Month: December 2009

Well this will be my final post from Florida as tonight we fly home.  Today the weather is still very wet.  We had storms again overnight with very high winds.  The severe weather is due to pass over about midday then clear up by tomorrow but obviously we’ll be long gone by then.

Yesterday we headed out to Mall at Millenia just after lunch.  It was raining and  much cooler though not as cold as when we got here last week (and definitely not as cold as in the uk that’s for sure!)  We first went into the Off Broadway shoe store opposite  Millenia where Paul picked up some work shoes and some trainers.  I saw a few pairs I liked but nothing that I just had to buy.  We then drove over to Millenia itself.  The car park looked quite full but the Mall itself seemed quiet.  Neimen Marcus had its designer shoe sale on but there were very limited items in my size and nothing really worth buying.  After this we headed upstairs and out past Cartier and Chanel.  Chanel had the ceramic watch that I love but its over $4000 so not really gonna be purchased!  I may get a good fake online!  We then went into sony and looked at the Vaio laptops.  They have some good deals on with a web book at $500 and a notebook at $1200 so we decide we would compare them to the MacBooks later at the Apple store.  We then went into Jimmy Choo.  They did have some styles in the sale but again not many.  They had some fab bags too but the bags are very pricey.  I left empty handed!  Can you believe I have only bought 2 pairs of shoes this trip?  And that’s exactly the same number as Paul has bought!!! We then wandered over to Tiffany’s.  Sales must be low in there as the sales staff have become way too pushy.  Each time you look in a cabinet you are pounced on and asked if you want to see or try anything.  If I happened to speak to Paul about an item or point at an item, to them that meant they should get it out and push it on me.  Questions like ‘are you shopping for yourself or for a gift for someone?’, ‘did you have anything in mind?’, ‘what are you looking for?’ were constant.  In the end I had to tell them quite sternly that I did not want their help at all right then but would be sure to tell them as soon as I did.   I was umming and erring over a couple of pieces as their charms don’t all come with clasps to fasten them to anything so I left with  nothing (fear not though readers, it did not stay that way and I did go back :-)).  We wanted to look at a few things on line and get prices – we were loathed to ask the staff for prices as they had been so damn pushy it made you feel uncomfortable.  We walked downstairs and into the ground level of Bloomingdales next  to get my clinique bonus.  I asked for the 2 products I wanted to be told my eyeshadow was out of stock.  The lady then spent about 10 mins going through all the individual colours to get me a close match.  We eventually settled on one and guess what?  That too was out of stock!!  You’d think with a bonus time on they’d make sure they were stocked up on items.  I was considering leaving and getting the products eleswhere and skipping the bonus when she came along with some other eyeshadow alternatives.  She had a cream based one (rather than powder) that was a really good match colourwise so I opted for that.  It was in stock thankfully so we paid and got our bonus.

We took a look in the Swarovsky and L’occitane shops but did not buy anything as we wandered along to the Apple store.  There was a comfy sofa outside so we sat and used their wifi.  Paul looked up the sony laptops for prices and reviews.  Both laptop options are exactly the same price at home so we decided it was not worth buying one here and carrying it home so I will make my final decision at home and get one there.  We also looked up the Tiffany’s jewellery and found some really good fake stuff that matched the ring I got earlier in the week at the flea market.  We settled on what I would get from the store here and headed on back up there.  On the way I spotted the Juicy Couture store which had 25% off.  I got a grey bag with pink embroidery which is fab!  We went back into Tiffany’s and managed to get served by a nice lady who Paul had spoken to the first time.  She was not one of the pushy ones at all but had been serving some lads, one of whom had been looking for a gift for his girlfriend we assume.  His mate had suggested that something hand made like a carved bird house would be a nice present and had asked the server.  Apparently she was very polite but as soon as they had gone told Paul she would choose the shiny bling over the carved bird house any day!!!  I bought a silver snowflake charm and also a bolt ring clasp for it so I can attach it to anything.  They sell the bolt rings for $15.

We left the mall to find torrential rain outside so ran to the car.  We found another shoe store like the Off Broadway one called DSW (Designer shoe warehouse) so took a look in there.  We didn’t buy anyting though so my shoe statement from earlier still stands.

