Paulway Chew

2024 HSP高敏族群

12/31/2024

As 2024 comes to a close, I'm excited to share a profound discovery that has empowered me to embrace my true self.

Growing up, I often felt like I didn't quite fit in with those around me, and my sensitivity was frequently misunderstood. A friend once pointed out that I was the only one who cried during music shows, and my loved ones would encourage me to be less emotional. But this year, I finally understood that being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is a unique strength, not a weakness.

I have exhibited several quirks since childhood, including a fear of firetruck and ambulance sirens, heightened sensitivity to sounds, and an unusual sensitivity to weather, environmental changes, and medication. I also have an aversion to the cold feeling of white bedsheets and am often moved to tears by poignant music. Furthermore, movies that elicit strong emotions, whether painful or joyful, can bring me to tears, while those with graphic or frightening content can affect me for several days. Additionally, I am extremely sensitive to all smells. And am easily angered by injustices, displaying persistence in uncovering the truth. Upon witnessing dusk, I often feel a sense of despair, as if the day has been wasted, and experience rapid mood fluctuations. As someone with a rich imagination and strong empathetic tendencies, I can effortlessly assume the viewpoints of others and possess exceptionally accurate intuitive reasoning skills. This capacity to see through others can be both a blessing and a curse, as an overabundance of information can exhaust my mental energy reserves, culminating in fatigue, sensory bombardment, and severe headaches. Thus, I must take a few days to rest and rejuvenate, allowing my mind to recover from the strain of processing excessive stimuli. Interestingly, it appears that these traits are characteristic of Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

The concept of "Highly Sensitive Person" (HSP) may be unfamiliar to a large number of individuals. Despite this, the demographic accounts for a considerable proportion of the population. What are the defining features of HSP? Research suggest that highly sensitive individuals possess unique brain structures that differ from those of the general population, prompting me to identify with the X-men..lol I am curious to learn whether any of my friends exhibit similar characteristics. Let us join forces and pursue a meaningful initiative!😆

The realization that I am a HSP has brought about a significant improvement in my quality of life, making it easier to navigate and more comfortable. Gone are the days of self-doubt and questioning whether others are too indifferent to societal expectations. Now, I am reminded that my sensitivity renders me more attentive to my surroundings and the people within them. When faced with emotional turmoil, I know to take a moment to myself, whether that involves stepping away to calm down or employing strategies to manage my emotions effectively. In addition, I am grateful to my family and friends who have never judged me for being weird and have continued to be supportive. Thank you for your acceptance! Lastly, being an HSP is not a choice, but rather a gift and also a curse..

Here's hoping for a life of ease in 2025 ~ And happiness galore for all HSP souls! Happy New Year! Cheers! 🥂
https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

2024年的尾聲，想分享一件今年大發現～

從小覺得自己跟別人不同，有朋友說過我是她身邊唯一一個人聽音樂哭得很慘的那位😅 家人，朋友很常叫我：不要那麼敏感、不要那麼情緒化、不要那麼小氣、不要那麼認真…所以很常責備自己不該這樣，也很常質疑自己為什麼跟別人想東西不一樣？2024年，終於有了答案：原來我是「高敏感族群」Highly Sensitive Person(HSP)。

自小有些怪癖：很怕救火車、救傷車的警報聲；對光、聲音超敏感；對天氣、環境變化、藥物也特別有反應；不喜歡白床單冰冷的感覺；聽好聽的音樂會被感動得流淚，太苦情、太開心的電影也會流淚；太血腥、太恐怖的電影會影響我幾天…對任何氣味、魚肉腥味超敏感；聽到不公義的事特別容易動怒，對公義執著，一定要找出真相為止；看到黃昏會覺得自己浪費一天時間而情緒低落想哭；一分鐘前開心、一分鐘後臉黑黑，情緒大起大落；想像力豐富；很喜歡想東西；同理心特別強，可以代入對方心裡角度看待事情，也有蠻準的直覺推理; 很容易看穿別人、資訊太多會令我大腦消耗能量太大而感到疲勞轟炸導致頭疼，休息幾天依然覺得累～原來這些都是屬於高敏族的特質。

