My Disneyland Dream

As early as 7 years old, I had this dream that I want to come and play at Disneyland.  During that time, it was just in the USA and going there was pretty impossible.  Thus I just enjoyed looking at them on TV.

When Disneyland was launched in Hongkong last 2005, I thought that it would be more realistic. However, I am not a kid anymore, I will not enjoy it in as much as in my dreams in the past, so not sure if I still want to come.

 




When the opportunity came here in MY, it gave me and my husband more chances to visit other nearby countries and then we both thought that Hongkong would be a good place to visit.  Why Hongkong? read here!

We purchased our HK Disneyland tickets way earlier than our planned trip, to save us the hassle of queuing.

Anyhow, now, on with the journey.  Actually HK Disneyland is very accessible by train.  From our place (Tsim Sha Tui) it was just a 30 minute travel to Disneyland.

When we were at the connecting stations, my husband noticed one familiar face.  

It was our dear friend, Jed with his girlfriend and friend.  It was very seldom that we meet in the Philippines, then after we settled here in MY, of all places, we saw him in HK.  

A very nice coincidence! <8>

During our trip to HK, my husband told me that I am lucky because I will have good shots.  Yes, I admit that I am not as talented photographer as my husband.  We were also worried that we will not have a good shot together.

 

When we saw Jed, I immediately told him

"Jed, hulog ka ng langit, may magpipicture na sa amin!!!"
 "Jed you are heaven sent, finally you can take our picture"

If you are not aware, Jed is a Senior Photographer from Imagine Nation.

See his portfolio here --> Jed Calara


Lucky us right!  You can take a look at his picture here --> "Hello Disney!"


On with Disney.. Before you finally enter the park, you will see this Mickey Mouse Fountain! Where it's like Mickey is surfing!

When we entered the park, I think we spent at least 30 minutes taking pictures in front of the garden and the train!

It was like, once in a lifetime experience that all we wanted to do was to keep the memory by taking a lot of shots.

Of course a lot of kids were there and you can even see some little girls wearing Disney Princess costumes.  Visit My Little Princess for more information.

But I told Sweets, if ever we are going back together with our daughter, I will buy her own "Snow White" gown from SM and will give her nail polish right there in Disney and will also buy a fancy crown! :D  It will have the same effect, the feeling of a princess but with a lesser cost.

The first thing that we did in Disneyland was to look for Mickey and Minnie to be able to strike a pose with them.  Since Disneyland was on their Christmas Theme this time of the year, Mickey and Minnie were wearing their Christmas dresses! Awesomeness!! ^_^

If you ask me, Disneyland is really for kids, with all of the mascots and rides. But for me, being a kid is something that is not seen from the outside but is felt from the inside.  I may look old (well way older than the kids there) but I enjoy kid's stuff and therefore I enjoyed Disneyland a lot!

To feel it's magic, visit the their Park Map and explore as early as now!
When I learned that we will go to Disneyland on Nov17th, I got excited when I found out that it marked the start of their "Christmas Theme" and therefore, the park was totally Christmassy and I LOOOOVE everything about it.

These musicians were all Filipino folks! We are very proud of you!!
Full video --> Here

Once you are in HK Disneyland, make sure not to miss their Parades and Shows.

This is how we did it:

1. Festival of the Lion King 
2. The Golden Mickeys
3. Flights and Fantasy Parade

4. Santa Mickey's Toy-Riffic Street Party

5. Christmas Illumination
6. "Disney in the Stars" Fireworks










I so love Christmas and I am very glad to experience this one with Sweets!

Are we coming back here? Most probably yes! In the most 
wondrous moment of our lives!

Yay!


























Xoxo

Happy Friday: Gangnam Style

I do not need to elaborate what Gangnan Style is and therefore this saves time for me to explain! If you ask me, every time I hear this song, I wanted to dance because of the very nice and upbeat rhythm.

Another thing, the steps are very easy to follow.

The video has been very contagious that in a very short span of time, it already has a lot (hundred million views in youtube) of hits.

This video has made everyone smile and dance to the beat.  I would like to assume that somehow it brings happiness to people.  It's an instant dance craze to share with.

If you have been reading my blogs, pretty much you know that I love to take videos of myself, singing and dancing.  However, I will not do it this time. :D
 
Just yesterday, I saw this video where the song was used to inspire the baby to eat! Hahaha! Maybe because the baby was engrossed into listening that eating became a secondary action.

