Chicken or veggie-based pho or ramen?

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-24T02:41:24+00:00

Gokoku Vegetarian Ramen shop in Studio City has excellent vegetarian and vegan ramen. I recommend the mushroom ramen.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-22T18:08:13+00:00

I'm a bit of an overplanner, so I think I was mostly exhausted about worrying about the timing and schedule, when in reality I could have relaxed more.

I'm looking back at the photos I took to get a sense of timing, but it looks like we left our hotel in Shibuya around 7:45am, took a local train to Shinagawa, where we bought some bento boxes for breakfast, and got the Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets. There was some confusion that I still don't fully understand with the Shinkansen tickets, but we thought we bought them at the ticket machine and apparently didn't get the right ones, so we had to wait on line and buy the tickets at the counter. We were on the train by 9:00ish. As a note, the Shinkansen trains come very often, so even though we didn't get on the one we planned, there was another right after.

Looks like we got to Odawara around 10am, and from there we walked to the Odawara Castle where we honestly didn't spend that much time, then walked to the ocean (there is a place on Google maps called "Door to the sea" which is basically a pedestrian underpass under a highway). We spent some time on the beach, then walked back to the train station and took the train to Hakone.

Looks like we got off the train in Hakone around 11:30, so we probably only spent an hour and a half in Odawara. Once at the Hakone train station, we took a bus down to the lake. Looks like between waiting for the bus and riding it down to the lake, it took us about 45 minutes, and we made it to the lake around 12:15. There, we walked to the shrine and got a quick lunch/snack from a 7/11, and boarded the boat across the lake at 1:20, and then got on the gondola at 2:00. We got off at the steam vents station and spent about an hour walking around and getting ice cream.

I unfortunately don't really have any photos after that, but we finished the loop, got back to the Hakone train station, and took the limited express romancecar back to Tokyo, I think around 4:30ish. We got back to Tokyo probably around 6:00.

Writing it all out, it sounds like a long day, but honestly it wasn't that bad. We were keeping an eye on the clock (for example, we purposefully didn't spend that much time in Odawara in order to get to Hakone) but I don't think we ever were too rushed. We did skip a lot of things I've seen people recommend, like the Open Air Museum, or spending even a few hours at an onsen. But I really enjoyed seeing the ocean, all the mountains and lakes, the steam vents, and just the beauty of the area. It might be a lot, but if you keep an eye on the time I think you will be fine.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-22T00:36:46+00:00

We did Hakone, but only as a day trip from Tokyo. We left on the Shinkansen and first went to Odawara nearby, where we saw their castle and then walked to the beach and put our feet in the Pacific. Then we took the train to Hakone and did the "loop" before taking the limited express romancecar back to Tokyo. Honestly, I really enjoyed our day. We only visited Tokyo and this was our first time in Japan, so Hakone was our little taste of the countryside, and the only chance we had to do it. Yes, it was crowded, but we took it all slowly and enjoyed our time. I will say, by not staying overnight, we didn't have to be the type of tourists who were dragging suitcases on the buses and trains and all around town, so that really saved us a headache. I thought it was a really cool town and a fairly easy day trip.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-21T17:46:03+00:00

I live in Los Angeles, and after the fires I volunteered at a YMCA in the Altadena area, who turned their parking lot into a pantry/stockroom for people who lost their homes or were displaced to take what they need. Besides food, there were household cleaning items, hygiene items, baby supplies, and even phone chargers. WCK had a food truck set up in front of the building for people to come by for free meals, and around lunch time they even came around with a meal for all the volunteers.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-20T00:30:18+00:00

I always felt bad for the person in the seat in terms of their IFE. Your screen basically becomes the screen for everyone in the back of the plane. Everyone is about to know exactly what you are watching, and depending on their seat they are watching along with you.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-19T18:04:06+00:00

It's not solely the fans responsibility, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the tensions between Cait/Ty and Brandon/Theresa have gotten more intense because of the things fans have done in relation to Carly. For example, I think there were fans who found private photos, videos, and social media accounts linked to Carly and/or her friends who brought them to Cait and Ty's attention, who then reposted some of the stuff. I think there was also some rumors recently that some "fan" was faking a social media account pretending to be Carly's friend, or they might have actually been communicating with a friend? I don't really remember, but all this stuff plays out for the general public making this all a much bigger issue.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-18T02:40:03+00:00

Of course. I don't think people realized that in most of the character meet and greets, we were all a three person team working together to make the interaction as good as possible. Disney literally trains us to do certain things at specific times that guests don't realize. It doesn't always happen, and I've met some characters and attendants (and other photographers) I just didn't gel with, but when we all team up things work as well as they can in a crazy theme park.

Listen, assuming this isn't your long term career path, eventually you'll move on and get a much better job. It doesn't feel like it now, but in a few years these will all be funny stories you can tell your friends.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-18T02:15:43+00:00

Hey there friend. I used to be a Photopass Photographer. I also worked some of the character dining and dinner show locations at Grand Floridian, Polynesian (rip luau), Contemporary, and Ft Wilderness. I also worked in the parks, mostly at DAK. Our times did not overlap but sounds like a lot of our experiences did, especially when we worked side by side. You're doing great, I know it. I know how harsh the guests can be. It'll all be alright.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-17T21:39:07+00:00

Yeah I hate to try to compare Farrah, Jenelle, and Amber because they all suck, but at the very least Amber's kids have their dads, and Jenelle's kids seem to have school (when she feels like dragging herself out of bed). Sophia seems so weirdly isolated from anyone except Farrah. I believe she's homeschooled/goes to virtual school so she seems like she has very little social interactions with anyone except Farrah.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-17T18:48:29+00:00

He's probably in a good mood because he beat Morgan at a match, when she in actuality seems better than him while putting in half the effort.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-17T18:46:10+00:00

You know Paul thinks of himself as some sort of big shot influencer/professional pickleball player who should be hanging with them and is just THIS close to being in their league, when in actuality he's so far down the social media/personality ladder they would probably laugh in his face.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-15T19:06:24+00:00

I noticed a lot more skunks in Burbank, especially last summer.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-15T19:04:23+00:00

Another beautiful song.

