Nail art updates

After yet another hiatus in posts, I thought I'd present a compilation of my recent nail art attempts so you get to see them all in one go.

Christmas water marbling. As with the previous water marbling post a three colour marble was achieved using China Glaze "Four Leaf Clover", China Glaze "White on White" and OPI "MINNIE RANGE RED." I make note of a very important point here - the China Glaze "Four Leaf Clover" causes significant yellow staining on my acrylic nails, despite the nails being sealed with CND's Shellac UV Top Coat.

China Glaze "Mrs Claus"
This is a beautiful colour - one coat is a sheer pinky glitter, two coats and it turns a deep salmon red colour. I've not attempted a third coat to see just how red it can turn, probably because even at two coats it's near impossible to remove (since I don't want to use an acetone polish remover because of the acrylics.)

This is one of the few acrylic enhancements I've received from the salon I go to in Sydney. I was eligible for two free nail arts because of the client reward system, so I extended the 2 nails to all ten. This is CND's latest release called "Additives". The fine gold powder is gently pressed on to Shellac UV Top Coated nails as they come out from under the lamp. The thicker the powder, the more solid the colour. Another top coat was applied over the Additive.

Base acrylics - CND Warm Opaque Pink.
I found some old Revlon decals in my nail art stash, so I tipped each nail with them, and then lightened up my ring fingers with some lacquer dots.

China Glaze "White on White" with an OPI "Black Shatter" overlay. I loved this effect - stark, bright and bold. And matched pretty much any outfit.

OPI "A Roll In The Hague" with OPI "Black Shatter" overlay. This combination didn't turn out as bright as I'd hoped, but it would  make an excellent pattern for Halloween.

Because of the wide stiletto tips I have my nails filed too, I thought about adding some art to highlight the shape. And what better feature than little strawberries on the tips! This shot is from the first attempt and I have tried a few times since with neater results. But you get the idea! Just note, this used that horrid China Glaze "Four Leaf Clover" green, so when I removed the lacquer I had yellow stain marks on the acrylic. I cannot emphasise enough how disappointed I am with this colour.

I think my inner child guided me to this nailart - it was Easter long weekend and upon reflection, these seem to look like something which would have appeared in the Cadbury Joyville advert! Base colour is OPI "Purple With A Purpose", white dots are achieved using a dotting tool and China Glaze "White on White."

If you know anything about me, you'll know I have thing for leopard print. So, I couldn't resist attempting painting my own leopard pattern. This was achieved using China Glaze Magnetix "You Move Me" as the base, and just a cheap black lacquer I found in my stash!

Water marbling - nail art

Since moving away from Queensland, my nails just haven't been the same. My new salon in Sydney charges a fortune for any art (even if I provide the materials) or coloured acrylic. Consequently, I've had to resort to maintaining a simple French manicure style. I have changed the nail shape - from a big chunky square edge to a more refined point/oval - but the essence of my daggers remains!

I've been in search of a way to use my large collection of nail lacquers and art materials to brighten up my precious talons. After discovering the water marbling technique via various nail blogs and YouTube videos, I decided to give it a shot for myself. I had seen several examples with similar colours and shades with a melding effect but I wanted something more bold and bright.

First attempt: Groovy Swirls
OPI The "It" Colour (yellow)
OPI A Roll In The Hague (orange)
OPI Purple With A Purpose (purple)

I'm quite fond of this colour combination, but the opacity of the yellow started to bother me, being able to see the white French tip underneath.














Second attempt: Pelagic Patterns
China Glaze Four Leaf Clover
OPI Teal The Cows Come Home
OPI Blue My Mind
China Glaze White on White

I thought the blue green hues would add a nice blended effect. Using white in a marble can be quite hit and miss - dark colours (such as black) can bleed in to the white and create a grey tone, or, the white can be so thin and translucent you simply lose the effect altogether. Again, the white French tip is visible with this combination which detracts from the effect. Oh, and it's been commented that these colours make it look like I've smooshed toothpaste on my nails!


