Day 98 - Tokyo Disneyland!!!!!

Hey everyone!

I hope you are all doing well!

Yesterday (December 18th) I went to...Disneyland!

It was a day-off for Waseda students, so many of us were making plans to use the free time well!
Kento suggested we go to Disneyland and I - having wanted to go since I can remember - jumped at the idea!

I was so excited, I thought I might never go to Disneyland and it was finally happening!!

We met bright and early around 7:45 at Tokyo station!
Tokyo station is pretty big so it took a while to find each other but through the magic of Line it wasn't too difficult!

On the train it was obvious that there were lots of other people heading to Disneyland, there were plenty of school girls and couples that looked ready for a good day out!

It was a short walk from Maihama station to Disney land and there were plenty of things to show that you were heading in the right direction.

The walkway from the station to Disneyland was cute, it had decorated lamp posts and there were Disney characters on the railings. There was even an archway welcoming you into the theme park.

You could start to see some of Disneyland's buildings. I was so excited!

It was the perfect day to go to Disneyland, as it was a work day and the predicted weather was not too great it was relatively uncrowded (at least as far as Disneyland can be). This meant that not only did we get to experience a better atmosphere, but it also meant that we didn't have to wait so long for the attractions!

Kento had already got tickets at a Convenience store - Japanese convenience stores truly live up to their name - so we didn't have to wait so long to get into the park which was great!  

Finally made it!

Another great thing about going to Disney land yesterday was that it was so Christmassy! Although most of Japan's shops seem to have Christmas themed products and are playing Christmas music there just seems to be something missing.
I absolutely LOVE Christmas and am really missing all the sights and smells that usually tell me that Christmas is around the corner, further building my anticipation. I miss the smell of the Christmas tree, rolling up newspaper and the smell of coal used make fires (in the fireplace of course!), doing Christmas shopping, and just the nice family feeling that I get around Christmas! The atmosphere is just not the same!
But in Disneyland there were decorations everywhere! There was even a Christmas parade! I definitely started to feel that Christmas was coming!

Feeling Christmassy enough yet?

One of the first things I saw as I came in was this enormous Christmas tree!

One thing that I was really surprised at was how EVERY building was designed. They all looked so nice and each areas theme was so consistent! I really loved the atmosphere, it felt like being transported somewhere magical!

Bam! A beautiful closeup of the Christmas tree!

On the Pirates of the Carribean ride

 The first thing we did was go on the Pirates of the Carribean attraction. It was awesome! I really didn't know what to expect but it was so much better than I had imagined! The atmosphere was really cool, the lighting was really dark with atmospheric lighting!
Every detail seemed to have been considered, there wasn't anything out of place to take away from the feeling of the ride.
The animatronics were so surprisingly good! They were so realistic! And yes, Jack sparrow makes an appearance!

I love the way the buildings are decorated!

After the Pirates of the Carribean ride we had a little walk around the area.

A vending machine!

I really can't believe the attention to detail that went into Disneyland! Even the Vending machines were themed! And what's more, the drinks bottles inside also had special Disney packaging!

If you know me then you know about my love affair with popcorn! I can't get enough of the stuff! And at Disney there are various different popcorn stalls selling different flavours of popcorn!

You could buy the popcorn either in a disposable box or you could buy a special Disney box which you can then use to get refills. Kento had cleverly brought one from a previous visit! I saw so many different designs of popcorn boxes during the day! Some were new ones as each theme zone seemed to have a different box, and there were lots of other ones from when people had bought them from previous visits!

There were quite a few flavours to find around the park:
 Caramel, chocolate, honey, salt, butter shoyu (soy sauce) and...Curry!

We tried the Honey, butter shoyu and the curry flavour and the winner was unanimously agreed to be curry! 

Just look at this crazy building!

The characters came out and started dancing!

While we were taking pictures of the building the clock started chiming and figures came out and danced! It was an automaton clock!

Next we went on the Pooh's Honey Hunt attraction. The queue are was so pretty, it had a little garden with a pond!

The ride was really cool! We were seated in our own "honey pot" which was a round vehicle of sorts.  I won't take any other answer as to how they move other than "by magic"!  They seriously seemed to move autonomously, there were no tracks and they seemed to move all over the place!!
There was one room that bounced up and down and another room was even honey scented!

Next we went to the haunted mansion! It was really great because this one had been made Christmassy! This ride is based on the Nightmare Before Christmas film! The ride really dark inside and there were even ghosts! The technology that go into these rides are really quite amazing!

After this we went back to the western area where we had a go at the shooting gallery. I only got 3 hits but Kento got 10/10 and won a cute little sheriff's badge! After that we ordered some matching leather straps! So cute! It may sound cheesy, but I love couple sets - and they are pretty popular in Japan! 

Next we went to the Blue Bayou restaurant. Kento said that this restaurant is usually really crowded so we made sure to head there early before the lunch rush! It is situated by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and is in the same theme! The waitresses were all wearing cute costumes! The atmosphere was soooo nice! It was quite dark but it was lit up with pretty red lanterns, lamps on the table and fireflies in the bushes (fake of course)! It felt really special! 

