Downtown

Its a Saturday! So Alex and I decided to check out the apparently biggest mall in downtown San Francisco - Westfield San Francisco Centre. It takes a  good half an hour to reach there by public transport. But before that, lunch!

The meal plan at the University isn't that bad actually. Its all-you-can-eat, and it serves like what you see above. Still, it'll be a matter of time before I get sick of it or something. I'm going over there again for dinner tonight :D

Back on track, we took the MUNI downtown which is like a train, and stopped at a subway among the hustle and bustle of downtown. We need to get a Clipper Card soon if we're to travel like this - its basically the Touch & Go here. Saves us the trouble of having to queue up to pay for tickets.

Westfield San Francisco Centre is... just like any other mall. For the largest mall, its VERY small compared to what I've seen. Maybe its about half the size of 1U. Or smaller. I don't know. The escalators here are in a spiral pattern though! Pretty cool! And we pretty much just walked the entire place looking at the shops, and we walked the whole mall in like 30 minutes.

Across the street, another shop grabbed my attention - a Disney shop! Seriously, anything to do with Disney is always well done and managed. The shop is meant for kids though, but its very nicely decorated and stuff and the music makes the atmosphere cheerful. I saw a really awesome Maleficient snow glove with the dragon but it costs like 50 bucks x.x

And I bought 2 more new Monster drinks to try :X

San Francisco State University - The Beginning

So as y'all know I'm in San Francisco right now, specifically San Francisco State University. I've been here for 4 days now and I've more or less settled with my housing stuff. The University itself isn't really that big. There are definitely others that are much larger when compared to SFSU, and it might be better to be a small University since you don't have to take long distance walks between factions and buildings, especially if you have a really tight class schedule to keep. I haven't registered for any classes yet so I have no idea what my timetable looks like, and I doubt I'd be able to repeat the "only Tues and Thurs" timetable construct that I used to have back in Taylor's Uni.

The new library under construction, about twice the size of Taylor''s Lakeside Campus' library

Just a park in the middle of all the different buildings and factions

Its already the end for orientation day 2, and tomorrow is the most important day of orientation where I have my credits evaluated to make sure that they are transferred. I'm kinda screwed if they don't >.>

Anyways, today was rather special since I went to a place somewhat far away from campus to join an event organized by the IEEC (International Education Exchange Council) at a restaurant (by day, its a bar by night), but lets not jump to the ending  just yet.  Yes, I just got home from the place so its definitely the end to my day. Guess what breakfast was.

BURRITO

The schedule for orientation today mainly consisted of a few talks one after another, all trying to help international students feel comfortable in San Francisco. The talk on recreational activities was exceptionally boring for some reason - it was just terrible. And as the day progressed,  I found out about the event IEEC was organizing at the pub. I figured it would be a good opportunity to venture out for just a bit instead of staying in the dorms for the rest of the day. 

So we then arrived at the place... and to be honest it was not at all as I expected. According to Linda (one of the IEEC committees) it just opened in the summer so its still relatively new. They have some food listed on the menu but hey, people go to a bar to drink (but I just had a cola and some water). The food here is good though!

I know the highlight of the pub is during the night, but sadly I left just a bit before 7pm which is when it becomes a pub. I came too early and was already full from the early dinner so I decide to bolt. I'm not 21 years of age yet anyways - who knows if they come up and ask for your ID. A student ID isn't really gonna cut it. That reminds me, the student ID card actually looks kinda cool xD

And I'll just end with that picture of Mr. Hor sleeping. That's all he has been thinking about.

Disneyland (Part 2 - Fantasmic)

Disneyland at night is very different from during the day. Hundreds and thousands of lights brighten up the place, and the atmosphere remains as cheerful as it was during the day. In fact, things may look even beautiful at night due to all the lighting and the weather is cooling too! No intense sun, only cool breezes. It all depends on individual preference.

There are two main events that happen at night in Disneyland. One of them is Fantasmic, shown twice at the lake in Frontierland. Another one is the fireworks show that takes place at the castle entrance to Fantasyland. 

