CRAZY DIS ASIANS! A Sept 2018 TR...COMPLETED 6/1 The last day!!

[chunkymonkey]

No. Line....

2.5 hours.
Outside.
In a thunderstorm.

Oh dear. I would have cut my losses after 45 mins in the thunderstorm and go ride Pirates or something indoors.

Because of the processed, fake taste.
I want real spuds.

Hmm, so you think Dole Whips are...real pineapple?

And I did not expect that answer!

Me neither. It was surprising for me. Would I clamor to go back on SM again anytime soon? No, but I'd probably make an exception if they do the lights out again.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

It's tater tots with cheese sauce, bacon and green onion. OMG these were perfect!

All hail the pub tots!! They might be my new go-to snack at the Magic Kingdom. Mmm now I'm going to be thinking about them all day.

but they do celebrate our nation's greatest holiday: Black Friday.

Alright this made me giggle. But in all seriousness your trip looked amazing! I'm glad you had a great time and ate so much delicious looking food

 

[ariane37]

I'm glad you went away, I'm only one update behind
Looks like your MNSSHP was off to a really good start! We didn't bother with the teacups since I can't ride it anyway but we saw all the lights changing color. I suppose it was nice for kids lol.

So much credit to your sister I've always wanted to meet the dwarfs but will not stand in a long line nor get in line 2 hours before they begin, so it'll probably never happen for me. Her picture with them is adorable!

 

[KathyM2]

Hiya!!! Just swinging by to say hi, I've been a terrible DISer but have been following your travels on FB!!

If you had been following on Instagram...we traveled to Sydney, Australia and then Singapore where we spent Thanksgiving. Singapore doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, obviously, but they do celebrate our nation's greatest holiday: Black Friday.

This trip looked amazing!!! Especially all the food lol!! And the bridge!!

Trying to get caught up around here!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Real-Life Update: November 30th 2018

However much I love to travel especially far far away, it is good to be home.

So I'd like to start my next post with some real life updates and some pictures from our trip down-under.
I've been really busy and the jet-lag isn't helping at all as all I want to do is sleep! I'm also back at work and it's been really crazy.

This is a little jarring to post but my dad is going into hospice very soon. As some of you know my dad has stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread rapidly throughout his body, his liver has now been affected and he recently underwent an operation to put a stent in. The cancer has spread to his diaphragm which makes it really hard for him to breath and he has to have an oxygen tank at all times. Soon the cancer will spread further. He has tried many treatments, starting with chemo, radiation and hormone therapy, and then immunotherapy. All seemed to work well initially and then fail and he is right back where he started. He has exhausted all his options. We've spoken to the best doctors in NYC, and they too said, after reading his charts, that there is nothing that they can do for this horrible disease. It is rather startling to see his rapid decline. He went from feeling great between March and August of this year, to deteriorating to the point where he cannot move and is in constant pain. He cannot walk on his own, and has great trouble doing any physical activity. He has lost half his body weight and is as frail as someone who is 90 years old (my dad is only 72).

We almost did not make it on the plane for this last trip because I was worried my dad would pass away the week before we were supposed to leave. He was so weak and could barely move and was complaining of chest pains. They admitted him to the hospital 4 days before our flight and pumped him with enough morphine to make the pain manageable. I felt so guilty for leaving but my dad told us to go and have a good time. The doctors managed to control his pain and the day we left they moved him to a rehabilitation facility and I felt better knowing that he was in good hands with 24/7 care.

Taken on Nov 6th - 4 days before our trip when my dad was admitted to the hospital. Here's my sister Ming (Chunkytwin2)

If you notice, my sisters and I get our dimples from our dad.

But of course, that is not the only eventful thing that happened that week.

The week before, my sister Ming found a mold problem in her house and decided to move her family into OUR house. She literally called me up as we were having our anniversary dinner at Per Se in New York City and said she was moving in that day. It was not so bad really, my cute nieces kept singing and playing with us, rather too much so that I didn't actually get much sleep because of the constant...noise. But it was cute with them in the house. They would wave bye to us from the window when we left for work every day.

That's Eva and Sienna, my nieces.
You're probably familiar with all of them from my 'Ohana Means Chunky TR!

