Adventures in Brussels

I went to Brussels for a day trip yesterday. We started off badly and missed the eurostar. As we got towards the escalators leading towards the eurostar, the glass doors automatically shut. The lady tried to stop the doors and wanted us to run up there to catch it - which we most definitely would have done, but it was too late. We still had 5 minutes before the train left the platform but we were refused entry. Grr! Instead, we had to wait two hours for the next train. Therefore, we already lost our two hours of exploring. Double grr!

Eventually we were on our way. There wasn't much on my list of things to do: beer, chocolates, waffles (what else am I expecting of Belgium?) We wanted to take the Metro to reach different areas for exploring and so queued up in a long queue at the ticket office. Took a while and when it was our turn, the ticket machine decided to conveniently break down. We were already not impressed with the turn of events!

The day did get better and we managed some wandering. Visited Grand Place, saw Tintin lookalikes, couldn't find the Moof museum I had in mind, oohed and aahed over the teeny weeny buildings in mini-europe, and popped into a few shops. Time passed pretty quickly.

I tried Belgium fries - I assumed they were quite popular because of the crazy long queues. They were nice though. Unfortunately I had a little too much and my stomach was too full to fit any waffles in. I had to cross waffles off my list. Chocolates were far too expensive for me to buy any but they very pretty to browse. I did get a couple of those chocolate sticks. I first saw them in a Chinese drama I was watching and thought to myself, "Oooooh, that looks awesome. I want to try that!" So I'll give it a try at a later point.

I really wanted to try beer in a bar but it didn't work out as those I was with sadly do not drink alcohol. I need buy some though so I guess that'll make up for it!

Here's my tiny little haul I managed to bring back with me (tried to make the image bigger but it won't let me):

 

I've started comping again :)

Yes, and now it all begins once again. I've begun entering competitions again in the hope that I win something big. I think I started again at the beginning of September and I've had three little wins so far: tickets to London Fashion Week catwalk show (which I've posted about previously), McCains chips (which I have yet to receive still) and Equinox Kombucha teas which I delightfully received in the post today.

I think I'll have to start posting up all my winnings to give me a boost. I'm still aiming for a television or a pretty Ipad - now, wouldn't that be lovely?

Postie drunk on my Baileys?

I received my small sample of Bailey's Chocolat Luxe. Sounds delicious so I'm looking forward to trying it out but I won't since it's getting late (and I bet you all say - when it's late, it's even better!). I need to treasure my beauty sleep - too much working at the moment!

Anyway, I received this little treasure in the post and it made me think back to the last sample of Bailey's I had sent to my house. It was during christmas and I think they had this new Bailey's hazelnut one or something of the sort.

I was NOT happy.

Some little devil had opened up my post and proceeded to drink my little Bailey's bottle. Adding further insult, the little devil decided it would be hilarious to return the bottle in it's packaging and deliver it alongside the rest of my post.

I never did try that Bailey's :(

London Fashion Week: Palmer & Harding

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Palmer and Harding's catwalk show as part of London's Fashion Week. It was my first time going to anything of the kind and it was pretty amazing. The stage was beautifully set with with scaffolding and we had front row tickets (plus goody bag - who can forget the perks of going to such a show!)

I wasn't aware of the usual arrangement so I just sat for enjoyment. The models came out and walked around the scaffolding....but not for a particularly long time. The show ended with the models standing in a row at the front of the stage where photographers were given more than enough time to take photos. The designers were around to take questions and the audience mingled with drinks.

I'm quite fond of the last photo I took of two models having a talk amongst themselves. Captures a little something.

Siro-A

I went to see Siro-A perform last week. They have been compared to the blue-man group but a Japanese version. I've heard that the blue-man group are amazing so I was expecting something good to come out of this.

Siro-A are a group of six men who perform through dance, mime and puppetry using astonishing visual effects. I knew it would be absolutely new and different for me - which was mainly the reason why I wanted to go. Most likely because it contained a lot of electro soundtracks which I'm not at all into. But it being totally out of my comfort zone, I felt a need to go see it.

It was exhilarating and out of this world. Smile.

It completely hit my expectations and the performance was amazing. Even though it was a short hour and a half (ish), it seemed far longer and I couldn't believe how much they fitted into that small space of time. Siro-A had so much energy on stage and they involved the audience as much as they could. It was brilliant.

Reading up on some info after the show, I found out they performed at the Shanghai Expo to 30,000 people and they won the Spirit of the Fringe award at the Edinburgh Festival. At this point, I'm going "ooooooooo............."

If you happen to be in and around London, I definitely recommend these guys to you. You wouldn't regret it. They're still performing at Leicester Square Theatre up until the 13th October.

Your attention will definitely be captured.

Rush

I saw a preview of Rush the other day - a movie due to come out in cinemas next week. The film is based on a true story about the rivarly between James Hunt and Niki Lauda in the world of Formula One. There was a review I read just before the movie telling me how the film's depiction of the two characters were spot-on, however the action on the race-course were pretty poor. This appeared to be very true and I enjoyed the film to a certain extent.

I'm not a very big fan of motorsport and I hadn't even heard of these two characters before. But the movie's storyline captured me and it was one of those films that I really wanted to see. The movie theatre was packed and they insisted on I.D before I went in. Luckily I had no problems. Upon arriving right on time due to my other party's lateness, we were forced to sit at the very front. So there I was squirming in the front seat of the cinema screen with my neck at a crooked angle fidgeting throughout.

I love movies based on a true story (apart from the horror ones - that would scar me for life!). It relives the past and they have a tendency to link it to the real life events before the credits roll. This reminds me of Argo - I thought the movie was exceptionally good, and the resemblance between the movie and the actual event were so brilliantly close. These type of movies always makes me want to find out more when I get home.

Free movie screenings are the best!

Am I after something crazy to happen?

I'm wondering if I have some hidden wish to be robbed.

I'm having dreams of work. Bit of a boring job really - in an office dealing with monies. Both dreams felt so real - like it really happened. In last night's dream, I was working.

My colleague left a little early for our break - she didn't want to wait for me and seemed a bit irritated. So I finished off what I was doing and was about the leave.......when I saw two faces peering through the small window where money is usually moved in and out of the office. That freaked me out a little. They didn't see me but I could see them breaking the window. At that time I was in between two set of doors that lead in and out of the office.

I pressed the panic alarm and wondered if it was working. I looked back and they were climbing through the window. One man and one woman. The man was caucasian and looked in his late forties or early fifties. The woman was black and was a bit large in size, around her thirties. The images of what they looked like was so vivid. She had a little difficulty trying to get in and he gave her a helping hand. She seemed very capable as soon as she was in, like she knew what she was doing. Jumping up on her feet, she moved around the office....searching, and looking around.

I got a creepy vibe from the man. I pressed the panic alarm again but I still wasn't sure if anyone was coming. I quietly crept through the other doors, trying so hard not to make any sound. The man came towards the doors - it was as if he knew something was up - like I was there. His eyes darted through the other window which I was peering through before when I saw them come in. He had a very creepy crazy look about him.

I went and tried to hide somewhere. Anywhere. I could hear him saying "burglar, burglar, burglar" in a repetitive way. He was like the joker - just saying that one word over and over again in a sing-song. My heart was caught somewhere in my throat. Where could I hide so I wouldn't be found?

I woke up then. But his sing-song voice stayed in my head.

That was one uncomfortable dream.

My other previous dream was something similar but the people breaking in were like expert ninjas. They must have heard me come through the doors of the office and they all froze. I froze too and slowly backed out. Ran off to find security. They were gone by the time I returned.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just waiting for the day something crazy would happen.