Let me just say that I especially love Fantasmic. It was so awesomely well done. It is a short performance based on Mickey's imagination and they have projections onto the water mists that they constantly splash from the lake. Whenever they transition from a real character performance to another, they usually have projections in between to help with the transition. Many Disney characters make their appearance throughout the performance. Mickey of course was the main character, and there were three versions I could see so far - the normal Mickey in a suit, Wizard Mickey, and the very first black and white Mickey that drove a boat (in this case, he was driving the Mark Twain boat ferry). Pinocchio made a short appearance, followed by a glorious play of Peter Pan. The transition into this play was done very nicely - the entire place would be dark and a sudden loud BANG from a cannon would shock the audience before the pirate ship came into view (with the crocodile following behind). The cast on the ship were very experienced and it required some of them to swing around using ropes. 

The next part featured three very famous couples in the Disney World - Beauty & The Beast, Ariel and Prince Eric, and Snow White & Prince Charming. They were dancing on three individual boats and as each boat neared the center part of the lake, the main theme song of each movie would play in a harmonious musical mash up with the main Imagination theme song. The music was very well compiled and orchestrated.

The next part was my favorite - the villains. It started with the Queen from Snow White talking to the mirror on the wall (projected on the water mist) who told her that love will always triumph in the imagination of Mickey. The angered Queen went to a cauldron and started cooking up a magic spell with the aid of colored sparks for effect before green fire and a puff of smoke appeared, after which a hideous witch in black robes appeared. Ursula (from Little Mermaid) and Chernabog were next, but only from projections on the water mist. Next was Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty) and Wizard Mickey appeared, only to be blasted by her before she was raised on a rising platform. At this point, the water mist splashed again and they projected Maleficent in her dragon form. However, VERY much out of my expectations, once the mist cleared, there stood a freaking massive REAL model of Maleficent in her dragon form. It was a really jaw dropping sight for me (if you had known me, I love dragons). And it doesn't end there, after a while, she sent a breath of blazing fire and the heat could be felt across the lake. Unfortunately, it was Mickey's imagination she was in, and Mickey defeated all the villains. 

It was then the finale of the performance - the Mark Twain Ferry piloted by black and white Mickey soon made its way across the lake, with a lot of Disney characters on board as they all danced to the song that played. Towards the end, Wizard Mickey directed a show of fireworks before a huge final explosion of fireworks ended the show.

Words won't be as good as a video! This isn't mine, but its much clearer than the one I recorded. The only difference is for the finale, they didn't have the Mark Twain Ferry and instead the characters went on stage to perform.

Disneyland (Part 1)

So yesterday I went to Disneyland! I was never expecting to go to Disneyland this early, but my relatives wanted to bring me there once, and I was very happy to go along. I went with 2 cousins (one older one younger), and my aunt. I was the only guy that went. I will split my Disneyland trip into 2 posts. The first post will mostly be about what happened during the day, including all of the rides I went on. The second post will be at night and about Fantasmic, a show that takes place on a lake in Frontierland. Fantasmic was just absolutely wonderful so I decided to have a post dedicated to it.

It was around 7.30am when I was eating breakfast and checking my bag before departure. I downed another can of Monster since we're gonna be there until midnight (no kidding, 15 hours at Disneyland already sounds exhausting). It was my aunt's policy that we stay till midnight to enjoy ourselves ttm. We reached Disneyland at about 9am-ish. The parking lot is some distance away from the Disneyland Park itself, which is why Disneyland has trams near the parking to take us to the Park. On the way to the tram I saw a little cute boy dressed up in a Batman suit. So adorable :3

Upon arrival, a massive crowd was already at the entrance. It was Disneyland after all, usually full all-year round regardless of the ticket pricing. Upon entry, we were given a map of Disneyland and I "studied" it just a little, since the main tour guide was my cousin so I didn't need to pay a lot of attention to the map.

As you can see on the map, Disneyland is divided into a few main areas with their own "themes". The place is rather huge and walking around the entire place can be very tiring. Upon entering Disneyland, visitors will find themselves at Main Street, which consists of rows of shops along the street. The marching band and the parade will occasionally march up and down Main Street. During the performance hours, the streets of Main Street are usually filled with people who want to see the performance. Further up Main Street is a roundabout which leads to the other areas of Disneyland.

