Japan Trip Day 3: Disneyland

Merry Christmas!! It is a dream come true to experience Christmas at Disneyland but sadly the day was rather screwed up by sister. She could not wake up early enough and I went to Disneyland first as I did not want to miss another opportunity for taking pictures with Judy Hopps or Nick Wilde. Previously in April, all the tickets were already given out in about 15 minutes after park opening. I left hotel at 7am and by the time I reached Disneyland, the queue to enter was already longer than the queue for Disneysea yesterday. 

The entrance area is currently even more messy with more ongoing constructions and renovations. However, the biggest shocker is to see that the castle is wrapped with scaffolding for renovations. This is not the Christmas and New Year (next week) that I am dreaming of T_T Huhuhu.. I was even considering cancelling the Vacation Package for New Year but in less than a week, it would be 30% penalty. Damn...

I did not come for this T_T

I went to take the ticket for Judy Hopps and took photos of the Christmas decoration at castle courtyard. The two main ones (i.e. Mickey and friends) are not placed properly and there are lamp posts that obstruct the photos. Boo... There are two smaller ones (Pooh and Dumbo) but they were not popular with people. I took photo with the official photographer at Mickey and Minnie one and then there was official photographer with the tree at the World Bazaar. It was pretty nice since there were staff trying to clear the crowd from the phototaking area so that the photos by the official photographers had fewer photobombers.

Christmas Tree at World Bazaar in the morning

That irritating lamp post

This is used for official photographers in the morning so I did not have a chance to take a picture at day time

From whichever angle, there is always a lamp post blocking

So cute Pooh is sleeping

By the time my sister arrived, the tickets for Zootopia characters were still available. I asked for her ticket and to get me Nick and she agreed. This was when I was queueing for the Christmas tree. I told her to queue for tree first but she stubbornly and stupidly chose to take photos with the statues at the courtyard first. By the time she reached Christmas tree, the queue was already too long. As our queue was separated, when her turn came, I somehow managed to ask the photographer to give a photo keycard since the one she was holding was mine. Maybe I should go for Japanese class again since my Japanese is just deteriorating.

After this, we choped seat for the Christmas parade and we were on the 3rd row from the parade route. Actually it was my sister who 'choped' since I had to go for Judy Hopps. Luckily I was able to make it in time for Christmas parade after 'sumimasen'ing my way. Despite sitting on the 3rd row, the guy in front of us was so tall that it obstructed my view and I could not get good photos. Christmas parade does not disappoint and it helps with the Christmas vibes. After the parade, I went for photo with Nick Wilde.

I enjoyed the interaction with these Zootopia characters. I think because of the controlled system, there is enough time for meaningful interaction. The cast members who helped with my camera were also nice enough to take some pictures when I was interacting with the characters. I was feeling cold (after the parade) for Nick Wilde but he was my favourite. He tried to warm me up since I told him I was feeling cold and he even messed around with my hair. Sadly none of these was captured by the photo keypass. I was too cold to show the card while queueing and the bastard did not ask. Sigh :( I showed it to the cast member as I handed over the queueing slip but things did not work that way. I needed to show it to the one who asked about purchasing photos. Aih.. lessons learnt.

I decided to skip Jamboree Mickey and exited the park to settle my Vacation Package. My sister arrived on Monday morning and I was hoping that she could help me ask. That did not happen. The staff at the Welcome Center was useless. I wanted to ask if the ticket for 31st includes access to the park in the morning. She did not really understand my question but acted like she understood (with her accent some more!) and only asked me to come back on the 31st -_-"

My sister wanted to check out the supermarket at the basement and on the way I saw a Vacation Package counter. Sigh.. the staff was equally useless and not answering my question. At least he told me I could come after 3pm on the 30th to collect the package instead of waiting until the 31st. I suppose at least by then I would know if the ticket includes access to the park on the morning of the 31st.

We went back to the hotel to eat lunch and after that we returned to Disneyland. With the ongoing renovation on the entrance, I was not expecting any roaming characters. So it was a surprise when I saw there was a queue for Rapunzel and Flynn!! It changed to Mary Poppins, Cinderella, and then Mary Poppins ago during my turn. I actually felt quite sad for Mary Poppins since some people did not want her. One person in front of me left the queue (yes after waiting for more than half an hour) and there were kids crying and screaming wanting Cinderella. Although I was also disappointed, I tried to engage her with Christmas and then she commented on my Christmas clothes lol. What made my day was the pose as she asked for my arm so that she can put her arm around. I am shy to pretty girls hor.

After I was done, the Christmas parade was already reaching the central courtyard and the number of people was wow... I went to Toon Town area in the hope of catching the parade and to take better photos. The good surprise of doing this was to see that the new areas opening early next year (Baymax, Beauty and the Beast) is mostly done and the scaffolding is down. Beauty and the Beast castle is visible now and Beauty and the Beast songs are already played over the area.. How exciting for next year but I have no more visa so it maybe another 3 years before I can visit Japan again. I did not have a good spot at Toon Town for the parade but my photos were better than this morning.

