Bluebells in the Woods

Here's a little throwback, back to the warm evening on the 29th April when I went into the woods.

It wasn't that dramatic, I'm just a little bored right now and have only my own imagination to entertain me ;)

Anyway, this was more than three months ago, time is flying too fast! I took some photos that day but was too busy at the time to sort through them, so here we are, months later.

On a side note, I finally watched Into the Woods a few days back. It was okay, but not as awesome as I had expected. I'd heard quite a lot of good things about it from friends, so maybe my expectations were too high - the whole concept of intertwining stories was really cool, but the actual plot was a bit meh for me. Too many parts that didn't quite fit in with the story as seamlessly as they should've.

The trip was really just to see the bluebells, which were lovely, albeit a little sparse and withered. Should've gone earlier...

I've been really into cool angles in my photography. There's something about seeing a normal landscape or object from a different angle, like from right next to the ground, that I find so fascinating. Of course, cue the strange stares coming your way as you're crouching in the most awkward places...

♥

I love you

xxx

Best Birthday

Christmas countdown: 2 days!

I'm so excited!!

♥

Hiya!

I had a pyjama party yesterday for my (and my friend's) birthday, and it was amazing!

We went to Nando's first for lunch (though not in our pyjamas, they probably would've kicked us out!), then went over to my friend's house to open presents. And they are the best!

Someone handmade for me a little mochi plushy, and another gave me a bangle with a quote from The Song of Achilles engraved on it. All my presents were so lovely and well thought out - you can't find better friends than mine!

We then watched Home Alone, which I had never seen before. Shocking, I know. Thing is, I don't really like older films and classics, I much prefer recent ones such as Arthur Christmas and Nativity (both of which I have watched recently in the build-up to Christmas). It's a good film though, very funny and cute.

After we played charades and lounged around, too full from the chocolate fountain, crisps, and ice-cream we'd eaten :D

It was so fun, every part of the day.

♥

I love you

xxx

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal!

Nothingness

Hiya!

Did I decide on a deep and potentially meaningful title to draw you into reading my blog?

Maybe

Did it work?

Well I don't know

Let me tell you, my life has been a lazy 'bleurgh' recently.

Has anything interesting happened since I've been away from here?

Yep, I've been doing a few different things...

Have I written about them?

Nope

Am I guilty?

Sure

Laziness and procrastination - horrible things that I have yet to overcome

During my hiatus, things have happened:

1. I watched Cinderella (the 2015 film) - it was alright, though the beginning dragged on a bit too much
2. I stood in the middle of a field for one and a half hours, on a dangerously thin plank of wood placed on dangerously thin metal framing, for a photo
3. I'm starting to learn the wonderful and exciting Ancient Greek, the language of Patroclus and Achilles, my babies (read The Song of Achilles is you haven't and have your heart dance every time they're mentioned <3)
4. I visited a university open day and gained a tote bag, wristband, pens, and a stress ball out of it. A purple 'business and management' stress ball...jealousy doesn't look good on you... ;)
5. A strange and terrifying discovery was made - there's a restaurant in Chinatown which my friend and I were considering eating at...until we realised that to go in, you had to knock on the black door with a massive knocker, and after entering, the door would be locked behind you... Creepy D:
6. I learnt a part of the actual 'Man Up' dance sequence in Book of Mormon, taught by a professional dancer who's currently in the shows, and I loved every second of this experience
7. I started volunteering at a local nursing home, which has some very interesting characters...

So yeah, 'things have happened' indeed.

And obviously, the daily updates by moi are not a thing anymore... :/

There's a difficult balance between wanting to give you good content but having you wait a while, or giving you considerably less good content but uploading every day.

Hmm, I'll think about it

♥

I love you

ttyl

xxx

The Chronicles of Narnia

Hiya!

Yep, I watched The Chronicles of Narnia today, the whole trilogy, with friends.

And chocolates and crisps and fizzy drinks and pizza...

Can't forget our sustenance ;)

The films were very good - the first is a classic, the second suspenseful and the third ties it all in perfectly.

