Skinkansen kids meal holder; car air freshner; beside it - a toy drinks dispenser machine, with candy!

Gift food, boxed from Fuji-Q (grapes) and Nagashima Spaland (octagon); Kit Kat bars; Pepsi w/action figure; small juice glasses orig.with sake sold in them; lots of grape flavoured candy; small bottle that had "Straight Tea" in it, lol!

Mainly for the bathroom, but still - "condiment" bath gels? How about pepper sauce bath gels? Facecloths from TDS and Wonder Rakutenchi; bath salts from convenience stores; soaps (apple and pineapple!) from Kijima & NagSpa shops; "mouthwash glass" from awesome Aquarium at Sea Paradise park.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Nrthwnd

[Nrthwnd]

Finishing up here, with what I collected on the Japan tour.

 

This first set would be under the heading of "Collectibles," and I had quite a nice variety, including cds, figures, small cars, unique things like the 3-D puzzle (Nasu Highland) and a nice waterglobe (by way of Luna Park Australia, thankyou Kathryn, Michael & Maria!), etc.

 

The other photos are of the many papers I "collected" while on tour, and of course, those interesting, precious park maps one must always have (IMhO). And a small 'preview' of the Most Important Souvenirs of any tour - Onride Photos!

There's a TPR pillow in the middle; TDLR cds below; collectable TDL cars to the right; action figure with your Pepsi!; our little friend from Hightower Hotel (ToT); fridge maget (Cosmoworld; LEGO keychains (Nasu Highland); and a LOT of capsule...stuff, lol!

Everything from photocopies of the tour guidebook, to the tour schedule itself, wrappers and a lot more picked up on the way thru Japan.

Mmmmm all those park maps.

Onride Photos - Group Shot

[Nrthwnd]

Well, to finish this TR all up, and to show the fun with friends on tour... Here's my pack of Onride (and offride) Photos from the TPR Japan Tour for 2011.

 

And I am especially proud of the last photo I am posting here - that of Tokyo Disney Sea's Tower of Terror - I was the only non-Japanese person on that ride vehicle, and while waiting in line, made immediate friends with everybody there! And we still couldn't understand each other, LOL! But it was a really happy group, and I loved the final shot, here.

 

So - Big BearHugs and THANKYOU to Elissa and Robb for another incredible awesome tour; Thankyou to my 'roomie' for the tour, Bob. You were great and I hope we get to 'tour' somewhere in the world together again; Thankyou to all of the managements and staff of all the parks, making our tour such a great one; and Thankyou to everybody on this tour, be it old touring friends or new ones met. It was a blast.

 

And - when do we go back to Japan, again?

 

Enjoy the photos and get yourself on a TPR Tour soon!

On SpiderMan at Universal Japan. I think none of us except Mike knew where to 'look' for the photo, lol.

One of these "OffRide Photos" taken before we rode the new indoor coaster, Space Fantasy, at Universal. That's me, Mike, Bob, Rosie and JC ready to save the universe! (I think)

We really REALLY enjoyed this coaster, so much so - got another offride pic (me with JC) before riding it again. (And again and again, and...)

Riding Fujiyama in the back seat, at Fuji-Q. Me and JC there. And notice that bizarre lift hill on their new coaster, in back? Next visit....

Another off-ride pic. This photo was actually better to get than the actual on-ride one, heh heh. In the Surf Coaster station at Sea Paradise park. Me, Rosie, and Matt behind us.

Quick! Where's Bill??? Tokyo Disney Sea's Tower of Terror, and a great group of co-passengers to enjoy the ride.

[Nrthwnd]

This is The Story of a

 

Fuji-Q Capsule Machine

 

Capsule - with seeds inside of it.

 

For a cactus to grow of them.

 

In a cute little plastic pot!

 

Photos attached with my steadfast start.

Unfortunately, and after a few tiny little

itty bitty leaves started to poke through....

 

Damn squirrels got it.

 

Here it is, all out and ready to go, even with it's own peat pellet! Awesome! (Capsule and tiny unreadable book also shown.)

