Finally there...

It's 6.30 am and dark dreary and raining outside. Perfect day for Disneyland? Unfortunately weather is the only factor we cannot plan for.
The plane ride was long and uneventful. Even though it was day time, the adults spent most of the time asleep (we didn't sleep the night before) and the kids played the DS and iPods. My dad splurged on one of the media players for AUD 15 and the 3 kids took it in turns to watch assorted shows on it.
We arrived last nite at about 6.50-ish local time. And by the time we cleared customs n arrived outside. Got our japan rail pass and then spent 10 mins staring at the actual train ticket machines trying to figure out which buttons to press!
Our train ride from the airport spanned 3 train exchanges, 2 different train passes and when we arrived at our hotel destination near Disneyland, it was almost 10.15!!
An interesting experience to say the least but not unebjoyable.
Checked in and had dinner at a nearby family western restaurant as everything else was closed. It was now past 10.30 and we were starving. The weather was a nice cooling wind and after running about sometimes towing luggage, other times carrying Kaitlyn, I had worked up a sweat for some beer! Here's my dad with our frothy goodness.






The beer was absolutely yummy and slid down my throat do easily that I was giggling incontrolloby!! Food was yummy. Tried escargot for the first time, French food in japan makes sense?! By the time food arrived, we were so hungry we pounced before I remembered to take pictures, so this was taken halfway!





I was so tired by the time we got to the hotel and got all 3 kids settled that I forgot to take pictures of the room. Plopped into the bed and fell asleep in my yutaka around 1.30 am.

I'm filling this blog up as we line up for rides at Disneyland. We got into the train about 7.30 this morning. Luckily the rain had stopped and it was a nice cooling temp of 14-18 degrees celcius.
The train during peak hour is certainly scary. We were literally sardines in the tin can. And when we thought it was full too bursting, somehow we managed to get another 20 ppl on. They pushed their way inwards walking backwards into the carriage. My poor kaitlyn got squashed abit and only the bribery of toy shopping at the end of the day abated the ensuing tears.
We bought onigiri and pancakes at the convenience store at the train station and started our long long waiting game at the queues.
Disneyland opens at 9am. We started queueing to go in at about 8.15, already late as the crowd before us indicated.













The minute the gates opened, a surge of people poured in through the gates and ppl were literally running to get to the fastpast stations (to get express tickets for a predetermined time for selected popular rides, only 1 fastpast per person at any one time). We managed to get fast passes for monsters Inc for 1pm. And took this pic of Mike's car.






Then it was a run to Haunted Mansion. Scary in itself. But would have been scarier if we actually understood the Japanese storyline being narrated.







Which basically updates me to where I am now. 30 mins in for a 2 hr estimated queue for big thunder mountain ride.







2 hrs for a 10 minute ride? Oh wait I see the end of the queue. Might only take 45 mins!

That was fun. Not extremely scary that kaitlyn couldn't go, but thrilling enough not to be a kiddies ride!

Then on to country bear theatre to watch some bear animatronics.






On the way to the next show, we stopped by to get some curry popcorn, churros and drinks. We also came across these guys from UP!







There's so much more to record but lack of Internet access and time, our days starting early (about 6am) until past midnight and basically walking about the whole day does not leave much time for updating blogs!!

To be continued!!

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Not quite there yet..

Just had breakfast in the international lounge.



Food is always yummy when u r hungry!

Now we have an hour to kill before our flight and not enough duty free shopping to do. There's only 1 shop n 1 newsagent! Thank god for my trusty iPhone to distract me! Kids will probably run out of batteries for their pods midflight at the rate they r going..mine too prob ;(



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Warm winds and humid air

We've just arrived in Gold Coast and am awaiting our baggage before proceeding to the international area. Managed an hour of sleep on that 2 hr flight. Only sleep I've had so far last night!
Had to spend the last 30 mins of the flight amusing my daughter with looking at the clouds out the window.
Now we are waiting for the counter to check our luggage in before our 11am flight. It's 7.30 here now.



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Is it time yet?

Time till departure: not soon enough
Things left to do: can't remember anymore

I'm running about like a headless chicken and trying to make sure that I've got everything organised. But yet I procrastinate to the very end and stop to take a deep breath and blog.
Not too long now before I'm gobbling down sashimi like there's no tomorrow.


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Final Countdown

This time tomorrow and I will be in a near frenzy of excitement and panic over the coming adventure we will be having in the next few weeks.
For the moment however, I m procrastinating by testing out this blog even though my suitcase is still empty and the house...not empty enough.
Looks like I'll be sleeping on the plane...


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Earth Hour 2008

It's interesting how we all know about global warming and environmental concerns, but how little we actually bother to offset our carbon footprint. I am definitely not one of those environmental fanatics, the number of children I have already over exceeds the desired one or nil child policy that most of the environmental parties are demanding these days. I do try every now and then to turn things down a notch, and I must admit I enjoy my little "luxuries" whenever I can.

However, under the constant reminders from my husband, I have started to turn things down a notch. The brightness of our lights and my laptop have been dimmed a little. I try to hang the clothes out to dry rather then use the dryer. We switch off the power points when not using our electrical appliances instead of leaving it on standby. We changed from petrol to diesel. We also tend to spend our family evenings in one room, so as to minimize the lighting needed. When we do switch on the air conditioning, it is only when the heat goes over 33 degrees, and we only have it set to 28 degrees. This all helps to not only conserve energy, but also helps lighten the expenses.