也許很多人對「高敏族」這個名詞很陌生，其實這族群的人相當多～什麼是高敏族？據說高敏族的腦袋結構跟一般人不一樣之類的，所以現在把自己當Xmen😆 不知身邊有哪些朋友也跟我一樣？來相認吧！來結盟做些有意義的事！😆

自從認識了自己是高敏族後心態變比較輕鬆自在～不再責備自己，也不再質疑對方是否對社會太冷漠，反而會提醒自己是高敏族群所以對身邊的人與事不用太上心，感覺過度刺激的話有必要去廁所一個人冷靜下來～真的感謝一直以來覺得我怪怪，可是依然接受我的朋友～謝謝你們的體諒與包容！最後，成為「高敏族」不是一種選擇，而是一種天生俱來的天賦…可是當別人誤解我覺得我很麻煩的時候…就會覺得這是詛咒。

希望2025年的自己會活得更自在更健康～也祝福所有高敏族(HSP)幸福！新年快樂！🥂
https://quiz.kuioo.tw/hsp-test-am-i-a-highly-sensitive-person/

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Farewell 2023

12/30/2023

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This year has been a great year for me! There wasn’t too much happening on the work side, but on the “destress” side, had lots of fun traveling domestically and internationally.

Being from Malaysia, I’ve always enjoyed having a very “Chinese-Style” Chinese New Year celebration experience. But after moving to San Francisco, this did not happen very often as people here don’t celebrate like we do in Malaysia. But that changed this year as I celebrated a very “Chinese-Style” Chinese New Year in Taiwan with my mother and elder sister. We woke up at 4:00am to go to a Buddhist temple to pray, which is a tradition in my family that we do every year for CNY. Being in Taiwan, I was able to see the beautiful plum flowers blooming on the first day of Chinese New Year. It was such an eye candy experience that I will not forget.

At the end of April, I travelled to London for a short ten day trip. I was able to enjoy a few afternoon tea experiences, with one of them being in a beautiful big
Mansion. Having a “Great Royal Afternoon Tea” in a big mansion is kind of a “once in a lifetime” thing for me, it was a lavish experience! Felt like I’m a Lady in Downton Abbey… Lady Paulway!
“Afternoon Tea on a Bus” was a pretty unique experience as well. Coincidentally the theme was for the Coronation of King Charles III. The ride was a little bumpy, so having tea and eating finger sandwiches and delights was a bit of a unique challenge. But the overall experience was quite fun and special.
Why do I like afternoon tea so much? I guess it’s about the atmosphere and experience, also the delicious British scones and... Tea? Well, I'm a tea person.
And Finally, during this trip, I realized that there is a difference between “Afternoon Tea” and “High Tea”. I’m sure most of you have enjoyed “Afternoon Tea”, so make sure you guys don’t say the wrong thing to the hostess in London. It was a pretty fun journey in the UK!

I have loved movie soundtracks ever since I was in primary school. That's how I was introduced to John William’s music. And this year, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend a live concert with the Maestro, John Williams, who is now 91 years old, in person conducting a full orchestra to his movie scores. I salute him that he is still healthy and to be able to conduct a 2 and a half hours concert, which also included three Encore songs! Very impressive! Listening to “Imperial March” conducted by the Maestro live on stage… bucket list checked!

Overall, it was a pretty satisfying year for me, and I’m looking forward to having another fun and healthy year next year!

Happy 2024!!

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2022

12/31/2022

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The year 2022 has passed by so fast and it's already at the end of the year. It just whizzed by like a daze and I didn't even have time to digest it. It seems like the "Covid thing" has now been normalized and we will be living with this everyday going forward. I'm truly grateful for still being alive and healthy, and to be able to meet up with my family and friends after the dreadful pandemic.

TBH, I didn't feel anything different when i went back to Malaysia in the past years, but this time, I felt guilty in a way and felt bad because I missed a few years of seeing my mom. This time I see her, she have white hair, and also have difficulty walking for a long time. I just hoped that I could have spent more time with her. But at least she is still healthy enough so i'm grateful for that. And since the pandemic is almost over as most of the country are starting to open up, I can visit her more often now.