Happy to see Anna and Elsa.  Could not get the float at all because of heads of the early birds but at least managed to get the pictures of the characters clearly

I went to Mickey's House after the parade and the queue was already 70 minutes my goodness and I got Sorcerer Mickey again. I am in the hunt of Steamboat Willie Mickey since that is the only one I do not have yet. There are some Christmas decorations at Toon Town but with the usual low lighting of the area, the additional Christmas stuff is barely noticeable.

Additional Santa's hats

Christmas tree and lights at Goofy's house

Christmas socks and Merry Christmas at Donald's ship

I returned to Christmas Tree but there was no official photograph anymore :( I was hoping to have a good photo with a darkened sky and the lights. My sister got on my nerve again with her stupid priority. I told her to take photos with the evening Christmas decorations now before people started to leave the park as the crowd would even be crazier. To make it worse, in the end she got good pictures while I got shit ones. Same camera, same places, same conditions, and yet all my photos turned out shit. I was so fucking angry that I just left her.

The entrance is rather lacklustre compared to the World Bazaar

The whole World Bazaar area turns magical with the evening light shows

The Christmas tree at night

I bought a hot cocoa and hot dog to eat while watching the Electrical Parade. I was quite bored with Electrical Parade so it was a good thing that I did not watch it in the cold. They incorporated a few Christmas tunes to the Electrical Parade song but the overall music felt soft and weak. It was quite a fail to me as it did not feel like Christmas nor Electrical Parade. Aiyo somehow she caught me after the parade so I had to walk around with her until the rest of the day.

Woody and Jessie

On the journey to find a toilet, I ended up seeing Toy Story statues at Westernland which I never realised before. Then we saw the fireworks which was the same as Disneysea one yesterday. We ended the day with Philharmagic just to enjoy the seat and the warmth. Shopping-wise, sadly I no longer saw the Christmas Tomica cars that I saw at Bon Voyage on Monday. Oh well.. With tomorrow all the Christmas stuff have to de-shelved, I also do not see any discounts to the Christmas goodies except for the Mickey and Minnie plushies which are still expensive even after 50% discount. Are they really going to throw away all the Christmas stuff?

I think Disneysea has more extensive Christmas decorations to help with the atmosphere while Disneyland is better with the Christmas parade and the whole Christmas feels at the World Bazaar. Which one is better? It is not a fair comparison now since Cinderella Castle and Disneyland entrance are having renovations. However from the past two days, I think the parade and the World Bazaar are more effective in awakening the Christmas spirit.

It would have been a fantastic Christmas day but not even this castle under renovation made me angrier than my sister

To avoid yesterday's puffiness, I only wore 3 layers for the top today (extra warm heat tech + long sleeve fleece + fleece jacket) and I leveled up my bottom with extra warm heat tech but same pants as yesterday. Although I did not put on my ultra light down, I honestly think these layers today were not warm enough, especially when having to wait for parades i.e. easily 1 hour or more under the sky. I will definitely need more layers for the new year's eve.

Japan Trip Day 2: Disneysea

The day did not start with the right note. I asked my sister to set an alarm at 6am, as a back-up just in case mine did not ring, and her alarm rang at 5am -_-" It woke me up instead so when I woke up again at 6am+, I was damn pek chek. She did not even wake up and I ended up finishing my breakfast while waiting for her. Initially I was planning to eat those bread while queueing to enter Disneysea.

We reached Disneysea before opening time and the queue was already wow. Luckily we still managed to get FastPass for Soaring and it was already for 9pm+. We went to Abu bazaar and got all 3 losers' pins. Lucky this time there were only 3 instead of the usual 5 pins. I suggested to wait until 9am for the characters too appear and sadly it was only Jafar. Usually getting attention from characters at Tokyo Disney parks is a nightmare but I think Jafar knew we are foreigners so he chose us.

We went back to the front to watch the Christmas parade and then to America Waterfront for Christmas decorations. Unlike Disneyland which has its giant Christmas tree at the World Bazaar at the entrance, the centerpiece of Christmas decoration in Disneysea is near the SS Columbia ship. Too bad there was no official photographers with the giant Christmas tree there.

Giant Christmas tree

I suggested to have an early lunch to beat the crowd and then we went to take photo with Donald at the Lost River Delta. Donald recently replaced Goofy here so we did not have a photo with this Donald yet. I decided not to show my photo keycard in the hope of getting a new one so I can pass it to my sister. Darn.. the person could tell that I was a foreigner so she did not even offer me although I replied all her stuff in Japanese. So I ended up without photo keycard pictures with Donald T_T What a bitch. After that, we went to Duffy who is now at Saludos Amigos in place of Donald and this time I showed my photo keycard even without being asked.

At the shop near Saludos Amigos, a Goofy ear beanie caught my attention. It is green and has a 'G' sown on it: what a perfect combination of my favourite colour and my initial. After taking photo with Duffy, I decided to buy the beanie. I am not a fan of any headgear in general because it will flatten my hair and worse, my round face just does not look good with any headgear. Oh well, it is green and has a G so buy first and think later.

On the way back to the front, we walked through Arabian Coast and saw Jasmine alone. I did not bother to try my luck but at least now I know that there is a possibility of Jasmine appearing alone. I do not have a photo with her alone so in the future, I still can have hope. I brought my sister to watch King Triton's concert (which I watched previously) before watching the Christmas parade again.

As the sky started to darken, we returned to the Christmas tree for another photo. There was an official photographer now but I hesitated since it was quite dark and there were so many people photobombing at the background. I decided not to queue since I still have the chance for the tree at Disneyland tomorrow instead. That is my biggest regret of the day. We started to feel cold and my sister wanted to try the special edition Christmas food at the stalls around American Waterfront. I decided to get the stall which was also selling Cocoa Whisky drink.

Definitely looks more impressive in the evening

While queueing for the Cocoa Whisky drink, we flipped through the Today brochure and found that Ariel was wearing Christmas attire :( By the time we walked back to Ariel's Greeting Grotto, they already closed the queue. Haiz.. I know some characters may have different attire for winter (e.g. scarf, hat) but never expect Ariel will have a different attire for Christmas. After all, I took photo with her 2 years ago in her winter attire which is different from her Christmas attire. Huhuhu...

We proceeded for dinner and we had difficulties finding a good spot to warm ourselves at Zambini  Brothers' Ristorante. The highlight for dinner was my first time trying churros. After finishing my first one, I bought another one so that we could sit there longer until Fantasmic began. I think it is expensive (400 yen) but I can understand why people are willing to queue for this. Haha.. I personally think it is better than popcorn.

Unlike the Electrical Parade at Disneyland which I have grown bored of, Fantasmic never gets boring. I noticed that there have been changes since the last time I watched it such as Stitch and Cinderella now also appear at the top of the sorcerer's hat (previously it was only Mickey who appeared there) and some of the floats were also rather different. Fantasmic is scheduled to end its run in March 2020 and I suddenly realised that I never watched it from behind i.e. from under Mt Prometheus. I will definitely do next week since that is my last chance.

Soaring marked the end of our day and honestly I do not understand the hype around it, other than it being the newest attraction. No doubt the animation at the waiting area is mindblowing. It really reminds me of living photos/paintings from Harry Potter. We were wow-ed by how it was done since when the animation ended, the painting simply looked like a normal painting and we were wondering how the animation was done.

The magic of the attraction itself is rather spoilt as the room is pretty bright when we are setting up. I can tell that basically they will just lift up the seats to give the 'flying' sensation and then watching the screen for the actual flying. Despite knowing this, the quality of the screen is fantastic as it is so realistic. That is how much the technology has advanced! Even knowing that I was just sitting on an elevated chair in a room, the sensation of height and flying really pumped my heart. By the way, the seats are arranged in 3 rows and the front rows are hoisted up the highest (perhaps equivalent to 3-4 storey height?). I was on the third row a.k.a the lowest elevation and yet I was feeling the adrenaline rush. Haha.. People who think that pilots are overpaid should try this. Height is scary and imagine seeing this view as everyday job. Nevertheless, I don't think it is worth to queue ~3 hours just for this 3 minutes experience. Perhaps if the flying is more eventful, this will be much better but hey, the theme of Soaring is just about flying and exploration, and not adventures like Indiana Jones.

I do not keep track of the temperature today but I was comfortable with my tops (normal heat tech + normal long sleeved t-shirt + fleece long-sleeved + fleece jacket) since I did not need my ultra light down. However, this combination made me look 'puffy' for pictures so I will not wear this combination anymore. It is more challenging for the bottom as I have limited layers and I still felt kinda cold with normal heat tech and usual long pants. I also decided to wear Pitta mask since morning and that is the best investment to protect my skin and face. Initially I found the fogging of my spectacles to be very irritating but after some getting used to it, the benefit of protecting my face from the cold wind is definitely worth the minor fogging. I will definitely wear this mask for the rest of my trip.

It is Christmas tomorrow but I do not think Disneysea successfully awakens my Christmas spirit. The parade was a bit meh because of the choice and the rendition of the songs although thumbs up for the performance as the singers were singing live. I hope I will get more Christmas feel at Disneyland tomorrow. Nevertheless, I think Christmas is still the best time to visit. The decorations and all the lights are simply magical. Aaaah... It is also nice that the 'back part' of Disneysea i.e. Saludos Amigos also gets a pretty Christmas decorations. I normally do not post a lot of photos but these Christmas decorations really deserve to be shown off. Hehe..

Minnie and Mickey statues at daytime...

...which looks more amazing at night

Kinda forgettable so did not revisit this tree in the evening

The best decorated shop...

..which gets even better at night and would even be better if the floor decorations also light up

Christmas decorations at Saludos Amigos area

Christmas decorations at Saludos Amigos area

Christmas decorations at Saludos Amigos area

Entrance area

My new camera cannot capture the details of the lights and they just appear as a blotch of light :( and stupid me, I did not take picture of the whole entrance with the 2 trees on the ground

Compare with my sister's iPhone: all details are captured at the expense of realism since the whole picture looks so bright unlike the actual environment

I hope the World Bazaar area at Disneyland will be better than this

Oops I did not face the Mt Prometheus like in the day time as a comparison

Okay I shall stop with the photos or they will never end! And definitely I would like to visit Disneyland and Disneysea again every year for Christmas decorations.