We both ordered a set menu which was quite expensive but really tasty! The set menu included drinks, a starter, main, dessert and an endless supply of warm, soft bread rolls.

I was surprised at the level of food available at Disneyland. When I think of theme park food, what usually comes to mind are hot dogs made from goodness-knows-what and fizzy drinks. This was not the case in Disney land.

As a starter I had a prawn and salmon terrine with turkey and cranberry (a festive, if somewhat unusual choice) while Kento chose the chowder. I can vouch that both were really good!

For the main course we both had the sirloin, it was sooo good! Ah, I always end up making myself hungry when I write these posts!

Look how pretty!

 Dessert was chocolate cake with strawberries, sauce and a strawberry pudding decorated with edible spheres of shinyness!

Thoroughly full of yummy noms we stayed and talked for a bit longer and then headed off for more exploration!

The next attraction was the Western River Railroad where you ride on a train that goes around some of the park.  The ride were a also a few little surprises and we luckily got one of the front carriages!

View of one of the attractions from the train

 After the train ride we went straight onto the Jungle Cruise which was right next to the Railroad attraction. On the jungle cruise you ride down the lake on a boat captained by -in our case- a super genki man, he was so enthusiastic and was cracking jokes the whole time.

After that we went to Splash Mountain as our our Fastpass tickets became valid!
Fastpass tickets are really a really cool feature of Disneyland! Instead of waiting for the allotted time which could be anywhere up to 4 hours in some cases you scan your entry ticket at a machine by your chosen attraction to receive a Fastpass ticket. With this ticket you get an allotted time where you can come back and go on the attraction with a greatly reduced waiting time! With the Fastpass ticket you don't have to wait much at all and you can go and do other things instead of wasting your day in a line!
Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of Splash Mountain but it was definitely one of the highlights!
We got the front carriage so of course we took the brunt of the splash! Kento had thoughtfully brought towels so we could dry off, our faces were soaking!

After Splash mountain we bought some souvenirs at one of the shops! I got a Tigger hat-scarf-glove combo thing and Kento got a Tigger tail to make me look all the more ridiculous! Sooo many people around the park were wearing Disney memorabilia such as mickey mouse ears or character hats, so it would have been wrong not to join in, right?!

Next we went to the famous castle for the Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall attraction. This one wasn't a ride but more like a mini tour around some of the castle rooms with Cinderella themed artwork. The theme was really good and at the end you could take photos on a throne and with the glass slipper.

View from the castle

The chandelier in the throne room

The gift shop looked like the interior of a castle and there were even people making the glass ornaments for you to see which was pretty cool.

After leaving the Cinderella attraction we came out the other side to a really spectacular view of the castle!

I think it was after the Cinderella attraction that we went on Pinocchio's Daring Journey, but it may have been before! This one was a little creepy - like the film - but good!

Note the festive Christmas hat!

After collecting some fastpass tickets Kento bought these! How cute are they?! I had heard about them before coming so I was really excited to try them! They were little mochi designed like the squeeze toy aliens from Toy Story! They were really good! The mochi were filled with different flavoured puddings: vanilla, matcha and strawberry! The matcha and strawberry were the best! The matcha flavour was definitely full enough and the strawberry filling was so nostalgic (it tasted like petit filous).

After that we went on the Star Wars attraction which was a kind of 4D mini film. It was awesome! you strap yourself into the seat and don some 3D glasses and enjoy a much more interactive kind of film!

The robots moved and spoke!

After that we met briefly with Amy, Zoe and Cami who also came! But we were completely out of sink with the attractions that we had or hadn't been on so after giving each other our recommendations we parted ways again.

The next few attractions we went on were It's a Small World, Alice's Tea Party and Big Thunder Mountain.

They were all really good! And although the Alice's Tea Party may not look so exciting it had us in fits of laughter - we were so dizzy!

It's a Small World lit up at night

A very Christmassy attraction

Before the Alice ride we tried some of the churros - there were chocolate and strawberry flavours. They weren't churros as the Spanish know them, but they were certainly good!

Before getting dizzy on the teacups!

The Big Thunder Mountain was definitely another highlight! 

After this we went on the Mark Twain boat ride - it was so nice going at night with all the lights twinkling! 

It was getting late so we went on the last few rides we could squeeze in as the park would be closing!

We went on the Monsters Inc Ride & Go Seek, Space Mountain and finished with Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters!

The Monster's Inc attraction was like a kind of game where you have to shine your torch on hats to make the monsters appear! It was really fun but I wish you got some kind of score at the end!

Space Mountain!

Space mountain was so cool! If I had to choose a favorite I think it would be this one! Its a really fun roller coaster but its almost in pitch black except for some atmospheric lighting like stars that seems to hang magically before you. This makes it so much more fun because you cant tell where the roller-coaster is going to go next making it much more thrilling!

We finished the day with the Buzz Lightyear attraction! You get a ray gun and you have to shoot targets with it and there is a score that comes up on two screens on your carriage. It was a great end to the day for me because I won! I'm clearly much more apt with a ray gun than with a rifle!

