China - Day 3: Big museums, another airport and a lost bus driver

Most of today was a travel day. Before our flight we went to a museum that we were supposed to go to the day before. 

 
The museum was quite large. Everything was organized into big rooms that also had many hallways like a maze. The artifacts here are the oldest I have ever seen! The artifacts in our museums aren't anywhere near as old because our history doesn't go back as far as China's. Each room displayed different things like pottery, bronze artifacts, calligraphy, clothing and weapons.

When we arrived at the airport we were given sandwiches for the plane. Our flight was about an hour and a half and everything went smoothly. My bag was held at the bag inspection because I had an external battery pack in it. In China batteries have to be transported in your carry on bags and have capacity restrictions. It wasn't a big deal. I grabbed the battery from my bag and continued on my way. This was a short flight and I fell asleep before we took off. I must have been exhausted! I was planning on updating my blog but after my nap the airline fed us! Food on an hour and a half flight? How cool! We were served some sort of pork stew and rice. After we landed our tour group gathered at the baggage claim area and boarded a bus.

The bus ride was the longest bus ride ever! We were the first group to leave the airport. The bus ride was supposed to be 3 hours but our driver took what he thought was a short cut. We went through a residential area with narrow roads. Our driver got lost. We ended up going the wrong way, ran into inaccessible roads and we kept having to stop to ask for directions. Our 3 hour bus ride turned into 5. We didn't get to the ship until 10.

We checked into our rooms ate dinner and went straight to bed. There hasn't been much time for sleep on this trip.

China - Day 2: Yuyuan garden, silk and skilled acrobats

Because we got in so late we didn't have time to sleep once we got to our hotel. We showered got breakfast and went out on our tour.

The first place our tour guide took us was the financial district of China. This area is filled with modern skyscrapers referred to as, The Bund. One of the weird facts we learned was that all of the buildings were owned by foreign companies at one time. He gave us time to look around and wander for a bit before taking us to Old Shanghai. It reminded me of Oakland Chinatown. My grandma said it reminded her of San Francisco Chinatown in the 30's. She claims she wasn't around then but she saw pictures.

After walking around for a bit we went to Yuyuan Garden which means garden of happiness. It was really crowded and hard to navigate a tour group through. This garden is listed as a must see when visiting Shanghai. The land in Shanghai is very flat and mountains in Fung Shui represent protection so hills were made in the garden for protection and pagodas were built on top. This garden was built during the Ming Dynasty and is the was the most prestigious garden at the time. It's separated into 6 sections and is surrounded by a dragon wall. 

There are a lot of places to shop and eat near the Garden. We were given free time to look around and went to a silk shop where they farmed silk worms, made and sold silk goods. We watched a demonstration on how some silk goods were made. They also taught us how to test the quality of silk and how to differentiate between real and fake. On our way out our local guide took us to a tea house that was a little ways away from the touristy area where locals like to buy tea. We were told this is the best tea in the area! it was a little expensive.

Before lunch we walked to a silk art gallery where they displayed and sold silk art. We were able to watch how silk embroidery was made. The gallery was quite large and arranged like a maze. There were lots of rooms and hallways. Some of the needle work was so fine that it looked like a printed photo!

We had lunch at a local restaurant that was in the same mall as the silk art gallery. Some of the items served to us didn't seem like authentic Chinese food. I wonder if they altered there menu for us Americans. Some of the food we were served was fried rice, pork buns and some sort of noodles.
  
We headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed for a nap before dinner. It was amazing! It was the first time we've been able to lay in a bed in at least 36 hours!

We had dinner at Elemental Fresh, a restaurant near the hotel. We had a choice between a fish, beef or vegetarian dish. I got the beef dish. It was pretty good.

After dinner we went to an Acrobatic show at a local theatre. They did similar acts to the ones at the acrobatic show at Global Winter wonderland in Sacramento. I liked the acts here better. They were more daring and had more flare. A lot of the performers were young amateurs who did acrobatics as a hobby while going to school.