Another thing to note about Disneyland is the use of the fast pass. At most of the rides in Disneyland, the queues are divided into two lanes. One lane is a regular queue up lane that everyone goes too, and the other is the fast pass lane. Users who go via the fast pass lane are able to bypass the main queue and go straight to the end of the line, hence the name FAST pass. Sometimes the fast pass lane has a crowd too, but you usually don't have to wait for more than 10 minutes as opposed to the usual 30 minutes or longer.  The fast passes have a different time for different rides, eg 3pm-4pm for Splash Mountain means you can only use the fast pass during the stipulated timing for Splash Mountain. Using your Disneyland ticket, you can redeem fast passes for a ride at their respective booths. A single Disneyland ticket can redeem multiple fast passes, but you must wait for a certain time limit to pass (written on the fast pass you just redeemed) before you can redeem another one to avoid the mass redemption of fast passes. If you know what you're doing, you can skip extremely long queues for certain rides that peak during certain hours. Good planning and organization is vital to a fun time at Disneyland.

Without wasting time, we went to redeem a fast pass for Space Tours in Tomorrowland and went to Adventure Land where we went for our first ride of the day - Indiana Jones. I haven't been on any rides in years and my cousin wanted to see where my level first. This ride would be the determining factor. Since it was still rather early in the morning, we didn't have to wait long for the ride even though it was the basic queue. The ride for Indiana Jones was not really fast nor really slow, and relies more on the element of surprise (such as a sudden short drop after a long pause) plus a little darkness to give suspense. The ride was very visually attractive as there are a lot of things inside to see. I rated this as my second favorite ride in Disneyland. 

We went to Autopia next to kill time since our fast pass for Space Tours hasn't started yet. Autopia is more of driving than a ride, as it gives visitors the chance to drive along a rail-guided track with specially modified mini-cars. It was a thrill to most of the kids since they weren't able to drive, and most of the people who come here are parents who let their kids drive instead of them. However, after riding it, I felt that it might not be so enjoyable for the kids, especially those who went alone. The main problem is the accelerator/brake. You press it, it moves, let go, it stops. The pad is SUPER hard and stiff, and by the end of the ride my right leg was really sore. I'd rather get stuck one hour in the jam with my manual car and my clutch leg wouldn't be as sore compared to this which happened in like 5 minutes. Another problem (apparently it was just my car) was that the engine kept dying, and I had to keep restarting it. Not really a pleasant experience but whatever. Its not like I never drove before.

Although it looks safe to bump, one of the main rules here is not to bump any cars.

Our next ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride inspired by Toy Story 2. This ride is more of a ride combined with a shooting arcade game. Basically, 2 people get into a cart and compete against each other in a shooting game by hitting targets throughout the ride. You are of course, a space ranger hired by Star Command, and what are you going up against? Evil Emperor Zurg, duh. It was a rather fun and competitive ride. I went on it four times total (one in the day, three at night), with my score improving every round except for the last one. The worst part is, during the ride where I hit my highest score the system sort of crashed for a second and my score wasn't saved on the picture. I was so upset ._. Now that I know the game better and which targets give more points, I hope to get a better score the next time I come, probably in December when my parents come to visit.

Star Command, this is Buzz Lightyear!

Second round

Third round, and my highest score not displayed, which is 351,600  ._.

Next up was Matterhorn Bobsleds, one my younger cousin's favorite rides. It was a mediocre ride with sharp corners and small tunnels. Either I was too big to be comfortable, or the seats was just uncomfortable because the ride hurts a little every time the sled bumps. It was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did for Indiana Jones. 

Matterhorn bobsleds

Finally, it was time for the Star Tours ride, which is a 3D spaceship simulation based on Star Wars. We used our fast pass to bypass the main waiting queue and got in quick. 3D glasses were distributed to use and we entered the simulation room, or should I say, ship. It was a rather cool simulation and was really enjoyable to watch.

After Space Tours, my older cousin and I went to pull a fast pass for Space Mountain because my aunt and my younger cousin didn't wanna go on it. It was supposedly the fiercest ride in Disneyland. We had lunch afterwards - PIZZA! 6 huge slices of pizza, and I ate two of'em. Just two.

After lunch, we went to two other rides before heading to Space Mountain - Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Pirates of the Caribbean was an indoor water ride (as in on water, not a ride that wets you) and its not a thriller ride, but a ride that shows awesome displays and models of characters related to the movie series. My favorite part was when a ship was battling with a castle. With the theme music playing in the background, it was very realistic. The Haunted Mansion is a more friendly version that is tailored more for kids and not scary at all, especially the graveyard part of the ride because it was all cartoonish with dancing gravestones and ghosts flying everywhere. A real haunted house will make anyone scream.

