Disney World Observations

Yesterday and today I went to Walt Disney World in Orlando with my family and some of our friends. Not just in the last two days, but in all of my Florida theme park experiences, I have made some interesting observations. If you are easily offended, I warn you to not continue, for they may come off as inconsiderate stereotypes. In fact some are regarding my own ethnicity, but we must all admit to our stereotypes once we realize we do them. Anyway, my observations:

1. Asian tourists+Cameras - As we made our merry way through Magic Kingdom today, I realized something: EVERY ASIAN MAN WITH A FAMILY I SAW HAD A CAMERA. I, personally, was asked on at least four different occasions to photograph a Japanese or Chinese or Taiwanese or Thai or Vietnamese or Korean family. I don't think they mind the stereotypes or even know about them, because they all look so darn happy.

2. Brits+Pasty Whiteness+Men in Capri Pants+Backpacks+Maps=ULTIMATE TOURISTS - Whenever you see a family with a male wearing lower body clothing between shorts and pants, with thick coats of sunblock, a large backpack of some sort, and a variety of maps in hand, you know you have people to discuss the Barclay's Premiere Football League or the Queen with, because you've found yourself some British tourists. Lately British people have been coming more and more to Florida amusement parks, and I was given this question by a friend: "Do British tourists ever think that we're too colored? 'Those tan Americans...', they might mutter under their breath." Just something to think about. (Unless you ARE a British tourist. If that's the case, let me know what's going on with the capri pants.)

3. Filipinos+Always texting - I was on the Haunted Mansion ride with my sister and my mom's friends. My sister and I are half-Filipino, and my mom's friends are Filipino. The Haunted Mansion is a ride where you sit in a car that goes around the house in the dark while you are allegedly scared our of your mind. Well as we passed through the house, I realized every one of us had our phones out texting during the ride. I don't know what to think of that one... (It also really has nothing to do with theme parks, just more of a stereotype confirmation.)

4. Show Characters+Hate their jobs/ Are WAY to into their part - Be it Busch Gardens, Universal Studios, or Disney World, participants of the shows are way to immersed in their roles. While I understand the need to be in character, and employee at the American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios doesn't need to convince himself that we're really live on TV and flail about dancing to a song like a wild baboon during mating season. At Busch Gardens in Tampa, there is a show that is supposed to be Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. They sing well and the choreography is adequate, but I'm almost positive that the lead singer is fully convinced he is Frankie Valli. There's something about his demeanor that I find off-putting and insulting to the genuine Frankie Valli. All that I'm saying is that there comes a point where "being" the character is overwhelming while being "in character" would perfectly suffice.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoy amusement parks. They have many options for entertainment and fun while providing several culinary delights as well. However I do have some complaints with Disney World (I don't know I've never been a huge Disney World fan, though the movies are superb): Why is it called the happiest place on earth? I've never seen anyone there with excessive amounts of joy and cheer. Next, whose dreams have come true there, because mine haven't. I'm still not famous, I haven't won the lottery, and I've yet to meet Morgan Freeman. Finally, there's something unsettling about a bunch of same-sized house animals that can talk, wear clothes, and are treated as celebrities. I'm sorry if you're and avid Disney World fan for this romp on them.

But my headphones broke on their monarail. Happiest place on earth where dreams come true? I think not.

Nesquik Chocolate Milk=Childhood

Because we're staying at a hotel that doesn't serve free breakfast, we had to stop off at a convenience store last night to purchase what we would eat for this morning's breakfast. My sister and I sat in the car while my parents went in and all we could do was pray they got something good for us.

I didn't know what they'd gotten and wasn't really interested in finding out because I was so exhausted from a strenuous day of walking and not freezing my phalanges off at Disney's Hollywood Studio. You can imagine my delight when I opened the fridge this morning and found a bottle of Nesquik chocolate milk.

I don't know if anyone else has the same feelings about Nesquik, but when I was just a tot, it was a treat because my parents didn't want to spoil us with junk food. But there's something about the taste of it that when it hits your taste buds, you just have the feeling that you're a prepubescent child once more. The feeling is similar towards Cap'n Crunch cereal for me too.

I guess I enjoy reminiscing about childhood's relations to food.

Where did the term "Blog" come from?

So as I sat here and created this blog, I began to wonder... Where did the term "blog" even come from? Maybe you were already smarter than me in this respect and you knew but I had no idea. Thus, I embarked upon a little self-assigned research project about the history of blogging.

The first thing I found was that the term "blog" was coined as a contraction for the phrase "web log". The idea of a web log was started as a sort of public online diary. As the concept progressed, people began not to document their actions and thoughts, but soon were writing about whatever came to mind.

The world blogging community became known as the "blogosphere" and individual blogs gained popularity for research projects as sources of citation. Furthermore, reading blogs has become much more common over the years, as people become more unsatisfied with their lives in search of better fictitious alter egos or lives.

Maybe making this blog was a good thing. I see why people enjoy doing this. It's easy to type one of these and just let it flow. Hopefully I'll continue and join the "blogosphere" permanently.