Third attempt: Pink Candy
OPI Cha-Ching Cherry
OPI Ate Berries In The Canaries
China Glaze White on White

I really am a girly girl when it comes to pinks lately. The slight variation in pink and red hues here blend very well, and the white adds that crisp pattern. You may notice too that my acrylic infils have been done entirely in CND's Warm Pink (Opaque). I figured there was no point paying that $10 extra per month for French tips when I'm only going to be covering over them. Plus, they look fine on their own without any other colour.










HINTS AND TIPS:

• always use filtered water in your marbling, just to ensure it's as clean as possible
• vaseline around the finger seems to be the most effective way of preventing all the excess lacquer from sticking to the skin. Also, a very thin layer is sufficient (as opposed to the massive slick I applied when first testing out the method).
• don't topcoat the nail too soon after marble application - it will cause the lacquers to melt and bleed
• metallic lacquers do work but not as well as a solid colour. I'm yet to try any glitter lacquers but I can't see they would work well at all

New content coming right up

You may have noticed that I'm not particularly consistent with my blog posts, but then, I have noticed there aren't exactly many of you who read them anyway! But since this does post to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, I'd like to think there's some promotion of my words out there. Still, I'd like to be able to increase my posting frequency, and in looking at my Twitter type activity I think the blog would be best to take a new direction by way of the Four F's:

1. Food: whether it be recording what I make at home with recipes and photos, what I try at restaurants, or even what I desire to try
2. Fashion: Clothes, shoes, style perspectives, brand names
3. Fitness: Reports of my own progress with gym work or opinion pieces relating to health and well being
4. Fun: I do recall someone once telling me I don't know how to have fun. Bah! This will cover the remaining random topics such as travel, photography, personal events and general rants (because yabbering on about something can be fun, right?)

If there's anything else you know about me that you'd like me to include, just zap me a message one way or another.

Also, if anyone knows of an ideal blog template that would suit this kind of four category system, please let me know. Whilst I like my pink girly page, I think I need a more definitive way of identifying my categories and interests.

xxM

Instagram Challenge

A random thought came over me yesterday as I looked through my twitter feed whilst at the gym - what if I set a task to record my day via photos? And so became the Instagr.am challenge where I would take one photo every hour, for 12 hours to highlight my day's activities. Summary to follow:

06:00-07:00 Good Morning Tia
Tia is my morning wake up call on those morning when I'm not first to rise due to work commitments. Her 'mooing' (that's the noise she makes!) at my bedside is usually followed by her stealing a slipper from my room, and wandering off downstairs.

07:00-08:00 Coffee Time
It's always a pleasant aroma to fill the kitchen. Post breakfast coffee is a ritual in the house.
 
08:00-09:00 Hair & make-up time
The obligatory "face the day" routine.

09:00-10:00 Shopping @ Harbour Town Shopping Centre
This is the central water feature of Harbour Town. For some reason it's a tourist attraction - personally, all I see is bubbly water!

10:00-11:00 Job hunting
It's a daily chore searching for employment, and one proving to be too great for only two monitors with all of the cut and paste, various browser windows for cross referencing and checking.

11:00-12:00 Wellness
Physio time for injuries sustained in a fall last Saturday. Acupuncture was the treatment of choice today - those needles can be a little freaky if you suddenly tense up. An almighty twinge passes through your body with them.

12:00-13:00 Transportation
My Nissan, my preferred mode of transport.

13:00-14:00 Vessel pre-delivery
Dropped in to check on the boat which is due for delivery tomorrow.

14:00-15:00 Getting crafty
Rummaging through my stores of ribbon. I enjoy creating, and fancy-ing things up!

15:00-16:00 Cookies "flowers" gift box
A novel gift - these have become my trademark of late. Whether they be boxes with chocolate or cookies, they're pretty, and far more consumable than a floral arrangement!

16:00-17:00 Effective marketing
Whilst I'm an infrequent consumer of Coke, it was inevitable that I wouldn't be able to resist when seeing my name on a bottle. Genius marketing in my opinion.

17:00-18:00 Storm season
And down came the rain. Fortunately we didn't receive the lashings which the northern regions did, but the rain is still heavy enough to cause panic and fluster when rushing around to close all windows!

