Off To Kawasaki!

Happy New Year everyone! Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Those in Japan, received a lot of negajou (New Year cards) this year?

The day after our trip to Disneyland, we head off to Kawasaki. We didn't plan to do any sightseeing in Kawasaki but rather our sole purpose for going there was to visit Ultraman Club located in Lazona Kawasaki Plaza.

I know it is kinda remiss of us not to visit any other places the area has to offer, but maybe next time, yes? We were hard pressed for time and for this visit, the trip was for Raimie to meet his Ultra Heroes at Ultraman Club.

Off to Kawasaki! It took half an hour for us to arrive Kawasaki station.

Day and night view from our hotel room on 18th floor. We can see planes flying in and out from Haneda Airport from our room.

It was so nice to sit on the comfy sofa in our room and just watch the view outside.

After spending time at the nearby mall (Lazona, BE, Yodobashi, etc), we ventured farther down and stumbled upon this shopping street. Nothing terribly exciting here for me, especially when walking around it seems that the place was overrun by game and panchinko parlours. Raimie and I decided to return to our room early after dinner while Zaini went out by himself for a bit of sightseeing.

So while Zaini went out sight seeing and going to God knows where, I let Raimie used my notebook to play games and I had a nice long soak in the bathtub and afterwards watched Music Station's Anniversary special on TV.

Ramen, Kimchi And Some Mabo Tofu For Lunch

I like going to Ichiban Ramen. Food may not be up-to-standard or special to some people, but for me; for the price that I'm paying, this is a good place to enjoy ramen. Also the outlet is a Halal one. Not all ramen outlets/Japanese food restaurants in Malaysia are Halal, you know.

Good food here and good service too. Can't miss with that. We went to Ichiban Ramen for lunch after our shopping for Raimie's school item during Jusco Cheras Selatan's J-Card Members' day and it was really madness there. Luckily the restaurants were not packed as Jusco itself. I guess everyone was busy shopping instead of thinking about eating. Haha

I love the decor there. Usually we don't sit at the tables with chairs, preferring to sit at the "sunken" seats area but they were full when we got there.

This is one place that we observed that has low staff turnover. Most of the staff there are familiar to us. That and they are able to converse well, taking orders and recommending menus. Not many outlets even have competent staff nowadays which is a pity. How does a restaurant provide good service if the wait staff can't talk to the customers?

Kimchi fried rice and mabo tofu for me. I love, love, love mabo tofu. Yummy, yummy.

Beef ramen for Zaini. We can't eat ramen in Japan, so we only get to enjoy ramen when we are in Malaysia. Their ramens are good and the portion generous. For RM15.00 for a big bowl of ramen, it was good value.

I don't know how a "real" ramen taste like, but I like the ramen variety offered here. The soup is always nice and flavourful. Yummy, I tell you.

And a 'girly' Happy Kid Set for Raimie. Girly because the  tray is pink and has Hello Kitty. This is a new item in their updated menu. Usually we just order some Japanese fried rice for Raimie. Nothing special, just rice, fish ball and sausage with a mango pudding and orange juice for the set, but a kid would be happy having this.

A meal for three of us, with 10% discount as J-Card Member, we only paid RM49.50. Not bad. The important thing was, my stomach was contented. :)

Writing this post, I got hungry again. Gotta look for mabo tofu now!

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade

Wishing an early Merry Christmas to those who celebrate the holiday tomorrow! What's your plan for Christmas eve?

My final instalment post on Tokyo Disneyland, with some photos of their magical electrical parade Dreamlights. A simply awesome and magical experience watching the parade.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

We had no intention the parade from start to end but we remained seated until the parade was over. :-)

The next day, off we went to Kawasaki for an appointment with Ultraman.

Snacking In Disneyland

Eating at Disneyland can be an expensive affair and for us, we decided against going to the many restaurants available in Disneyland and had snacks and light meal instead.

A salted popcorn for the boys. You don't get salted popcorn for sale much in Malaysia.

Fancy a curry popcorn? Don't have this at the Mamaks, you know. Haha

A pumpkin churros afterwards

An ice cream break. A single scoop for Raimie and a double for Mom and Dad.

And pizza afterwards. Junk food galore the whole day. Now that's what I call fun!

My Favourite Korean Variety TV Show

is KBS' Happy Sunday; 2 Days 1 Night show, much to Raimie and Zaini's chagrin. Why? Because I'll laugh hysterically all through the 70 minutes program. I usually laugh so much, I can't breath. Yes, it is that entertaining.

The premise of the show is Kang Hodong and five other members; Eun Ji Won, Lee Su Geun, Kim C, Lee Seung Gi and MC Mong together with  the dog Sang Geun, take off on a memorable road-trip around Korea and shows the viewers of the different interesting places to visit in Korea.