So what's so special about 2022??
I finally watched the live performance of Yuja Wang, the pianist with "Lightning Hand", and new century music prodigy Jacob Collier. They really lived up to their reputation. For me, they are not ordinary people, they are not human! And Music is their superpower. Was an honor to watch these two perform! I also cut off my hair that I had been forced to keep for almost three years, and I suddenly felt free, and that the real me was finally back!

I contracted Covid in 2022. I was really scared at the time because I didn't know how serious it will be and how my body would react. Fortunately, I got through it after a few days. I don't know if it was the vaccine that saved me, or if it was just a common flu, as ppl would say. All I know is that after I got it, it was very troublesome. Because there is not medicine to treat Covid, and you have to isolate yourself, and ask others to help. So... it's better not to have it.

Since I have not been able to go home to almost three years due to the pandemic, this trip to Malaysia has become the most precious and special event for me this year. I was able to visit my mom, see my eldest sister who came from Taiwan, and met up with a bunch of old friends. And soon, about two weeks later, I will fly to Taiwan to meet with my mom and sister again for a reunion to celebrate the Lunar New Year. I hope that in the new year, everything will be... Good and Happy!!

Happy New Year!

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Summary 2021

12/31/2021

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2021 Summary
It's the last day of 2021. And I am in Los Angeles spending time with my love ones.

Looking back this year, the pandemic is not over yet, but thankfully, I am still able to keep my job. And I finally have the guts and confidence to accept art commission! Quite frankly, I used to hesitate at accepting these opportunities due to my lack of confidence... before I would worry that I won’t be able to create an artwork per the client’s requests. I had some doubts about my skills, and I was worried I can’t draw it well. But after one customer’s request, I decided to take my first step and give it a shot… and I think I am ready now. Life lesson; if you never take your first step, you will not go anywhere.

I'm also grateful that I had the chance to work with producers from Malaysia and Taiwan. Many of my friends have encouraged me to continue my music career on stage, but after contemplating for a long time, I think I prefer to work behind the stage since I'm an introvert. I have terrible social skills and also not fond of fame... working behind the stage is more comfortable and enjoyable for me. Performing on stage was fun, but I felt very boring repeating the same show over and over every day. And after my performance of my own Tribute to Disney show, I felt that was a great way to end my on stage career. As for my current vocal jobs, I am basically doing something that I used to do back in the days. I was a vocalist for backing vocals, tv/radio jingles and recording vocal demos for singers. So feel free to give me a ring/text if you need a vocalist! 😂

Time went by fast this year, and with the vaccines being widely available, it felt like life was starting to get back to normal. We were able to do normal things like going out for a dinner or a movie. But just when everything seems too good to be true, we get the Delta variant, and now the Omnicron… it seems like it’s not going away, and made it a little impossible to travel back to my home country, Malaysia, to visit my family back home. And even worst, there was a bad flood in Malaysia, it’s devastated to see many people lost their homes, some their lives. It just seems like there’s too many negative more than positive… Year 2022, I hope you can bring us some good luck, a hope of light, some magic to turn this world back up on its feet! Here’s to a New Year!!

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Riddance 2020

12/31/2020

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Wow, what a year! I have mixed feelings for 2020. Indeed, 2020 was a year of fear as people are losing their lives to covid-19. We are losing trust in people, irresponsible and selfish people to be exact. We have fear when going out for anything, avoiding people, washing our hands regularly and using hand sanitizer, keeping our distance, especially around people without masks. We can’t go out to enjoy movies at the cinemas. We can’t dine out as usual. We can’t travel. So many activities that we wanted to do but can’t... And since I can't travel back to my home country, what I fear most is when thinking about my mother in Malaysia as she is a “high-risk” individual... I hope she stays in good health!

Well, enough of the bad stuff, now on to the good. It wasn't actually a 100% bad year for me. It's actually kind of a special year. Thinking about the positives; Being home most of the time during this pandemic, I was able to build a strong relationship with my loved ones. I learned to cook new dishes, learned how to do backing vocals arrangements. Celebrated all “Special days” at home and it wasn’t bad at all. And last but not least, I was able to set up a new professional recording station at home for my job. Never had I thought that I will still get a chance to do BV (backing vocals) for music albums after all these years... and I can now proudly say that I am a professional BV arranger! This is a huge bonus for me in 2020!