Japan Trip Day 1: Tokyo

I managed to wake up at 438am today despite my first alarm was set at 410am. Lucky I still managed to wake up though. I thought I forgot to bring my Priority Pass so I did not go to the lounge but explored Changi Airport for Frozen 2 stuff. I went to T2 for the giant Olaf figure and then back to T3 where the main 'exhibition' is located. It was also an opportunity for me to try my new camera. This new camera is quicker and more responsive but despite having a selfie mode, I still do not have the skills for selfies. Because of these, I was quite rushing to the gate. On top of that, I forgot to buy a souvenir for the tour guide so I got to grab something at the airport.

I have another reason to avoid flying a morning flight: families with small kids. I could not sleep and rest well during the flight as the row in front of me had a kid who kept whining since even before the plane took off. Bleah.. I ended up watching Shazam! (which I did not catch in the cinema) and Avengers Endgame. I did not complete Toy Story 4 but so far I found it boring and I don't think I will continue on the return flight. I somehow managed to find a better seat compared to the seat I pre-booked yesterday. It was not at the back, at the aisle, and the neighbouring seat was empty so I got to stretch my legs. It is my first time sitting in economy for A350 plane and I think the toilet is slightly more spacious than the older planes.

I waited for about an hour for the Airport Limousine bus to bring me to Hilton Tokyo Bay. Unfortunately, Hilton was the last hotel so it took another hour from the first stop at Tokyo Disney Resort. It would be faster if I alighted at the first stop and took the Disney Resort Line. I reached at almost 7pm and after leaving my luggage, I went to Ikspiari and Bon Voyage. For the fist time, I managed to get the Disney Resort Line pass with the design that I really want. I did not find anything interesting at Disney Store in Ikspiari. I saw Christmas Tomica cars but I decided to buy tomorrow or at Christmas inside Disneyland or Disneysea.

The official Christmas logo for Tokyo Disneyland this year and as bonus, the expiry date is the Christmas Day.

I met my sister at Ikspiari and had dinner at Outback. We left to return to hotel at about 9pm and the hotel convenience store already ran out of the big bottles of mineral water. There were still a lot when I checked the store before I left earlier.

Since I had no reference from the previous winter trip in 2017, for this visit I shall be recording my attire for future reference. Lol. Today is about 10 degrees (according to announcement in the plane prior to lending). My normal long pants (without any inner pants) were not good enough. For the tops, I wore heat tech signlet + normal shirt + fleece jacket + ultra light down to keep me warm.

Flying off tomorrow

It looks like that I am getting older and lazier to prepare for my trips. I only started packing on Friday night and only finished today. It is not a norm for me to fly on a Monday and this time is simply because of the ticket price. Usually I will fly on weekday evening or Saturday morning and this new level of procrastination, I wonder how I will be preparing for my future trips.

Packing aside, in the end I also did not manage to really plan as detailed as I would like. Usually I would print maps so at least I know where to walk from the train station to the hotels and to know how to go to the places that I want to visit. I did not have the time and energy to do these this time. God bless me.

Preparing for winter is really stressing me up. I cannot remember how many layers I needed for my previous winter trip and I only remember it was only for below 10 degrees and it was very cold. It keeps bothering me how I am going to survive below 0 degrees as I will be going to snowy area. I was tempted to get another layer to put on yesterday but I decided to just get it in Japan if I really cannot tahan the cold. Lucky I did not buy or else my luggage will definitely not fit. I ended up buying another pair of jeans yesterday. My size was not available for Uniqlo heat tech jeans so I bought a wind proof jeans instead for $39.90. To be honest that is more than what I normally pay for jeans but now it is sort of desperation. My current jeans are generally bright in colours so if they get wet or dirty and I do not have the opportunity to wash, I will be running out of jeans. This is why I am specifically looking for a black jeans this time so that at least the dirt or wet (from playing on the snow) will not be visible. I delayed buying heat packs until this final weekend and ended up with nothing. Everything was sold out: for the body, for the hands, for the feet. Sigh.. This is not that crucial since I think I should be able to find them quite easily in Japan.

Currently I am very stressed and not feeling well. This morning I did not wake up despite my alarms so I am very worried if this happens again and I would miss my flight :( I missed my usual 7am mass and 930 mass today. I attended at 1130 and my last mass for this year was a bad experience for me. There are no dumb and inconsiderate kids. There are only dumb and inconsiderate parents. Sigh.. I know I should not be cursing these people and that is precisely the reason why I prefer to attend 7am mass before these dumb and inconsiderate parents bring their kids. The kids at my pew kept running in and out and I was like WTF man. Sigh.. After that, my whole mood for today was just going down the hill. I was so stressed even for my afternoon nap just now. I managed to sleep for less than 2 hours but I woke up with a headache, cough, and runny nose. I did not even turn on my aircon! Now I am in a dilemma between sleeping or just hang on until my flight later. Huhuhu T_T

I usually hate red eye flight as it will compromise my sleep. With what I am experiencing right now, I think red eye will be better. At least I need not to worry about missing my flight from oversleeping. Or perhaps I should aim for a flight at 11am-ish.. or perhaps I am just getting old. Holidays should be a fun thing and not a stress thing so I hope I am just being paranoid now and the holiday itself will be enjoyable.