Can you Find Wal--- uh, cactus? (It's actually 'dead centre' of the shot. Oooh, the irony!)

Giving cactus seeds a little Greenhouse Luv. (Still cannot read instructions.)

Last known whereabouts (i.e. still intact) Note to self: Get more capsules at Fuji-Q.... again.

[DenDen]

Your pose here is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!

[SharkTums]

Space Fantasy just brings out the Diva in all of us!

[gisco]

Damn squirrels got it.

[Nrthwnd]

After the loss of our sweet cat Camille, just after I got back from the Japan tour, we finally got ourself another cat. A 6 month old Bengal-cross young teenager , with a penchant for getting into e - vry - thing that she can climb. Her name? Stella. Great to yell out when she's shredding the curtains, lol.

 

So - for this holiday season we decided NOT to bring down our little fake tree and test fate with such a youngster among us, heh. We left it up in one of our guest rooms, where it is still decorated with lights, and an assortment of small theme park...stuff, I have managed to buy, collect, get gifted with, or just find accidently through all my tours with TPR.

 

And all of the recent buys and such from this Japan tour ended up at the base of the tree, and it looks pretty good, I must say.

 

So A Merry Solstice To All, and in addition - Have a Great Theme Park-Coaster-Filled 2012!

Looks pretty good, yes? Next year, it comes downstairs and it gets TINSEL, lol!

[printersdevil78]

Wow, Bill, love that vintage Disneyland map in the background. I used to have one, but mine was a reproduction. Looks like yours is the real deal!

[Nrthwnd]

^ Thanks, it is the real deal, lol!

 

I bought it with my mom back in 1963 on my

first visit there, at 10 years old!

[Nrthwnd]

How about

 

fresh sushi & egg nog.

 

Too much?

 

[cfc]

^If they can deep fry Twinkies, Oreos, and Coca Cola, they can deep fry sushi--or maybe that's tempura.

[chadster]

Wow, full on Toyota seat belts on the Tower of Terrror, that's amazing! Not sure about those bath gels tho

[Nrthwnd]

^ Actually the belts were quite comfy, and we still got a bit of airtime in those seats LOL!

 

The bath gels, IMhO, didn't really "smell up" to what they were "supposed" to be, heh heh.

Already tried one of the Hot Sauces, and the Mustard, Ketchup, and Mayonnaise bath gels - all smell like soap

but the colours are pretty true, lol. A gimmick, to be sure, but they were fun to bring back. And rea$onable, too.

And of course with the Japanese writing all over the packages, LOL! And then,

some crazy bizarre (and sometimes unrelated) english tanslation.

 

^^ And Chuck? Just found this on the net...

 

12. Japan: Kentucky Fried Chicken

 

 

An old fashioned bucket of KFC is Japan's Christmas "specialty." Though Christmas is not a national holiday, and a very small percentage of the population is Christian, the Japanese join Americans in setting up Christmas trees, hosting parties, and feasting on fattening foods! The KFC craze started because Japanese citizens couldn't find whole turkeys or chickens at other markets. With some strategic marketing, Kentucky Fried Chicken launched its first Christmas meal in 1974, and last year, the company estimates they sold 240,000 Christmas party barrels--which include fried chicken, a salad, and chocolate cake. They're so popular, in fact, people often have to order them months in advance! With 510 calories, 7 grams of saturated fat, and more than 1,000 mg of sodium in an extra crispy chicken breast, this meal is a heart attack in a bucket.

 

 

And it was the Most Un-International Rep I ever read in this list, lol.

[Nrthwnd]

Nuts. The light-up fan I bought at Tokyo Disneyland just - went - out.

 

I think where the button switch was placed, I had it against books

from time to time, and I guess it kept clicking 'on.' And off. And blinking...

And finally, wore the batteries out.

 

Oh well - new batteries... and is it time yet

to go back to Japan???

 

Me at our local queer film fest ~ Out On Screen ~ with TDL fan-in-hand, last August. And my light-up "Fantasmic" (then just opened at TDS) around my neck, over my Japanese "Angry Piggy" t-shirt. I luvs Japan.