Finally, this bad year has come to an end, and I wish we will have a better and good year ahead! With vaccines coming out, there is hope!

A new year comes with new hope! Happy New Year to all!! =)

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Bye 2019

12/31/2019

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So 2019 has come and gone... its the end of the year blues again, the end of the year always makes me very emotional. Yes, I'm a very emotional person.

This year is a very conflicted year for me. I discovered that one of my artwork from my Luminous series, Cinderella, was stolen by Disney. I love Disney, but i'm not sure if i still have the same respect I have for Disney. This was an art piece that I created back in 2015 as a gift for my niece, and I was shocked when I learned that my artwork has been stolen by the one and only "Disney". They provided/ licensed my artwork to a third party online store for their use in their products. How is this possible? Disney took my artwork without my knowledge or consent! Should I be angry cuz they used my artwork as their own? Or should I be happy cuz Disney selected my artwork as their intellectual property? Does this mean my artwork meets their standards for consumer products? It's a situation full of confusion... What happened to Disney? I just hope everything is a misunderstood...

Now let's talk about something fun. I'm always fond of 2D animations, I even dreamed of working as an animation when i was a kid... but that was just a childhood dream anyway. Now with new technologies and tons of new apps available for artists, I'm glad that I can now learned and create animated art. It's basically my traditional 2D artwork, but with a few added animated effects and music, It's not a full animation, But it gives mt a little bit of satisfaction to see my art comes to life!

During the Christmas holiday, I visited the Tim Burton's exhibition at the Neo Museum in Las Vegas. He is one of my favorite directors known for Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie, Corpse Bride and many more. It was a very unique experience as it was a rainy day and this was an outdoor Museum... it's like a gloomy romance, just like Tim Burton himself.

Looking forward to another fun year filled with Disney magic! Just hope they don't steal my artwork again!

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Fabulous 2018

12/31/2018

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2018 has come to an end, and it was a pretty great year for me. But I wanted to start off by saying that it was a sad year for the Marvel fans as the comic legend, Stan Lee, have passed away. RIP Stan Lee, without you, there will be no Marvel of today. You and your cameos will be missed! Excelsior!!

Now to the fun stuff, one of my art creation, the Zodiac series, based on characters from Disney, Marvel and Star Wars, has been featured in the Taiwanese website "EBCBUZZ". I was so happy that my designs has gain interest from over seas. Being an introvert and having social anxiety, I seldom promote my artwork publicly. So for someone to discover my artwork and shared it has gave me great pleasure. And I hope my most favorite series, the “Luminous Series”, will get some attention some day as well.

I finally got a chance to visit Europe. I am a big Mozart fan, and Vienna has always been on my places to-go list, because Vienna is the city of Musicians. I am so glad that I was able to visit Mozart's home in Vienna and Salzburg. Another place on my list is Greece. I've always been fascinated by Greek mythology since I was a kid, and really enjoyed watching movies with stories about the Greek Pantheon, and I'm also dying to see the beautiful blue Aegean sea! So this is really a dream come true to me. Oh and of course, Disneyland de Paris! can't miss that one! One more Disneyland (Shanghai) and I will have gone to all Disneyland around the world! Yay!!

Last but not least, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the Pixar Animation Studios and attended the special screening of ”Incredibles 2” at their studio theater, even before the world premiere. It was such a treat. I also had the opportunity to tour the Walt Disney Animation Studios and attended a special screening of ”Ralph Breaks the Internet”! During the tour, I was escorted through the hallways of the studio, which was filled with artworks by many Disney artists. It was very inspirational and I never thought that I would be so lucky to have the chance to visit the studio since they were usually not open to the public before, but who knew right? Guess that's the Disney Magic!

Looking forward to another wonderful year! Happy New Year! Cheers!

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New Year. New Hope

1/1/2018

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The year of 2017 treated me quite okay. Apart from going through some minor health hiccups, my career has picked up and is going smoothly. My artwork was selected and featured in an online magazine, Film & TV Mag. This help built my confidence and elevated me to continue to create and draw new artwork. During the year I also learned a new form of digital painting, by way of using an iPad and a digital pen. Previously it was a tedious process as I had to use a mouse and click, click, click, and click.