The third was my personal favourite. I love the character development where they have to overcome their temptations and the bitter-sweet ending which was a strange-but-nice mixture of happy and sad.

I also cannot forget about Caspian and Edmund, who I 'ship so hard' they're on a powerboat in my mind.

Powerboating away into the sunset, staring deeply into each other's eyes.

Is that even possible?

Well, I'm a teenage girl, so sue me for being one and shipping film/book characters...

But they're just so adorable cute! <3

♥

I love you

ttyl

xxx

Plans for the Future (and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl)

Hiya!

Just a quick update here, to tell tales of my past week...

The most boring tales ever, that's for sure.

School has started, la-de-da.

I'm not saying schools been boring, it's just that apart from school nothing else has happened. And you don't want to read about school here, am I right?

Anyway, I'll probably get back to monthly favourites after a very very long Summer hiatus, and possibly attempt (and most likely fail at) writing a few posts about the wonderful things that I enjoy. Just for something different, rather than lacklustre update posts broken up by more lacklustre favourite posts.

So, moving on to the film.

I watched Me, Earl and the Dying Girl a few days ago (as you can tell from the title...). And now I feel obliged to write something about it, it's become a sort of tradition on here.

It was alright, I guess. Maybe I had high expectations, or maybe I've become numb to films (though I did cry in this one) but I found it just alright. It was very much like The Fault in Our Stars, in that there was the same theme of a dying person and their new friend, and the way the people's lives change due to the other. It may be bad timing or not, but it was a bit too similar.

And of course with TFIOS becoming such a big thing, this may have been a good thing- the first was a great success, the second should also be.

Personally though,

-well, you know what I'm going to say-

I thought it was alright.

♥

I love you

ttyl

xxx

Concerts and Films, and Busy Days

Hiya!

Ok, it's inexcusable, but I'm sorry, I have been busy and tired and haven't really done anything productive these past few days...

Anyway, I spent Saturday in London, first visiting the statue of Achilles in Hyde Park (eeeeeeek gushing and fangirling, beware! (Song of Achilles, anyone?)) and then shopping on Oxford Street. Which was an...interesting...experience.

My mum bought a dress from GAP, but the checkout guy didn't take the security tag off (and he took ages!), so of course, we were stopped at the exit barrier. The security guy was really nice about it and took the dress to get the tag taken off, then gave it back to us and we all went our merry ways.

Haha no, but that would have been awesome. 

After that, we found out the dress had two more tags, both hidden deep within pockets and sleeves. I mean, the dress wasn't precious and absurdly expensive, so why did it need three tags? No idea, but it was a nuisance and annoying as hell. And took so long to sort out >:(

We escaped that nightmare of a shopping trip and went to Chinatown, where I bought cakes galore and also tried a 'red bean matcha latte tea'. I'm a coffee person and don't really think much of the chai-green-bubble-tea phase that has so many people hooked. But I was pleasantly surprised. I still prefer a good frappe or latte over tea, however it was very refreshing and scrummy :)

To end the night, my mum and I went to a concert, of Chinese people playing Chinese instruments in a Chinese orchestra. It was very...Chinese-y. And very intriguing, it was so different from the Western violins and trombones that I'm used to. I loved the solos especially because you could really hear what each instrument sounded like.

On a different note, I looked like I was wearing my pyjamas. I guess leggings and a shirt with 'Sail away with me' written on it isn't really the best concert attire... Add a few hundred poshly dressed ladies and men in evening dresses and ties, and you get me, a gross girl dragged straight out of bed with barely any makeup on and hair sticking out everywhere.

Anyway, the concert finished at 10:30 pm, and by the time I got home, it was 11:45 pm. And I was so, so tired.

❤️

Today, I watched 'Paper Towns'. It's a film adaptation of John Green's book by the same title. Here's a fact you don't need to know - I read 'Paper Towns' before 'The Fault in our Stars'. And it was because of 'Paper Towns' that I read TFIOS. So I guess I read them the wrong way round? Seeing how the TFIOS film came out before...

Wow, I really need to stop rambling.