3 days before we left, my sister Ming was taking a shower in our guest bathroom and then when she went downstairs, she noticed a leak right below the bathroom...directly into our living room!!! She called us as we were driving home after leaving the hospital. We all went into panic mode. We thought it was the pipes, or a leak, or rain...it was raining slightly but not enough to cause a leak, but there was literally a bucket in our living room full of water when we arrived home. It was crazy. We tried to find an emergency plumber but late at night on a Wednesday wasn't exactly easy. Finally my mom found the number for her old handyman who agreed to come over. He and Steve spent hours opening holes in the ceilings and in the bathroom to determine the source of the leak. Amazingly and to our relief it was not our pipes. Our house is new, we bought it 5 years ago when it was newly built, so we didn't anticipate having to repair pipes. So they determined that the source of the leak was water from the bathtub that had splashed out and seeped through some minuscule holes and cracks around the tub. My sister did admit she didn't realize the shower curtain was outside of the tub until she was halfway done with her shower.
Anyways to make a long story short, there was a hole in our living room ceiling and a lot of panicked stressed-out people for several hours.
The hole got patched up while we were away but we just have to paint the ceiling.

The hole:

But when it rains it pours...right?

2 days before we left, my nephew Bryan broke his leg - think it is his tibia bone. He was being his usual 3-year-old self, jumping off beds and such, but he landed wrongly on his leg and wouldn't stop crying. Luckily my sister Ying was working from home because of the Jersey week holidays so she took him to the doctor and yes the bone was broken. He currently has a huge cast:

Nephew Bryan in cast

Aww I feel so bad for him seeing him like this. He hasn't sucked his thumb for almost a year and now it's his source of comfort.

Don't worry though, it's a clean break and will heal, it was just more craziness and stress for my family that week. He is clearly miserable because he loves being active, loves sports and playing basketball and he was so upset for a few days. That slowly turned into him milking all the attention he was getting and now he's back to his happy self...just less mobile. Cast comes off on December 6th!

To say it was the most tumultuous and stressful week of our lives is putting it lightly. I only had one breakdown though. However I am forever thankful that it wasn't much worse and that we could still go on our trip. I did feel guilty, of course, leaving my dad. Because truthfully, I am not good in these sorts of situations. I am an escapist at heart (obviously, being a Disney fan) and I prayed that everything would be ok and you know what...it WAS ok in the end.

My dad is surviving for now, we're making him feel as comfortable as possible with the time he has left. We visit him whenever we can. Bryan's leg will heal, and the ceiling is fixed. My sister's house has been re-mediated for mold and she moved back to her place. We thought we would have to spend thousands on fixing a pipe but only spent $250 for a "diagnosis" (knock on wood). And finally we were able to get on the plane for one of the most amazing trips of my life!

Here's my whole (Chunky) family at the nursing home where my dad moved to on the day we left:

Bryan was so miserable in his 2-day old cast!

Us and my dad right before we left for the airport:

In a way it was good timing for the trip. We were able to sit down with my extended family and explain the whole situation to them. We got to Facetime my dad while we were with his relatives. My dad had of course not fully told them how precarious his health was right now, but I thought it was important to let them know the truth and to prepare them. A few of them are planning to fly to NY in the next few weeks, hopefully they will be able to see my dad while he's still alive.

Sadly I've had to cancel our January 2019 trip. It is just not as a good time. My dad's prognosis is kinda changing all the time, but it would be weeks, a few months. Maybe longer. So we're just taking it day by day. It's unfortunate because I had to cancel our first DVC stay at our home resort, the Poly, as well as a bunch of events, like Highway Around the Sky dining experience, multiple FP for Slinky Dog, and a meal at the new Artist's Point Snow White dinner.

Now on to happier things...

The first half of our trip to Australia was amazing. We flew business class using miles. It was very long flight(s). 15.5 hours for the first leg to Hong Kong and another 9 hours to Sydney, so if you can, premium class is the way to go!

How I will miss having so much leg room and lie-flat seats!

The hotel we stayed at for our first 3 nights in Sydney was the Park Hyatt Sydney - one of the most amazing properties I've stayed in. It's not only incredibly luxurious but it's featured in Soarin' Over The World!

So that building on the bottom left of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the Park Hyatt. When you're on Soarin' you can see it!

We used Hyatt points to book the room and a friend of ours has elite status so he booked the room for us to "lend" us his elite status for our stay. Not sure if it was that or the fact that we mentioned it was our 10th anniversary but we ended up with an amazing room with this amazing view:

OMG it was the most stunning view I've ever had. #bucketlist
I know for a fact that if you have no Hyatt status and booked a room on points that you just get a back of house view, so I had my fingers crossed we could get something better than that and this was just too good to be true. I sent pics and videos to my family and my dad loved looking at the pictures of the Opera House!

They also gifted us with some champagne and strawberries for our anniversary!

I will never get tired of this view:

On the other side of the hotel is the Harbour Bridge. We climbed this bridge during our stay.

Here's a little video where you can see the Park Hyatt in relation to everything:

And me talking about Soarin':

We did the Bridge Climb Sydney which is one of the most popular attractions here. It was a little difficult but it wasn't so bad, even with my bad knee. Coming down was harder than going up. It was a mixture of stairs and ladders but it was drizzly the day we went so coming down was harder as I had a fear of slipping.