Balloonatics

Have you got any of those activities that you'd like to do, but just can't see yourself venturing out to achieve them? To me, hot air ballooning was one of them - it'd be nice to do, but not necessarily something I absolutely have to try before I kick the bucket.

So when the opportunity came along - by way of hand-me-down pre-paid vouchers - to take a flight in a 'loon, I of course took it.


My father and I took the flight (along with 20 other people and the pilot) crammed in to a wicker gondola somewhat reminiscent of a scene from the Indian rail system!

We started the morning being picked up from the foyer of the Radisson hotel at 05:15. As we bounced along in the back of the troopy to the Arundel industrial area for condition testing there was a faint sparkle of the sun rising over the coast. We launched a helium filled (normal party sized) balloon with a red light attached to it to track the breeze and atmospheric conditions. It was decided the location wasn't suitable for launch so off we headed to Helensvale.



A quick balloon test at the second site indicated favourable conditions. By 06:30 the insurance waivers had been signed, the balloon was inflated and we were all piling in to the basket. To be honest, I didn't even notice we'd left the ground until we were about two feet above it - it was a very gentle and gradual lift. I did however notice the heat generated from the four burners right above my head! It's claimed the air inside the balloon is around 120 degrees Celsius.

As we tracked south on our flight following the rail line we were greeted by several honks of the horn from the trains below. Apparently the drivers are known for their communications to the balloons above!



There was no great drama on the flight, nor anything to even suggest we could be unsafe at any time. The flight averaged around 5 knots speed and I believe the average elevation was 500ft. We did begin to drop close to some power lines and trees, but I think the perception of their proximity was worse than the reality.

The flight lasted 45 minutes and we landed in a rough cow paddock at Carrara. The cows at least didn't seem fazed by our presence! I had never really stopped to think how the pack up of the equipment would happen... the envelope (balloon) is flattened out and bundled at the top end, and then, utilising the assistance of all the people who had just taken part in the flight, loaded in to a huge cart and wheeled in to the back of a trailer.


We finished the morning back at the Radisson hotel with a champagne buffet breakfast and review of the photos which had been taken from the on-balloon camera. All up, a four hour adventure for something I'd probably never have treated myself to. But at least now I can say I've done it!

New adventures in old haunts

Whilst it's often nice to return to a familiar place for holidays, it's also nice to throw in some new adventures just to 'value add' to the experience.

I've just spent four days down in Sydney with the Mister for a bit of a get away, and a chance to participate in the annual Good Food and Wine Show.

The familiarity of wandering through Town Hall Station and QVB, over the foot bridge from the hotel to Darling Harbour was a comforting feeling. Like a flashback of something that never actually went away. The smell of the hotel foyer reminded me that there was a weekend of exploration (and inevitable expense) awaiting me. The sound of the car horns expressing their angst in having drivers desperately needing to uphold deadlines in their urgency to get to their next location made me even more aware that I had four whole days of freedom and pleasure awaiting me.

So, Friday was the flight down and the Food Show. There was a little drama on the flight - let me just say first up that a two hour delay in your departing flight at 7am is not an adventure worth having! And then the drama continued. About 20 minutes prior to landing, as the plane was well in to it's descent, I had a slight attack with my heart and then that horrid sensation of wanting to black out... some of you may remember that I had the same thing on a return flight from Tokyo last year, albeit the sensation actually resulted in me completely blacking out. So that was some excitement (and anxiety) for the morning. I really didn't expect it, I wasn't thinking about it at all, and I really didn't want it either!

We eventually made it to the Food Show at the Exhibition Centre on Darling Harbour. I've been attending the show now for about 6 or 7 years and thoroughly enjoy the chance to spend a day wandering between exhibition halls, sampling food and wine, and spinning stories to stall holders to try and score additional freebies! This year was, as is always, a success. Too much drunk, too much sampled and many free items packed in to our bags. By 4pm we were both knackered!

Saturday involved much city discovery, and consequently much shopping. The glory of the boutiques and finery of independent shops throughout historical arcades and malls is always an adventure. The afternoon allowed for indulgence in Sydney Harbour with wine and oysters overlooking the sun setting behind the Harbour Bridge.

