I am back in Singapore. I guess good times do pass extremely fast. Before you know it, it’s already over.

Disneyland’s Hollywood Hotel was pretty much a new and great experience for me. I’ve been to a few Disneylands, but had never stayed in any of their resort hotels, probably because of their gasp-inducing prices. But since they were having a promotion for the HK locals, we were able to get rather okay hotel rates. There was also this Stay and Play promotion which allowed hotel guests to visit the Theme Park for two days, but for the price of one. It’s pretty redundant anyway, since the theme park is small and can be easily covered in a day.



Expose us to a panoramic sea view too!


I know I’ve been telling everyone not to go the HK Disneyland because it’s small, the games suck and all that stuff, but now after visiting the theme park once again (very contradictory of course), my stand had very magically (Disney’s favourite word) NOT changed a bit.

The place is still small. Yes, it is.

The rides aren’t thrilling. Yes, they still aren’t.

The only thing I’m going to give them credit for is the addition of one new ride, Autopia and the new show, the Golden Mickeys. I’ll have to give Autopia my brutally honest comments. Riding a slow car with a track between the wheels just isn’t the thing for me. I prefer the Buzz Lightyear shooting game, whatever it’s called. All I know is you just grab the gun from its holder as your vehicle enters the play area, and start pulling the trigger wildly as you aim at targets to score points.

The Golden Mickeys show was fantastic. In my humble opinion, I think the shows are better than the games. Their shows involve a lot of cast members (Disney’s magical name for their staff) and they usually put up a great show.


There were no Parades, very regretfully. It’s not exactly the best time to visit the theme park, because their Christmas celebrations were over, and their CNY celebrations haven’t started. AND there were no parades, perhaps due to the fact that the dancers are preparing for the CNY one.

Disneyland aside, let me complain about this particular incident that almost spoilt the entire Disneyland stay. We had an enjoyable time in the Disneyland hotel. They had comfortable beds (lousy pillows though) and good service…

On this eventful morning, the sky was clear and the Disney birds were chirping happily while perched on a wobbly tree branch in an imaginary jungle where Snow White and her seven midget friends live. The frolicsome deers galloped across the green fields as they welcomed yet another beautiful morning.


A family of four dragged their bulky luggage, which contained the bounty they have collected over 18 days, over the pretty Mickey Mouse carpet wand-stitched by the Fairy Godmother in the hotel lobby and out through the exit. Today was the day the family returned to Singapore. The bell boys helped us with the luggage and beckoned for a taxi to drive up from the taxi stand.
As the vehicle pulled up, I caught a glimpse of the driver. Disheveled and messy, with a toothpick clamped between his rotting teeth. Poor toothpick, clamped between the yellowed teeth of a dickhead.

The bell boys and the driver loaded our luggage into the boot. Three luggage, 2 paper bags and a laptop went into the boot. We reached the airport in no time. The meter read $122.40. Usually, taxis charge another $5 for the use of the boot but his particularly greedy madman clicked on the “Extras” button (adds $5 to the fare with every click) as if it was the button on a faulty vending machine which failed to give him the packet drink he had already paid for.

He shamelessly added $30. When my dad asked him what that $30 was for, he said that it was for the SIX pieces of luggage we placed in his fucking boot. WTF?! Who in the right mind will count a laptop and the two bags as three pieces of luggage? Does this ignorant old man know the difference between a luggage and a bag? My dad argued with him and he reduced it to $20. Still a rip-off, we realized later as we remembered that the taxis we usually take only charge $5 for the use of the boot, regardless of how many luggage (and small little bags) you put in. But that was NOT enough for that greedy conman.

Recently, the taxi company revised the fare system. The new starting fare is $18, instead of the old $16. For short trips under $80, the fare under the revised system will be a bit more expensive than the old one. But for long trips above $80, the new fare will be cheaper. Taxis who have not altered their meter are supposed to display the conversion table somewhere obvious in the taxi, but for the case of this taxi, the only thing obvious was the driver’s fucked-up face.

There was no conversion table. And his meter started at $16.

*lightning flashes and Disney birds fall off the branch, scorched black with smoke spiraling from its burnt feathery head*

Very sadly, we only realised the fare thingy when we were already in the airport, which means it’s too late to question the driver. The good news is… We had the driver’s license plate and his name. We got the license plate because the Disney bellboy gave us this card with the crook taxi’s license plate which we are supposed to show the driver in case we didn’t how to converse with the driver in Cantonese.

My dad called up the Disney hotel to complain because since the taxi was from the hotel’s taxi stand, it is also the hotel’s responsibility to ensure that the taxis are reliable and will not overcharge their guests. After much complaining and laments about how unworthy it is to let a taxi tarnish the hotel’s reputation, the hotel called back soon after to inform my dad that…
.
.
.

The taxi came back to wait for more potential victims.

*Disney birds instantly revive and start chirping happily again while the humans rejoice by setting off the fireworks*


I can imagine the hotel people complaining after receiving my dad’s call, “Wahlao, how to find the taxi? Hongkong is so big, it’s like searching for a needle in the h…” and shuts up abruptly as they see the taxi entering their premises again.

I guess they confronted the conman, because they called back again to inform us that the conman admitted to overcharging us. He got blacklisted and will be barred from Disney’s premises, according to the Disney manager.

The driver’s integrity is only worth HKD $25 (SGD $ 5). I think he has conned many tourists before, but his scheming methods were always left unnoticed. We all bear witness to the man who lost his integrity due to his insatiable avarice.