I don't watch much Korean TV shows before this and I do admit that I actually loath Korean dramas because I feel they are too sappy. Yes, I hate Winter Sonata, thank you very much. But their Korean variety shows are a different matter altogether. Another favourite of mine is Happy Together.

I really become more interested in Korea because of their variety shows and am warming up for their language too. If you want to check what's the hooha about the show, check it out here.

Actually, I wrote about how both Zaini and I develop a love affair with Japan and we attributed it to a J-drama titled Over Time aired on NTV7, 7 or 8 years ago. And now I'm falling in love with Korea through the variety shows. And currently I'm obsessed with SS501 too. I'm watching and listening to Love Like This over and over. :D

Any of you become obsessed with a certain country because of a TV show?  Do tell.

A Disney Parade Of Villains

With Halloween being the theme at Disneyland the time we were there, it was only apt that the parade highlighted their villains. Some photos of the daytime parade.

 

 

With plenty of people waiting to watch the parade, if you are not keen of the parades, this is a good time to head for rides because queues for rides were significantly shorter when there was a parade about.

I love watching parades with the Japanese crowd. They were considerate enough to sit down without much cajoling or prompting so that those behind can enjoy the show too.

Clowning around with costumes at the Disney's shop before the parade.

Enjoyable Rides At Disneyland

With a huge crowd at Disneyland, deciding on what rides to go for is important to fully maximise our fun time there. Due to a really, really packed park and because this was our third time to the park (second for Raimie), we chose not to go for the rides that had more than two hours' queue.

Our first ride was at the Grand Circuit Raceway.  Raimie was all too happy to take the wheel.

 

Next, we entered Snow White's adventure ride. Although there were plenty of parents with small children entering this ride, I wouldn't say that this is a ride for kids (or the faint hearted) It can be quite scary in there what with going through a menacing forest and being face to face with the wicked witch.

 

 

Then, we head off for Toontown and Raimie got to run around while Zaini went to get our fastpass for Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster ride. When Raimie was three, we didn't go for the Gadget's Go Coaster ride, so that was the ride we went on this time in Toontown. Raimie and I managed to get seats right at the front of the coaster. Cool!

 

 

Then a ride on a full boat on Mark Twain's riverboat. Taking the riverboat is more relaxing than going on Tom Sawyer's Island Rafts or pedaling a canoe under the hot sun that we experienced that day.

 

 

Afer a quick lunch, we had fun blasting off aliens and evil Zurg at Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster. After a walk around Westernland under a hot blistering sun, entering this ride was a welcome respite. With our fastpass, we managed to enter almost immediately at our designated time. Otherwise, a queue for this ride was one and half an hour.

 

Then, it was off to Adventureland and on the Jungle Cruise whilst enjoying the guide's narration.

 

We were at first put off by the long at the new Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek ride, with a queue of more than 2 hours there and fastpass already ran out by noon. But Raimie wanted to go on it, so Zaini joined the line while Raimie and I waited nearby. Both Raimie and I spent time walking around in the souvenir shops and taking photos while we wait for our turn. Poor Zaini, standing in line for 2 hours because his son wanted to go on the ride. That's love, I tell you. :)

 

After our ride on Monsters Inc, and having a blast watching the night parade and enjoying a spooky time at the Haunted Mansion (taking the Haunted Mansion ride when the sun already set added more to the spooky anticipation), we still had time and a little bit of energy for one more ride and we went on the Pirates Of The Carribean ride before making our way to Maihama Station for our trip back to the hotel.

A tiring but enjoyable time at Disneyland. A day here is definitely not enough.

To Disneyland We Go

Unlike in 2006 (slide above), our trip to Disneyland in 2009 didn't consist of much photo taking with Disney characters. Raimie refused to go after the characters anymore, quite unlike when he was just 4 years old. I guess, he is now a big boy and it's not cool for a big boy to go hug Winnie the Pooh anymore. LOL

 

We went to Disneyland on Sep 24th, hoping that the Silver week crowd would be gone by now, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. But I guess the park's crowd were better than if we we were to come on the previous days. Despite the huge crowd, everyone was patient and orderly. Although we had our bags checked, the guards didn't confiscate our bottled drinks or food, lucky for us.

Our favourite photo taking spot. I love the castle with the clear blue sky in the background.

 

 

 

The park was decorated in a Halloween's theme when we were there. Plenty of pumpkins and ghosts abound.

We sure had so much fun at Disneyland. We didn't have time or extra days to visit DisneySea too this time, which was a pity. We would absolutely love to make a return visit there and be transported to a happy place. :-)

p.s there will be another 4 or 5 more posts on Disneyland because I have so many photos to share, so bear with me.