After the acrobatic show we went back to the hotel to retire to the night. We have another flight tomorrow!

China day 1- Longest travel day ever!

Even though the day isn't quite over yet I've decided to write a blog entry while we're waiting for our delayed flight in Beijing. I feel like I've been here forever! I'll edit and add as things happen.

Just like most Day 1 blog entries today was a travel day. But this one has a lot more twist and turns! We left Sacramento around 6 am and arrived at the San Francisco airport at about 8, which was wayyy too early. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 2:50 that afternoon! Our check in counter wasn't even open yet. Since we couldn't get our boarding passes we spent some time outside of security. We had access to a few shops and a food court. There was also a museum at the airport that showed airline attendants uniform styles throughout the years. I thought that was pretty cool.

After we checked in we got burgers and boarded the plane. The airplane ride was the longest I've ever been on - 11 hours! While on the plane I watched a few movies and shows. I was able to watch Cinderella, Cars and Triple 9. Some of the shows I watched was 2 broke girls, Community, Modern Family and Top Gear. Our travel documents said that we would only be provided with a snack this trip but we ended up getting 2 meals. Score! The first meal was served about an hour into our flight. Our choices were chicken and rice or beef and rice. I got the beef with rice. The menu for the second meal consisted of shrimp and rice or pork chow mein. I got the chow mein. Wine and beer was offered as part of their beverage selection. We took full advantage of that! There was nothing spectacular about the meals. It's just airline food.

When we arrived in Beijing we wanted to use the Air China Lounge but by the time we made our way through security and customs there wasn't enough time. We ended up shopping for a while. I've noticed that high end Italian and American stores are very popular here.

This layover ended up being the longest ever. Our flight was delayed for what seemed to be an eternity! We didn't wonder very far from our gate in fear that we would miss our boarding call. Eventually, I went and explored more shops. There's only so much you can do in this terminal so after a short while of exploring I went back to the gate to wait some more. I was able to catch up with Facebook and my email which was a pleasant surprise. I thought Facebook and Google services were blocked here.  A couple of hours into the delay the airline announced that they would provide us with food and drink. Disappointingly it was just water and crackers. After a short nap and what feels life a million lifetimes later we were finally able to board the plane.

The second plane was a lot smaller and it didn't provide as many entertainment options as our first plane. Good thing this plane ride was a lot shorter.

We arrived in Shanghai at 6:30am and we didn't have any time for sleep. We had to be settled in, showered and ready for our tour at 8am. Off to the tour we go!

Disneyland day 4: Spending the last day with characters and the Court of Angels.

Our last day at Disneyland was a short one. The last day is always a sad one. We started out at the Matterhorn and my dad got FASTPASSES for the Haunted Mansion. We found Marry Poppins and Bert hanging out near the Matterhorn so we had to take pictures with them. The rest of our group left for New Orleans while we waited to meet characters. The meet and greet line closed a couple of people after us. We got lucky!

Since we were in the area we decided to look for Silver Mist at Pixie Hollow. Before we entered we asked the attendant which fairies were in there. He said he didn't know but asked who we were looking for. My sister mentioned Silver Mist the attendant said we should take our chances and wait in line. When we got to the front guess who was there? Silver Mist! I don't think cast members are allowed to tell us who's in Pixie Hollow but they still drop hints. We conversed and took pictures with Silver Mist. She also taught me how to pose like a fairy. Tinkerbell was just around the corner so we chatted with her and got pictures with her too.

Since we were in character hunting mode we continued to the Royal Hall to see which princesses were there. Cinderella, Ariel and Aurora were there. Not anyone we were particularly interested in seeing at the time so it was off to meet up with the rest of our group.

We met up with the rest of our people at Haunted Mansion, just in time to use the FASTPASSES. While we were on our tangent the rest of our group had already went on Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. They rode both of the rides again with us.

