TKY Dec'16 - D3 - Disneyland

(Hello again... time to continue my blog on Tokyo trip..)

I didn't plan on going Disneyland for our day 3.  I said "I didn't", because I was really very afraid of cold, but WK kept "jio" that it's not that bad and that's where we should go.  Since day 2 was quite uneventful, so I got out of the challenge to bring 2 kids and a guy shopping, and got into the challenge of braving the cold.

This was my 2nd time to Tokyo's Disneyland, the first being in Summer more than 10 years ago.  The most memorable stuffs about this particular visit were:

Firstly, the restaurant.  Wanting to get out of the cold, we ate lunch at the main restaurant, which was called "Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall".  It operated very systematically.  A queue formed outside the restaurant, thus controlling the crowd inside.  Once in, the patrons queued for the food first.  There were pictures showing what's available for ordering, before reaching the counters.   Once at the food counters, we ordered and picked up the food, and proceeded to pay.  It's like the system at Ikeas' restaurants, just better.  Cos after payment, we were assigned to an available table.  Not only was the system fast, efficient and friendly, and the restaurant clean and cosy, the food was superb.  So the food "captured' our stomachs, and the place and system "captured" our hearts.  We had such a good meal, that we returned to this place for dinner.   My verdict - 10/10 for this restaurant.

Secondly, we did only about 4 rides/stations that day, and at least 2 to 3 were memorable for me and Lynn.  The 3 of them rode on a open air space shutter (like the flying elephant), so Lynn got blasted by cold air while up there.  Of course I opted out, my nose would not had survived that kind of cold air rushing against my face.  All four of us went for the space mountain ride, not realising that it's a bit frightening.  I hate roller coaster rides (I don't enjoy trill rides).  Lynn and Mabel took the first car, Wk and I took the second.  After that ride, I noticed that Lynn was a bit quiet, so I coaxed the feeling out of her, i.e., she cried (scared).  I was glad that she experienced her first scare of theme park ride with us.  Next time when she's out with her friends for such outings, she can decide for herself if she wants to opt out, or if not, what to expect and how to react.

Finally, that night was memorable.  We didn't plan to stay for the parade or fireworks (it was cold), but we got delayed by rides, dinner, and souvenir shopping, so we made it to the parade and firework at 8.  It was worth it.  It was magical..

Here are the pictures:

It was a cloudy day, but the cold was bearable and there's no rain.  In the 2nd picture in this collage, Lynn and Mabel were on the open air ride.  Of course I opted out, cos cold air against the face was for people who like cold, not me..

Queueing outside, and inside the Banquet Hall:

The setting of the restaurant speaks of Disney class: vibrant and happy.  And it's so cosy for the winter guests.  

The food was just great.  

Some of our stops: Its a small world; Haunted mansion, Winnie the Pooh boat ride (highly recommended). 

Nightfall.  The lights were magical.

Souvenirs for the girls.  What's the definition of "souvenirs"?  Utterly useless stuff that tourists buy, hah!  But I didn't regret, these 2 .. whatever.. were great for photos :)  

Timeout when at work

Instead of blogging, I decided to do some photo management.  Here are some photos that didn't make it to my Ig.

Amara hotel

at Ikea tampines

 at Vivocity

Huizhou, China

Update X

Sunday 17 July, one more weekend before my business trips and holiday trip starts.. 

Mabel came to stay over on Saturday, so we took her along to ECP on Sunday morning. So unlike the previous week, Lynn has company. They actually went into the sea, for about an hour, before Lynn complained about being bitten by a crab!  

 

And finally, here's some random photos of life around the neighborhood..

 

A staycation at Clarke quay

Wk and I did a staycation without Lynn in June.   It was at Clarke quay. The hotel was nothing fantastic, but cheap considered its central location.  Went around, took some nice photos, and spent our time leisured on that Friday afternoon.  Had super nice and expensive Japanese food  for dinner.  On Saturday we jogged to marina bay. It's nice to spend couple time now and then..

