Disney Upcoming

"Magic Bands" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
“Magic Bands” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは!How’s it going?

Tonight we bought park tickets for our upcoming Disney World trip! We’ll have two full days visiting the parks and we’ve decided to go to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Initially, I was disappointed to not be visiting the Magic Kingdom… I mean, it’s the classic park! But we’ve gone to it many times (and I’d count Disneyland with it since they are so similar), and the more I thought about it, the more I think it would be better to spend our limited time in a location-specific park. For instance, if I had to choose between visiting Tokyo Disneyland or DisneySea, I’d have to choose the latter. Still, I’ll miss visiting Tomorrowland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and all the classic rides…

Anyways, one attraction we wanted to check out is the new Frozen Ever After ride in EPCOT’s Norway area. It used to be a very unpopular ride called Maelstrom, where you traveled back to the time of the Vikings, but then also ended up alongside huge, modern tankers. I actually thought it was a fun ride! I’ll let you all know if Frozen Ever After is better. 😜

We tried to get our FastPass+ for Frozen Ever After, but they were unavailable. 😩 So I guess we’ll just head there as soon as the park opens. I’m hoping it won’t be too bad a line, but we’ll probably be so excited it won’t matter. FYI, we got FastPasses for Test Track and Toy Story Mania the following day.

After writing this post, I’m pretty fired up about the Disney trip. Can’t wait!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

When is your yukata time?

Before bathing? After bathing? As soon as you arrive? Or not at all? Find out when most people usually change into yukata when staying at a ryokan.

Source: Survey reveals the most popular time to slip into a yukata at a traditional Japanese inn | RocketNews24

Interesting survey about when people like to change into their yukata (robe) when visiting an onsen. I like to change into the yukata before we go to the bath, so that I don’t have to carry a set of dirty clothes back to the room. That’s the second most popular from the survey… Now thinking about onsen makes me really want to visit! ♨️

"At the Onsen" Shirahama, 2010
Photo info: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. E-PL1, 15mm, f/3.6, 1/6 sec, ISO1600
“At the Onsen” Shirahama, 2010

End of the Trip

"End of the Trip" Long Beach, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 sec, ISO6400
“End of the Trip” Long Beach, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going?

We have returned to Texas from our week and a half trip to Southern California. It was a wonderful trip to see my parents, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. I actually most enjoyed just relaxing at the house watching tv, eating good food, drinking whiskey, wine, and cocktails, and our nightly mahjong games. It went by so fast!

But I am glad to come back to our Texas home. I never really realized it, but the life in California is a lot different from life here in Texas. I don’t mean geographically or culturally, but more personally the way I live my life and spend time in each location is very different. I’m still trying to process those differences, and maybe I will write about what I figure out, but I think it’s all good. The things I can learn about myself from these experiences can help me grow in a positive way!

I hope you had a great day!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto