Family reunion (not mine) and chilling in the park(s)

Halloooo!!

Here I am, once again. Not torn into piece though... Thank god. (See: lyrics Behing Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson)

Well, that was a complete random start of my blogpost. It has absolutely nothing to do with what I am about to say. I haven't even heard the song recently... Oh the mind works in mysterious ways.

So, today I'm going to talk about: Molly and her weird weird family. Well, at least, that is what they say. Since I have been friends with Molly over the past 3 years, you get used to the weirdness. (Joking ;)) And on Easter Monday, I went to Blackheath and Greenwich park to enjoy the sun. Oh and at the end of the blog, I'll talk about my expectations of men.

Enjoy the video!! 

 
Molly and Company
On Saterday (early) morning Vanida, John and Thibaud arrived in London. Since Molly is so kind and social, she invited me to come along, hang out and get to know her nephews and niece (and also to show the way around town, 'cause Molly, you aren't the best in orientation (sorry ;)). 

As romantic as it sounds, we met at the Tower Bridge. Another part of London where I haven't been since I arrived here a month ago. It was nice seeing the Tower of London again. And I have to thank my parents for taking me to almost every essential to see and do in London 5 years ago. I am so glad and grateful that I have already seen The Globe, The London Eye, The Tower, Madame Tussaud, Harrods, Hamleys, etc.

Tower Bridge

Since she had been so enthousiastic about her visit to Camden Town, Molly's family wanted to see it for themselves. So off we went to Camden Town again. Thank god the weather was beautiful, but is was also the Easter weekend, so it meant even more tourists than last time Molly and I were in Camden. But we managed. No pick pocket incidents, that's what matters.

Family picture!

On Sunday, the original plan was to go shopping on Oxford street. But, as stupid as we were, we completely forgot it was Easter Sunday, so al the shops were closed. And it was raining too! What a lovely day... Not. But, thank god Camden didn't close, so we were off to Camden again so we didn't have to miss out on our shopping.

A very flattering shot of a horse statue

After Camden and before dinner, we went back to Charing Cross and on to the bridge to see this lovely view again. Even though I pass it everyday to work and back, I never get tired of seeing the Big Ben and the London Eye... 

Family picture Asian style

Group picture

Monday, oh sweet Easter Monday
As you've already noticed, the weather in England is very temperamental. One day, it is cold and cloudy, the next it is cold and rainy and the next day it is hot but cloudy and ends with a beautiful blue sky... The people here in England also don't seem to have a metabolism. Even when it is cold out and I'm wearing my jacket and scarf, people will walk outside in only a t-shirt. So it is never a reference to what people are wearing to know what kind of weather it is.. But, the weird weather changes also give some lovely views. I'll show you some below.

I miss my Canon camera... The pictures are lovely, but they are just not the same as they would have been on my Canon...

So when I arrived in Blackheath (only 7mins by bus from home), my initial thoughts were: "Oh-oh, I'm going the get soaked! Look at that **** huge cloud!!! I left the house with the sun out!!" But by the time I walked around the little village, the sun came out again and the cloud disappeared. So my logical next step was to buy a coffee. Yes, I am my father's daughter... With my Costa in hand, I picked a lovely spot on the blackheath and sat down and just relaxed. I ended up laying down reading my lovely book for 2hours. What can you ask more for a Monday afternoon?

My kinda lunch

After my lovely lay out, my instinct told me it was time to move. If you walk over the Blackheath, you walk straight into Greenwich park. So, I saw the other side of the park. And man it is a huge park. I only saw an iny tiny bit of it as it appeared. But, when I reached the top of the hill and when I saw this view.. Man, my heart... It was sold. 

*sigh*

You can see Canary Wharf where the tall building are and just behind the trees is Greenwich University. It was sooo beautiful, that I sat down again for a good amound of time.

When I started to write this blog, I thought: "Oh, I didn't go to Greenwich this week..." Well, that would have been a straight out lie...

From the moment I got up and walked over the blackheath to Greenwich park and all the way through Greenwich park and my moment of enjoying the view, all the way I had my iPod blaring in my ears. But not some random music, no no. It was the soundtrack of Pride and Prejudice, the movie (2005). As most of you know (if not, now you know) I just love that movie. So you can imagen I had my proper P&P moment when I walked, my hair in the wind, the sun on my face, a soundtrack to accompany my every move. If you can't live in a movie, you have to make a movie out of your life.

By 5p.m it was time to go back home, because Molly was coming over to see the Original Spiderman! My host mum was so kind to ask her grandson for the DVD since he is a fan as wel. But when we were all settle onto the sofa, we realised that that was not the beginning of the original spiderman... Oh no, it was a wrong-disc-in-the-wrong-dvd-holder situation. But, no stress, I always wanted to see an X-men movie, so that is what we did instead.

