SAMSARA MOVIE PREMIERE

So once again I have had the honour of accompanying Mei on one of her lucky wins - this time for the London Premiere of Samsara, a non-verbal film from Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, creators of Baraka (1992) and Chronos (1985).

SAMSARA is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever turning wheel of life”, the film transporting us to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders

 It was filmed over 5 years in 25 countries, one of only a handful of films shot on 70mm in the past 40 years!

The premiere was held at Soho Hotel in one of the private function rooms.

Pre-movie drinks, courtesy of Mei's camera x

Short interview with Ron Fricke & Mark Magidson before the start of the movie

Me & Mei x

Q&A session at end of movie

It was only a short movie, running time of approximately 1.5 hours. The images captured seemed to flow well from one country to another and cleverly intertwined, with soothing music playing in the background. Some parts a bit TOO soothing and calm, I have to admit it was hard for me stifling my yawns and trying hard not to nod off to sleep! 

But the images were indeed very beautiful, focusing quite a lot on the people from different cultures.

It's not just your average traditional documentary or compilation of summer holiday pictures, but rather images that enables us as viewers to make our own interpretations without any distractions from dialogue or text.

After the short Q&A session, we headed to have some noodles for supper!

The perfect way to end a good night ;)

To end on an unrelated note...apparently Keith Lemon was in the building before he was swiftly driven off to his movie premiere!

Shame I arrived at Soho Hotel too late to catch him! 

I blame Google maps... 

Anyways, Samsara is due for a nationwide release on 31st August 2012.

Note: For those who are looking for fist-pumping, heart-stopping, thriller-seeking action!...this is not for you!

V FESTIVAL WEEKEND!

Just a while ago I entered an online competition by Nokia UK and amazingly I won a pair of weekend camping tickets to V Festival 2012 at Weston Park!

This very strange occurrence was rather unexpected because:

1. I very seldom win competitions

2. I have never been to a music festival, what more CAMP at one!

Yes, I am, or WAS a festival virgin...even my landlady, Sarah, found it amusing how it so graciously fell into my grasps when there are others more desperate to get their hands on the tickets.

The festival virgin going to the Virgin Festival, very appropriate indeed.

And to think I almost got the dates wrong thinking that it was next week.

Free tickets worth 180 pounds each!

Thankfully I had a man with experience!

Stuck in traffic!

After a painful 3.5 hour drive, delayed by the flippin'(!) traffic, we finally arrived. We were obviously one of the late stragglers as many would have started pithcing their tents on Friday or early Saturday morning. But sharp-eyed Mike managed to find us a small spot in the sea of polystyrene tents!

Hunting for a spot!

V Festival baby! ... and my festival arm candy!

Chilling in the park

Tinie Tempah @ Virgin Media Stage

Nero @ The Arena

Took some videos on my Iphone, all very shaky (!) because of the crowd and excitement. Here's one of Tinie Tempah and Snow Patrol!:

I definitely over-exceeded my daily sugar intake with over-priced drinks and alcohol, but it's all good.

Despite me and my OCD moments, I managed to overcome this and blocked out the horrific images of salmonella and E. Coli as I closed my eyes each time I entered the portable public toilets...

We didn't stay on to watch the Sunday events but there's always next time.

Also didn't catch much sleep so it's going to be an early night for me.

I had my festival gear on but the fashionista in me forgot to take some photos (doh!). 

Oh well, let's just assume I looked good *wink* ha!

It's official - the festival virgin is 'festival-devirginized' x

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend. Pray for more good weather next weekend!

POEM: THE PEASANT GIRL

So today I was rummaging through the many piles of papers that I have accumulated throughout the years, and I stumbled upon some of my poems that I wrote when I was in my teenage years! I must have brought along some memories from home before I came over to the UK almost 6 years ago.

The Peasant Girl was probably one of the first ones that I wrote in my free time, back when I was less distracted by technology and the internet!

So here it is in all its glory...

The Peasant Girl

Along the coastline,

In the evening’s golden glow,

Stands a peasant girl in the shades of the trees,

Her modest wraps flowing gently in the breeze,

Among the wildflowers she walks with a rose in hand,

Leaving a trail of dainty footprints upon the shifting sand,

Her willow figure a graceful silhouette,

Bathed in its incandescence as the sun begins to set,

Across the horizon where the sea meets the sky,

She looks out with hope for a ship to sail by,

That carries her beloved whom she entrusted body and soul,

Who left her heartbroken which no one could console,

To him her whole heart she surrendered,

The man who vowed to wed her,

Whose sweet words had captured her heart,
With promises of faith and devotion,

United as one and never to part,

But alas her childhood fantasy would never come true,

For a life of commitment he could not succumb to,

As he was a sailor who traveled far and wide,

And although he cherished her dearly,

His passion for adventure he could not hide,

And so he bid her his last farewell,

And sailed off one fine day,

With a single rose and a kiss upon her lips,

One last loving glance before he sailed away,

Two years have passed yet still she waits,

With hope that he would return,

And stands along the water’s edge,

With only the memory of his lifelong pledge,

Looking out toward the endless sea,

Looking out for a love not meant to be.

Felicia Tan, 2005

...

Yes, you can tell I was a bit of a hopeless romantic then...as much as I am now!

 Though, as much as I LOVED all that flowery romance I had never dated anyone before I was AT LEAST 20 years old...probably because I wasn't pretty or attractive like my mates ha!

I was always more of a wallflower, but I think I have started to come out of my shell more as I grow older.

