The 2nd Ticket to a Childhood Dream

After obtaining the 1^st ticket in Hong Kong some time in January this year, I just cannot believe that I would make another trip to Disneyland within the same year, but I did!

This time, I was in the largest Disneyland in Asia, the Tokyo Disneyland. However, I have to pronounce it as To-o-kyo-o Di-zu-ni-ran-do in Japan.

This year is the 25^th anniversary for Tokyo Disneyland, so there are many special items lining all throughout this year. That includes the Jubilation! that I'm going to put up on another post.

I was so excited after acquiring the ticket, because I was going to fulfill my childhood dream the second time in just 6 months! Di-zu-ni-ran-do, here I come!

In Disneyland, everything looks so surreal but real! Maybe you don't get what I mean, but that was my feeling of visiting Di-zu-ni-ran-do. It's just like living in a dream. The Di-zu-ni-ran-do Ho-te-ru (Disneyland Hotel) behind the train station is also molded from the buildings that we can only imagine in our dream.

Flanking the main entrance are no other than Mickey and his friends known to almost everybody on earth.

If you take a closer look at the key carried by Mickey, you'll notice the number 25, signifying the 25^th anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland.

I'll be updating on the details inside the Tokyo Disneyland from time to time, so please stay tuned.

Wordless Wednesday – Japanese Wedding Procession

Location: Meiji Jingu, Tokyo, Japan
Date taken: June 28^th, 2008
Cameras: Nikon D300 + Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D, Nikon D70s + Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D

Maku Donarudo no Miruku

Living in a land where the people learn their English by the phonetic of their own language ain't easy. I have to say 'mi-ru-ku' for 'milk', and the phonetic of 'open campus' is the one that I found most hilarious so far, 'o-pun kyan-pa-su'! Another one that I found quite funny is 'se-bun e-re-bun' for 'Seven Eleven'. The alphabet 'W' is pronounced as 'da-bu-ru' and it is widely used to denote 'double'.

I have to do the double encoding every time I read the Katakana, firstly is to pronounce it in the Japanese phonetic for the words, and then match them with the English words that sound close to them during the second round of encoding. No one understands you if you speak proper English. If you are asking for McDonald's, you need to pronounce it as Ma-ku Do-na-ru-do!

Ma-ku Do-na-ru-do Ham Ba-ga!

Some of the McDonald's outlets do have English signboards.

The yellow double-arch symbol is the easiest to recognise.

If you want milk at Ma-ku Do-na-ru-do, you should say mi-ru-ku to the crew.

Maku Donarudo no Miruku.

The burgers at Japanese McDonald's are pathetically small. Even the Big Mac is just as small as a normal Ramly burger back in Malaysia. Therefore, they have the Mega Mac! I don't think this is available outside of Japan.

Me-ga Ma-ku.

Even though the Mega Mac comes with four beef patties, it is just equivalent to a Big Mac outside of Japan due to its diameter being three quarters of a normal Big Mac in Malaysia.

"Four all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun!"

What I like about McDonald's is that they have the special menu in line with the flavour of each respective country. In Japan, you can get the Mega Teriyaki Burger, but just for a limited period of time. The normal Teriyaki Burger is always available, though.

Even Mega looks small in Japan.

It's a Big Mac in teriyaki sauce.

Another item I tried on the special menu for a limited period of time is the Salsa Chicken Fillet Burger.

Sa-ru-sa Chi-kin Fi-re Ba-ga.

It's actually a chicken burger with salsa sauce.

My favourite of all the items on the regular menu has got to be the McPork! I can never get these in Malaysia! The best part is, each one is only ¥100!

Ma-ku Po-ku, double shot!

The king of all patties, pork patty!

Portraits at a Ranch

On last Sunday, I followed the Vietnamese photography group for an outing at a ranch in Narita. I thought I would have taken many pictures of the animals, but I came back with shots of lovely Vietnamese gals.

I don't know whether this is considered an outing went off track. LOL! However, I had a great time with great company. :)

Wordless Wednesday – Japanese Wedding Portraits

Location: Meiji Jingu, Tokyo, Japan
Date taken: June 28^th, 2008
Camera: Nikon D300 + Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D

The Power of Nikon D700

My previous post on the test shots of Nikon D700 has attracted much attention from the Nikon devotees. There were many requests for more test shots taken with this yet to-be-released camera model, so I'm posting three more shots using another copy of the camera at the 'Nikon Digital Live 2008' in Tokyo.

I first took the shots with the manual white balance set by the Nikon staff. I find that the colour tone was set towards a warmer cast.

Picture #1. Shutter speed = 1/320s, f/4, ISO400, WB = manual.

Picture #2. 100% crop of Picture #1.

Picture #3. Shutter speed = 1/320s, f/2.8, ISO400, WB = manual.

Picture #4. 100% crop of Picture #3.

I set the white balance to 'Auto' after that to check the power of the auto white balance inherited from its big brother D3. I find that the skin tone is nicer and more natural, but the colours of the flowers are not as vivid as in the previous shots.

Picture #5. Shutter speed = 1/320s, f/4, ISO400, WB = auto.

Picture #6. 100% crop of Picture #5.