We passed by Club 33 again and I realized that the door I found yesterday was indeed a new entrance to the club. They expanded past the Court of Angels and made it the main entrance. I think that Disneyland is using it as a waiting room for members who are waiting to eat dinner there. I wanted to take pictures in the courtyard because I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the park. It's also a good place to rest during a long day. This place may not mean a lot to some people but it's been photographed in many family photos and hosted numerous marriage proposals. To me, it's a spot I've hung out at that's now a part of Club 33.

We ordered Gumbo and Clam Chowder at the Royal Street Veranda for lunch before we left for California Adventure. It was pretty good.

We traveled back to Cars Land for Luigi's Rollikin' Roadsters, the ride that we found yesterday. They referred to the dancing cars as 'dancing cousins.' Since floorless technology is pretty new to Disneyland glitches and hiccups are expected. But did it really need to go down on a hot day, after a super long wait, right before we were going to get on! We were next group in the line cue and they had to shut the ride down to test some things before resuming operation. They told us our dancing cousins were taking a little siesta. Good thing it only took about 15 minutes. The ride was super cute but a lot rougher than I expected. Lots of sudden direction changes while the dancing cousins were dancing.

Before we left for home I tried to take grandma to Downtown Disney but we barely made it past World of Disney before she wanted to turn around and head back.

What a fun trip! Here's to many more!

Disneyland Day 3: Lots of rides, Mark Twain Riverboat tips and the Disneyland Dream Suite

Today was such a busy day! We started out at Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land on the California Adventure side to grab FASTPASSES and headed straight to Soarin' Over California because we weren't able to ride it yesterday. Soarin' Over California takes you on a simulated hang gliding tour of California in less than 5 minutes.

Our next stop was Toy Story Midway Mania at Paradise Pier. At this attraction you ride through a collection of interactive midway games. We didn't have much to do after that so we went on Micky's Fun Wheel, Golden Zephyr and the Silly Symphony Swings. The next couple of rides were designed more for pairs and I needed a break so my sister and grandma when on Goofy's Sky School and Jumpin' Jellyfish without me.

It was almost time to use our Radiator Springs FASTPASSES but we still had a little more time to kill so we went back to the Boudin Bakery and walked around A Bugs Land for a while. On our way to Radiator Springs Racers we discovered a cute ride on the edge of Cars Land, Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters, where cars dance on a trackless surface to upbeat Italian music. We'll ride that tomorrow.

By the time we made it to Radiator Springs Racers it had just broken down. We were told that we can use our FASTPASSES anytime throughout the day. Good stuff! Since we weren't able to get on the ride we thought it might be a good time to get lunch and try again later. On the way out my sister and grandma went on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

We went to Target for snacks and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. When we got back to California Adventure the Radiator Springs Racers FASTPASS line was wayyy to long! So out to Disneyland we went.

While we were in Disneyland we went on It's a Small World, Alice in Wonderland and we made it on Peter Pan's Flight. New projection effects have been added to Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan's Flight

After we explored Fantasyland a little more we headed out to one of the new Star Wars attractions, Path of the Jedi, in Tomorrowland. Path of the Jedi takes place near Space Mountain in the theater where Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Captain IO was. It was a compilation of clips and a narrative about Star Wars history. They even included clips from The Force Awakens.

The Disneyland app said Pirates of the Caribbean was a 20 minute wait. When we got there the line did not look like a 20 minute line. It was way to long! We decided to go to the Mark Twain Riverboat instead.

When we got there the Mark Twain was docked and they were allowing people on and off as they pleased. While exploring the riverboat I overheard the Mark Twain won't be sailing for another year. During normal operating conditions you can commandeer the Mark Twain! All you have to do is ask a Cast Member if you can see the wheelhouse and they'll lead  you  and your group up there and allow you to hang out for the duration of the voyage. They might even let you steer it around the Rivers of America!