Anyway, a good film, starring Cara Delevingne's amazing eyebrows and a little cameo from Mr Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort).

I didn't cry though, which is both surprising and worrying. I always cry when watching a film. It could be a comedy, and I would cry. I don't know why my tear ducts just can't hold it in, but it's the norm for me. So either it was just a non-cry-worthy film (is that a bad thing, or a good thing?) or my tear ducts are drying up.

Ah well, it was a lovely film for an amazing book, and who even cares about my tear ducts? ;)

❤️

I love you

ttyl

xxx

Inside Out Happiness - Or Should I Say...Joy?

Hiya!

I watched Inside Out yesterday, in 3D! It was really good, very mind-boggling, and I feel it also had very deep underlying messages. It was cool, seeing how our feelings are portrayed and how different situations are 'controlled' by different emotions, especially when there's a big change in our life.

I went to see it with a big group of friends, after buying loads of sweets of course. Whilst in the newsagents, our MP came in to buy something. I only noticed after paying and had turned around, to see him there smiling...did he recognise me? Well, he was one of the terrifying Dragons at the pitch a few days ago...

I think I smiled back, really awkwardly. Sort of like a grimace. I don't know, I was shocked.

:(

But the film was very good, the uncomfortable encounter was forgotten about, and I had a very nice day with friends. My teeth may not be happy with all the sugar I had consumed, but oh well. They'll survive.

♥

I love y'all

ttyl

xxx

It Wreaks Havoc With My Emotions!

Hiya!

I've been chilling lately - catching up on YouTube, reading on Wattpad, re-watching The Princess Diaries for literally the tenth time.

I think I've been in denial about this film. I've been telling myself that I like it only as much as I like Mulan or Evan Almighty, or other chick flicks such as Wild Child. But I realised today when I suddenly really wanted to watch it again (and ignored a long list of films I've been meaning to watch for ages), that I'm obsessed.

I now admit, I think The Princess Diaries is my favourite film.

Anyway, I stepped my game up in an effort to relieve myself of boredom when YouTube just wasn't enough and played Presentable Liberty today.

Such a good game, a very awesome and different game, but so bad for my emotions!

You start in a prison cell, and you'll receive letters and read them, and it goes on for ages. And then you start depending on the letters...but then the ending comes...and oh my.

I need a hug now, it was terribly sad :(

There's also an alternative ending, I'm going to play it again tomorrow to check it out.

Play along if you want to, links here. Word of advice, it takes 45 minutes to an hour, and you cannot save during the game. So it would be best if you have an hour to spare and play it in one go :)

Enjoy!

♥

I love y'all

Goodbye!

xxx

THE THEORY OF...FIRE!

Hello!

I went to watch The Theory of Everything avec mon amie (a bit of French), although things did not go as expected...

Dun dun DUN!

Halfway through the film, there was a sudden announcement that everyone had to leave through the emergency exits. There were no alarms or security guards running to get us all out of the theatre though, it was really calm, so everyone just stayed sitting for like two minutes. 

Finally, a few people left, so my friend and I decided to get up too. It was only when we had exited the theatre room when we heard people talking about a fire and there were actually workers telling us to leave. But I'm not kidding, inside the room we all thought that it was a joke, no one told us what was happening. Just an announcement that went on for five seconds.

So we all left. a long trickling line through the back door of the cinema. Which was lovely, because it led us straight to the rubbish bins and bags dumped on the path outside.

None of us knew what was happening, or where to go. It was just apparently a fire, which I think turned out to be a false alarm judging by the fire engine which was parked on the opposite side of the car park to the cinema, and it stayed there the whole time I was outside.

After around twenty minutes, we were allowed back in. They announced that the films would start from the last part we watched, but they didn't. So after we all felt our way through the darkness to our seats, for the next part of the film, I didn't know what was going on. Thank you, Vue, thank you very much.

And then finally, when the film finished and the lights turned back on, we found a woman lying on the floor with a crowd forming around her. She had, according to a very loud shouter standing beside her, 'broken a leg'. I don't know how or when, but if the person had broken a leg, she was very quiet about it... When I left the cinema, an ambulance came.

