Please sway with me. I take comfort in what used to be

We decided to do something fun before this summer is over so we decided to spend our day at Disney's California Adventure.  I had never been here before.  Of course, I grew up in LA so there were countless visits to Disneyland when I was a kid.  Then about two years ago, I went back to Disneyland for the first time in over ten years.  Honestly, I didn't understand the appeal of California Adventure since I am from California.  I didn't get it.  But now that I'm older, I'm less of a snob, maybe.  We decided to give it a try at least once.  So a beautiful day in August.  This was before the crazy heat wave, thankfully.  I had an awesome time and have great memories now.  It was such a perfect day.  Except for the part where I wanted to be a good sport and ride the swinging gondola on the ferris wheel.  (I'm scared of heights, so I hate ferris wheels, but I'm good at toughing it up from time to time.) However, I didn't know how bad the swinging motion would be.  When I stood in line, I saw someone throwing up.  When I was riding the wheel, I got so motion sick.  I was pretty upset.  We headed over to get some lunch and a coke would help me feel better.  We got a fast pass for the roller coaster.  So after we ate, we breezed on through the line and got lucky front seats.  This roller coaster is so fast, it's ridiculous!  I screamed until I couldn't scream anymore and then it ended.  The lady at the photograph store said I looked like I passed out.  Cars Land is super cute, especially the Cone Motel food stands.  We went to the Starbucks in the park.  Being in such a crowded place, I saw many girls wearing clothes that I designed.  It was a great feeling.  Hollywood Tower Hotel was crazy.  How many times does that thing drop?  And the set up and darkness made it even creepier.  We watched the World of Color water show.  It was a beautiful perfect summer day.  I loved it.  I actually can't wait to go back!  Overall, the place is so cute and well designed.

The happiest place on Earth

I've been to Disneyland many times ever since I was a small toddler on a stroller. The whole family went along with tons of relatives. Then, we kind of stopped as we got a little older. The last time I had been to Disneyland was when the Indiana Jones ride was being built. According to my sister, it was 1990. So the last time I was there was twenty years ago. Wow. When I was a teenager, my friends and I went to Magic Mountain couple of times. In high school, I didn't go to grad nite. Then years just flew by.

This past Wednesday, on probably the hottest day of the summer, we went to Disneyland! We went super early. I got coffee, then the first ride we went on was Space Mountain. Not such a great idea, as it totally kicked my ass. Then we went on that Toy Story blaster ride, then the Matterhorn. Matterhorn, not such a good idea. First of all, I was barely awake, was hungry as I didn't have breakfast, and I was suffering from post-carsickness from the morning commute traffic. It was rough. Then we went on as many rides as possible. Had churros and skewers for snacks throughout the day. Had lunch, went over to Toon Town. I swear I thought the whole Toon Town was about to melt from the scorching heat. The good thing, though, was that the lines for the rides weren't long at all. We used fast passes for Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones. The clouds rolled around sunset, made it humid, but at least it shielded us from the hot sun. Dinner at Plaza Inn. Yum. Then Dole Whip float from Tiki Room as we waited for the water show. We ended the night watching Captain EO. Awesome day.

As I walked around, I realized how lucky I was to have come to Disneyland so many times growing up, as it really did inspire me so much. The colors of the candies, the glow in the dark necklaces, balloons, magical rides. The days after our trip, I would sprawl out on the living room floor and just draw all day, all the rides I went on. My mom still talks about how I drew the Space Rocket ride in such detail when I was just a kid.

The ones you left behind are still with you my dear

We also went to Kyung Bok Palace. It was a clear day and it wasn't raining like the day before, but it was freezing cold. I'm so used to warm Southern California weather, it was really hard for me. I was literally wearing a tank top, long sleeve tee, wool sweater, wool cardigan, jacket, hat and scarf. Yeah, the other citizens of Korea were not dressed like me. I must've looked ridiculous in all those layers and still shivering unbearably. We watched the "changing of the guards" ceremony in front of the palace. These palaces are huge. You just walk around and explore and it's never ending. At Kyung Bok Palace, there is also a National Folk Museum.



On the last full day we spent there, we drove up to Im Jin Gak. This is as close to the North Korean border as you can get. It was kind of strange because they had all these carnival rides there, cute eateries, then you can walk up this boardwalk and look through telescopes towards the North. You can't see much, just mountains and trees and stuff. There are military tanks and fighter planes that were used during the Korean War to fight off the invasions. When we were driving back, you can see all the real military posts there. This trip was amazing and I just felt like it did a lot for my spirit and soul. Truly unforgettable experience for me.




Okay, so I uploaded a lot of the special pictures from my trip. I still have so many. When I have time I will edit them again and see if I should upload more. For now, I added few to my Flickr.