We saw Koalas at the Taronga Zoo which made my trip!

We went to the Opera House and saw Mandy Patinkin perform his one-man show.
It was too bad we were so jet-lagged as I think we dozed off a bit, but it was a good show for Mandy fans and his singing is fantastic!

(This picture wasn't from the night at the show but from when we took the ferry to the zoo as it's a better view of the Opera house!)

We ate lots of amazing and delicious food that week:

Brunch is a big deal in Sydney, and I am convinced they invented the ubiquitous hipster meal: avocado toast!

We joined my cousin and his wife for a new Star Wars exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney:

What, everyone travels with Disney/Star Wars/Marvel gear even when not going to Disney, right?

The exhibit was cool as you get to look at a lot of Lucasfilm props while learning about human behavior and genetics. You answer questions in different stations about your imaginary Star Wars life and at the end you get your own character that you can name!

The week ended with the wedding of my other cousin, Felicia and her fiance James.
It was a gorgeous, fancy wedding and we had a great time on the dance floor!!

Steve and I all decked out:

The beautiful couple!

The wedding was a really great way to end our trip to Sydney...

Next up will be my home country and setting for Crazy Rich Asians: Singapore!!

Thanks again for everyone's support and understanding. I know many of you have been through what we are going through right now. I really do want to get back into my "groove" on the boards as it really is my source of joy and fun when I'm not at Disney. You all allow me to revisit my happy place over and over and I desperately need that now. Hopefully this means more postings, as soon as I get over this darn jet lag!

​

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Su-Lynn, I'm so, so sorry your dad isn't doing well.

I hope Bryan's leg feels better by now and am glad your ceiling and the mold in your sister's house are both no longer problems.

Beautiful photos of Sydney. I couldn't see a lot of the photos posted, but the ones that I could see were great. How fun that you stayed in a place shown in Soarin'.

Love the wedding photos. You and your cousin both looked beautiful that day. The guys didn't look too shabby, either.

Looking forward to your Singapore post.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Su-Lynn I am so sorry to hear about your dad. I can't imagine what you are going through but I'm sending you all my best prayers and wishes for you and your family.

I'm glad all the other frantic stuff was sorted for you to go on your trip and that now you have time to spend with your loved ones. Thank you for the update <3

 

[missjackiemcg]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad's decline in health I'll be praying that he is comfortable.

So glad that you were able to go on your amazing adventure despite a very rocky week ahead!!

 

[Tracy161]

Su-Lynn, I'm incredibly sorry to hear about your dad's health. We'd known that he's had his health struggles, but surely not this. Please know we're all sending lots of hugs your way and hoping whatever time he has will be filled with lots of love and laughter - which, with your family, I'm sure will be a guarantee

I'm so glad that you had such a lovely trip, I so enjoyed following along on Instagram. I had to laugh when you mentioned wearing Disney shirts on non-Disney trips because I noticed Steve in a few on Instagram What a wonderful way to spend your 10th!

 

[Pluto0809]

This is a little jarring to post but my dad is going into hospice very soon.

Half of the pictures aren't working for me right now so I'll come back later to read the rest of the update but I just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear about your dad. I lost mine to cancer at age 59 back in 2007 and it's an incredibly difficult thing to go through. You are in my thoughts.

 

[missangelalexis]

I am so very sorry to hear about your dad Sendings hugs and thoughts to you and your family.

I'm glad you were able to still take the trip. All the photos looked lovely!

 

[KathyM2]

This is a little jarring to post but my dad is going into hospice very soon.

I'm so so sorry to hear this. I can't imagine how hard it must have been. I'm relieved that you still went on your amazing trip and that your dad is ok for the time being in a safe place. It is too bad about your Jan trip, but I think making the decision to cancel now probably took a load off because as it gets closer you won't have to try to figure out what to do.

3 days before we left, my sister Ming was taking a shower in our guest bathroom and then when she went downstairs, she noticed a leak right below the bathroom...directly into our living room!!!

OMG that is insane. Water leaks are the worst. I'm glad it wasn't the pipes or something more serious. Sucks about the hole I know!

I am an escapist at heart (obviously, being a Disney fan)

I hear ya...travel is a great escape too!!!

How I will miss having so much leg room and lie-flat seats!

OMG I would love to try this even ONCE for a long flight!! Looks amazing!! I would hope that it made the jet lag a lot less.

It was a mixture of stairs and ladders but it was drizzly the day we went so coming down was harder as I had a fear of slipping.

Ugh!! That would be scary but the whole experience looks pretty cool!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

All hail the pub tots!! They might be my new go-to snack at the Magic Kingdom. Mmm now I'm going to be thinking about them all day.

They were so good! Better than I expected!