Other that this, one thing worth mentioning in the past week is I had my appraisal in my new job on Friday. Honestly I had a tinge of emo-ness since I did not get the highest rating. I thought I was *that* good! Lol.. I mean I know I am not that exceptional and all that but I thought I had been doing super well to get an S rating. Nonetheless, I am able not to think too much about it since now my priority has changed. In fact, when I was asked for comments, I only said that as long as I have my work life balance, I am fine. So yeah that is work in 2019 and really now it is time for a winter holiday.

Weekend of shopping

I completed all the staff appraisal that I need to complete this week. The good thing was that I did not need to do my usual work for most of the week. The bad thing was how mentally draining it was. Naturally I am not a positive person so it was tough to keep up a positive front throughout. Luckily these people are much better and more positive compared to the staff in my previous job. I felt that I was really doing a performance review instead of doing an 'agony aunt' session.

Miraculously I was 64kg when I weighed myself a few times this week. It was a miracle considering I finished the whole tub of Udders in one seating as dinner on Wednesday. I won't be curious anymore about Udders' mao shan wang since I could not taste any durian flavour. I also finished the Golden Moments which turns out to be more shiok than Udders but something that I will not crave again. This was a good encouragement for me to somehow be able to reach 62kg before my trip next week and I tried to control my diet this week. But somehow I ended up with 66kg again today.

This weekend has been a shopping spree for me. I cannot remember how long it has been since the last time I am out for the whole weekend for shopping. On Friday I noticed that my left shoe was coming apart from the sole it was time for replacement. I realise that nowadays most shoes are made of cloth materials and when it is raining like for this whole past week, the likelihood for it to get wet and drenched is high. It is almost impossible to find shoes with more of the leather or synthetic parts. I found one in Asics at Plaza Singapura but there was no size for me. I checked out various shoes shop at Novena as well. I was even considering if I should get Geox which costs $300-ish compared to $100-ish shoes from the usual sports brands. In the end I found a Reebok bright green shoes at Junction 8. I went to the same shop on Friday but I did not see this. Otherwise it would save me all the hassle yesterday. It is still mostly cloth but since it is bright green and after discount it is only $60+, it was a no brainer decision for me.

Thank you for accompanying me in the last 3+ years, even to Australia, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.

This is the green colour I have been wishing for :D

I was looking for Christmas present for office colleagues. It seemed that all stars were aligned since I found cute webcam covers from Typo. I want to avoid giving perishables or handsoap and I am thinking of something more practical such as office stationery. Initially I was thinking of 2020 diary or planner but they were too expensive. While browsing through the stationery shops, I saw cute cable organisers and these webcam covers. I think most people may already have cable organisers and that's why I decided on webcam covers.

The most important shopping that I did was for a new digital camera. Previously they are called compact camera but nowadays they are referred as digital still camera. My current camera is already 6 years old, in fact it is 7 years old since the model was released, so it is time to upgrade. I want a new camera with a reasonable price and that seems impossible to find. Those at $300-$400 range are generally 3 years in the market while those released in the past year is generally $500-600. I am quite anal about more recent release because nowadays manufacturers are irresponsible with the product support. When products have been in the market for 3-5 years, they may not be service-able anymore or the servicing costs may be as good as buying a new replacement altogether.

After much deliberation, my decision goes to Sony Cybershot DSC-HX 99. I bought it online at Harvey Norman because it offered an additional 10% discount for 12.12 to a total of $539.10. It came with zero bonus and I made a mistake of not checking Sony store which is giving a memory card and camera case. While the additional $59.90 discount is definitely more worth it, there is PWP offer at Sony store for the battery for $35. I think that is a deal breaker since the original price is $79. Now I have to find one from carousell or I will have to go to Japan without spare battery :( Now I also have to look for screen protector and camera pouch. Aaaargh.... I am distracted and missing out of all these things because of blood donation.

Today I spent 2 hours at the blood bank. That is the longest I have ever waited. I don't know if it is due to year-end period when stock is usually slow or if there are other reasons. I reached about 11am+ and seeing so many people, I went to eat lunch first. After that it was still as crowded and I went to Millenia Walk to collect camera first. I reached back at about 115pm and it was still crowded. I decided to just queue rather than coming back tomorrow. I should not be complaining because when I had small talk with the staff, they shared that yesterday's crowd was worse with the queue even going out of the blood bank glass door. Kudos to the staff who despite of the crowd did not seem to rush with the processes. Kudos to the donors as well who were not deterred by the crowd and still came in to donate.

I usually prefer sun to rain since it is troublesome to carry umbrella. However, I do not mind the weather for this past week: the rain is not heavy type and it helps to cool down the weather to below 25 degrees for most of the days. Aaah.. if only this type of cool weather can last in Singapore. The nice weather did not deter me from feeling super irritated with a staff at Typo and at the blood bank with their rudeness. I am in a dilemma between sending complaint emails to teach this bitch and asshole a lesson VS being forgiving and just let these off.