Well, what a crazy first day of the year. If all the days of 2015 are like this, I'm going to write a story about it, or produce a film.

Anyways, this became very long, so I'll leave you all now to your own businesses.

❤️

I love y'all so much. Have a happy new year, and may this year be the best for everyone. Goodbye!

WINTER WONDERLAND ADVENTURES!

Hello! Yes, I have turned one year older today. I feel accomplished.

I haven't updated too much recently, but a lots been happening.

On the 21st, I went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with friends to celebrate an early birthday. It was so fun - we spent the morning on rides, the afternoon eating as unhealthily as we could, including churros, waffles, candy-floss, marshmallows dipped in chocolate fountains, and hot chocolate.

We then spent the rest of the day staring at pretty things in the stalls. I bought a turquoise skull bracelet and a hat/headband faux fur thingy. Both my friend and I bought it, to celebrate our matching birthdays.

Winter Wonderland was tiring, but totally worth the rushing and early-ish wake up.

Yesterday, I stayed at home, alone, and watched Skydoesminecraft on YouTube. I then watched two Christmas films: The Nightmare Before Christmas and Arthur Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was cute, but too Halloweeny for the Christmas holidays, in my opinion. Arthur Christmas was adorable and made me cry, but that doesn't say much.

I cried when watching The Big Bang Theory so...

Anyways, this is getting really long, and today has yet to be completed. So I'll talk to y'all in a few more hours, with updates on today.

❤️

I love y'all, and goodbye.

And by the way, there are less than 2 days till Christmas - it's the eve of the eve of Christmas!

GOODBYE CHINA! (02/09/2014)

The time is here! I am finally about to finish writing about China and move on.

AKA not knowing what else to write about :/

So, without further ado...let's dig in!

On the saddest of sad days on the 2nd September 2014, it was the time for a little girl and her dad to leave China.

We had to wake up early to pack up all our stuff, and then rush to the airport because my dad and I are always late for everything... Our flight was at 2:10 pm local time (in China) so we would be arriving in England at 1 am local time, making that 6 pm British time. All that confusing time talk and losing/gaining hours...it's like Doctor Who, but not as exciting.

If you cast your mind back to weeks ago when I posted my first 'China post', you may remember that I said I was going to watch loads of films. I had already watched Divergent and The Notebook on the way to China. Anyways, coming back, I first watched The Lego Movie, then Noah, and then also Hercules: The Legend Begins.

"Everything is AWESOME..."

They were all really good films, it was a nice mixture of comedy, adventure and action, with a pinch of romantic fairy dust.

And finally, to top it all off, I watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

My eyes died that day, they did indeed.

I was really tired after all that. I lasted through a whole 10-hour flight without sleeping, stupidly, because my biological clock kept telling me it was too early. Then near the very end of the flight when we had to go, my brain finally told me that it was time to sleep.

Screw you, biological clocks and jet-lag!

Anyways, finally, we touched down, and I got to get home and see my mummy again. It was a happy moment for us all.

The End.

Or is it?

Let's just say, the next day I had school. Yep, coming back home on the evening of the day before school starts again...very clever. Though the clear genius is my friend though, she literally missed half the morning because she was flying back from America! She basically just reached home, packed her school bag, then went straight to school!

And then there's also the fact that due to jet-lag, I kept on waking up at 4 in the morning...

Brilliant

Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed this adventure we've been on together. It's been fun writing this up...like writing an essay, but not too important so I can talk in my own crazy language if I want.

And from this point on, there will be no more China posts!

Until the next time I go to China...but that probably won't be in a very long time.

I love y'all, and goodbye! xxx

JET LAG SUCKS! (17/08/2014)

THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING! I WROTE THIS IN CHINA, BUT THERE WAS NO WIFI SO I COULDN'T UPLOAD IT! SO, LETS JUST PRETEND I'M STILL IN CHINA EH?

