one-stop thrill rides

Fuji Q Highlands will surely treat you to all the thrill rides you could imagine plus the bonus of having the majestic Mt. Fuji at the background. Unfortunately for us, it was too cloudy when we came last Monday but it was indeed the most thrilling ride experience I've ever had...at least as of this time.

First Stop: Dodonpa - the fastest roller coaster (172kph) in the world until 2003 but still the highest acceleration at launch time until today. It felt like going back to the future ala Michael J. Fox riding this one!
Waiting time: 5 hours
Ride: 1 minute

2nd Stop: Pizza-la's Tonde Mina - this one really scared the hell out of me until the moment I rode it. After being tossed for a few times, I felt the hang of it and started to enjoy every single moment of the ride. It was really fun being tossed around like a pizza dough!
Waiting Time: 2 hours
Ride: 2 minutes

3rd Stop: Fujiyama - was once the world's tallest roller coaster(259 ft) and had the largest drop (230 ft) during the 90's. It is also the 3rd longest (6,709 ft = 2,045 m). Lots of drops and curves makes the word thrilling an understatement!
Waiting Time: 2 hours - thanks to Yanna and Neil for queueing while we were on Pizza-la :D
Ride: 3 1/2minutes






























4th Stop: Zola 7 - like a primitive version of the Buzz Light Year ride in Disneyland. The most surprising ride we had since we just realized that it was an enclosed roller coaster after finishing the shooting game!
Waiting Time: 30 minutes
Ride: 3 minutes

5th Stop: Cups and Saucers - the ride that completes our thrill for the day! The icing of the cake! ehehe.
Waiting Time: 10 minutes
Ride: 4 minutes

















There was one roller coaster we failed to ride because of its very long queue. Parks closed at 9pm but this ride was closed just before the clock hit 3pm. Eejanaika is the world's 2nd 4th dimension roller coaster. I will definitely ride this one when I come back next time.





















































Last but not the least, the ride I could not imagine of riding yet - PaniClock. I feel a very inconvenient stomach just by looking at the riders.























By the way, have I told you how scared I was?! Or is this an understatement?!

my 1st yoga class

After months of hibernation and having too much love handles, I finally hit the gym again today. Whew! Such a feat! I have to congratulate myself for that! I hope I can continue :D I was planning to do some cardio and muscle training but I found myself in the middle of a Yoga class. I just can't resist the charm of the yoga instructress when she started to invite us ;-P I asked her if beginners can join and she said it's perfectly fine, although it might really hurt if you're not used of stretching. Not minding the hurt I can get because of the experience, I decided to go. I was surprised when I entered the room since I was the only male participant but there's no more turning back!

Considering it was my first yoga class, fairly big love handles, no regular stretch exercises and the Nihongo instructions, it was pretty difficult to follow. I had to cheat once in a while and look at the front mirror if I'm doing the right thing. :P Thankfully, the instructress was a bit considerate and did some of the difficult positions beside me (*wink*). Overall, I enjoyed the class. It was quite relaxing and made me realize how Yoga can really help you with a lot of things with your mind, body and spirit. Meditation, proper breathing, balancing, posture, increase flexibility etc. The experience was great! Although my joints are still aching now...Ouch!

30D b4 30Y

Well, not exactly...this should have been posted yesterday. Gheez! Am gonna be 30 in a month's time! I felt that it is true that when you have gotten into this age, you want to take a look back into your life and evaluate the things you have done. The victories, triumphs, success are very sweet to look back but the disappointments, frustrations, lost opportunities, failures, defeats are a bit bitter - though it can be a rich-source of motivation to make our lives better. All of these make me who I am today. Some of which, I'm very satisfied. Some, am not happy. There are many things in which I could have done better. Some things I should have tried but never did. I admit, I'm a little bit lazy and passive with some things in life that I failed to accomplish anything. If I could have just put a little more effort, then things should have been better and different now. The good news, I know it and I can do things the other way. Still, there are many things I just don't want to do. Such a stubborn! :P

Anyway, let me share this quote by the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place". Applying it to life, we can put it this way, "We should continuously nourish our growth to stay in the game. Otherwise, we'll be left out if we do nothing". Continuous improvement is a way of life. It's up to us to decide if we will make that concious effort to take that extra step and accept the challenge. - What am I saying here? :D

Wait! Before I end this entry, the Red Queen also said that "If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast." How's that?