Sunday was a first for me - in all the years I've lived in and visited Sydney, I have never taken the ferry out to Parramatta. The train ride was a common occurrence, but never the journey down the river. To visit the old streets of my work and many a lunch feast showed me just what the region had grown in to. The fact that the town was like a dead alive hole also let me see some of the finer points to the buildings and features around it.

Sunday night at the casino - just for a quite bite to eat and a flutter. I can't say I ever missed that place though! If you're not like a moth to a flame for poker machines, I really can't understand the attraction - though $14 steak sandwiches and chips are quite the deal!

Monday, the last day to shop and experience. A trip to Peters of Kensington is always in order, and should I return from a trip to Sydney without a pink bag, I don't believe I've done my holiday complete justice! The bad weather rolled in and the weather chilled. As Mister explained, it was the tears of Sydney farewelling us!

At least our flight home was on time (albeit feeling like it was hours past midnight and we'd been running around for all four days straight) and uneventful (other than my constant stressing about something going wrong again).

All in all, the weekend was full of firsts, lasts, news and olds.. what more could you really ask for?

Astrological Traits

Regardless of whether you're a believer in the powers of the zodiac, or the fortunes of astrology, we were all born in to a phase from which certain persons believe you will adopt personal traits and characteristics. Taking in to account the position of the planets, moons, sun and potentially even space junk, you will inherit your own unique personality under the umbrella of your sign.
I remember as a young child I took great interest in my zodiac sign, and as a teenager I further investigated the compatibility of my sign with those of my crushes throughout school. This resulted in a purchase many years ago of a large framed print detailing my sign. I think at the time I would have been too young to identify if the traits were accurate or not, however these days I often read the print which hangs in our powder room downstairs, and have a giggle at just how apt some of the statement are. Since I'm not able to copy down what the print says at this time (silly work interfering with life!) I decided to troll the net to see what various sites had to say about me.
I'm a water bearer - of the Aquarius astrological star sign if you like.


According to the wikipedia entry: In astrology, Aquarius is considered a "masculine", positive (extrovert) sign. So, there's my first characteristic - strength.


My web searching has told me that the traditional Aquarian traits are:

Friendly and humanitarian Honest and loyal Original and inventive Independent and intellectual

Unfortunately, on the dark side, the traits are:

Intractable and contrary Perverse and unpredictable Unemotional and detached

Whilst, in all honesty, I believe I can relate to much of that, it doesn't shine a particularly fine light on me, let alone the masses of population who also fall under this sign. A further search on other astrology sites concluded that:

'I KNOW' is the motto for Aquarius. You have an original and inventive mind and can take the long view. You also have a scientific or technological bent.

I accept that.

Original, independent, individualistic and freedom-loving, you can be rebellious and perverse if you do not handle these qualities well. Your strong likes and dislikes can make you seem stubborn and unyielding.

Fair call.

You have a charming disposition, a great love of life, and you are affectionate and social.
You are charming, gracious and easygoing. You have many artistic talents as well as the ability to express them.

You are strong and self-disciplined. Self-reliant, efficient, dignified and intense, you seldom act until you know what is right for you. Idealistic, probing and set in your ways, you are very trustworthy and you expect the same from others. You lack adaptability and the power to relax. A planner and strategist without equal, you have an all-or-nothing attitude that makes compromise difficult. Sexually you are strong, powerful and secretive; if you misdirect this drive you can become intensely jealous.

Yeah, OK... I think we get the message!

Oh to be a derby girl

Many moons ago, as a child, I spent my weekends learning how to roller skate. Artistic roller skate. It was a short lived past time I must admit, but not for lack of skill. I recall being able to cleanly skate around the rink, spin 180º and stop abruptly on my stoppers, and more impressively, skating backwards around the rink for several laps at a time. I also recall participating in a speed skate session and having some smaller child clip me on the inside curve. This was immediately proceeded by pain, tears and wrist smash that haunts me every winter with a dull ache reminder of the perils of the sport.