Penitential Service

The weather here has been nice and cooling since Monday. I am pretty sure it is below 25 degrees. With pleasant weather to sleep and the tiredness from lack of sleep since last week, the temptation to be lazy is simply too big. I just went for my first Penitential Service. Last December I was very confused because of the new format. Now I know what it is: Opening song, opening prayer, a gospel reading, a short homily, and saying the Act of Contrition were done as a congregation. This is why after that we go straight for the individual confession. The service is then closed with a prayer and closing song.

It is ironic that I feel very dreadful and am very tempted to skip confessions, yet after the confession I could feel the grace and the blessings. It was a rather unusual 'trembling' sensation that reminded me of the unusual feeling of unrest (minus the feeling of warmth/heat) as I was queueing for my baptism. Today I was so tired, sleepy, and even wanted to go gym instead. Honestly I dragged my feet and I could not really focus in the whole process, even up to when I did my penance (1x Our Father and 5x Hail Mary). But in the end, I was happy that I went. It was raining after the Penitential Service and even that did not make me emo. Sigh.. the thing is even after the confession itself, the temptation to sin again is just too big. Currently I really cannot fight the gaming 'addiction' :( I realise that I have been trying to suppress my outward expression of dislike/anger/negativity and all that and as a result, I am imploding. Everything turns into self-loathing, ungrateful, and the passive suicidal thoughts.

Seeing how people behaved just now also honestly irked me. The warden at the section where I was sitting was useless. People thought there were some orders for the individual confession and my whole section was waiting. When we asked him, he said that we could go anytime we were ready -_-" That was not the case with the other wardens at the other sections. Ironically, when the wardens were hardworking and actually directing the queues, some people were stubborn and just refused to follow the instructions. Jeez...

Seriously please bring back the previous individual confession style.. Or perhaps I should consider going for the confession before/after mass instead of waiting for these mass twice yearly Penitential Services.

So many church stuff

I am on the verge of falling sick. On Thursday, I had difficulty sleeping thanks to the coffee-containing shake that I bought after gym. I need to remind myself NOT to order this in the evening. My sleep is normally not affected by caffeine but this coffee used by gym is too potent. I did not know how long I slept eventually but I knew it could not be longer than 4 hours.

On Friday, I attended Holy Hour and I was super tired and sleepy. I was expecting that I would fall asleep from kneeling and praying for an hour. Somehow, the format of this Holy Hour is different from the previous two sessions that I attended. Previously, it was mostly kneeling, praying, and meditating of certain scripture passages. It felt like an endurance test of kneeling. This time, it was more like a homily as the priest directed us what to focus and what to meditate upon. I like this format better as it is more balanced in terms of mediation, scripture reading, as well as input from the priest. Ironically, although I was so tired throughout the day, I ended up sleeping at 3am again. Sigh...

I had difficulty waking up and I had to Grab to attend Novena on Saturday. I had volunteering in the afternoon so if I missed the 1pm Novena, I would miss it altogether. After Novena, I detoured to Suntec with the intention of pre-ordering Natsume Yuujincho nendoroid and postcard books for Gundam SeeD and Gundam SeeD Destiny. As I was reaching the shop, I looked at the pre-order emails again and suddenly I had the thought: okay let's not waste money on these.. I already had scaled figures of Natsume so what's the point of getting nendoroid. Gundam SeeD and SeeD Destiny are not my favourites too so buy for what? -_-" I don't know why the sudden change of mind sia.. I think running out of storage space subconsciously forces me to prioritise :( So it was a wasted trip to Suntec.

My partner did not come for the volunteering session so it was a miracle that I was able to solo complete 41 patients. I also did not lose cool although at the back of my mind, I prayed that I did not make any mistake. Sigh.. I was very worried that I overlooked certain things or what.. I dispensed one in Mandarin and I realised how bad my Mandarin has deteriorated. It was just some moisturiser and steroid creams for dry skin and rashes -something happening on a daily basis in my previous job. Now I cannot even remember what 'dry' is. I think I won't forget it anymore since dry = gan which sounds similar to my only Chinese curse word kns. Hahaha...

After that, I went Uniqlo to get a white short sleeved t-shirt for my duty today. At my parish, there is an exhibition called The Promised Woman - The Mary Exhibition 2019. It started on last weekend and after the 7am mass that I attended, there was a queue to enter so I thought to return after gym. Before that happened, I saw a message that my ministry was tasked to guard the exhibit for today 11am to 130pm. Without thinking twice, I volunteered. It is also special since today is 8 December which is Mother Mary's Feast of Immaculate Conception.

There was no talking required (thank goodness!) and my task was only to ensure that people were not touching the exhibits and accidentally causing them fall apart. Initially I thought I would also be able look through the exhibit but I felt too uncomfortable to 'abuse' my privilege. After all, I was there supposedly for duty. So I decided to take photos and I am happy that at the very least I was able to get all the photos so that I could read the text later on. This made me realise that my camera phone is actually pretty good as all the text is still visible clearly in the photos.

