I'm not sure if the Disneyland in HK is worth checking out. It is a half day affair, and most of them are kiddie rides. Nokia being the bachelor that he is, would probably be bored stiff with the Peter Pan and Mad Hatter Teacup rides.

With children? Then HK Disneyland would be their target audience. Yound adults wanting more adult-themed fun, would be bored stiff, unless you fancy children rides.

Sigh...whatever lah Nokia. You pick them and ride them, after all you're there. I just dont fancy them, does not pique the adrenaline level. Plus I feel awkward riding teacups and swans.

Ermmmm no. My wife will be riding them with the kids, I'll be staying outside on the park bench while waiting for them to have their fun. Consequently, I can save myself these embarrassment by delaying their first theme park experience until they are 7, when their interests piques around more adventurous ones.

Point being, I'm not riding those swans!

Words simply cannot describe how so much f*cking KICK-ASS this game is! Street Fighter II engine, revitalised, with 1080p gorgeous high-definition graphics, m*th*rf*c*ing awesome rocking soundtrack by OverClocked ReMix, and SWEET almost lag-free online play. I just won my first online Tournament match just now!

Goddamnit, bring on February 2009 already, bring on Street Fighter IV!

*goes back dragon-punching Vega off his cheap-ass wire wall on the Spain stage.*

Later, I'm off to teach high definition Sagat a lesson!

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Nov 29 2008, 12:35 AM

That's near Flinder's St, next to the station. There always have night time street performers there.

January 1st, and a new year means a new awesome game coming to a home console near you! But before it arrives, a fighting game as awesome as Street Fighter IV needs the fighter community's seal of approval, and what better than to test and duke it out in the arcades? Picture taken in Timezone arcade in Auckland CBD, before I had the pleasure of fighting Auckland's best in a semi-lighted darkened arcade environment.

January 17th. Sydney. 367 George St. The Largest Apple Store in the southern hemisphere.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 19 2009, 10:11 PM

Glass, glass, glass everywhere! Even the stairs! Dont throw any stone in this glass house.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 19 2009, 10:08 PM

Dont look down, .....or change clothes either. People can see from outside.

The interiors. Pretty hefty Genius-to-customer ratio. Friendly too. I've even asked them about how to "get past" the whole "plan with an iPhone" thing in Australia, and the Genius gave me the answer I've already known and expected, the cheapest Australian iPhone 3G is from Optus.

January 17th. Surfer's Paradise. Gold Coast. Arrived close to midnight. Went out for dinner/supper with the rest of the crew, and seeing that is it Saturday evening, the whole Surfer's Paradise crowd are out in full force. Drunkards, loud surfer dudes, and exposed bodies, both sensuous and loathsome. You dont have to strain yourself to see Brazillian-bikini-wax-trimmed bodies in skimpy strands of cloths, or surfer dudes displaying their lean bodies while drinking and dancing away in the streets. Dont have to mention that topless (guys and girls included) is the order of the day, so much that we felt we were overdressed for the crowd there.



The view from my balcony. Tons of these beachfront properties dotting the parallels of the beachside along Surfer's Paradise. Kinda reminds me of the drive I took to Florida Keys.

Pardon the "unavailability" of snaps from the beachside itself. Rated NSFW.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 19 2009, 10:30 PM

Aiyooohhh it's a chore having to edit out the nipples and boobs and crotches. Nanti I post later kena slap-ban, so I'd rather not.

Just to add poison to it all, on the flight back BNE to KUL, the crew at the back kept on asking me to go to the back to seat 26 Alpha. I relented, and lo and behold! I dont know how to describe it, but she's 22, and have the look like a young European Jacqueline Onassis! A 6 footer nonetheless, and from what we gathered, an aspiring model herself.

Oh Miss Vanja! *pronounced Vania*

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 20 2009, 01:19 AM

LOL, she probably "sudah berpunya" as well, a girl with her kind of looks, does not stay single, if at all.

Frankly, I was severely overdressed when I traipsed around the beach, the beachgoers already looking at me one kind. Stand out like a sore thumb, when everybody else is half-or-3/4 naked, while you're walking around in a rolled up jeans and short sleeve rolled up around the shoulder, trying to make yourself look like the rest. So, a "stand out like a sore thumb" guy wouldnt get much chances getting a close-up shots of naked boobies, and we all know how long faraway shots are with the iPhone camera.

Morning fellas!....well, at least it is here in CDG.

Pics of my meanderings here to come. Anyone who is not accustomed to seeing a Disney theme park empty, brace yourself or turn away. You will be struck aghast by the desolation of it all. All thanks to the crappy cold frontal weather bombarding Central Europe yesterday. Was cursing the hell out of every frosty breath I take, but not cold enough for us to get snow. Damn you, Parisien weather! If you want to freeze my balls off, do it right....do it with snow lah!