It was about 5:30 so I4 had heavy traffic and the rain didn’t help.  We crawled along for a while eventually getting off at I Drive.  We had decided to go to Bahama Breeze for dinner.  It was really busy in there but we got a table ok.  Paul had the BBQ chicken kebobs and I had a grilled chicken flatbread with a Caesar salad.  The food was good.  We left there and came straight home – feeling very sorry for the evening’s Disney guests going to the Christmas party as it was gong to  be a really wet one!  We came home and watched X-factor on the itv-player online – both last weeks show and the results.  We will try and watch this weeks show before we head to the airport so that we are all up to date when we get home.

It wasn’t a late night – though I was up in the early hours with my cold and am still having to take lots of pills to feel ok.  Today is rainy and cold as I say.  We may venture out to get some final bits, such as cash for my brother for Christmas, but will spend most of the day around the house and of course packing.  Like I said we will watch X-factor too then head to the airport.  We plan to eat at the airport as Paul struggles with the Upper class food.  We are on the late flight so probably won’t be home until lunchtime Sunday.

Well, this is farewell from me.  Hope you’ve enjoyed it.  Until next time……

Apologies to anyone who looked for a post yesterday.  I was not well and spent the morning in bed I am afraid.  I have a cold and a sore throat – something I seem to get a lot out here.  I am drugged up to the eyeballs though so soldiering on!!

Well it’s Friday morning and the holiday is coming to an end 🙁  It’s been a fab week, both weatherwise and in terms of what we have done.  So, Wednesday was when I last posted and we were off to Best Buy and to Premium Outlets.  We headed out at lunchtime so stopped off at Subway on the 192 to get a sandwich.  We then went over the the Florida Mall Best Buy (stopping off briefly beforehand to get some OPI Nail envy for my mum).  We looked at the MacBooks and the cheapest one has no SD card slot so I would have to go to MacBook Pro to get that.  I had a play as the OS is naturally very different to a windows PC and it seemed ok.  I decided to think about it and check the finances before buying it.  We looked around for a Christmas present for Chris.  We considered the DSi and the new PSP Go.  He already has the PSP and the Go is not that much different, though is more media focussed.  We did get him a subscription to a movie club as a stocking filler but couldn’t decided on anything else.  Paul looked around the BluRays but didn’t buy anything.

We left Best Buy and went over to Premium Outlets.  It was not too busy over there thankfully.  We began in RL and both commented on how prices had definately been reduced on many items.  There was a time when this store had high prices on everything we thought but there were many good dicsounts around this time.  I got a pink cable jumper for $30 and Paul got a black polo shirt for $38.  Paul did look at the leather jackets which were discounted to $320 but was umming and erring between the black and brown and the sizing so decided to leave it.  As we wandered through I picked up a beige top in DKNY, a Juicy couture case for my iphone and some viva la juicy perfume.  Paul got a new belt which he has been searching for for ages.

We left Premium about 5pm and came home to get ready for dinner.  We had decieded to go to Kobe.  We got there about 7:20 and were seated by 7:30 with 3 scottish middle aged golfers, an american couple and another 2 guys – one of whom was a golf pro and the other sold GPS for gold carts and was an Aston Villa supporter from Bermuda!!!  Though now living in Canada!!!!!!  He was say next to Paul so we were chatting to him a lot.  He talked about Bermuda and about the Sonesta beach resort where we should have got married.  He said it was stunning and we would have loved it.  He also said it is no longer there and has been ripped down to build appartments.  He tooka seven stars villa card as he and colleagues do stay out here a lot.  Dinner was good though way too filling as ever.  Paul had shrimp and I had the filet mignon.  The noodles are now served in a bowl rather than put on your plate like everything else and our chef was a bit quick and not very entertaining – though he kept saying ‘yum yum’ in his eatern accent over and over!!  The Scottish golfers and the pro golfer were entertaining each other with golf stories, especially ones about women not being allowed into their golf clubs!!  We left feeling a bit stuffed about 9pm and headed home.  At least with it being reasonably early we could sit our dinner down before bed.  We both felt very bloated for most of the night. 

It was about midnight when I awoke feeling really ill with my sore throat.  By 2am I had not slept so got up.  I took some pills to try and help even needed something to help me sleep.  I think I got off again by about half 3 to 4am.  I recall looking at the clock thinking that my colleagues would actually be at their desks!!  The storm was raging outside too.  High winds and torrential rain as expected which was not helping the cause when you are stuggling to sleep!