Most of the things are not new to me such as the dogmas, Lourdes and Fatima apparitions, Mother of Perpetual Help, Undoer of knots, the Rosary, the Miraculous Medal (which reminded of my stupidity earlier this week when I accidentally threw mine away), and the Scapular. However, I still learn things that I previously was not aware of such as Loreto (which is believed to Mother Mary's childhood house, where she was born, growing up and when the Annunciation took place, which was transported by angels to its current location), Ephesus (Mother Mary's house until her Assumption), and Our Lady of La Salette. In fact, my knowledge on the Scapular is actually quite limited so it was nice to read more about it.

I took a total of 70 pictures so obviously I will not be sharing everything. Just a few:

This is the welcoming banner at the entrance to the exhibition

This is at the entrance area. They are not covered in the exhibition but it would definitely be interesting to know more of Mother Mary's apparitions.

The exhibition hall. I took this as we were closing the morning session. That is why it is empty but the light for the Mother of Perpetual Help icon is turned off.

Mother of Perpetual Help icon at the center of the exhibition hall

After duty, we had lunch at Hans at Thomson Plaza. The renovation on the first is somewhat completed compared to a few months ago when I saw the whole level 1 was blocked. This was perhaps the second time I ate at Hans in my 17 years+ in Singapore. The first time was with my aunt many many years ago. I think the food feels too 'homecooked'  for that price. After that, someone suggested to go to Christmas food sampling at Fairprice at level 2. I was quite thick skinned to try the cakes, potato chips, ham, turkey, sausage, cheese and all that.

Too bad when I returned after afternoon mass, they were already packing up the food sampling. What followed after was a huge shock, I spent more than $50 in grocery shopping. Initially my main goal to return to Fairprice was to buy coconut milk. I am curious to see a coconut milk that is meant to be drunk as a dairy since usually coconut milk is used in cooking. I ended up with mao shan wang macaroons from Golden Moments ($18+ for just six pieces.. ouch), a store special Kettle potato chips (truffle cheese with sparkling wine flavour) which was my first time seeing, and 1 tub of mao shan wang ice cream from Udders. Like that how to lose weight?

Accidentally threw away a Miraculous Medal

Wednesdays seem to have a problem with me. Few months ago, I finally lost my rosary ring on a Wednesday. Yesterday was another Wednesday and I lost my miraculous medal. This time it hurt so much more because instead of losing, I literally was the one who threw it away. No doubt it was accidental but it was consciously done by me and I felt so shit about it.

I was half-asleep and so tired yesterday but I decided to open up new socks. I put the wrappers on top of the miraculous medal and when I was throwing the whole stack, the medal and its prayer card was somehow in the stack. The socks wrappers were about twice (or more) the length of the prayer card  and all the wrappers were on top of it so there was no way I would imagine that when I was going to throw the stack of wrappers, the prayer card and the medal would be there too. I heard a metallic 'ting' sound when I threw everything down the rubbish chute and that was when I had the realisation of the shit that could possibly just happened. I checked my table again and yeah... the miraculous medal and the prayer card were gone.

A lot of things went through my head. I was sad because I just received it from my cousin whom I had not meet in the past 2 decades as a souvenir. I did not even have a chance of taking a picture of it :( I also checked if it is a sin to throw a blessed object and although it is not a sin, usually there is a proper respectful way to discard blessed objects (e.g. broken statues, broken rosaries, old bibles, etc) and throwing it down the rubbish chute is definitely not acceptable. The thought of having someone possibly disrespecting or blaspheming it was also very disturbing. Unlikely the lost rosary which I still hoped that perhaps it would bring a blessing to whomever found it. This medal was down the rubbish chute and I think it would be too far fetched to expect any miracle.. Sigh..

I am spiritually low lately as I find it very difficult and I keep getting distracted with my prayers. Now that this happened, it feels that God also does not want me anymore. After all this medal has been helpful at least for me to say the prayer in the prayer card every morning when I put it on me and every evening when I remove it from myself. Perhaps the silver lining from this incident was finding some articles when I was googling if I just committed a big sin. One article about how the devil hates Mother Mary the most made me think that perhaps this is one of the evil plans to keep me away from praying. Another article reminds me if I have become too attached to the physical objects (such as the rosary or the medal) and thinking of these objects carry some magical power VS the correct focus should be with the prayer and God. Lastly, I also read something more about simony which is the buying or selling of God's blessings. It is a reminder if I am perturbed by the lost medal or by the blessing of the medal (since the medal was a blessed one).

There was nothing else that I could do about this except for praying for forgiveness and peace for this incident. I am feeling much better tonight which I am going to take it as a sign that my prayer has been answered.

Frozen 2

It is Disney's tradition not to make sequels for their animated movies and they will only allow that when they have good materials which will not end up ruining the original success. With the crazy success of Frozen, it is great to see that Disney is sticking into their success formula and does not simply milk the franchise for the hype.