The Tiki Room never has a big crowd so we went there next. The host this time was hilarious! I can't quite recall what he said but he was funniest host I've ever seen.

We decided to check out the line at Pirates of the Carribbian again. It wasn't too bad so we decided to get on. This ride hasn't changed or been updated since I've last seen it. The most recent addition to this ride was Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones. I'm not sure how well known the Disneyland Dream Suite is but it's located above the Pirates of the Carribbian. The Disneyland Dream Suite is a luxurious apartment that was completed for part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams event. While New Orleans Square was being built Disney wanted an impressive facility to host VIP guests. He assembled a team of designers and named the project The Royal Suite. The name was influenced by it's location on Royal Street. After Disney's death the project was abandoned and the space was used as the Disney Gallery. It was revived for the Year of a Million Dreams event and turned into the Dream Suite that stands there today.

Since California Adventure was closing soon we went back to Radiator Springs Racers. The FASTPASS line was still long but now where near as long as it was earlier today. We got through the line in about 20 minutes which is quite long for a FASTPASS line. I recently read that If everyone in the car leans into the turns during the race portion your car will win... Guaranteed!

Afterwards we headed back to Disneyland and saw the fireworks show, Forever, and the Paint the Night parade from the same place-- the Main Street railroad depot. We still had Star Tours FASTPASSES so we headed to Tomorrowland to use them. Since we had time before our passes were valid we went on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters to kill some time. I was never good at Astro Blasters. Star Tours has also been updated with content from The Force Awakens.

At the end of the day we dragged ourselves back to the hotel. Today also our last full day at the parks.

Disneyland day 2: FASTPASSES, park hopping and the exclusive Club 33

We started our first day in the parks at Hyperspace Mountain to get FASTPASSES. Disneyland temporary re-did Space Mountain with a Star Wars theme and called it Hyperspace Mountain. The line was unusually short so we rode the ride after we got our FASTPASSES. The new and improved Space Mountain launches you into the middle of a space battle and navigates you out. It was pretty awesome!

After Hyperspace Mountain we left for Fantasyland. We went through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, went on Pinocchio's Daring Journey and Snow White's Scary Adventures. I wanted to ride Peter Pan's Flight but the line was too long. It's one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. On our way out we ran into The Mad Hatter, one of my favorite characters! During our short chat learned that the Hatter's favorite color is green, like green tea, and Alice still keeps in touch with the Queen. They couldn't make it to Disneyland today because they were off playing croquet in the garden.

Our next stop was the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at California Adventure. I love that ride but my grandma didn't care for it too much. When we got to the highest point in the ride my sister and I yelled, "Hands up!" and my grandma threw her hands up... little did she know what was going to happen next. It's like my sister and I operate on the same wave length. While we were in the area we made a stop at Monsters Inc. Mike and Sully to the Rescue and Ariel's Undersea Adventure.  On our way out we paid a visit to the Boudin Bakery at Pacific Wharf. There was also a tortilla factory in the area at one time but it closed down. During our time in California Adventure we acquired FASTPASSES for Soarin' Over California, Radiator Springs Racers and World of Color.

Lunch today was amazing! Right outside Disneyland's property lies Tony Romas. The night before my grandma told us about Tony Roma's $10 lunch menu. She discovered this with her friends at the restaurant in Elk Grove. The lunch menus differed between locations. The menu at the Restaurant in Elk Grove consisted of mostly pasta and salad but the lunch menu here had chicken and salad. Grandma enjoyed the selection at the Anaheim location better. I ordered the ribs and they were amazing as always! Way to go grandma!

We did a lot of hopping back and fourth between parks today. Good thing we got Park Hoppers! Last time we were here the Mad Hatter hosted musical chairs at the Carnation cafe at 2:00. We happened to be in the area and waited for a bit but he didn't show up. The Dapper Dan's arrived and did a show with their piano playing friend, Eric, instead. We continued through the park and grabbed Indiana Jones fast passes.