With my historical heart set in the ways of roller skating, I took an interest in the resurgence of Roller Derby a couple of years ago. It was an interest held from afar as a spectator. Until last night. I decided to don a pair of scungy hire skates from the Sports Centre and join the fresh meat training for Gold Coast Roller Derby. With much apprehension in lacing (or more aptly should I say 'roping') up the skates and encasing myself in half-fitting protective knee, wrist and elbow guards, I took to the court with a firm belief in the 'it's like riding a bike' theory. Back on the stoppers, in, out, weaving feet, plough stops, T-stops, 180º turns, cross-overs and of course skating backwards. It was all there, and not once did my backside make friends with the ground.

It was comforting to know that my abilities hadn't completely failed me, and I knew that deep down with more time dedicated to practice, it wouldn't be long before I was zooming around the court with full balance and confidence. Just as an aside, please note I say court and not rink as the session was held at an indoor basketball/volleyball/soccer stadium.

But my personal conquests were not enough to make me see that the Roller Derby scene was where I wanted to be. My grown-up requirements for organisation and planning and professionalism were not met by the squad and the whole shindig didn't give me great faith in being able to join in with something which just didn't feel quite right.

Nevertheless, I now know that if I were to ever stumble across a pair of size 10 Riedells with hybrid wheels and a spare pair of bearings, I'd not hesitate in adding them to my collection of shoes!

Sounds gracing my ears today

It's been a few days of headaches, heartaches and general all-over aches. I've tried to maintain a productive level of concentration, but it hasn't been easy. So, to eliminate as much external noise and distraction as possible, I've been plugged in to my extensive music collection.

The problem therein lies with being able to select something worthy of listening to, which I don't get bored of within the first 45 seconds. It's not been an easy task I tell you! So here's a little bit of musical culture for you to also enjoy.

Today, my aural senses have been satisfied with the likes of:
Buena Vista Social Club


A little bit of ol' Dean Martin and Roger Miller



**Oh, I've decided to put up a post every day/couple of days just linking interesting things, or making a ragey comment about something which is irking me, or just generally taking up intarweb space which I claim to feel should be 'mine', just, because!

Things I learned whilst in Japan

1. You will learn to become engrossed in the advertising on trains
2. For a flat city, you're always walking up stairs
3. Bikes are not your friend... they are the true Ninjas of the city
4. Where there's a shadow, it's freaking cold
5. Hot means hot
6. As polite as the culture may seem, the locals will still laugh at you when you say words in their complete and formal way
7. Japanese love the French - they haven't realised why the rest of the world hates the French, obviously
8. Taxi's will make you think you're in a 1960's timewarp
9. You're never too young to wear false eyelashes
10. For a country which makes things smaller and smaller for the rest of the world, they all still use large flip mobile phones
11. This country is permanently buzzing on caffeine
12. Push your way through
13. Even old people get told to sit their arses down in Disneyland
14. You shouldn't worry about a warm toilet seat
15. You can congregate wherever you like, even if it's in the middle of the road
16. Cigarettes are horrid - they smoke worse than a clapped out '79 Torana here, especially in restaurants, but not while walking down the street
17. You will always feel like you're going against the crowd
18. There's no such thing as the ground floor.. it all starts at 1

Day 10 summary

Tuesday 10 November:
Quiet, easy day. Spent it in Ginza, not quite resisting the shopping! Caught up on some of the food delights in Matsuya that I've been eyeing off for days. Went back to the quaint chopstick shop from last night to treat myself to a specia pair just for myself - I realised I'd bought beautiful sets for everyone else but not myself! Discovered more of the back streets, lined with bars and restaurants and who-knows-whats hidden behind frosted glass and japanese character painted curtains.

I've packed everything away, ready for checkout tomorrow. My bag isn't overflowing, surprisingly, and once again will not be near the weight limit for luggage. Off to the pub for dinner soon, then contemplating a long night of sleep tonight because we have to check out of the hotel at 10am tomorrow, and bumble around until 3:30pm when we get the airport limousine bus back to Narita airport. It's a 90 minute journey. Our flight leaves at 8:25pm and I'm hoping I'll be able to get some sleep on the plane at least - I have a strip of nurofen plus at the ready to help me pass out! Land back on the Gold Coast at 7am Thursday.

