I’m back in Malaysia, but an unknown stomach illness has caused turmoil in my life and prevented me from eating all the lovely nasi lemak, char koay teow and thosai that has been beckoning…calling my name….Lemongrasssssss…..Alas! Until I recover, bear with me as I entertain you with tales of my vacation in the US.

On 1/1/07, we went to Disneyland. I’ve been to Disneyland before, but the child in me gets the thrills and the shivers, just thinking of meeting Snow White in Fantasyland. I attribute this excitement to The Mickey Mouse Show which I used to watch as a kid (which kinda gives you an idea about which generation I belong to!).

To those who are planning on visiting Disneyland in California, I recommend the 1st of January as it is less crowded due to the large number of people choosing to visit the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena and an equally large number of people choosing to stay at home to watch the Rose Bowl game.

I have a VERY strong aversion to rollercoasters, the level of which gets increasingly higher as I grow older. My first taste of rollercoasters was in 1997 in the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada. The mall houses the world’s largest indoor triple loop rollercoaster. Having never experienced a rollercoaster before, and seeing the excitement in so many other faces, I decided to go on that ride, alone, in a moment of insanity. After that ride, I swore off rollercoasters.

On my first trip to Disneyland, I must have suffered memory loss, and I accompanied Tim on the Space Mountain ride, a high energy twist and turn ride in blackness and neon coloured surroundings.

The same memory loss affected me again on this trip. When I saw the unbelievably short queue at the Matterhorn, I did the macho thing again and went on that ride. It was fast, but having experienced the triple loop before, I merely closed my eyes and screamed all the way until the ride ended and I walked off on legs of jelly.

The Indiana Jones Adventure ride was as promised; I was thrown around like a raggedy doll on a bumpy jeep. It reminded me of Tim’s driving.

Surprisingly, I was beginning to enjoy these thrills.

But when I saw Splash Mountain, I knew it had to end. I wasn’t ready for a 52-foot, 45-degree, 40-mile-per-hour plunge. I abandoned Tim.

Not everything was fast-paced. In typical Disney style, a lot of the attractions were cute and creative as displayed by the following photos.

Also, when in Disneyland, don’t forget to try the funnel cake.

In the diffused light of twilight, as the sun set, Disneyland turned into a fairyland…

We ended our day in Disneyland by watching the Christmas Parade. We had front-row seats…on the pavement! Only in Disneyland.