Considering that Frozen was never planned as a series to begin with, Frozen 2 is well written as a sequel with a plot that expands but not butchers the original story. Frozen 2 explains how Elsa has her magical power and where Elsa and Anna's parents went. The overarching plot of having Elsa and Anna being the queens to bridge Arendelle and Northuldra is nice although the explanation of Elsa being the 5th spirit and all the magic stuff are quite rubbish. The characters stay true to their personalities from the first movie so overall, Frozen 2 really feels like a good sequel and not something forced.

From the trailers, Frozen 2 does not feel like a typical Disney princess movie but more like a fantasy adventure. That is indeed the case and it actually works with the overall mystery and Elsa's magic. However, the execution of the plot is actually bad as a fantasy adventure genre with many things are quite "what the ....?" with things just magically appear as ice sculptures. The climax to the ending feel quite rushed. Well, as a Disney movie, I suppose the plot can be considered acceptable. The downside of going to this fantasy adventure genre is the lack of Disney touch. The movie and characters are way too serious in most parts of the movie. The songs feel more like from a musical: technical and with lyrics tied to the story, unlike usual Disney songs which are catchy, easy to sing, and have universal meanings. In my opinion, songs from the first movie is waaaaaaay better than Frozen 2 songs. I was surprised to find that Kristoff has the best song. I suppose what the cast has been saying in their various interviews that Kristoff has a great song is not a lie. Even so, when I listen the song again, it just feels so so. Definitely there is no other 'Let it Go' from Frozen 2. I suppose the 'song' that will define Frozen 2 will be the siren's "Aa aa aa aah".

Perhaps the most memorable thing from the first Frozen is the whole Let It Go scene which shows off Elsa's singing, architecture, and clothes designing magical abilities. This is replicated in Frozen 2 when Elsa finally reaches Athohallan, except that for the whole segment in Frozen 2 feels like a fail copycat. The song is worse; Instead of building things, she is just tidying up all the random obstacles along her way; And I prefer her blue dress and her hair in Frozen. While Elsa cringes at the memory of her Let It Go, I cringed at this fail attempt to have a throwback to Let It Go.

No doubt that Frozen 2 is a good movie but it is a rather forgettable Disney movie. I don't mind watching Frozen repeatedly for its humour and songs. But Frozen 2? After knowing the story, Frozen 2 does not offer anything outstanding or memorable. Even Frozen Fever is more fun than Frozen 2. Lol. Please, Disney. Stick to the successful formula of your Renaissance era instead of trying to turn everything into MCU.

C3 AFA Singapore 2019

Due to work commitment, I had been going for AFA on Sundays for the past few years. It was my first time going on a Saturday and next time I should consider Sunday mornings instead. Previous years I thought AFA was slowly losing popularity since I felt it was getting less and less crowded. After today, I think it is not the case. I queued for the ticket at around 1215pm and it took around 10 minutes. About an hour later, the queue was just getting longer.

With that size of crowd, inside the exhibition hall was super crowded. Except for the entrance area where Gundam RX-78-2 is, all the other sections were jam packed. I feel that this is the most disappointing AFA in the past few years since I only took two photos. In previous years, at least there were more interesting displays or toys that I took pictures of. Perhaps it is because I do not really follow any anime or manga lately that none of the featured stuff is familiar to me.

Indirectly, shopping is not interesting too as there are not many things from the series I am familiar with. I was tempted with 'up to 35% off' at Bandai / Tamashi Nations but after comparing with the prices online, it is still cheaper or comparable to buy online. With that, now I am reminded with the existence of Gundam Universe line (so far there are Wing Gundam and Deathscythe from Gundam Wing) and I know that there are Detective Conan figures from S.H. Figuarts. I was tempted to get a haori if I could find one for $20 and luckily I did not find any. I just dug my stuff and realised that I actually bought 2 from last year AFA hahaha... I forgot about them altogether -_-" I bought them for $15 each haha.. Yep, going on Sunday is definitely better.

The experience zones this year are quite disappointing too. Bandai Namco gaming space looks spacious and amazing but even if I own PS4 or Nintendo Switch, I usually will not queue just to try playing some games in public. There are at least 3 areas to just look at manga sketches and illustrations: one requires downloading of an app that they are promoting to enter so I did not enter, one does not allow phototaking, and one is Yoshitaka Amano's Gibiate Project which features original characters. There is no VR experience zone as well as Canon booth for free photos with mascots this year.

The only experience zone I went to was Manga de Japan booth and my luck is as bad as ever today since I did not win any lucky draw. Well, actually I got a paper fan which is as good as nothing. Last year, the possible prizes were live sketch, MangaMe! sketch, or nothing. This year, there are additional Naruto/Boruto t-shirt and the paper fan. I want t-shirt or sketch but not the fan. Boo hooo...

This is the fan I got from my unlucky draw

The only two pictures I took today are:

Gundam RX-78-2

So paiseh to take photo with Doraemon.. but perhaps if it is figures, isntead of cardboards, I would still be thick skin

The day ended with me succumbing to bubble tea temptation again. My friend wanted to get Milksha and since it is a brand I never tried before, my pathetic self would definitely succumb with the excuse of trying out something new.