Day 9 summary

Monday 9th November:
Quick trip back up to Asakusa for last minute souvenir and gift purchases from the markets. I concluded that melted plastic style cheese slices on top of crumbed fried pork is a really bad thing, especially with rice and egg in the same bowl!

Train ride out to Odaiba - on the driverless train - with the promise of a magificent experience at Palette Town and the Venus Fort shopping centre, which is meant to resemble Venice with the interior walls all painted like stone buildings and a cloud painted roof and numerous statues lining the walkways, not to mention the large water fountain in the middle of the centre. Big disappointment - I don't think we passed more than 100 people walking around the whole area. The most thriving part was the big Toyota show/play room. Odaiba is where the onsen with the fish which eat the dead skin off your feet are - I had planned to visit, but it seemed a little financially unviable in the end, just to stand in a puddle of hot water! Had it been slightly later in the day too, we would have seen the bridge all illuminated too, but since there was little to do to pass another couple of hours away in the region, we just came back to Ginza.

Walk through Ginza at night again marvelling at the lights everywhere, discovered some of the little boutique shops on the back streets including the most quaint little hand made chopstick shop. Stopped in at Matsuya's food court and got more fresh foods for dinner - rice, buns, chicken sticks, salad, soba.

Day 8 summary

Sunday 8th November:
Train ride out to Harajuku for a look around the shopping district/temple/freakshow bridge. Its like walking around a mass of cheap shit junky teeny clothing shops for the most part... that was until I discovered the main through road with a Dolce Gabbana store! I refrained from the red frame and swarovski crystal glasses and the leopard fur barrel bag!

The walk to the temple would have been more 'serene' and idyllic had their been no little kids kicking gravel everywhere... kinda ruined the atmosphere, but considering there must have been about three hundred people just in the eye's view around us walking towards the site it would have been difficult to eliminate people! A wedding procession passed through the temple just as we arrived. Lots of little girls and their mothers and grandmothers all in traditional dress around the place. Shame the temple didn't outline the name/wish card protocol in English though; I missed out on doing that.

No freak gathering on the bridge either. Have to admit the whole region didn't live up to expectations.

Walked through all the gardens, past the new Cirque du Soleil tent on the way to Shibuya. More tall buildings with flashing lights, screaming billboards, shops and alleyways. Then back to Ginza.

Another night time walk around Ginza looking at all the Christmas lights and masses of people. Nice long walk over to Daimaru shops again.

By now, my joints are all aching from constantly walking and moving. At least the weather is still pleasant.

Day 7 summary

Saturday 7th November:
Went out to Akiba (the electronics city) for a walk around and then on to Ueno again. Akiba is like neon-signboard heaven. There are masses of big and little shops selling everything electronic. Although I say everything but I couldn't get a decal for the top of my eeepc. I found much of the computer and audio visual stuff to be pretty comparable in price to back home, if not more expensive in some cases.

In walking between Akiba and Ueno we stopped at a cheap food place once again for more gyoza and whisky. Shame it's not a sustainable diet on its own!!

The walk around Ueno markets again was just to do a general shop, and so I could pick up my cheap Chanel skincare. Once again though, only selected items proved to be cheap. Many other things are cheaper back home.

Finally got my greens fix today. Went over to Matsuya Ginza (big department store like David Jones) and to their food court in the basement. It's full of everything glorious in food - fresh fruit and veg, biscuits, cakes, pasta, salads, pre-made gourmet meals, tempura'd everything and so much more including a grog shop. I did get a giggle from the twin pack of Yalumba wines for 10,000 Yen ($125) and the single rockmelon and bunch of (massively mutant) grapes for 5250 Yen ($65).

Anyway we stocked up with dinner to bring back to the room - yakatori (chicken skewers), sushi, sashimi, sticky rice with beans and sweet potato, green salad with lettuce, broccoli, beans and cucumber, a seafood salad with prawns, octopus, broccoli, beans, tomato, capsicum, a bowl of fresh fruit (orange, grapefruit, apple, grapes, honeydew melon and pineapple) for dessert.

Day 6 summary

Friday 6th November:
Split day - had been feeling somewhat unwell overnight so I stayed in Ginza while Beau went off up the mountains to Nikko whilst I stayed in Ginza and had a walk around the district.