In addition, I created a new princess ballet series. I love ballet, but unfortunately, I am not dancing material. Each time I see the ballerina’s slender arm and figure, and wearing a tutu, I will imagine of Disney princesses dressing up with tutu dress, then elegantly posing and dancing. Thus, my Princess Ballet Series was created.

I also visited New York and watched two great musicals, “Miss Saigon” and “Anastasia”. This is my second time watching Miss Saigon, and I have to say I prefer this new re-staged Kim, who was played by Eva Noblezada. As for Anastasia, I really liked Christy Altomare’s performance. Of the many musicals that I have watched, and for the first time, I experience natural and with no exaggeration acting. The performance from these two actresses are superb, they made me feel their pain, their anger, their joy, through their natural acting and powerful voice, which made me very emotional through-out the show.

In 2018; I wish for family, my love ones, and myself a healthy year; Travel to new places and experience new things; Create new and good artworks; I wish dreams can come true!

Happy New Year!

2017年對我來說是個👌年份，除了經歷一些健康小風波之外，在事業上可算是進入了穩定期。作品第一次被電影雜誌選中刊登，覺得自信被提升到另一個層次，畫起新作品也覺得得心應手。後來還學了digital painting，不用像以前用老鼠慢慢click,click, click...

除此之外，還創作了新的公主芭蕾舞系列,本身很喜歡芭蕾舞,可是卻不是跳舞的料子,每次看到芭蕾舞伶那修長的手腳與身段,穿著輕飄飄的tutu,都會想像迪士尼公主穿起芭蕾舞裙子編編起舞，因此芭蕾舞系列就此誕生。

還到了紐約看了兩部很棒的音樂劇- Anastasia 與 Miss Saigon，雖然是第二次看西貢小姐，可是比較喜歡這次restaged的Kim，至於Anastasia，超喜歡Christy Altomare 的演繹，這兩位女演員是我看那麼多部音樂劇，第一次令我感受到有「演技」的演員，沒有浮誇的演技，只有自然，真情流露的演技與聲音，竟然感動到我哭了⋯⋯

2018年，期望身邊所有人包括自己也健康，可以創作更多好作品，可以與另一半去旅行看新事物，希望可以夢想成真！

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Bye - Bye 2016

12/31/2016

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Time really do flies… is it already the last day of 2016? Every year today, I get very emotional and feeling a little blue. Looking back to 2016, there wasn’t much changes… not too much negative, and after a few years of hard work, my art business is in a more stable form. Although there are much more improvements to be made, but a little improvement each year is also very encouraging. Especially when I get positive feedbacks from customers, I have this feeling that is indescribable.

During 2016, I see my family members and friends struggle with health issues, and many celebrities have left us… I feel that while I still can, I should do more meaningful things, cherish what I have and with whom I’m with. Live life to the fullest and leave with no regrets!

Looking forward into the New Year, I hope I can become a better person and always do the right thing and stay happy, and I wish that everyone stay healthy and happy too.

Happy New Year!! Cheers!

怎麼過得那麼快，又到2016年的最後一天了？每一年的今天都不禁感到有些憂鬱，回頭看看2016年，似乎沒什麼大變化，藝術事業終於步入穩定期，雖然還有很大的進步空間，不過每年進步一點，也是件值得鼓勵的事。尤其當顧客特地email我告訴我他們有多喜歡我的設計時，那種開心是難以形容的。

在2016年看到家人，朋友出現健康問題，也有太多名人陸陸續續地離開，不禁覺得自己真的要儘量在有生之年多做些有意義的事，做好隨時離開的準備。

在新的一年裡也沒什麼特別的新年願望，就只希望自己能儘量做對的事，做好自己，事業順利，以及希望家人，朋友身體健康，開開心心就很夠了。最後祝各位新年快樂，新的一年一切會更好。乾杯！

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My 2015

12/31/2015

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2015 came and went, seeing the last sheet of paper on my peel-off calendar, I’m feeling a little blue. The feeling inside of me is the same every last day of the year, and is taken over by “Sadness”, because another year is gone. I always need some time to adjust to my emotions for the new year. Yes, I watched too much "Inside Out"… XD

So to summarize the positive and negative events of 2015, I can tell you that it was a roller coaster ride.