After that, we went to pull a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain, but seeing as there was still some time left before we could get another fast pass, we went to the Winnie the Pooh ride to kill time. Totally nothing to say, just another kiddy ride seated on large beehives with lots of visuals throughout the ride.

It was then time for Space Mountain, and while my elder cousin and I went for it, my aunt and younger cousin went to watch Captain Eo, which is a short movie based on Michael Jackson. Using the fast pass, we were able to skip most of the queue for the Space Mountain ride, shortening our wait time to about 10 minutes. However, once we got on the ride, they shut it down for a moment because they apparently sent in too many rides. Since Disneyland staff had good organization, we were back on the track in no time and the ride continues. Rather than attractive visuals like Indiana Jones, Space Mountain utilizes immense speed and total darkness to excite riders. The ride takes place in a sphere shaped dome with the tracks going all over the place, and usually you won't be able to see anything other than little dots of light supposed to represent stars. Sudden drops, very sharp curves, and speedy downhill rides are all part of Space Mountain. This is my favorite ride at Disneyland, and I went on it twice with my cousin (once in the day, once at night).

Round 1

Round 2, and as you can see, I was less excited

Our next destination was Fantasyland, marked by the Disney Castle that you see so often in every Disney movie. We first went to the teacup ride based on Alice in Wonderland, and my god that was a mood killer for me. Partly my fault, because I was spinning it so vigorously. I got dizzy for maybe an hour after that, and I cured it with a sugar rush by finishing an entire bag of sour gummy sweets that I bought later.

This isn't the ride, just a teacup that was outside.

Disney Castle!

Recognize that whale? Its from Pinocchio.

Next up was Toon Town where I bought my bag of sweets, and everything here is mostly cartoonized. In the words of my cousin, "everything is so rounded and large and cute". Before I bought my candy we went on another ride called Roger Rabbit, and it certainly didn't help at all because it was also a spinning ride like the teacups, and at one point of the ride was a swirly line thingy that you see in hypnotism. It was after I finished my candy that I felt so much better.

Toon Town!

Toon Town with the words in the far back.

This was at the end of the Roger Rabbits ride.

Our next ride was Its A Small World. You know that song right? Well, like my cousin said, it got drilled into my head and it stuck with us throughout our time at Disneyland. Just like Winnie the Pooh ride, it was another ride to be enjoyed - slow cruise through air conditioned tunnels with very nice things to see. There were even cards at the exit saying goodbye and they looked really nice. I think photographers will have a nice time on this ride.

I can't exactly remember when we took a fast pass for Splash Mountain, but I do remember that we couldn't get into Big Thunder Mountain even with the fast pass because it was closed, so they allowed the fast pass to be used until midnight. Before we headed for Splash Mountain, we went back to Main Street to wait for the parade to come by. Before the parade, there was the marching band which played songs and performed up and down main street. All of the band members looked very enthusiastic and were very interactive with the audience. 

My cousins and I eventually missed the parade because the fast pass for Splash Mountain was almost expiring so our aunt stayed back and watched the parade while we went ahead to Splash Mountain. This was a very good example of fast pass usage. We bypassed a VERY, VERY, VERY SUPER LONG line of people. It was just shocking to say the least, that this many people would queue up. Checking the waiting time it was about 80 mins if you started waiting at the end of the line. Thanks to the fast pass, we only needed to wait 10 mins. Splash Mountain is a fun ride where you WILL get wet (duh, splash) and relies on long vertical drops (there is a really hard one in the middle) and a bit of darkness. And because I sat in front, I got wet the most. It was a really fun ride, and VERY worth to go on especially due to the fast pass.

Before the ride started.

After going through water and all that.

Drenched...

Epic face I have

Before we had dinner, we went to Big Thunder Mountain. This time it was a thriller ride and almost like Space Mountain, minus the darkness, a little speed, and less sharp corners or sudden drops.

We had fish and chips for dinner later at a place which name I have forgotten, but what I do remember is that there were birds pooping here and there from the trees above so we were scrambling to find a good and safe spot. The fish and chips were absolutely delicious, with 4 pieces of fish per plate. I had 6 because my aunt and my younger cousin couldn't finish one each. I finished most of their fries too. 

This concludes part 1 of my Disneyland Trip. Part 2 will be coming up soon about the things that happened after dinner :)