Update 1

Nowadays as I blog lesser, I tend to scroll through my photos to determine how much behind I am, and on what topic I want to catch up on.  This time round I am going to catch up on some pictures from April and May.  I want to post them on my blog so that next time I can still search for them if I want to. 

Went to Vietnam for a second time in April.  The grass jelly ice coffee was great and the difficult to find Secret Garden restaurant has a nice roof top deco.

Bought souvenirs for Lynn:

 

In May, we celebrated Jocelyn's birthday. We bought her Kim Joong Ki cushion cover, hah!

In May, Lynn and WK sent me to the airport (biz trip) as we wanted try the hello kitty cafe.  But there was a long long q...

 

Went into the departure area early, so took a stroll in the butterfly garden

 

Saw this plane with Singapore flag on its body:

 

Shanghai office and airport:

 

Saw this beautiful flower outside the canteen of Tianjin office. But I was told this is a 野花，dah!

 

 

Home sweet home at Changi airport:

Grandma's wake (I)

On the Tuesday, during lunch time, I got a message on the family chat group that Grandma had been certified by the doctor to have passed away at home  at 12 noon.  The first few thoughts that came to my mind were that I'm glad that I visited her at the hospital the week before and also on Sunday morning.  We were also informed that the undertaker will be bringing her body away that evening at 6.30pm.  Most of us (in the chat group) replied that we will be at her home about 5+.

That evening, all of her children, and most of her grandchildren were at her home to say our last goodbye.   With everyone around, Aunty Cindy explained that grandma had been running a fever since Saturday, after her discharge from the hospital on Friday.  She had not been feeding well, both food and medicine.  On Tuesday morning, she experienced difficulty in breathing.  At about 11+, both my aunts had watched her take her last breath.  They couldn't hear any heartbeat, and called for the doctor, who certified her death, with cause as pneumonia.   Grandma's younger brother and sister in law happened to be visiting her that morning, so they were there when she passed away. 

I've heard of old folks who suffered other kinds of organ failure, who struggled for over a week before their last breath,  In those cases, some parts of their body, such as fingernails and leg actually start turning black before their death.  In grandma's case, she still look well in the last few days that I saw her.  Pneumonia (water in her lungs) took her away quickly that morning.  Grandma looked very peaceful when we saw her in the evening.  Aunt explained that Grandma's tongue was slightly out at first, but the body finally rested in peace (by itself) over the next few hours.

The undertaker came slightly after 7, and brought her body away for embalming.  Aunt made an unusual arrangement, which was for the undertaker to keep the body for 2 nights (Tues and Wed) and only to send the coffin to the wake site on Thursday morning.  It was for practical reasons, so as to cut down on one overnight (Wed) duty.  It is highly untraditional, so I was quite impressed. 

Wednesday
Due to the unconventional arrangement, Aunts had the whole of Wed to do several things.  Firstly, it was to book the Pavilion (void deck) for the wake.  Then it was to book newspaper advertisement for Thursday.  They also had to book buffet dinners and lunch for the next few days. 

That evening after work, I went by the funeral site, which was already set up, but without coffin, picture, nor visitor.   It felt calming and serene.  I went up to grandma's house to chat with WS and aunty YY for awhile, and hope that they can have a good rest before the busy days ahead.

Thursday and Friday
I went to work on both days, and left early at 4pm.  On Thursday morning, grandma in her coffin was returned at the funeral site at 9am.  Throughout the day, there were photos in the group chat of wreaths from various companies. 

I was on site to help out from 6pm.  That night, I was again very impressed by the extremely simple and easy Buddhist ritual that my aunts had selected.  We even have chairs to sit on when going through the ritual.  There was no incense paper burning either.  I thought it suited grandma, suited her children and grandchildren, to have such as non ceremonious funeral.   

I'm happy to see relatives and family friends turning up.  I am not close to them, but my mum, uncles and aunties are.  Most relatives turn up on all 3 days (including Saturday), to pay respect and say goodbye to their eldest aunt (my grandma).