As I said, I stayed in bed Thursday morning after the late one and got up about half 11.  Thursday was tattoo day!  After making sure I had taken my drugs and stopping at Wallgreens to get some more we went over to Universal City walk.  We opted for the valet parking as it’s near.  Our annual passes have run out so we have to pay full price for parking now but its easier than negotiating the normal parking lot.  The weather was ok, the rain had all cleared and whilst cloudy and a bit overcast it was still warm and in the 70’s. Our appointment was at 2pm and we got there bang on time.  Rob, our artist was out getting some lunch as he had just finished with a client.  He got back about 10 past and as he came into the shop there were some people he knew there to see him so he spent another 10 mins with them.  I said to Paul that there is no way I could work in this business, the laid back attitude making everything late and no one really caring about it would drive me insane!!  I’d be chivvying them all up and driving them insane I guess!!  Paul wanted to go first as he thought his forearm would hurt.  After prepping everything Rob finally started on Paul about 2:40.   The guys in the shop all seemed to love Paul’s ambigram and Rob really liked doing it – though he said getting th crisp lines was a really hard job.  He was obviously pleased with his work though as he showed off his crisp lines to a colleague.  Paul’s was all black and was finished by half 3.  Rob then needed to clean up and re-prep before starting on me.  He even mopped the floor and we had to wait while it dried!!  I was started at about 3:50.  I’d decided on a red outline for my phoenix with red and gold tail, red body and head and red and purple wings.  It took about an hour and hurt like hell – way more than I remember my back hurting.  We left the shop bandaged up at about 5pm paying $250 each for our pieces.  Both us said they were smarting a lot.  Paul was used to this as all his others have been the same but I wasn’t as my back piece never hurt at all after it was done.

We were going to Mickey’s Christmas party so after a quick McDonald’s stop made our way to Magic Kingdom.  Even though the evening party doesn’t officially start until 7pm we found out that they let you in anytime from 4:30.  The park was quite busy as we walked down Mainstreet checking out the shops along the way.  We made our way over to Pirates which had about a 5 minute wait.  On the way we got ice cream to help ease my throat.  After Pirates we headed toward the castle to get some pics of it’s Christmas lights which are turned on at 6pm.  We then headed around the back of the castle to Philharmagic.  We only waited a couple of mins there too before going in.  The theatre was far from full so we could pretty much choose where we sat.  We came out and stopped at the complimentary chocy and cookie stand and sat on a bench as we drank and ate.   By now it was getting toward half 7 and Paul needed to remove his tattoo bandage and wash and moisturize it.  We had come prepared with the anti-bac soap and after inked cream!   We then rode Small World, walking straight on with no line at all before it was my turn to unbandage and wash up!

After this we made our way to a viewing spot for the parade at 8:15.  It was quite warm to be outside and no sign of rain at all.  The parade was good with all the fave characters in their Christmas gear.  It was headed up by Mickey and ended with Santa.  As we saw the final float come around we decided to leg it into TomorrowLand to ride the TTA.  This was closed recently for re-furb.  They actually have not changed the ride at all but have re-done the recording you hear as you ride.  We kind of missed the old fashioned “paging Mr Tom Morrow” announcement and the “please keep forward facing tentacles inside your vehicle” but I suppose the new one is more descriptive of what you see and more up to date.  Space mountain is also currently closed for re-furb so as the TTA goes through there you get to see all the track lit up.  That was quite cool to see.  We decided to stay on the TTA and go around another time as our feet were aching from standing and watching the parade.  We eventually got off about 20 past 9 which was perfect for the 9:30 fireworks.  We made our way down Mainstreet in front of the castle to watch.  We were quite far down toward the entrance so actually missed the full effect of the 360 display but saw those over the castle perfectly.  Christmas Wishes is a fab display (probably only pipped at the post by the Pirates and Princesses display though it’s a close call).  After it ended we both said we had done enough and were happy to leave so after a quick look in the shops we exited the park about 10pm.  Loads of people were leaving at this time and the monorail was crowded.  We did manage to get on the first one though which was good so we made it back to the car in about 15 mins.  My leg was hurting as my jeans were rubbing my tat area so I whipped my jeans off in the car to come home.  We had to wash and moisturize our tattoos again – this is now to be a 3 times a day ritual for 3 weeks – and then got ready for bed.   Despite fairly easy days we were tired and after taking my cold pills I for one went to sleep by 11pm.

At 4am Paul’s alarm went off as he had set it to try and book Peter Kay tickets for 2011!!  Obviously this was 9am in the UK.  The site kept timing out as per usual and he ended up being unsucessful.  After 45 mins he was shattered and went back to bed!

