Oh gosh, I love this place. This was the first place I’ve ever been to and I really like it. It just feels so nice there (and cold!). As we were driving along, I saw the North American Square Enix building. It looks so awesome and for a while, I wanted to work there and become a game developer. I have always wanted to work for them or for Nintendo, also a great game company. I already wanted to go to lots of places but we arrived during nighttime so I had to rest up for the next day. We were going to…

DISNEYLAND! :)

Okay, you already knew that. Haha. But yes, it’s a really fun place to be in. It was my first time so I couldn’t help but feel like a kid again! We first went to Tomorrowland (my favorite part of Disneyland!) and then Fantasyland. I wanted to go in the Star Wars attractions and take part in the Jedi Training Academy, but never mind… I wasn’t allowed because of my health condition. Meh. I just went to the shops to look for stuff, I liked all the Star Wars merchandise and they even have Mickey Mouse Jedi plushies there! In Fantasyland, however, we had a chance to see all of the rides and attractions because it’s not very dangerous.

So after we finished Fantasyland, we moved on to Frontierland. And guess who we met along the way!

My mom and I were so lucky that we were the first ones in line to take a picture with him! After that, we went to look for more rides. I really wanted to get on the Big Thunder Mountain ride…

I did not get to go on that ride, so I went to the Haunted Mansion instead. It’s my favorite! I love the ghosts in there because it’s so realistic. Lol! We also went to Adventureland too and went to this one ride that travels through this river… I forgot its name. Lol. We went to more places but ended up being on Main Street again. So we just went in the new attraction called Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. I love it too, it’s very informative and, yes, realistic. It was a bit freaky at first because it really looked as if Abraham Lincoln was really alive! It’s moving and speaking and it even has mannerisms! So weird.

Then, when evening came, we were met by this scene at Main Street:

It’s a parade! It’s my first time to see all of the Disney stars on parade and it was so cute! Everyone was dancing and singing along with main stars Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy! Even the Princess and the Frog characters were there. It’s just so beautiful and colorful. It wasn’t that long, though. Too bad.

Then, the next day, we went to the Maritime Museum and the Queen Mary (yes, the luxury ship). I can’t post the pictures because the camera sucked. Hahaha. Anyway, there. My favorite place was the Maritime Museum. I love boats (but I hate being on them). I don’t like the warship displays, though. I wanted to go to more places but I can’t because we only stayed for two or three days, I think.

Ooh, and I went to the oldest operating McDonald’s before we left! It’s a bit sad, though. I was feeling at home already and then we were going to leave!

This trip was kind of unplanned since we originally planned to go to another place. But then my uncle decided to take me and my niece to Hershey instead. :) It was so nice there and it wasn’t quite what I expected. At first, I thought that I was only going to see the factory where they make the chocolates. I never knew that it was a whole community for the workers and all that stuff. AND I didn’t know that it also had a theme park (yes, friends, I am very innocent)! So there. I didn’t get to go on the rides though because it was really cold. We went inside instead and toured the factory :)

Okay, so it wasn’t the actual factory. But it’s a recreation of the whole factory setting and still has the machines that show how the Hershey chocolates were made. They’re only for display purposes, though. They also had there the history of Hershey. It was so fun there and when the tour ended, they gave us FREE chocolates! My niece was soooo happy, but I wasn’t because I couldn’t eat chocolate. I ended up giving her everything I’ve got. Bummer.

After the factory tour, we went on the tram to see the whole Hershey community. And yes, we also got free chocolates because the tour guide told us the history of all the Hershey chocolates. He gave us samples of the chocolates he mentioned and we were free to get as many as we wanted :) I got all the white chocolates!

So first, we saw Milton Hershey’s home:

And then, the bank:

And my favorite: THE MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL! Our guide said that this school offers free education for the less fortunate but deserving students. He and his wife never had a child so they decided to help the needy attain the kind of upbringing that they deserved. The school has really interesting courses and uses Hershey products to teach the students. There was this one topic in the 2nd grade program where they learned how to do math using Hershey Kisses! They also get to visit the Dairy Farms and the Animal Center where they study agricultural and environmental education. And we were told that starting 9th grade, they would be able to choose a career path to specialize in and would be instructed in them. It’s so awesome. It’s also a big school too! I was very surprised when I saw just how big it is.

We also went to the spots where his farmland used to be and all that stuff. It was hard to take a picture, though, because the tram at that time wasn’t stopping and all the pictures were blurry. :(

Anyway, after the tour, we got chocolates again! And this time, I couldn’t resist myself and grabbed some Kisses, stuffed them into my mouth, and acted like I was allowed to eat them. Yeah.

So after hours of walking around the community and trying out all the fun stuff, it was time to say bye-bye to Hershey Town, “The Sweetest Place on Earth”. It was really an enjoyable experience and I thought we were going to come back (my uncle told us so!) but we didn’t get to :(