We find the artificial forest, with twisting, bending trunks and branches everywhere we turn. The branches and trunks are all made of richly textured, finely carved bronze and copper and rose gold, shaped so perfectly that they almost look like real wood bark. Almost. They look much prettier than real wood bark, which is boring and dull. This fake wood is bright and shining. 

All the needles on the conifer trees are made of different colours of shining, metallic material. They shine softly in the ambient light from the room. They look razor-sharp and I am almost afraid of them. The deciduous trees all have leaves made of many different colours as well. There are thousands of colours all around me. But these leaves are made of stiff, translucent fabric and are styled into beautiful, flowing shapes that no real leaves are. 

There are glittering gemstones and jade and opal arranged into rocks of different shapes on the powdery-looking shining dark copper of the ground. There are colourful herbs and shrubs shaped into many fantastical shapes, blanketing the rolling undergrowth. They are artfully arranged so that each thing flows into the next. 

There are little tiny coloured lights buried among the leaves on each of the trees, and they make the whole forest look absolutely magical. There are also strings of fairy lights webbed and woven above us, coating everything in a bright white light so that we can see everything clearly and well. 

What is the most amazing to me though are the robotic animals and insects running and climbing and flying and buzzing everywhere. They are brightly painted in all sorts of fake fur and fake feathers. They fill the forest and are scurrying and hurrying everywhere we turn. They are not real animals that actually exist but rather strange and wonderful creatures of fancy that are pulled from all sorts of fantastical lands, with all sorts of fantastical features. 

Maggie and I meander through the forest for a good, long time, just taking everything in. It's a lot to take in. Almost too much. But it's glorious to take in. And I love the feeling of absolute overwhelmingness that flows through me. Maggie loves it too. This is so much better than the boring brown and green of a chaotic, haphazardous forest from reality. 

We wander through the halls again, and we come upon a long row of life-sized coats of armour, each intricately carved and perfectly arranged. They are not very historically accurate but they are very impressive. The long row stretches on and on and on and we can barely find the end of it. It's all polished so well that each coat of armour is like a silvery mirror. 

We come to a room that is black dark, with soft glowing neon lights of all sorts of over-bright neon colours everywhere. The neon lights line a large play structure, being woven all over the walls and climbing steps and poles and stairs and bars and swinging posts and zip lines and gliders and slides that are everywhere. There are bridges made of moving, floating neon steps that are all disjointed from each other. There are trampolines with softly glowing, stretchy floors for us to jump through. There are ball pits with many glowing balls. There are spinning plates and climbable carousels and ropes that swing around for us to climb. 

We decide that we absolutely must spend the whole day one day playing here. But we simply do not have time today. We have to see everything. And so we placate ourselves with simply looking at the neon wonderland. Looking but not touching. Seeing, but not playing. But looking forwards so eagerly to the day when we can make full use of the neon wonderland all around us. 

And so we go back down to dinner, using the communal gliders that are scattered around the grounds for us to use. We get there in record time, and meet up with the rest of everyone. We talk about what we saw, what we did, how much fun we had. We talk about what we loved about each of the different rooms. We talk about which rooms we liked more and why. What we are planning to do in each of the different rooms. We talk about all the plans we have to make the most out of the facility.

And we dig down into the cheesecake and ribs and the creamy soup we are presented in front of us. As always, the flavours are perfectly balanced. They are rich and savoury and delicious. 

After dinner we decide to all go together to the hot tub. We were all putting it off until the last. 

Before going we hurry back to our rooms and change into our pick of the many swimsuits that were provided for us. I wear a purple bikini with frills over the top of the bottom piece and frills down my neckline. It has all sorts of coloured mirrors woven into the bright purple fabric that coats the outside. And the insides are so soft and smooth I feel like I am wearing a cloud. I quick-wax my entire body with the automatic waxer and then it is time to go.

The hot tub is in the dark, glossy, obsidian world of a fake indoor cave. The water is crystal clear and smooth and fresh and of course hot. So hot that it is almost painful. But it isn't. It is coloured with all sorts of different coloured lights embedded into the very walls and floors of the tub. The water feels like silk against our skin. We all sit down in one of the many water chairs that line the edges of the tub, made of coloured water and hemmed in by a special plastic that feels like nothing at all. All around us is shining dark stone. And in the walls of the artificial cave are embedded all sorts of glowing gems of all sizes and shapes and colours. 