Hmm, maybe I should see if I still have bits of my poetic side left in me. The difference now would be that I would typing it in ease on my beautiful Macbook Pro as opposed to writing on scraps of recycled paper back then! Dad was always quite insistent on making full use of both sides of the paper, there was always a whole stack of old one-sided printed documents to write on. Even now my dad is still very 'old-school', but I do love him so!

However, like anyone else in the modern generation, I do love technology.

If I do find any other presentable poems I'll be sure to post them x

Lots of love to all my wonderful readers x

FINAL DAY OF LONDON OLYMPICS 2012

So after an exciting 2 weeks the London Olympics 2012 is now coming to an end...

Although I live in London I didn't manage to get any tickets (shameful I know!), but we did catch some of the Men's marathon action around central London today! As well as the women's last weekend as mentioned in one of my previous posts.

We lined up early along the bridge at Southbank despite the evil crowd management staff trying to move people along and disallowing stopping and viewing along the bridge. But hey it's the last day, so just take a chill pill!

We made our way to Tower Bridge to snap some photos of the Olympic rings.

Stopped for some sushi at feng sushi at Borough Market to re-energize!

And as usual the kid in me is always on the lookout for a snap with Wenlock!

The atmosphere around London is just buzzing and it's such a good feeling to be able to experience London 2012. 

London has definitely done a good job in organizing this spectacular event!

And well done to Team GB having achieved third place on the Leader board - 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze medals, their best performance in over a 100 years!

Source: Team GB (official Facebook page)

And as a fellow Malaysian I must not forget to mention the great achievements of the two Malaysian medalists- Datuk Lee Chong Wei (silver - badminton) and Pandelela Rinong (bronze - 10m platform diving).
You have done our country proud x

http://thelondon2012.blogspot.co.uk/

http://thelondon2012.blogspot.co.uk/

It'll be a long time before the Olympics return to London again and it's best to just savour this moment in time.
Trip to Rio in 4 years time maybe?!

I haven't got a front row ticket to the closing ceremony, but I've got a snuggly spot on my bed with my little personal TV and a bag of mini stroopwafels, and that's all I really need x

BARED TO YOU - WHAT FIFTY SHADES COULD HAVE BEEN

As you may have seen in my previous posts about my Fifty Shades experience, I have now discovered a refreshing new read.

The other day, whilst browsing the book aisle at work I spotted this - Bared To You, a New York Times Bestseller.

And it had a sticker on the front - 'If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey then you'll love this'. 

Well I can't say that I 'loved' Fifty Shades, it was rather interesting in the beginning, but then my interest started to wane towards the end.

So, lets now put Fifty Shades behind us.

Apparently, the literary world is now to be taken over by a series of books written by Sylvia Day. I've just finished reading the first book of the Crossfire series, and am now quite a bit impatient having to wait for the second book Deeper In You which is meant to come out in October 2012!

From my point of view, after reading this first book I would say that it is MILES better than Fifty Shades, and probably what Fifty Shades could have been.

The storyline is quite similar to Fifty shades, the main characters Gideon and Eva, both from rather dysfunctional family backgrounds, come together in this erotic romantic novel.

Gideon Cross, the very attractive multimillionaire businessman who appears as a tortured, dominating, sexually charged, passionate lover becomes attracted to Eva Tramell, a headstrong 24 year old girl trying to make it on her own in the world.

I'm still not quite a fan of the name 'Gideon'...but I guess it'll start to grow on me at some point (?)

Despite their rocky relationship, their fiery chemistry perseveres as you would expect in a romantic novel.

Guilty indulgence of a sexually graphic fictional literary masterpiece, who could resist?

Here's some juicy quotes from the novel, just to get you hooked...


"He was the kind of guy that made a woman want to rip his shirt open and watch the buttons scatter along with her inhibitions."

“It's probably best for me to work off some energy before I get you naked. I'm sure you'd like to be able to walk tomorrow.”

"I'll make you say it again...you'll scream it by the time I'm done with you."


A couple more months to go to the sequel.

Until then I'll be on the prowl for more delicious reads x

 

WEEKEND SUMMARY: BINCHO, CHATIME AND REAL FOOD MARKET

I spent most of Saturday glued to the TV watching the London Olympics 2012 - yes, surprisingly enough I am drawn into all this Olympic fever with the rest of the world!

Had dinner at a lovely Japanese restaurant that we stumbled upon in Soho - Bincho on Old Compton Street. We ordered 2 portions of rice, The Seven Samurai, and a couple from the Yakitori selection. 

Sho Chikubai Hot Sake - served warm in traditional flask/tokkuri, the blue rings at the bottom of the cup (ochokko) are used to judge the sake's clarity.

Unagi - eel with sansho pepper

The Seven Samurai

Aigamo - duck breast, wasabi and spring onion

Ninniku Chahan (buttered garlic rice) and Oyako Don (steamed rice with chicken, soft cooked egg & spring onion)

Finished off with one of my favourite indulgences - bubbletea mmm...

My little taste of heaven x

 

On a rather temperamental Sunday (weather-wise), we fueled up with some home-made breakfast by the Little Chef! 

Yes, I do an AWESOME scrambled egg ha!

Bagel with scrambled egg and smoked salmon

When we got into town, we managed to catch some of the Marathon action!

Absolutely love the excitement in the atmosphere - definitely the best time to be in London.

Trafalgar Square

Southbank

We then wandered around Southbank and nibbled around the Real Food Market. 

Gelato mmm...

Someone running low on energy ha :p

It's back to watching the Olympics now - Men's 100m final in a few minutes!

Bolt, Blake, Powell, Gatlin?!

And not forgetting to mention - how AMAZING is Team GB doing!

3rd on the Leader board so far woohoo!