Pics to come. Stay tuned.

Sorry for the late posting of the pics, had to wait after the Lost Season 5 double-feature episodes Because You Left and The Lie, we're having our regular TV Show night here. The ranks have depleted though, our Chinese friends are already back to their home town or their love ones for the CNY get-together, so there will be a repeat session once everyone's back in town and free.

But I digress. January 23rd. Cold damp chilly Parisien fcuked-up weather. Me wanting to get my fill of Disney again, decides to "blow past" the thought of freezing miserably and march on to the Parc.

But first, breakfast!



A quick bite and coffee to warm up the body, and off we go!



Yes, that's how gloomy it looked.And notice anything else? Almost DEVOID of crowd at all!! Disney without mobs of pushy families?



Oh well. First things first. Walt Disney Studios. Head for that watertower ears!



Mickey from the Academy Award winning movie, Fantasia greets you the moment you enter the Studio courtyard. Unfortunately it seems to be missing the water. Too cold for the weather perhaps?



The staple of all Disney theme park, Walt Disney himself ushering visitors into the park with Mickey.



Let's take a look at what's up and running, which attractions are running without significant wait time, and which shows are available at what time.

But then again, it does not matter which ride is up or not, to me, the first ride, will have to be my favourite, Twilight Zone's Tower of Terror.



The third picture, although not really be able to illustrate this, shows the doomed hotel sign interspersed with its alternate signage within the Twilight Zone. Those who had been to the Los Angeles's version of this ride in Disney's California Adventure, will be treated with even more background story in the form of two cast members garbed in 1939 clothes, acting as trapped souls daring visitors to come visit them. Not in the Paris version though. The fourth picture shows the side feature of the hotel, with the elevator shafts "mysteriously" disappeared. You'll know why when you ride it. Muahahahahahahahaha! *evil laugh*

To further illustrate my point,



Takder orang beb! When I took the Tower of Terror ride in, there was no one after our group that we asked the somber ushers if we could ride it again, the usher/cast members obliged......and even RODE with us! That was really messed up, with them in their garment and costumes, and of course we had to make wacky faces when the elevetor "plunges" into the Fifth Dimension and took our pictures, coz not every day we have cast members riding with us!

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 26 2009, 12:13 AM

The Crush's Coaster ride, based on Pixar's Finding Nemo movie. The only one of its kind, at this moment, in all the available Disney parks. Pardon the trees, they are not supposed to look like that, they are apparently redecorating them, with newly planted trees, since it's winter and all and the leaves are already shedding.

One thing I absolutely love with the Westerners, be it American or the European, they dont go about dotingly protecting their children. They let them have their own fun. They dont instill fear of riding a coaster at this early age, even when they themselves are scared shitless of it. They encourage their children to test their limits, not artifically barricading them from all that is fearful in this world. Imagine, I had a 7 year old British girl, who wanted to take the ride but not without her mom, because her mom had to take care of her little sister. She just lined up, took the ride, buckled up next to me, and took it all in! She even giggled and screamed happily when the ride swerved up and under and over, not a single hint of fearfulness. I've seen grown men cower in fear at the very mention of a roller coaster, so this little girl was pretty remarkable. Those scathing remarks of parents overprotecting their children, I'm directing them to our Asian culture of doting obsessively towards our children, which is a shame really. You never really live, unless you let yourself go and experience all the world have to offer, both the dangers and the pleasures of life. Unfortunately, most Malaysians I see are more keen on finds ways to weasel out of experiences like these, than tackling them head on. What a shame.

Time to head to the more traditional side of the park, Disneyland Paris!



First pictures shows the entrance, which is also the location of the main Disney hotel. The hotel overlooks the park, so you can see and feel as if you're staying inside the park should you stay here. From the third pic, that's the view from the start of Main Street USA. But sad that they've removed the "15 Year Celebration" banner poles that lines this Street, if they still have it there, you can see the clever forced-perspective optical trick that Disney uses to fool the visitors into thinking that Main Street USA is longer than it is. It is made as so, so that you'd feel amazed and in awe at what's at the end of the Street, which is the towering Castle itself. The same "forced-perspective" trick is also employed in reverse, when you are heading toward the exit from the Castle to the entrance, the optical illusion makes it look as if the Street is shorter, therefore easing the tired and weary legs of visitors into thinking that the distance to walk is not so far away.

That little tidbit of info, brought to you by one of the Imagineers I had lunch with during my last trip to Orlando. The lunch was part of the "Keys to The Kingdom" tour, so we had the Imagineer to ourselves to ask any questions about Disney and its attractions. They call their engineers Imagineers, so as to emphasize on the fact of the specialized duties they perform at Disney. Not to mention all the fun they have too. I'm so envious!