Hey people! I don't know what time it is in England right now, but I'm kinda across the world and it's nighttime now so...it's confusing. Welcome to China, where you'll get the delightful experience of squat toilets with no tissue, the army of mosquitoes, and ruthless taxi drivers. I literally got into a type of taxi which was basically a metal frame on wheels. And the driver drove through red lights, scraped past other cars and cyclists, and I feel I was a hair breadth away from death.

Anyways yesterday, I finally came here, to China. I had a flight at local time (England)1:15pm, and I had to get up at like 8am or something to finish packing, not a nice time to wake up on a Sunday in the holidays. The flight itself was nine and a half hours long...ugh I hate long flights.

Well I guess I like the fact that there's films and TV shows on the plane...on my own personal screen! I watched Divergent (finally!) and it was amazing! I love how the film is so similar to the book (except for a few small changes) and how the characters are nearly exactly how I imagined them. Such a good film...

Though in the middle of watching it, these two random kids sat in the one seat next to me! They were kicking around there and just about turned me into a pancake. Right in the middle of Tris' fighting! The nerve of kids these days!

I also watched The Notebook, and cried disgustingly everywhere with snot flying all over the place. And I was sitting next to a stranger...yeah, sorry!

I'm hopefully going to watch the Lego Movie and Noah on the way back...

As well as films, there were also loads of TV shows...and guess what?! ("What?" you say). There was SHERLOCK! Sher-frickin-lock! It was The Empty Hearse, not one of my favourite episodes, but I'll take what you give if it's Sherlock!

And you know what I said about sleeping on the plane? Yeah...I didn't sleep at all. It was so disorientating though, we left England when it was daytime, then once in the air, it was nighttime for a few hours, and then arriving in China, it was daytime again! Nighttime was only 5-6 hours! And the thing is, by the time I arrived in China, it was 6:30 am there. That's 11:30pm in England when I would usually be in bed, sleeping. I basically had to get through another whole day without sleep! That's around 24 hours of nonstop travelling and movement and no sleep! 

When my dad and I arrived at Beijing, we went to a place called the Temple of Heaven or something... It was fun, but oh so hot! I'd completely forgotten how sunny China can get, even through all the fog and smog. I probably tanned ten shades darker, but oh well...I'll be a new person when I get back to school! It was also really tiring - you must realise that it would have been around 4 in the morning in England, *sigh* jet lag sucks. 

We then had lunch with a few of daddy's colleagues in China, scientists in their white overalls and all. It was hilarious, we went to the hospital's staff dining area, where everyone there were in white overalls, except for us. All the stares...*cowering under a table*

In the afternoon, we took a train to Henan, daddy's hometown. It was one of those super fast trains, so only took about 4 hours to get from Beijing to Henan in the middle of China. I finally slept a little on the train, only for 2 hours or so, but that was alright. We were also travelling first class, so the seats were extra big and comfy. Yay for unnecessary comforts! 

In Henan, I was finally reunited with all my relatives. My cousins, my aunts and uncles, my grandma, and my cousin's adorable little girl. Someone please tell me what relation I am to my cousin's kid. I'm confused...something like an auntie? My lord I feel ancient. We all squished together and had dinner, and that, my dear friends, was the end of the day...or two days? I don't know!

This was a really jam-packed post, loads of stuff happened so it jumped around loads...sorry about that, but that's all for today thankfully. 

I love y'all, and goodbye! Goodbye from China! Xxx

NOT JUST ANOTHER SEA DAY... (01/08/2014)

Hey, ya'll! What's crackin? Recently, I've been absolutely loving the song 'Skinny Love' by Birdy. Omg, it's like angel music! It literally gives me goosebumps all over it's so ahhhh... I've been listening to it on repeat for the last three days or so. I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH!

As the title suggests, I spent the first day of August in the middle of the sea, pinching and punching myself. We had breakfast in the restaurant Verona, and then went straight down to the Playhouse to watch a Headliners Theatre Company interview, where the entertainment manager asked questions to some of the dancers and vocalists in the company. They talked about the auditions, life on board the ship, quick costume changes, and the other stuff which you guys probably don't even care about.