We relax there for a long while, talking about the very many things we have to talk about. We luxuriate in the bubbling, flowing hot water that swirls around us like a lazy river. We look at all the gems embedded into the wall. It is all very perfect. The height of luxury. I think I almost drift off to sleep. 

Finally it's twelve o'clock. And Lydia comes and forces us out of the hot tub. We all complain but we get up anyways. And we rush to get ready for the movie. 

I wear a fur jacket of a rich, velvety brown colour and sleek, form-fitting jeans. I know it's not very much but we don't have time and I cannot choose the best outfit possible. Before rushing to the car I throw on a copper bracelet made of many interlocking pieces. 

The car ride to the immersive theatre is a silent one. The city goes by bright and glowing and ethereal in front of us. We train our eyes to the brilliant, magnificent cityscapes, taking them all in. The city towers over us with its tall neon-gilded buildings of so very many different impressive shapes, with its burning sights, with its pretty sidewalks. I remain transfixed to the world outside the car. Nighttime in the city is so very beautiful. 

The immersive theatre is big and impressive. We each get our own gaping, stretching room with a single floating chair in the middle. The chairs are round and sleek. They are soft and luxurious. They can be moved whichever way, so that we can get the full experience of the immersive all around us. 

I tilt my chair back as the holograms weave themselves to life all around me. 

I get immersed into the world of the narrative. Just as I am meant to be. 

The story is one of a girl who feels lost and forlorn in her twentieth century world. She finds a strange portal to a fairy land. And that land is fantastical and wonderful. The fairies look at her and they realize that she is their long-lost princess. And so she takes the throne, and holds all the power of the fairy kingdom in her hands. The dark elves attack, and they are dead set on plunging the fairy kingdom into darkness. But she rallies her people and she fights against them, winning freedom for her kingdom from the darkness eternal. There are joyous victory celebrations and a great feast. And then the story ends. 

I find myself constantly turning in my chair, looking at all the different parts of the fairy world, following the action as it flows and dances through the theatre. The chair moves so smoothly. It feels as if it is not moving at all. I feel as if I am floating through the air. And the softness of the plush chair would put me to sleep if not for the fact that the narrative and cinematography all around me is so very riveting. 

The fairies are so elegantly designed. They look both undeniably human and completely nonhuman both at the same time. They are all so beautiful and breathtaking. The world they live in is so well-designed, so foreign, so elegant, so unnatural. The elves look absolutely hideous and disgusting, but there is some sort of intriguing beauty to their grotesqueness. 

The sounds of the fairy world, of the battles, of the celebrations, of the ceremonies, they arch and stretch through the loud room, flowing to my ears from all different directions, large and perfectly clear as if I am in the world itself, as if I am hearing everything in real life. It all sounds so good together, like carefully-planned music that also tells a story. 

The pretty scents of the fairy world float through my nose, and the bloody scents of battle. Fairy and elf blood do not smell like normal blood though. It smells strange and exotic. The temperature changes subtly as we move through different settings. 

I loose myself entirely as the story goes on. I don't even know who I am anymore. I don't know where I am or why I'm here. I cannot even think. I can only take it all in. And there is so very much to take in. So very much to focus on all at the same time. There is so very much to divert my attention to that it almost feels like I am not paying attention at all. 

Three hours pass by in the blink of an eye. I hardly notice it passing, I am so wrapped up in everything. But at the end of the immersive film, I slowly fade back into reality as the holograms flow away back to where they came from. I stumble out of the immersion room, almost as if I am in a dream. 

I meet my friends, and they look just as disorientated as I do. We stand there in silence for a few moments in the decadent lobby before Lydia shepherds us back into our cars. 

I wonder and let my mind wander as I see the city go by. It's all so lovely. All of it. Love. What is love? There is so much pleasure to be had in the world. And love is nothing but holding on to all the many pleasures with both of your hands.

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If you like this piece check out my Twitter my handle is @FSairuv  and I post about human rights, social justice, and the environment.