Starting off the year, I was so delighted to have met my idol, the Disney Legend, Master Animator, and creator of Ariel, Glen Keane! To hear him giving a speech in person was very encouraging and also very emotional for me. I grew up with Ariel and it was this character that inspired me to draw and sing. The first song I learned to sing was Part of Your World. This character meant so much to me, and it was created and drawn by Glen Keane. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to meet Glen Keane and it was such an inspirational moment. Already having met the writers, directors and producers of the Little Mermaid, Ron Clements and John Musker, at the Walt Disney Studios last year, and also Alan Menken and Jodi Benson before that, I felt that I’m a lucky girl to have been able to meet the whole team of my favorite childhood animation. I guess this is the Disney Magic (Dream, Wish & Believe).

In March, I was excited to be invited to the Walt Disney Company’s 2015 Annual Meeting. It was a unique and fun experience and not as boring as I thought it would be. Mickey Mouse was there to greet us along with Olaf, Storm Troopers and more! After the meeting, we were all treated to an early screening of Cinderella. It was a wonderful experience.

I loved animation and that’s how I started to draw. But unfortunately, I did not have the chance to study animation when I was young and settled for graphic design in college. I stopped drawing for a while and was working in the music industry. I felt that during this time, my art skill has deteriorated, and I’m always hesitant to present my artwork to great Disney artist because I felt that my art skills are not up to the quality of their standards. But thanks to my hubby, he gave a set of my Allure Series artwork to a Disney Artist, Mike Peraza, and received positive comments. This gave me confidence to help me continue to do what I like to do. I am now continuing to draw and also working on my new style of artwork. I don’t quite have a name for this style yet, but as some of you may have seen, it’s basically artwork with black background with high contrast colors and lighting effects.

I attended the 2015 D23 Expo in August and was overwhelmed by Star Wars fans. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Star Wars, so this felt like a Star Wars convention more than a Disney convention. But other than the Star Wars makeover, there were many other events to keep me occupied. I saw many actors and actresses but was very excited to see another one of my favorite actor, Johnny Depp. He sure was mad as a hatter, but it was fun. One disappointing thing about this event was that the
merchandise was very hard to come by. There was a D23 exclusive Pixar shirt that I really really wanted to get, but was not able to because of the many scalpers purchasing all of them and putting it on eBay for 3x the amount of the original price. I was down for a few days. But overall, it was still a fun expo and this year was definitely a new experience for me.

This year was the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland and also the Diamond Celebration. I had high hopes for my visit this year, and with high hopes came with disappointing moments. Started the day with a bad experience at the parking garage. There was some accident earlier in the day and we were directed to make a detour to a different nearby parking garage which was a little further away and with all the commotions, we finally arrived at the gate almost an hour later. Then at the entrance where we were stuck for a long time. There was a malfunction of the ticketing machine and instead of directing us to the next line, the cast member just sat there waiting for the manager to come help without letting the rest of the line know about what’s happening and how long it would take. So we ask if we can just go to the next line and she said that we will have to go to the end of the line, which doesn’t make sense as we were already in line for a long time. So we waited and waited and finally another cast member came and we were let through. So with that out of the way, the rest of the day was great and fun… until… the fireworks. We were already excited to be in Disneyland and was waiting for the finale before we head home, the Diamond Celebration fireworks! But to our great disappointment, the fireworks had some technical difficulty and was cancelled. But we were told that it was cancelled due to high winds! High winds!!! We looked around, none of the leaves were even moving… it was a calm day all day long. But I guess Disney didn’t want people to know that they had technical difficulties. Oh well… it was just disappointing and it wasn’t the happiest place on earth for me this time.
Even though it wasn’t the best experience, but the force of the Disney Magic will bring me back to Disneyland again in the near future.

Looking forward to the new year of 2016 and wish everyone a Happy New Year! Cheers!

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2024 HSP高敏族群

Farewell 2023

2022

Summary 2021

Riddance 2020

Bye 2019

Fabulous 2018

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Bye - Bye 2016

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