Alright this made me giggle. But in all seriousness your trip looked amazing! I'm glad you had a great time and ate so much delicious looking food

Haha, Singapore is like a shopping city, because there really isn't much to do since there's not a lot of land so there's lots of shopping instead. Haha.
Thank you! Everything we ate was soooo good!

I'm glad you went away, I'm only one update behind
Looks like your MNSSHP was off to a really good start! We didn't bother with the teacups since I can't ride it anyway but we saw all the lights changing color. I suppose it was nice for kids lol.

Haha, that is a good thing. now I have to catch up on everyone else's TR and PTR!
I don't normally do the teacups either but I tried it just for the effects and it wasn't that impressive!

So much credit to your sister I've always wanted to meet the dwarfs but will not stand in a long line nor get in line 2 hours before they begin, so it'll probably never happen for me. Her picture with them is adorable!

I know, me too! I did this during my first MVMCP and we waited about an hour and change, which I guess in the grand scheme of things is not so bad as other parties but it was still an hour wasted on line! She does love her character pictures though!

Hiya!!! Just swinging by to say hi, I've been a terrible DISer but have been following your travels on FB!!

Hi Kathy!! Hope all is well!

This trip looked amazing!!! Especially all the food lol!! And the bridge!!

Trying to get caught up around here!!

Thank you! It was an amazing trip. I really relish being about to travel so far away. My mind has been so Disney World-centric for the past few years that I haven't really gone elsewhere that much but this year we traveled internationally twice and it was really really nice!

 

[soniam]

Sorry to hear about your father. My good wishes are with him and your family. It sounds like you had an amazing trip though, and it's probably what you needed to keep from constantly worrying.

 

[Woth2982]

I am so sorry to hear about your dad. It is never easy to lose someone, never mind a parent. Thankfully mine are ok, but I have helped many friends who had to say good bye to their parents too soon. Your whole family is in my thoughts and prayers. You had the perfect storm of stuff going on with your family and house! We had our toilet flood and ruin our ceiling, my husband tried to fix it and made it worse! Resulted in a panic call to my dad since I didnt know how to turn off the water, and a call to our plumber, who is thankfully a friends dad! He came out the next day and fixed the leak. Some kind of valve, or ball or socket, or something plumbery broke. It was an easy fix thankfully!

Your trip to Australia looks amazing! That room! My goodness, that is life hotel goals right there! Your cousin looked beautiful in her dress! Cannot wait to see the Singapore photos!

 

[DLo]

I am so sad to hear about your dad. My dad passed away about 8 years ago from cancer. His conventions are what rekindled my love for Disney as a grown up. He wanted to share with the grandkids and I tagged along .

I know there is nothing I can say that will make this easier for you. With your family and friends , I know you will be surrounded by love and support.

 

[Pluto0809]

Pictures are back so I read the rest of the post.

That's Eva and Sienna, my nieces.

Cuties!!

she noticed a leak right below the bathroom...directly into our living room!!!

Yikes! Glad it wasn't too bad. We had a pipe break last January that flooded our garage and finished basement. Not a fun experience at all!

2 days before we left, my nephew Bryan broke his leg

Aww, poor little guy.

Sadly I've had to cancel our January 2019 trip.

Sad but probably for the best.

The first half of our trip to Australia was amazing. We flew business class using miles. It was very long flight(s). 15.5 hours for the first leg to Hong Kong and another 9 hours to Sydney

I so want to go to Australia someday but that long flight sounds brutal!

we ended up with an amazing room with this amazing view:

Nice!

We did the Bridge Climb Sydney which is one of the most popular attractions here.

Sounds like a whole lot of fun! I'm terrified of heights but the dare-devil in me would have to try this.

We ate lots of amazing and delicious food that week:

Drooling!

What, everyone travels with Disney/Star Wars/Marvel gear even when not going to Disney, right?

Well I know that I do but then Disney clothing makes up at least half of my wardrobe.

 

[cajunfan]

I am so very sorry to hear the prognosis for your dad. I will keep him and your family in prayer for comfort and peace through this process.

 

[NJlauren]

I am so sorry to hear about your dad. Losing a parent is one of the scariest and hardest things in life. Sending you lots of love, hugs and strength.

I had been on a bit of a DIS board break so took me a while to catch up on this report but here I am! As always love following along on your adventures! Not going to lie you talking about the heat has me worried for my upcoming August trip!

 

[hnthomps]

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. We lost my dad at 75 almost 2 years ago, and it is very very hard and complicated no matter the circumstances. I hope he has a peaceful stay in care and at hospice, surrounded by love.

And of course when it rains it pours! Ceiling leaks are never every fun. Your poor little nephew.
Seems like an amazing trip to Australia. I'm glad you are back posting here - we all love following along with you, even when real life intervenes!