I discovered the Bridgestone Art Museum, another shopping centre all underneath Daimaru (I remember this store from when it used to be on the Gold Coast), I made some enquiries about places for dinner in the area and also about the airport limousine bus to get us back to Narita on Wednesday. I went window shopping in all the designer stores and had to refrain from such purchases. Back for another look around the Nissan Gallery and Sony Store down the other end of town. Found Wako's chocolate shop, with single chocolates often starting at $5 and display packets of 12 choccies for about 6000 Yen ($75). This certainly is the rich part of the city.

Nothing particularly new and exciting to report from Friday. Just lots of walking and looking.

Day 5 summary

Thursday 5th November:
Disneyland...what more really needs to be said?!!!

Some of the train stations (those on the Keiyo line) here have their own identifiable tune which plays as a train pulls in to the stop so that you can tell where you are - fittingly so, the Maihama station plays "It's a Small World" since this is the gateway to Tokyo Disneyland.

There appears to be an endless stream of people walking to the park, but once you get to the ticket gate and the entry, there aren't massive queues or waiting points. And then you see the characters standing around just inside the gates, having photos taken with little (and big) kids and generally being mobbed. Don't get me wrong, I was a very willing participant in such activities! The only pictures I had taken were with Eeyore, Thumper and Donald. But seriously if you don't push your way in, keeping an eye on the ground below you for very miniature babies stumbling around, you will always miss your turn.

There is this thing called FastPass where you use your entry ticket (passport) in a machine to try and score a pass to give you quick ride access between certain times of the day. But once you get a pass, even if its 10am and the pass doesn't work for that particular ride until 7pm, you have to wait an hour before you can try for a pass at a different ride. The scheme works though - it spreads the crowds across the park quite effectively. There was toontown and tomorrowland and adventureland and westernland and fantasyland and critter country.

It seemed that within mintes the park had filled with ear-wearing patrons. I couldn't resist - it started with a red bow hairtie to look like Minnie, then became the ears with a leopard print bow, and by the end of the night it had become the fur hat with obligatory ears and dangly fur baubles on the chin tie!

The star wars sim was great...and it was here I initially noticed this themepark was more than adequately set up to cater for numerous people. Unlike the parks in Aus where there'd be one carriage on a ride, or one capsual for the experience, there must have been 8 sim capsuals here, each with a capacity for about 60 people at any one time. That being said, some rides still managed to have a standby waiting time (for those without fast passes) of up to 70 minutes. But the rides last for quite some time... must have been at least a three minute ride on the Big Thunder Mountain train and the Space Mountain coaster. And whilst none of the rides go upside down, they sure do have some speed to them and the effects make everything seem much more intense. And they're continual - riders off, riders on, even to the point that some rides don't stop and wait for you to board (like the Haunted Mansion from Nightmare Before Christmas) where you jump on a conveyer belt and be seated as the thing is still moving!

Photos galore... especially when the street parade started. And then the night time illuminations parade, and then the closing fireworks right at the end of the night. Food galore - popcorn carts everywhere with buttercorn, salted corn, curry corn, caramel corn, chocolate corn, soy sauce and butter corn!! Yes, that's what I said. Smoked turkey leg carts, churro carts, pastries and icecream cakes...... never ending. Oh and don't worry if you drop something, someone will clean it up within seconds.

Twelve hours very easily spent at the park, and still not all rides done. My only real gripe was that the shops all seemed to carry different lines of things, and you often had to scour the entire park just to find one particular item which only appeared in a particular shop.

Day 4 summary

Wednesday 4th November:
Moved our luggage from Asakusa to Ginza. Discovered once again the labyrinth of subway underpasses and exit gates dependent upon the train service you used - here, there is the JR line, subway and metro. There may be one "station" name but the exits will at either end of the town and use different lines.

Walking down Chou St (main street) of Ginza was like walking through shopping brand heaven - my favourite intersection for instance, which is right behind the hotel, has Bvlgari, Vuitton, Cartier and Dior on it! We had noticed people with "Hakuhinkan Toy Store" bags earlier in the week and discovered it was in Ginza so went to check it out - 6 floors of toy store, but not excessively large floors. Not as impressive as we'd hoped for and my god, the noise of squeaking/singing/chirping/laughing toys did my head in!!

