I Like Cranberry Sauce

Happy November! So its 3 days before Thanksgiving and I am getting giddy. Its Official. The Holidays are here. Its a bit chilly, all the streets/stores are all decked out with Christmas decorations, and holiday smells permeate the air. I am so freakin' excited! Today was my day off and while running errands I couldn't help but sing Christmas Carols and smile a bit more. While running errands I ran into an international store and guess what I found. Pumpkin Mix. For some reason I am big into baking nowadays and been wanting to make a pumpkin pie. And I found Hamburger Helper. Which I never really ate in in the States but for some reason I bought it and plan to eat it soon.

For Thanksgiving I think I am having dinner with some people here at E-Village. I think I am going to join the cast of Big Band Beat's dinner. My good friend Josh said I can come so I am THERE! There is a bigger party with alot of the Disney people but I know them as well as I know the cast of B.B.B. So after working all day I should be able to gobble down some turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It won't be the same but it will do. Thanksgiving to me is such a family Holiday to eat and hang out. I will miss my family on that day and my mother's cooking!

So a couple of weeks ago I went to Disney Sea with my buddy Josh. We both had a day off and I wanted to go so bad. So we decided to go be it rain, sleet or snow. For those of you who aren't familiar of Disney Sea. Its a park that is owned by the Oriental Land Company who also owns the Tokyo Disneyland Resort where I work. The parks are right next to each other. So Disney actually doesn't own the parks just the rights and controls everything that happens in the parks. In a sense the O.L.C. is renting the Disney logo. They are also making alot of money from it. So they made a park that is kinda like a Water themed Disneyland. You have your Mermaid Lagoon where the Little Mermaid lives. You have the Thousand Leagues Under the Sea section. There is an American Section with a huge dock and ship. Reminds me of the harbor on the Hudson in NYC. There is a huge lake in the middle of the whole park where they do crazy freaky awesome water shows. Its so awesome. They do a day show and a night show. I took some video/pictures of it. The best rides there are Tower of Terror and Journey to the Center of the Earth. And the best show there is Big Band Beat which is a Broadway style show with jazz music. It also had a Christmas section that makes you feel you were at Radio City during Christmas. Its great. The water shows are also fantastic. The day was great. We spent the whole day there. We saw some shows a couple of times. Of course Josh wanted to see his show twice to see his cast perform without him. They knew we were in the audience and they gave us a great show. There were even some fans that recognized him. It was crazy how obsessed they are with the show. There were even some fans that recognized me from my show. It was fun to see meet them but a little weird I must say about how exited they get over these shows being grown adults. Whatever makes you happy I guess. We saw the Little Mermaid show twice which is so cool. The mermaid does the whole show in the air as if in water. It's cool. She is of course in a harness throughout the 15 min show. It has some of your fav songs and the production is overall fascinating. Anyway, it was great to see the Magic that I am a part of. This may sound cheesy but when you are back stage and doing the same show 5 times a day you kind of forget why you are on stage. I am glad I finally got to go to the park and experience it. I felt like a huge kid all day. I was so happy! Now when I'm performing I understand what the audience is expecting and feeling. It's so rewarding. The Disney magic is something else. I don't even know what it is but its all so wonderful. The parks really do a good job of making you feel you are in a whole new world(pun not attended). I made plans with some people in my cast to go to Disneyland the park I work at. Our date is set for second week of December. I can't wait to see all the Christmas decorations and shows. Here are some pics and a video from my day at Disney Sea:

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Culture Corner: The Japanese are very by the rules. There is no wavering from these rules. I like to say they live "letter of the law" and there is no room for change. I think its a big strength and weakness for them as a people. Its crippling when there is a better, more logical, easier way of doing things. But it makes them a very discipline people and when a rule is set its followed and things run smoothly. One small example is their recycling habits. They recycle everything and people do it. The country is the most resourceful country in the world because of it.

Well, I want to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. May your bellies be filled with turkey and your hearts with gratitude. I am thankful for so many things but I will pick just one. Entertainment! It is just such a great source to uplift, educate, and enlighten. I am glad I am in that line of work. I get to do all those things while reaping benefits from it. Love you all! Tony