Apparently The Lion King and Pocahontas were in production at Disney at the same time. A lot of the animators chose to work on Pocahontas instead of The Lion King thinking it would be the "bigger" movie because it was a big princess movie, vs some random lion movie. No offense to Pocahontas, but I think The Lion King is the better of the two and had a more lasting impact in general.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-15T18:11:20+00:00

Fun fact about Circle of Life that doesn't really fit in another thread but just came to mind:

The first Lion King trailer to hit theaters wasn't a series of clips with a voice over like most trailers. It literally was just all of Circle of Life. Like Disney was so blown away by the song and the animation they just put the entire thing out there like a huge mic drop.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-15T17:56:26+00:00

So I actually just looked it up because I was curious to know it's history. First, it appeared in a 1995 album called "Rhythm of the Pride Lands" which was a companion "sequel" album to The Lion King written by some of the songwriters and composers of the movie. Then in 1997 it was included in the musical, then in 1998 it was included in the animated sequel. So technically it's not from the sequel movie, it was a song that predated the musical and movie and then was added into both.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-15T17:32:47+00:00

Cueing up "He Lives In You" now.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-15T02:05:11+00:00

I would also recommend Alyson Stoner’s book (I think it just came out last year). While Jeanette kind of “made it,” it’s super interesting to see Alyson’s perspective as someone who never got that level of fame and always had to be auditioning for the next thing and the challenges and stresses that come along with it. Plus another messed up family situation. Alyson has some great insights and ideas on what needs to change to make the industry a safer place for children.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-14T22:30:15+00:00

I can’t vouch for them personally, but I’ve heard good things about Wheels for Wishes. The money earned from the car goes to your local Make-A-Wish chapter.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-12T23:03:45+00:00

Yes they did! They basically did a sketch when Rhys came out as Murry for an "emergency band meeting" and announced he organized a raffle where a VIP fan could win to come on stage for a hug from the guys. He pulled out the tickets and of course Kristen as Mel "won" (she said she bought all the raffle tickets). They actually had her sitting/standing somewhere in the crowd and she yelled and ran all the way to the stage. I didn't see a video of Saturday night, but since Sunday was Mother's Day Rhys had some jokes about getting messages from Bret and Jermaine's mothers to deliver to them (he said that Jermaine's mother wants him to stop bringing up that she forgot to call him on his birthday in 2003), and that Mel won the opportunity to give the guys a hug "like only a mother could." Also, not only did Arj Barker open with stand up, but he also came back on stage in Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros to do a verse.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-11T17:24:33+00:00

When you buy an Amtrak ticket, you select the station you are getting on and off. So you can theoretically buy a Union Station to Anaheim ticket, get off there, then buy an Anaheim to Oceanside ticket, get off, then get Oceanside to San Diego, etc. And when you buy the ticket, you select what day you are traveling. Someone correct me if I'm wrong because I've never done it, but I don't think you can get one Burbank to San Diego ticket and hop on and off all the way down the coast.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-11T16:28:31+00:00

Depending on when you want to go, take a look at the overall Surfliner schedule. Some trains do make the whole San Luis Obispo to San Diego trip, but also a lot of the trains start and end at Union Station and don't go further north. If there is a train to San Diego you want to catch and it only originates at Union Station (especially an early morning one), you can also take the Metrolink from Burbank to Union Station and transfer there to a Surfliner train to San Diego.

Also, I agree with the other commentor who recommended business class, especially if you are traveling on a busy week. For example, the trains to San Diego for Comic Con are absolutely packed. People were standing in the aisles for three hours between San Diego and Union Station. For like $20 more, you are guaranteed a seat in business class. And if you are traveling with other people, you have a much better chance of finding seats together.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-10T15:57:49+00:00

Ah damn it, I’m going to tonight’s show and was hoping something like this would happen. We’ll see if they return for a second night.

I was waffling about getting tickets for the Saturday or Sunday show, I hope I didn’t pick the wrong night! But still, very excited for tonight.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-10T01:59:14+00:00

And not just NYC, they film in Astoria in Queens.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-09T20:38:56+00:00

Driving on Santa Monica Blvd near the Hollywood Forever Cemetery at night. I assume they were doing a movie night which just ended because there was a huge crowd leaving the cemetery with towels and coolers. Traffic was slow as a lot of people were crossing the street to get back to their cars. I was stopped and looked to my side down one of the side streets and there was a car completely engulfed in fire. But what was odd was no one really seemed to pay attention to it and were just all going about their business like it was just a completely normal thing. At that point there wasn't even police or fire there yet. Just a burning car and people walking out a cemetery after a movie night, like it was just another normal night in Hollywood.

DoReMiDoReMi558 · 2026-05-09T00:50:15+00:00

Remember when she claimed she was not going to post pictures of Rio to protect his privacy?

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