After that, my friend and I watched the film 'Robocop' which was on in one of the bars. I may or may not have cried just a little...it was quite a good film. I was expecting it to be one of those crappy films you can watch for on YouTube and no-one cares about them, but 'Robocop' is surprisingly good.

We then watched another film after lunch, 'Rio 2'. This was on the seascreen, so I could have been swimming or in the jacuzzi whilst watching it, but there were too many people so I didn't. 'Rio 2' is so cute. I haven't watched the first one yet and we missed the first ten minutes of it, so it was a little confusing at first, but I got really into it! I especially love the turtles! 'High five...'

After the film, I decided to go to the gym and burn off some fat I must have gained from the whole week of food binging. I did the usual - one mile on the treadmill and then a bit of rowing. I love how the rowing machine has that fish game where you have to eat fishes and try not be eaten by sharks, but I always end up just sitting there and only move my arms so...not the best workout :/

As that was our last day on the cruise, we had to start packing our stuff ready to leave bright and early in the morning, so we did that before dinner :(

Then after dinner, we watched the final theatre show in the Playhouse. It was truly sad, the theatre company is amazing and knowing that it might be the last time watching these little 'after-dinner' productions was depressing. That night's theme was Broadway and West End musicals, with the title of 'Curtains up!' This was another favourite night, there were musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Joseph, Billy Elliot, and West Side Story. There were others I'm pretty sure, but I...I can't remember *guilty face*. Anyways, that was another amazing show, and also the last. It was very sad indeed.

And that's all folks!

I love y'all, and gooooodbye! Xxx

CLIMBING MOUNTAINS (30/07/2014)

Hey my lovely peepsicles! I went shopping again, with my mum this time...to be honest, shopping with my mum is so dreadfully boring...so I wrote all of this whilst out! Yay fun...I'm tripping over everything whilst also getting clothes chucked at me every few seconds :/

Anyways...

On the 30th July 2014, if you had stalked me, you would have found me in Skjolden, Norway. Skjolden (pronounced as Skiolden - 'j's are pronounced as 'i's) was an...interesting little town.

Firstly, it was raining the same way it does in England - one moment spitting, the next pouring down heavily, then the next it was sunny and clear. It was confusing. Secondly, there were loads to do as marked on the town map, but realistically there was really not much.

We climbed a mountain and became soaked hallway to our destination, a viewpoint, even though it was beautifully clear when we started. It was really rocky and the path was small, made even more dangerous by the wet ground. All in all, it was not a fun climb. Well, at least the view made our climb worth it:

Next, we decided to explore the 'Llama Safari', one of the attractions listed on the map. However, we were sourly disappointed. We were so disappointed it actually became kinda funny. The 'safari' was a little field of around eight llamas which was also off limits. I think it was supposed to be a llama farm...but anyways, we couldn't even see the llamas properly it was so far away. What a way to get tourists to wander around aimlessly trying to look for a safari!

The 'Llama Safari' in all its glory! Can you see it?

After that most annoying traipse around half of Skjolden, we called it a day, deciding to ignore the misleading map and walk along the fjord towards our ship. The fjord, as usual, was gorgeous and made some very picturesque pictures... Along the way, we were also skipping stones, something that I've embarrassingly never done before. My dad could skip it three times, and never let us forget it...show off :)

Anyways, we went back to our ship, and I had my precious beauty sleep. The dinner type was formal again, so it was worth the nap I guess. I went through the usual routine of doing my makeup, hair, and sorting through all the bits and bobs to get me looking at least slightly put together. For once.

Dinner ended, and we were ready to hear some singing and dancing. That night the theatre company presented us with their 'Reel to Reel' performance, songs from the most popular British films. That was probably my favourite night, mainly because I actually knew most the songs... There was Bridget Jones' Diary, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver Twist, Mamma Mia, Slumdog Millionnaire, to name a few. The finale was James Bond, complete with fancy lighting and fire spurting out of the stage. It was awesome, and the vocalists/dancers were so talented.

And that was the end of the night.

I love y'all, and gooooodbye! Xxx