Anyhows, I do not wish to explain much further but I would like to share the video to you!  Happy Friday: let's us all share the happiness!



Xoxo

Trash or Treasure?

When I was in high school and college, I always ask my father why he keeps a lot of stuff at home.  Newspaper, carton boxes, bottles, strings, everything you can think of, I think we have it at home.

Then every time I ask, my father would tell me that soon enough I will use these things.  Pretty much, my father was correct, one way or the other I have used some of those things and I was able to save money because I don't need to buy those things anymore.  Another thing, I learned something about recycling. :)

While we are here in MY, somehow, I got this mentality from my father and little by little tried to keep some things (where for some people, they will throw away) that I know I can use in the future.  My husband would tease me that I am a "basurara" (rubbish collector).

We all know that newspaper is something that we like to read but easily piles up because we buy it everyday.

Aside from paper mache, what else can we do with our old newspapers.
Actually, I would like to share a very basic one, since it's the time of the year where we need to wrap our Christmas gifts, instead of using fancy gift wrappers, why not use your old newspapers.

All you have to do is to put some creativity with it.
One example is by putting a ribbon in it:

Photo from wanderingmist.com

Or you can use the newspaper as the ribbons itself.

Photo from bystephanielynn.com

From all these things that I have read about, I think I have something in mind that I will do with my old newspaper.

I will make it as a wrapper, as-is, and instead of ribbons or name cards, I will put the pictures of the recipient!

Cool and exciting right!

What you need:

1. The gift that you need to wrap!
2. Old Newspaper
3. Pictures of your family and friends
4. Colored Paper
5. Glue
6. Scissors
7. Scotch tape

~~~~~~~~~~

Start by wrapping your gift  using the newspapaper

Once done, cut out the pictures that you have printed, paste them in a colored paper and cut the edges.


 







You can put a theme into the colored papers that you have.  Like:
Yellow - family
Orange - friends

There you have it! No need to put name cards in it, they will definitely know that the gift is for them and they will definitely know that it came from you!

Happy Christmas and enjoy your gift wrapping session! ^_^

 
Xoxo
 

M is also for Macau

photo from Bloomberg Business

Macau is one of the two special administrative regions of the "People's Republic of China, the other being Hongkong.  Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hongkong to the east.  The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing (Wikipedia)

We were in HK already so might as well visit Macau for one day to have a view of their historical places.

You can visit Macau from HK by riding a one hour ferry ride.  We rode the TurboJet back and forth for HKD 680.00, we took the following schedules:

Depart from HK        - 10:30am
Depart from Macau   - 9:30pm

We wanted to make the most of our visit and thus we stayed there a bit late. 
We chose TurboJet as this is the most trusted one (based from Sweets' research).

Since you already know how to go to Macau, you can plan to go there in an earlier time, the ferry leaves every thirty minutes starting 7am and gets full easily.  My suggestion is for you to go to the terminal the night before your planned trip and purchase 7am ticket ride.  For me,  the earlier the better and you can make the most of your trip.

After your one hour ferry ride, you will arrive in their terminal and you still have go pass Immigration.

The day that we arrived there, it was the second day of the "Grand Prix" so lucky us, we were able to have a peek of the fast cars.  We even had the chance to take some souvenir items with us!

There was one stall with this person signing autograph, I wondered whether he was a celebrity because people were all around him.  I asked Sweets to take a picture of us but then he said "Kilala mo ba yun? (Do you know him?), then I said "No".  "Okie nevermind" I said, it will also be hard for me to explain to my friends who that person was. :D

We were suppose to meet with our two other friends in Macau, however, since they took the next hour ferry trip, it was too late.  Therefore, Sweets and I just roamed around Macau.

Essentially, Macau is a small place and for as long as you have a map and you did your own research then you will find your way along the streets.

Kudos to Sweets! He did all the research about Macau.  Unfortunately, since there was a Grand Prix, all of the roads were re-routed and we were a mess! Hihihihi! This made our trip even more exciting.

Macau Fisherman Wharf

The Macau Fisherman's Wharf is the first theme park in Macau.  The construction took five years.

The complex includes over 150 stores and restaurants in buildings built in the style of different world seaports. 
(Wikepedia)

Photo from China Travel.com

The one at my back is not a giant bottle of perfume.  This is the famous Hotel Lisboa.  

From the looks of it, I was immediately blown away because of its unique architectural design.  

It is a city within a city that is full of excitement and fun.  It was set up last 1970 and the hotel is one of the most famous hotels in Macau.

During the day, this is a golden jewel, at night, it even looked much inviting because of its lighting! 

On with our travel destination, first stop was at the Senado Square.

The Senado Square, or Senate Square, is paved area in the centre of the former Portuguese colony of Macau, China enclosed by the buildings of the Leal Senado, the General Post Office, and St Dominic Church.  (Wikipedia)

If you walk along the streets of Senado Square, you will see a lot of people! I mean a lot!  Then just walk around and you will see some other historical places there.

For one, you will see the Ruins of St Paul's.

The Ruins of St. Paul's refers to the ruins of a 16th century complex in Macau including of what was originally St. Paul's College and the Cathedral of St. Paul, a 17th century Portuguese Cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle. Today, the ruins are one of Macau's most famous landmarks. In 2005, they were officially enlisted as part of the UNESCO World Heritage SiteHistoric Centre of Macau. (Wikipedia)

When you go all the way up the stairs, you will be directed to the "Crypt" where you can see the ruins itself and other antique paintings and saints.

Just before we leave the premise, very near that area is the "Museum de Macau".

The Museum of Macau is on the hill of the Fortaleza do Monte, a 16th century fort in Macau.The museum presents the history of the city and territory of the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Planning for the museum started in April 1995, its construction began in September 1996. The museum was inaugurated on 18 April 1998. The museum building is located within the interior of the Fortaleza do Monte. Its total size is about 2,800 m², with around 2,100 m² of exhibition space. (Wikipedia)

 When we were at the museum (it was until 3F), I was happy to see how they set up their museum.  It was very kid friendly - where in kids will be interested to know the story in each of the items presented there.  I enjoyed it because I am a kid at heart! :D



 


After this, we headed to Macau Tower!  We were supposed to go up the tower, however, we thought that the view should be the same up there and thus we decided not to proceed!

Nonetheless, I will never miss the opportunity to take some photo opps!

Just across the street, we saw a lot of lights and tent and thought "what is happening there?"

Then when we went there! Wow! My initial thought was "We were very lucky" because the area was for the "Macau's 12th Food Festival".

A favorite event among local residents and visitors, the Macau Food Festival brings delicious Asian, European, Mainland China and local delicacies, and exciting entertainment and fun for everyone.  With the theme of global delicacies in Macau, the Macau Food Festival was like an amusement park where visitors can taste worldwide cuisines in just one place.  There were also game booths, live performances and beer competition during the festival. (Macau.com)


When we got there, we immediately exchanged our money to chits.  This is what we need to use in order to buy food! There were a lot of people and it was pretty organized.

We had a simple snack to satisfy our cravings!

- Chicken hotdog wrapped in bacon.
- Grilled Octopus
- Milk Tea!


The after this, we went back to the market area to buy more souvenir. Then we headed straight back to the terminal to wait for our ferry ride!

Another thing where Macau is famous is their casinos! There were a lot of them and they were very colorful at night.  We had no time to visit and thus we just looked at the buildings from our bus.

Macau is a simple and nice place, they were previously under the Portuguese Colony and thus you will notice that most of the words they use is in Portuguese as well as the streets and infrastructure!

Xoxo

My Merry Christmas to You!

 



Similar to what I have posted in my FB last night, Yey to December! :D
We have all been waiting for this last month of the year as it is the most festive for all of us (especially in the Philippines).

 ~~~~~~~~

This picture was taken in Disneyland where I purposely bring along with me this Santa Hat! It's the time of the year where I can wear this hat freely and no one will say that I am out of theme! Truly, no one asked why I was wearing it!  

~~~~~~~~~

 While we were in HK and Macau aside from thinking where I want to go, I also thought of what I want to give to my family and friends.  Well, I am not that rich to buy "pasalubong" for all of them and thus I believe doing a video to be dedicated to all of my Family and Friends will be worth it!

I have my husband's full support in this initiative and thus he did most of the videos.  I must say it came out very good (well the model is ehem! good looking so no wonder!).

Anyways, on with the video!
 

 

Location was from Hongkong, The Peak, Macau and Disneyland.
I hope that I was able to make you smile and extend my message of greeting you a "Very Merry Christmas to you".

Talk to you soon!

Xoxo