Day 2: Halloween at Universal Studios Japan

Should've made sure before going to theme parks, you advised your parents to have a full physical or else you'll be spending the whole time being worried if your father will faint away from the bright lights of Spiderman 3D or get a heart attack in the middle of Space Fantasy.

Buuut I never did think things through sooo with our express passes on top of day passes (I wasn't able to figure out how the birthday discount can be applied huhuhu) here's us on Halloween! Buwis buhay na bakasyon but they loved it - well at least my mother did! Score! :) #YOLO

USJ Beybeeeeehh!

And what a grand day it was! Even if USJ on a weekend may seem stupid to most, and on a Halloween weekend at that, it saved me from buyer's remorse re: express passes which turned out to be a major major lifesaver. We got to ride everything without waiting (except for the Jurassic Park The Ride where we were in queue for 3 hours!) and access to the Wizarding World of course!

E-Tip: If you're going to ride the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, make sure you have extra coins to rent lockers if you have your belongings, even if it's a small body bag or your purse as you can't bring them with you.

We woke up around 8 and took the train to USJ from Namba using our 3 day Kansai Pass. However, since the Kansai pass exclude access to USJ, we had to pay extra from Nishikujo. The whole train pass/access thing was difficult to grasp at first but we got the hang of it by day 2.

Fathership's favorite photo-op and ride! Hopefully he never had to battle with great whites IRL when he's out at sea

at least nobody get to do this on the ride HEHEHEHE

Hi classmates! :P

So much fun! Fantastic way to de-stress the parentals out - and a baby brother who's obsessing over his 2nd year med exams.

We'll be back USJ and I'm bringing reinforcements! See y'all soon!!

Weekend Review : An Iliad by Denis O'Hare

I have this habit of reading Abu Dhabi World because first of all, it's free *hehe* and I'm able to get a scoop on what's happening -- like the latest 70% off sales in Abu Dhabi Mall, job postings and random celebrity updates or sightings in the UAE. The best one is is where they feature your pictures holding an Abu Dhabi World magazine on any of your travels and you get to have a prize :) I was supposed to do it when I went to Japan but my copy was all wrinkly so I'll just do it in South Korea later this year.

Anyway, on their events page, they have a feature on NYUAD's Arts Center's latest performance. What struck me was first of all, admission is F R E E (who refuses free entertainment btw??), second, it's Greek mythology and lastly : DENIS O'HARE.

So I was curious, I've been following NYU AD for quite sometime now because of their MBA program but I've been getting ads on facebook on their arts center as well. As soon as I saw the ad on AD World, I checked the site out (An Iliad) I googled Denis O'Hare up and lo and behold ~~ he's a Tony Award winner and he was on a multitude of movies like Charlie Wilson's War, Milk and Derailed! What to do, yalla I signed myself up and 2 other friends stat and told them to clear their Thursdays out so we can watch the show *evil grin* hehehehe

The only thing was NYUAD was in Saadiyat Island which is 21 minutes away from the city (see map below) so you really have to plan ahead for your transportation to and fro if you don't have your own.

And the performance didn't disappoint. Even if it was a one man show and in the generation of short attention spans, everybody (except for that random someone who still couldn't resist taking short clips grrr) was riveted for almost 2 hours. We felt as if we were actually there, in the battlefields of Troy with his spellbinding narrative - and that the war is not really over since it occurred time and time again, with the latest one happening in Aleppo, Syria. 

As what the review on their page said:

To call this a one-man show is really an understatement, as the scale of this work is genuinely epic. There are moments in An Iliad that will make you shed a tear for humankind…An Iliad does a magnificent job of retelling this Greek epic, making it accessible and timeless to the uninitiated; it’s sweeping, sobering, it hits you in the solar plexus, and it puts into staggering perspective just how obsessed with war-mongering humans have always been and continue to be. – Cicely Binford, Australian Stage

Quickly took a snapshot pre-show then dutifully turned off my phone :) Most of the audience were either NYUAD faculty and student body so everybody was making beso with each other ~~ was tempted to do the same with those in front just so that we'll fit in hehehe 

If the show's still on I would've pushed you to watch it next weekend but it was their final run - nevertheless, Noche Flamenco Antigona will be up on April 6th so be sure to sign up for it! I already have my tickets hehe #toomucheggzoited so be sure to get yours before they run out :)

See you there!

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