Month: November 2015

Hyper Japan Christmas Market 2015 – London Tobacco Dock

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It’s time for another Hyper Japan event!! The Christmas event!! Woohoo.
Never got to go last year because Miss Pinky and I landed on the weekend it was happening on. So we were already Japanned out from our flight. ^_^
This year I HAD to go! My fourth Hyper Japan. It’s in a smaller arena called Tobacco Dock – a place I have never been to before. London has so many little corners I’ve never been to! Well, the queue was not bad that morning. Got a wrist band because I bought a dual ticket but because I wasn’t priority I still had to queue in the normal queue to get in! ¬_¬” Well, we moved quite swiftly compared to the summer one. 🙂

So here it goes, lots and lots of pictures… Meet you peeps at the second half of the session, which is further down…

matcha bubble tea from Milk Tea Pearl

 Can’t believe there was a Maid Cafe!! ^_^ LOL!!

Gosh! Fashion show was EXTREMELY crowded!! I moved towards the centre back after the anime directors did there Q&A’s.

Minori – Japanese lolita fashion designer!!

Stood on my chair to get a pic of this!! ¬_¬””

Kawaiiiii!!

Domo-kun!!!!

Second half started in the coooold! Had to go back out and start queuing again… This time because I had the yellow wrist band I was given priority to go back in… Woohoo!! ^_^ Happy Geek!! BUT we still had to wait until 3.45 pm before the second half actually started… Boooo!!!

So at 3.45 pm we all were allowed back in, I was hungry again so I went off to find food… Was not impressed by chicken katsu burger served by some Cantonese speakers… ¬_¬”” but I did like the mango bubble tea… should’ve went to have a donburi at the opposite stall…

Time to go and watch more entertainment!! These ninjas are funny!!

Time for the cosplay parade… Some of the audience was telling those standing in the aisles to move or sit down as those with seats could not see… Ugh… Maybe they should’ve built a mini stadium…

Unfortunately the peeps moved so quickly that it was very hard to take pictures of them…

And finally the person Japanese band I was awaiting to see all day (I actually heard them rehearsing in the morning)… Ladybaby!!!! They are a YouTube phenomenon!! Ladybeard (real name: Rick Magarey) who is an Australian Wrestler and is a 5 year old here who sings heavy metal with two cute teenagers Rei Kuromiya and Rie Kaneko (who unfortunately was not able to make this weekend due to a family situation)… ^_^

Ladybeard

Ladybeard and Rei Kuromiya

Rei Kuromiya

So after the cosplay and mini Ladybaby concert I decided to brave the cold and stand in the line to Meet and Greet them! Stood in a what was presumed a spiral line with a  bunch of eager beavers also wanting pictures… Make sure you purchase photos, a raffle or t-shirts to be able to take a picture with them!!! I purchased pictures worth £10 (5 in a pack) at the front…

Arrrgh! I hugged them both!!! And Ladybeard says I have a cute London accent! Awwwww, so kawaiiiiii!!!! I spoke to Rei in Japanese (konbanwa and arigatou gozaimasu) – she looked a bit bemused… They both looked tired and I saw Rei pout. Awwww, not long to go. One more afternoon to entertain!!

Mr Stingy informed me it’s Rei-chan’s birthday today (Sunday 29th Nov). Happy Birthday Rei-chan!!! ^_^ … Realised all three members of Ladybaby are all Sagittarians! LOL!! No wonder!!

Picture on my camera ^_^
In the end, after braving the cold, I went around one last time… I bought some ice cream, and I’m sure there was wasabi flavour, unfortunately I was too late and missed the wasabi flavour. 😦 I bought the espresso flavour, which is awesome and better than the Haagen Dazs coffee one, and I tried out the ginger one, which was sweet. ^_^ £2 a pot, and it didn’t melt as much as I thought it would… Turned all mousse like when I got home…

In the end I spent £67.50… I kept tabs on myself so as not to overspend like a crazy geek who wanted everything!
Journey home was a nightmare by the way… I had to change buses about three times before I got home. Humph!!
My brother Mr Stingy is there right now… So only a few hours to go before it ends,.. I might go next year if I’m not on another holiday. ^_^

Website: http://hyperjapan.co.uk/

La Luna Italian Restaurant – London Walworth Road

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After spending a bit of time with Miss Pinky and co, I was dumped and sent home (Miss Pinky had planned a dinner date with Mr Picky – so I hope that went well)… but I was huuuungry (the white wine spritzer earlier didn’t help). So I decided to go to La Luna on the Walworth Road, an Italian restaurant that’s been around for years. And yes, this is the first time I’ve been in there… ¬_¬” Quite embarrassing to not go into the local Italian… Bad Geek! There are days when I pass by and it’s not busy and some other days it’s very busy.
La Luna 

So I sat by the window, it was a bit chilly that evening so I still had my scarf on… I went through the menu and was thinking to have either a pasta or a pizza. Choosing Italian food is always hard for me. I like both pasta and pizza, everything has cheese on it… fattening cheese! But the one thing I like the most is the Italian tomato sauce. Yummy!!

Bread sticks and olives are already set on the table for you…

bread sticks and olives

And this is what I had. From the hot starters I had the uova al forno which consists of eggs, ham, meat sauce and cheese… it came out nice and hot. Fresh from the oven. Be careful of the hot bowl!! I had to blow the food on every bite I took. It was very good, but not cheesy enough for me… I want more of that tomatoey meat sauce – just rich and sweet.

uova al forno

I also had the ortolana pizza. It wasn’t what I expected. The pizza was very big but it wasn’t cut into slices like I normally would get in other pizza places. Sometimes I wonder at how Italians eat pizza and apparently you cut it into quarters and eat it with knife and fork or you can pick up the quarters, fold it and eat it. But did I do that? Nope, I cut mine into 8ths and ate it slice by slice, plus folding like an Italian. I learnt the folding technique from watching an old American film with an Italian girl showing a person how to eat pizza slices… still remember that scene but forgot the film title!
I was a little disappointed with the veggie toppings… I wanted a little more on top. It was a good pizza though. 
ortolana pizza

By the way, I did have a large glass of red wine, which made me a little tipsy, heheh, but I managed to get home in the freezing cold, and also felt guilty eating a lot whilst there was a homeless guy begging outside (I gave him a quid)… 😦

my empty glass of wine ^_^

Total cost came to £18.40. Not bad. Cheaper than most Italian places I believe. ^_^

I was told by a friend who goes to this restaurant all the time, but is out of the country at the moment, to try out the penne all’amatriciana…. I wonder why!

My geeky rating: 5/5

Good points:
– Very polite service
– Reasonable prices
– Food comes out hoooot! (unlike some places I’ve been to) ^_^
– A lot of the locals go here which means it’s a good thing

Bad: points:
– Pizza toppings was not what I expected but everything else was ok!

Address: 380 Walworth Road, London SE17 2NG
Telephone: 020 7277 1991

Website: http://www.lalunapizzeria.com/La_Luna_Pizzeria/Home.html

Scandinavian Christmas Market 2015 – London Rotherhithe

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Ok, so it’s been a few years since Miss Pinky and I went to the Scandinavian Christmas Market in Rotherhithe (since 2012!) and so it was time to go again! 
It was a nightmare getting there, so much traffic and we had to stop a few times to make sure Baby B was wrapped up warm. A few years back it was cold and raining and not a lot of people went… This year was surprisingly different. A lot of people were there and there seemed to be a lot of tents up. What happened over the past few years? People boom? Good weather (although we had a bit of snow yesterday morning)? 

Miss Pinky and I decided to split for a bit, so I made my way to the church… I was disappointed with some of the people who thought Miss Pinky was pushing in the queue whilst going into the church… I queued and bought her ticket folks (ticket is £1 per person)! For goodness sake, be nice people. These days I’m really conscious of those who are not sympathetic to mothers in public… Miss Pinky pays her taxes, works her hardest for the society and what does she get? Nothing in return. 😦

We were there for 10 minutes, and left without buying anything. A bit expensive to our liking.
I remembered a few years back there was a tiny hall with lots of stalls and tables… I didn’t see that this year, maybe because we missed it…?
Anyway, if you do go today or anytime in the future, DO NOT bring a pram. It’s not the best place for mothers with a young baby. Lots of items are expensive like the sweets and chocolates costing from £4 to £7 in the church, yep, that expensive. Clothes (the stalls and church) were understandably expensive – it was as if you were going into designer stores! Anyway, I think most people went for the food and drink… try out if you dare!! ^_^
A good half an hour spent in the market. Phew!

Then off to a photoshoot in a pub (??) which Mr Picky never got to and so Miss Pinky and Baby B did it themselves… I had a white wine spritzer in the meantime and made myself a little tipsy. Woohoo!

Miss Pinky and Baby B ^_^

Address: Albion Street, Rotherhithe, London SE16
Nearest Stations: Surrey Quays and Rotherhithe
Nearest Buses: 381

Website: http://www.scandimarket.co.uk/

p.s. It’s Miss Pinky’s birthday today! Happy Birthday Miss Pinky!! ^_^

Harvey Nichols Christmas Advert 2015 – Avoid #GiftFace

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Hahahaha!! I think I’ve watched this advert too many times… 
Following on from the Currys adverts it seems that Harvey Nichols have caught onto a similar theme on how to avoid the disappointed “gift face” when you receive an unwanted gift for Christmas… Thankfully majority of the time my friends give me the gifts and I open them later at home so they don’t see my disappointed face… No bath/shower things, no mugs (I have faaaar too many) and no boring stuff, thank you very much!! ¬_¬”” Sorry my beautiful friends…
This young lady Lucy pulls a brave face when she opens every present she gets… Not a word from her mouth comes out. Too stunned (or disappointed) to say anything. Hahahahah. 

Let’s face it, we’ve all been there at least once in our lives. :p

Currys Christmas Adverts – "Spare the Act"

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Exhausted? Yes I am! After two days of non-stop working and trying to stop myself from making a bad scene in meetings I need a one month break… Not really, just joking.
What I need is a funny, cringing advert to learn how to accept gifts without looking disappointed and also getting top tips from Jeff Goldblum who takes on several situations…
The husband and wife situation where the wife is disappointed in getting a baked beans jigsaw puzzle… Lol! Keep watching.

Just suck up to the chef people… that’s the only way you can show less of your disappointment to the person who cooked it. Heheheheh.

Don’t you wish you had an old TV to watch black and white films? Naaah.

The husband who gets foot talc… >_<" (I would be disappointed at getting this sort of stuff).

The office boy and boss situation… Just don’t embarrass yourself in front of your colleagues!!

I just love these adverts, so I even watched the outtakes. ^_^

Just don’t forget to shop at Currys this Christmas!!

The Body Shop Christmas Advert 2015 – "Jingle Bells"

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What tragedies that has happened this weekend in Paris. We must remember to be confident for the world we live in. 
I know it’s not a time for comedy but to really cheer people up, here is a Christmas advert from Body Shop. It’s very funny as there’s an international theme going on here where people have taken their underwear off at the start, open up The Body Shop products and start singing Jingle Bells in different languages and showering at the same time. The funny part is the man who showered outside with just a leaf covering his privates. Hilarious ad! They’re all out of tune with each other though… well towards the end, heheh! ^_^

Enjoy the rest of the weekend…

Sainsbury’s Christmas Advert 2015 – "Mog’s Christmas Calamity"

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We have an IMPROVEMENT from Sainsbury’s this Christmas! Woohoo!!!
With a nation full of animal lovers especially cat lovers it’s no surprise that at least one supermarket got it right this year! Most of the adverts have cut down to a 30 second or a 1 minute advert but Sainsbury’s have gone for the full 3 minutes and 30 seconds. I guess they are not deterred by the long advertising time because it is a better advert… better than I had expected. ^_^
Here we have Mog the cat who saves the day by accidentally causing trouble in the kitchen by turning the oven on over night with her tail which was stuck between the fairy lights, then waking up and slipping and falling around the kitchen, calls 999 by accident and then causes more trouble with the electrics! Oh dear, the Christmas tree has gone!! 
But the fire brigade turn ups and rescues the burnt turkey… Unfortunately the Thomas family are left without a kitchen and a living room,,, The great thing about this is in the end is when their neighbours turned up at their front door and they all had one big Christmasy neighbourly gathering… awww sweet!! 

This ad is all about sharing… 
And I absolutely agree that this is better than the John Lewis ad, but how much did this cost? 

Paypal Christmas Advert 2015 – "No Presents"

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Lots of Christmas adverts are quite traditional, but Paypal makes it all different this year. This is actually the first time I’ve seen a Christmas advert from them!
It starts off with two young brothers who are worried about their parents not buying Christmas presents, no bags in the hands of their father and no grandparents coming to look after them. What was funny was when the older brother said to the younger brother was that he could have anything from his side of the room which was a wooden aeroplane. Then the older brother snatched it back after seeing that there are in fact presents under the Christmas tree!! Lol!! 
Paypal is the best and easiest way of paying for goods online…

I’m actually really, really surprised that there’s actually been a whole fuss about this advert. I actually love it. Children will in the end discover that the real Santa Clause / Father Christmas existed back in the old days in the European countries and doesn’t fly on a wooden sleigh with Rudolph the red nose reindeer. And don’t forget Father Christmas never appeared in the Bible… it’s a fantasy people! 

I’m a killjoy!! :p

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015

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Oh John Lewis, you’ve done it all wrong again this year. 😦
There’s already a super analysis of how John Lewis’s adverts were really good to how they’ve become ridiculously rubbish over the past few years. Yes ridiculous is what I think of them at the moment.
This is an advert for Age UK to raise awareness of the elderly who are alone during the Christmas period. 
But I wonder if the old man on the moon is an alien… Did you know that there is no oxygen as soon as you come out of Earth and into Space? I wonder what the old man thought when he sat on the moon thinking that no one loves him… alone in space… 

I just can’t believe this cost £1million to make and a further £6million to advertise their own advert! <> Why don’t they give the money to Age UK and make a cheap ad and gain more profit via that way? Don’t these advertisers watch The Apprentice? >_<""
Make sure to visit your elders or your elderly neighbours… they love you, really, they do!