With Earth Hour happening on the 29th of March, we are all asked to minimize our carbon footprint by turning off all non essential lights and setting our appliances from stand by to off, for one hour from 8pm. This should prove to be interesting, as I will be on holidays in Great Ocean Road on that day.

Do stop by the official webpage and join up, even if you only intend to turn down your music, or the brightness of your monitor, every little bit helps!

Join here and be linked to me! http://www.earthhour.org/user/WxzU

Road Trip 3 part 1

Date & Time of Departure: 1st March 2008 ~8.27am
Duration of travel: 4hrs 22 minutes
Distance travelled: ~205km
Time of Arrival (back home): ~8pm
Fuel Consumption: 9.2l/100km






This weekend trip, we headed out with my parents along for the day. We were heading up to Marysville, famed for its mountain ranges and magnificent , cascading waterfalls. Setting off with the car filled to the brim with the usual breakfast sandwiches, bbq utensils and assorted picnicware, spare clothes and shoes, lots of water and seven people, we headed to the first stop point, Healesville Information Centre.

I love information centres. Even if I have fully researched a location of the place we are going (which not everything is satisfactorily explained in detail online anyway), I like stepping into a building, fully dedicated to stacks and stacks of gleaming coloured brochures. I like flipping through them, looking at the pictures and reading about things I can do or things I can buy. I always inevitably come out from said centre with a pile of brochures so heavy that I have taken to bringing a shopping bag solely for putting the brochures in. Jeffrey however, is happy to take a few brochures, and when he is done with reading and "memorising" it, throws it into the recycling bin. I however, am an hoarder and tend to have way too many "collectibles" ("rubbish" is his description), littered all about the house. Its been about 4 road trips now, as I m writing this blog (road trip 4 write up - coming soon), and already I have 2 shopping bags full of brochures and leaflets. The great thing about information centres is, they don't only have information about surrounding areas, but gives me ideas of where to go next. I even have some brochures for Adelaide and Tasmania that I nicked from Healesville.

Back to the road trip. We left the information centre in Healesville and headed for our breakfast stop at Beechworth Bakery. I was considerably more cheerful with my armful of brochures. The helpful information centre man had enlightened me as to why there were so many cars and people about Healesville. Rochford Wines were having their "A Day on the Green" concert this weekend, and their performer was none other then Rod Stewart!!

Beechworth Bakery was a sight to behold. A huge building standing by itself, it was all windows with a light airy atmosphere. The smell upon entering was heavenly. Being in a bakery, for me, is like a child in a sweet shop. A sense of euphoria from the smell and the sight of all the yummy delicacies laid out in their glass cases and I was lost in indecision over what to get. The only thing that could top being in a bakery is being in a chocolate factory! I was happy to discover that Beechworth Bakery was having its annual Beesting Sale! A Beesting is a little bun like confectionery with almond and custard fillings. A description of what it is wouldn't do it justice, it just tasted yummilicious! The best thing was, with the sale, u could get a second beesting for only 5 cents when u got the first one at normal price ($3.50). Beechworth Bakery proved to be a popular place in town as an endless stream of customers continually trooped in and out as we sat savoring our morning tea. A group of Harley bikers even stopped by, much to my father's delight, being a big fan of Harley Davidsons.
















Our tummies full and appetites temporarily satisfied, we headed back on the road. Our next destination was the Maroondah Reservoir. I like reservoirs. The tranquil waters just seem so peaceful. I can easily picture myself, seated on a deckchair next to the waters, book in hand, enjoying nature in its splendour. Then I remember that there are no electicity power points and my laptop would be dead within an hour, and there is no internet connection. What would I do without my electronic gadgets?

Anyway, the Maroondah Reservoir was a beautiful site, with the water levels at 48.1%, although its capacity was only 22,000 ML as opposed to the Cardinia's (Road Trip #1) 287,00 ML. We stopped at a viewing area to have a look at the Reservoir and did not actually attempt to get nearer as we did not plan to actually walk along the treks. With the constant reminders that water levels were depleting and that our next generations could be seriously deprived of good quality water in the coming years, it is nice to have a look at our reservoirs every now and then, and see that all the effects of our water restrictions have made a difference in helping this worth while cause of preservation for our children.













Back on the road, we took the Black Spurs drive past Narbethong to Marysville. This scenic route was absolutely enchanting, with its majestic Victorian Ash trees lining the path, towering above us. The winding road was also a challenging drive for Jeffrey, although it was less harder for the passengers to enjoy as we swayed back and forth at the back. Nonetheless, the beauty of the trees, and the whole idea of how long the trees have been on this earth and what it had endured and seen as it grew ever so stealthily towards the blue sky made the drive thoroughly recommendable.
The pictures taken by my father cannot convey the true splendor of the trees and surrounding forestry, but hopefully, it would give u an idea of its size.




















Heading past Narbethong, we made it into Marysville and I proceeded into the Visitor Information Centre to grab a map to Steavenson Falls. I was advised that I could actually hike up to Steavenson Falls from our current location, but a 5 km walk with 3 kids were out of the question. We decided to drive up, but ventured into the town area to have a look at the shops, while the kids enjoyed the playground.











In town, there was a toy shop, Manical Mechanicals advertising a Meccano display. We used to have Meccano set when we were kids, they were the predecessors of Lego, and my parents decided to have a look at it although it was only in 3 rooms. The man who made all the displayed items started when he was about 12 years old, and till this day at over 80 years old, still adds to the display. There were buttons to start up the displays, as most of them were set up to twirl or move forwards or backwards. The display link above has photos of examples of the meccano builds, but we took some photos of our own as well.
















to be continued.......