Day 28
we had cube hotel's apple vinegar and some buns with custard filling for breakfast. grabbed some more food frm the nearby 7-11 before going down to the ueno station. it is alot more convenient than ikebukuro station for accessing the east side. there were alot of ppl on the train and as usual, we were late so we missed the opening performance.



tobias had alot of trouble with his contact lens so he went to the toilet to get it fixed. while waiting for him, i caught the cast returning to the cast area after taking photos with the park goers. so i managed to catch glimpses of donald duck and goofy.

it was summer so the weather was really hot. they had this new water parade just to cool park goers down. there was damn alot of ppl gathered on the banks already and when chip and dale appeared, it got really high as ppl jumped up and down with the music. its amazing how cooperative and encouraging the japanese can be because they responded in the exact same way the cast asked them to. along with the 3, 2, 1 countdown, a water cannon will fire, sending water bombs up into midair to the cheers of everyone else. there're also smaller cannons at the side of the float that fired time to time at the crowds to the squeals and delight of most ppl.


while we were soaking in the moment (literally), goofy sneaked up behind us and started to hose everyone down. i tried to take shelter and tobias did his best to protect me so he ended up soaking his back. some of those handicapped park goers couldnt escape so they were ruthlessly hosed down until they were soaked.

after the water parade, we sat down at an open-aired theatre to wait for a performance that would start in half an hour's time. it was hot and it grew hotter as more ppl joined us. we only had a pathetic umbrella to shield us frm the scorching sun. our tshirts were soaked and we had to unglamorously put on prickly heat on our bodies to cool ourselves down. there was also a huge need for sunblock since it was summer afterall.


the show turned out to be well worth the wait with beautiful music and an interesting plot. and what amazed us was the dedication and perserverance the actors put up. despite the scorching sun tt was unbearable to us, who were sitting down doing nothing, the performers had thick long-sleeved costumes with heavy makeup and yet they were dancing, singing and jumping around with wide grins on their faces, seemingly oblivious to the heat.


we wouldnt bore u with details of the rides but towards the end, we were withering in the heat and unanimously decided to head to an air-conditioned place so we went for the sinbad ride before watching part of the bonfire display.

it seems to be a practice for park goers to secure a good vantage point before a major parade. in a similar fashion we got ourselves a spot on a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. but both times (during the day parade and the night display) there were irritating prcs who tried to cut in to get a good view. immensely irritating i tell u. the night parade had to be cut short and we returned to ueno aftertt.

tried to look for drugstores to do last minute shopping and had to ask for directions. most shops were closed and it looked abit deserted and scary so we ended up returning to cube empty handed.