This morning I can hear it raining outside.  Paul has been out back and says it it cold and miserable.  It was forecast to be like this toward the end of the week so we planned well!  Today we are off to Mall at Millenia to see what designer bargains (NOT) I can waste more money on!

It’s Wednesday morning here and the wind has really begun to get up.  It’s still very warm though and Paul has had a swim.  All weather reports are saying that we are heading for a tornado tonight with torrential rain.  It should all happen overnight though and be clear for tomorrow morning so fingers crossed!  We’ve been here for these severe weather conditions before so we’re not at all worried.

Yesterday we went into Epcot.  It was definitely the hottest day so far and getting more humid.  We got to the park at about lunchtime and immediately walked onto Spaceship Earth.  No words were exchanged, no question to the other of “shall we ride this?” we just both instinctively walked up the ramp without question!!  Are we getting stuck in a rut here??  The ride was the usual – what can I say?  My fave bit, the sleeping monk was still asleep and the burning smell was still cleverly contained in the correct area!  We did spot a hidden Mickey in the Renaissance area on the artists pallet though Paul knew where to look from his hidden Mickey book.  We compiled our video at the end and Paul has emailed it to himself to forward to those who want to see it. 

After this we went into Innovations where Paul rode a Segway.  He had done it before a couple of weeks ago and reckoned that it was easier second time.  He certainly didn’t kangaroo it at all.  I took some pics which one day Paul will post I am sure!!  We also went to see the Raytheon ride.  We tried out the seats but both found them way too clostrophobic.  I understand that Dave actually rode this a few weeks ago so way to go Dave – you’re way braver then me!  Both from the ride itself aspect and also from working for Raytheon; seeing them in action at work I’m not sure I’d trust anything they engineer.  It’s so comforting to know these people are writing our border control software – NOT!   Anyway, I digress.  Just before exiting Innovations we picked up our Kim Possible ticket and headed straight over to the World showcase.  We got the boat over to Germany as we had decided to have lunch in China.  Reading that back the geography sounds bizarre – only in Disney huh?!  At China we had orange chicken and steamed rice.  It was not overly hot (like all the food here) and was pretty medeocre.  We managed to sit outside though and saw lots of people completing the China Kim Possible mission.  After lunch we headed to Norway to begin our Kim Possible mission.  We could choose Norway or Mexico and decided to stick to Norway as we were there already.  (for anyone reading this who is now lost I shall explain – Kim Possible is a cartoon secret agent character.  You are given a mobile phone which interacts with various objects around the country of your mission and you are agents helping Kim solve a crime.  The phone gives you step by step instructions and clues that you have to solve to move onto the next place where it interacts – almost like a treasure hunt I guess.  At various points things happen – signs change to give you information, smoke signals from chimneys, and even a picture is taken and put on the front of a magazine and uploaded to the phone.  It’s all pretty simple as its designed for kids but the technology is superb).  So, back to the plot.  We helped Kim stop an art theft in Norway.  There were a lot of people doing the mission – way more then I had seen before.  We completed it pretty quickly in about 30 mins and decided not to do another that day.  Whilst in Norway we wanted to ride Maelstrom but it had a 30 minute queue so we gave it a miss.  We walked around the World Showcase, stopping a France to get a free sample of the new Guerlain perfume and onto the UK where we knew we could get a decent cuppa.  Father Christmas was in the UK (Santa was in the US and Pierre Noel in France etc) and it was the old traditional Father Christmas wearing green before Coke got hold of him!  We sat on a bench and drank our tea as he sang and entertained the crowd with stories of english traditions – for example, did you know that we invented the christmas card?  The first one was sent in the UK in the 1800’s.  The time was getting to about half 4 and we didn’t want a late one as we were heading out to La Nouba later.  Being the second consecutive park day we needed to take to easy as well as we’re not as young as we used to be.  We decided to ride the Land as it had no wait time at all.  I spotted a hidden mickey in the first fish tank on the left – this time with no book or prompting!  After this we decide to head for home.