Club 33 in the french quarter was renovated last year with a new entrance so we had to find the new door. Club 33 is an exclusive, secret club in Disneyland that isn't so much of a secret among Disney fanatics... the wait list is about 10 years long and the annual dues are insane! I'm not quite sure about the "33" in Club 33 but some say it's because the club is located at 33 Royal Street, others say it's for the 33 initial investors of Disneyland. I've also heard that if you simply turn 2 pairs of mouse ears on it's side it creates the number 33, so Disney used 33. Quite frankly they could all be right... Disney could have intentionally had 33 initial investors because he realized that if you turn a pair of mouse ears on it's side it creates the number 3 and built a club for them on 33 Royal street. In regards to the quest for the door, we found another door! But I don't think a new entrance was made during this renovation. Club 33 has been renovated a couple of times since it's establishment and I think I found the main entrance that they currently use and have used before the renovation. The door I had thought was the main entrance was probably the original that was used when the club first opened.

My sister wanted to ride Splash Mountain so my mom and grandma went with her. The wait was 70 minutes but they did it anyway. While they were waiting in line I killed some time at the gift shop near the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That didn't take up all of the time so I used the rest of my time wisely and rested.

As we were heading out to California Adventure to ride Soarin' Over California we stopped at the Haunted Mansion. We found a new haunt inside the mansion, the hat box ghost. He's placed inside the ride right where you enter the graveyard. He's a funny looking ghost holding a hat box who's head transfers between his box and his shoulders.

We weren't able to use our FASTPASSES at Soarin' Over California because we were 3 hours late. Normally they allow you to use your FASTPASS even though you're late and outside of your time frame, just not early. How disappointing!

Since we weren't allowed to use expired FASTPASSES anymore we made sure we were in time for our next ones at Radiator Springs Racers. This ride has 2 possible story outcomes before the race. Every time I've went on this ride I've always gone to the side where your car gets a new paint job. This time my car got new tires. It was pretty interesting and very cool.
We had one more FASTPASS to use before we went back to the hotel to grab dinner. Indiana Jones hasn't been updated since the last time I was there. They did take out the section where your car stalls right before you drive into the hallway of skeletons. I'm not sure if they did that because it was busy or if it was a permanent change.

After we rushed back to the hotel to eat dinner we rushed back out to California Adventure to watch World of Color. We ended up arriving an hour before it started so there was no need to rush. World of Color was a "Fantasmic" type show in the past, now it's more of a biography about Disneyland and how it came to be. There's also a lot of scenes from Disney movies and Disneyland rides both modern and classic with super cool effects.

We dashed out of California Adventure to Disneyland to catch the Paint the Night parade. I thought it was cool that The Paint the Night Parade paid homage to the original Electric Light Parade. They used the Electric Light Parade melody and some of the characters during the parade. Of course the new parade had better technology, visual effects and newer characters. I absolutely loved it!
After the parade we were exhausted and headed back to the hotel for the night.

Disneyland day 1: The first post.

We left for Anaheim late this morning. On our way here we stopped for lunch at a truck stop in Coalinga. My mom wanted Burger King because she likes their tacos so we dropped her and my grandma off and the rest of us left for McDonalds. There were 2 or 3 tour buses at the truck stop and everything was packed! We decided to go to Carl's Jr. and we still ended up waiting forever. The Burger King there didn't have taco's either! So much for fast food.

When we got into Anaheim we checked into our hotel, unpacked and left to get our tickets for tomorrow. While my parents waited in line for the tickets the rest of us went to Downtown Disney. We didn't get very far before my parents caught up with us so we left for food! My mom's favorite sandwich shop closed down in Sacramento so she insisted we go to the one here. All of us got sandwiches and some to go!

I wanted to go back to Downtown Disney but everyone was too tired to go back with me. So back to the hotel we went.
 
Tomorrow, we go the parks!!!