At around 10 minutes to closing time (around 9:50) we finally made our way home. We had been at the park since around 8:30! 

It was such an amazing day and was even better than I could have imagined. Even though I was so excited beforehand, the day certainly surpassed my expectations!

Thank you to Kento for making the day so awesome!

I had so much fun! I can't wait until next time! 

Well that's all for now,
I hope you enjoyed this post!

I will try my best but if I don't post until then, I wish you all a merry Christmas!!

Day 39 - Yataimura Festival, Competetive Cooking and Karaoke!

Hey everyone, are you withstanding the cold?

It's becoming pretty nippy here too! I may have to buy some trousers!

October 20th was Waseda's Yataimura (屋台村) festival. At this festival there are lots of stalls - mostly food stalls - where the circles (clubs) try to sell things!

Apart from the food stalls there were some other things to do such as face painting and some games.
However, as I was taking part I did not get to check out the festival much!

Every year one of the circles I have joined takes part in the Yataimura by splitting into 4 groups or so and selling food. Each team has a theme or a country and has to make costumes, an advertisement board and some food to sell!

This year the teams were:
Peter Pan
Heidi
Arabian Nights
and... Journey to the West

Amy and I chose to join the Journey to the West group!

Over the few weeks prior to the festival we did lots of preparation. Our groups designed and made all the costumes, advertisement board and chose the menu and made the food!

Amy and I went to a few sessions to help make the costumes and we went to both the cooking practice session and the food making session the day before the event.

It was really fun making the food with all the circle members, and we got to eat what we made on the practice run! During the practice cooking session we got to make pancakes too (just for fun). We added lots of random things to the mix to make different flavours. The banana flavour was the most popular, however the wasabi-smeared sweet chili pancakes didn't go down too well for some reason!

Unfortunately, the day of the Yataimura had horrendous weather! It may not look so bad in this photo but it was pouring with rain!

My shoes were soaking wet before I had even arrived to Waseda! On top of that because we had to show off our costumes we weren't wearing so much so it was really freezing!

The Arabian nights team posing after getting changed!

After we arrived we waited around for a bit in one of building 11's rooms and then started to get changed into our costumes!

The Arabian Nights costumes were so cute! If not a little politically incorrect!

Shereen (Arabian nights) , me, Amy (Journey to the West) and Cami (Heidi)  in our costumes

Our stall and sign!

Shortly after my shoes had finally dried out it was time to go outside to help with the stall. However they weren't ready yet so we went back inside to wait a bit longer, but it was already too late, my shoes were soaking again!

While we were waiting inside we saw the Waseda mascot so we got a photo with him!

Amy and I with the Waseda Mascot!

After some more waiting we went back out to help try to sell some of our food!

Amy enduring the rain!

As our group was Journey to the West (a Chinese tale) our costumes and food were Chinese themed!

The food we made was Banbanji (a Japanese-Chinese dish) and Chinese style dumplings (Gyoza). 

~Gyoza~

I split off with some of the circle members to try selling the food person to person! We were glad because we managed to sell all of the food we took with us!
It was really tough because the weather was so bad but we all did our best and from what we had heard we were selling the most food!

Trying our luck in one of Waseda's many buildings!

When we had finished, we all collected in the room in building 11 again to hear the results!

Anticipating the results!

Everyone had worked hard!

The awards were given out in categories and then the overall winner was announced:

Best costumes went to Heidi
Best food went to Arabian Nights
Best board went to Peter Pan

And....

Celebratory photo!

 We won overall!!

One thing that surprised me was how emotional some of the the circle members became over their results. This was something I found to be very different to English University clubs! But it was nice to see the results how hard everyone had worked!

After the Yataimura had ended we had a Nomikai (drinking party) of course!
Actually... not one Nomikai, but two!
It is quite normal to have an initial party and then a second party and sometimes even more!

The circle is quite old, and with that comes tradition! There was a drinking ceremony where the Leader would drink and pass the HUGE bottle down to other senior members that were lined up while the rest of us (or at least those who could) chanted songs!

Presents were given out to group leaders for their hard work and people in my group were each given a copy of the group photo to take home!

At the nomikai lots of nice food was served! From snacks such as crisps to more filling dishes like udon!

Monja croquette!

After the second party some of us went on to Karaoke - the trains stop at around 12 am so for some people it is necessary to stay on the the later parties until the trains start again!

The parties were only in Takadanobaba so it was within walking distance to my house but we decided to stay on to enjoy Karaoke with everyone!

I love Karaoke so it was lots of fun! It was also my first time going with Japanese students so it was a different experience!

As usual we had unlimited soft-drinks!

One of the Karaoke rooms we rented was being used as a little sleeping room for the more tired party-goers!

I ended up going home at around 4 am! I was pretty knackered and I had classes the next day!

Overall it was really fun. It was lots of work for everyone but it was great getting involved in the festival with the circle like this and everyone did their best!

Thank you everyone!

Well, see you later!