We came straight home and got in about 6.  Paul was going to have a swim but ended up not doing!  We did some research online about laptops and macbooks as I have decided to buy my own (today we are heading to Best Buy to check them out) and watched some TV before getting ready to go out.  We left about 8ish which got us to La Nouba at about 8:40 – just right.  We took our seats which had an excellent view.  The Grand Chappiteau was quite empty with lots of spare seating.  Paul found the seats a bit uncomfortable he said but the show was still very good.  It’s one of the best Cirque shows as it goes from act to act with no fillers and also has no interval like European shows.   There were a couple of errors in it (we know it so well they are easy to spot!).  One girl dropped her diablo and amazingly the strong man missed his window in the bit where they trampoline up the side of the building.  He was ok though and I bet no one else really spotted it as he recovered well with another bounce!  We came out of La Nouba and headed straight home – getting here for about half 11.  We were shattered and headed straight for bed.

Today is a cloudy one but still very warm although there is a chance of rain later into this evening.

We have changed our itinerary a little as the good weather is all at the beginning of the week so we have shuffled all our park visits over the next couple of days to make the most of the sunshine.  Yesterday we sat around the pool until after lunch.  We were heading to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and as we would stay for Fantasmic at 8pm we didn’t want to get there too early.  It was warm and sunny and really nice out back.  The buzzards were circling and I swear I hear the wild boars from the swamp area.

We eventually left the house about half past 1 and decided we would go to Animal Kingdom first to go and see the Festival of the Lion King show.  It has to be one of the best shows with the tumble monkeys, the fire dancer, the acrobats and not forgetting Timon and Pumba!!  We got seats in the Lion section at the back but had a really good view.  We caught the 2:30 show so came out about 3pm.  We left Animal Kingdom straight away and went for a quick food stop at McDonald’s.  Paul is quite taken with the third pounders they do out here!

We got into MGM, sorry the Hollywood Studios (it will always be MGM to us) at just after 4pm.  There was a HSM show just about to start so we waited to see the start of that.  We couldn’t stay for it all as we wanted to go into the 5pm American Idol Experience.  The 3 contestants we saw were Morgan, a 15 year old girl who looked about 30!!!, Angela, a 35 year old woman who looked about 45!!!! and Nick an 18 year old who actually looked his age.  Nick was part of a chior group who had been performing at the Epcot carol evening and had his entire choir and their families in the audience.  He was also from Pennsylvania and the entire state seem to be in Florida at the moment so he had way more audience support that the others.  Since the winner is voted by the audience it was no surprise that Nick won a place in the daily final.  The English judge playing the Simon Cowell role was as insulting as ever telling the 15 year old who stumbled during her performance that he hoped she got a pitch pipe for Christmas!  Mind you, she was pitchy (to quote Randy Jackson).

After Idol we made our way towards the Osborne Family spectacle of lights.  We saw this last year and thought it was fab.  We had coffee and a cookie on the way as the lights get switched on at 6pm.  Just before the big switch on it started snowing all down the street (not real snow of course as this is Florida and it was 20 degrees!!).  At 6pm all 10 million lights went on.  Apparently many of the items such as the 70ft tree and the huge carousel of angels are actually from the Osbornes house (a reminder for anyone who doesn’t remember from last year this is nothing to do with Sharon and Ozzy but was a family from Arkansas who decorated their house each year).  The guy even bought the 2 houses either side if his so he could decorate with even more lights (money no object for him we can only assume!).  There was a sign up saying that there were 36 hidden Mickeys in the lights.  This is one of the first times we’ve seen Disney officially acknowledge the hidden Mickeys.  We wandered through hidden Mickey spotting and counted about 21 – not bad for a first pass.  Paul managed to get some photos of the lights and hopefully we can post some pics here soon.

We then wandered out of the street of lights and headed over to the great movie ride.  It was the usual Gangster routine but we still love the movie montage at the end – I could watch that over and over.  We came out of the ride and decided to head straight up to the Fantasmic auditorium as it often gets full an hour before the show.  It was about 7:15 and as we headed up the ramp after the Tower of Terror we hit a queue of people.  There had been an earlier show as there are now 2 to help ease the crowds and it seemed as though that was still being emptied out.  We queued for about 20 mins or so and eventually got seats quite near the entrance (which we want for a quick get away at the end).  By the time we had sat down the announcement came on that the show was in 15 mins.  The view we had was really good and the evening temperature was still at about 18 degrees so we didn’t need anything more than our hoodies.

We managed to get a really good get away after the show and headed straight for the exit.  We had to wait on the tram for a couple of minutes but all in all exited in record time.  We got in the car and came straight home getting in around 9pm.  We watched Harry Hill on ITV player as there was nothing on TV here!

We’re off to Epcot now…..