Ikebukuro was the night destination. Probably the first real exposure to bustling crowds. Walking up roads illuminated by advertising signs only, with everything flashing and changing, kinda makes it feel like a sideshow alley. Found Sunshine City, in the Sunshine Building, and went up to the 60th floor for the observation deck. Yes, the city glitters and sparkles below, with clusters of highrises and the occasional sports field or tennis court in sight. But since you're that high up and everything is rather distal, it's just lights, below, on small structures!

Day 3 summary

Tuesday 3rd November:
Trained out from Asakusa to Tokyo to walk around the Imperial Palace gardens. It is strange that in such a busy city, there's a massive block of nature and heritage. And a block where the city sounds do not seem to permeate. Also it was nice to not have to pay an entrance fee either!
We wandered past the musical water features, however, the music was lacking, but the water was impressive. Jumped from Tokyo to Ginza briefly to find the Mercure hotel, where we'd be checking in to the next day.

Back to Asakusa for the festivities of Cultural Day. Big parade around the town which concluded at the Senso-ji temple. The alleys leading up to and around the temple are lined with market stalls. Some beautiful hand made and traditional gifts available, along with the mass produced trinket crap too. Also the street stalls for food were demonstrating some interesting concepts for food, but, that being said, nothing really stood out as majorly weird to me. And thus far (i'm composing this post on Friday 6 Nov) nothing has been overly cliche or bizarre.

Discovered the joys of 290 Yen gyoza and Kirin whisky. Also discovered that just because something says beef, it doesn't automatically make it from a slappable part of the animal!

Day 2 summary

My first encounter of the train systems in Japan. Caught the Keisei line from right behind the hotel to Tawaramachi station (Asakusa). Checked in to the Ryokan and left our bags there, the headed off to the 41st Tokyo Motor Show. Now, I was thinking that the show would be massive, and I guess compared to the Sydney Motor Show it still was, especially cconsidering it was only about $15 entry fee. Anyone with a camera really seemed more interested in taking pics of the demonstration girls than the cars. So I don't know what they would have thought about the white chick frantically taking pics of rims and lights and badges!

The concept cars were interesting, but not groundbreaking. There was an overwhelming push for diesel cars too. Playstation had a massive stall promoting Gran Turismo 5, due for release in March 2010, with various screens and sim type setups for people to try a lap. The waiting line at one point was 40 minutes that I saw. Whilst walking out the back of the pavillions, a mass of food stalls lined the lot, but my biggest surprise came from the single KFC stall - I certainly didn't expect to see that.

I'll put some pics up from the show soon... I can't do any photo resizing on this eeepc, so keep an eye out for the link to my flickr account or a facebook album.

First night in the Ryokan was a shock to the system in a way - floor sleeping, fine; small enclosed room, fine; wheat pillow, unexpected; lumpy futon mat, not fine.

Day 1 Summary (travel day)

Now that I have some intarwebz access, I'll type up some day by day accounts of what's been doing on this trip.

Sunday 1 November:
Flight day.
I broke the plane - twice. First the headrest on my seat: tried to lift it up and pull the wing things in towards my head but the whole thing just lifted off and in to my hands. Then I went to the toilet and the soap dispenser just slipped right off the wall. Admittedly it didn't "break" as such, but it did come away from its fitting. So that still counts. I wonder if that kind of fragility extends to the plane's actual engineering? :s bit of a worry really.

Oh the irony of the meals on the flight... lunch was Japanese curry or chicken terryaki, a taste of things to come at your destination. Dinner on the other hand - now that you're 7 hours away from home, here, have a meat pie or quiche, and ice cream for dessert.

Passed through customs and collected luggage within half hour total. Rather impressed by that. Had to hang around Narita airport for 90 minutes before the shuttle bus to the hotel arrived. Room in the Mercure hotel at Narita was only tiny, but more than comfy considering the long time on the plane. Sleep was glorious, hot shower was devine.