Because the Amazing Spiderman is now out in the theaters, I had to see the first Amazing Spiderman. So that's what I did this week. As expected, I LOVED it and I can't wait to see the second one. But it also had a bit of a 'negative' impact on me. My expectations of men have now, yet again, been increased... Besides being able to fly, be a gentlemen, witted, loyal, have amazing hair and be extremely funny, he now has to be slightly awkward but in a very cute way and still be a manly man. As you can imagine, it is a hopeless case for me... I really need to stop watching movies and stop reading books.

So, I am going to leave it at this for this week. I litteraly could go on for a while, but I'm not gonna do that :)

Home sickness: none
London City: every morning I smile when I walk to the train station, when I walk to the tube, walk to work,... Just because I'm so happy to be here. And for those who know me: me smiling in the morning is no-no-combo.
New people: Molly's lovely nephews John and Thibaud and lovely niece Vanida.
New word: food baby= when you had to much to eat

If you like, try to give my some feedback! Things you'd like to see, or things I shouldn't do anymore... Let me hear it :)

If you made it to the end of the blog: congrats! And see you next week! ;)

xo - Sara

Cutty sark and Jane Austen

Halloooo!!!!

Yet another week had gone by. Man it goes fast! Next week on the 22th I'll be living in London for exactly a month! Time flies when you are having fun, they say... It is true, they say.

So, what have I been up to this week? Not too much to be honest. On Saturday Molly and I went to Greenwich (again), but this time to visit the Cutty Sark. Sunday was Camden Town Time and on Monday we both had to work again... It was a short week though, because Good Friday is a bank holiday here in the UK. And Easter Monday as wel, so that is what you call a loooong weekend. Lovely. So these are the 3 topics I will cover for this week blog. And I might add an extra one at the end of it.

But first, as it is becoming a standard thing at the begin of my blogs... This weeks video. Hope you like it! 

Cutty Sark and Greenwich university
So on Saturday we went back to Greenwich to see the Cutty Sark. The Cutty Sark was the fastest clipper that transported tea from the East to London in the 19th century. It was a big deal as you can imagine. This guy is single-handed responsible for the tea culture in England! Ok, maybe not single-handed, but still, I like to thing this is were it all started with the English-nice-cup-of-tea-mentality.
 

That is one big wheel

Since we just went there in the afternoon, we didn't do that much els. We went back to the Greenwich University on my request. Because I saw Thor: The Dark World two weeks ago and I was so blown away by the fact that the final battle takes place at the Greenwich University that I just wanted to go back and see the campus. For some unexplicable reason, it looked completely different. The mind does crazy things when it realises that Chris Hemsworth has walked the same ground... 

Dad, this one is for you

The original bell of the Cutty Sark

Molly's event in Camden Town
Molly helped organising an event for her internship. Lucky for us, the event took place in Camden, so we took the opportunity to make a day out of it. And boy it was a lovely day! Blue sky, sun was out,... But that also means a lot of people. Like, the streets were packed with tourists. Ugh. And yes, I am annoyed by tourists, because I no longer see myself as one... :) But never the less, Molly hadn't seen everything of the actual Camden Market near the Stables, so that was a nice opportunity and excuse for me to visit it again.

Camden Towwnnnn and a blue sky!! In London!?

We saw a lot of awesome stuff, but the only downside is the fact that the sellers can be very very very very pushy... Not exactly what I appreciate when I am doing some shopping... Ah well, that's part of the 'charm' I suppose? We are going to go back with a list of things we want to buy x)

A very crowded market

Lies, this one is for you ^^ I dragged Molly all over the market just to find this booth, because I really really really wanted to eat a pancake. The pancake was delicious, but boy it was hell to eat it. And I know I am not that elegant by nature, but eating that pancake knocked out every inch of femininity I had in me. It wasn't a pretty sight... Chocolate all over my face, on my scarf, in my hair and on the floor... But it was worth it ^^ And it will not stop me to eat another pancake!

Yummy pancakes!

By late afternoon, Molly had to go to work. Yes yes, on a sunday. For the event she helped to organise. She invited me to stay and watch, so that's what I did. By 7p.m. I went home so that I could hit the sheets early and prepare myself for a Monday at the office...

Molly at work... Growing up so fast... I'm so proud

Bank holiday and Jane Austen
Friday 18th April is a bank holiday here in the U.K. which means: a day off!!! What was supposed to be YAY was actually just a yay. In my blog last week I mentioned that I had received bad news from home. I couldn't go home, because I was 'stuck' here in the U.K. So instead of being home, I got up really early and went to Leicester square. And I am glad I made that decision. It was so quiet and peaceful. With my Starbucks coffee I sat for two hours on a bench, watching how the square got filled with tourists when the morning progressed into noon. I had my time to think and reflect. I know it isn't nearly as close as being home, but it was the closed I could get.

By 11.30.m. Molly found me still on the bench on Leicester square. We had a lovely chat, but then it was too chilly to sit outsite and we were starving. So, we went to Planet Hollywood for a super duper nice burger. It was de-lish. Even when I think about it now, I am craving a burger. Really good. And we had so much fun guessing the old school pictures of the Hollywood celebrity.

In the afternoon we wanted to do something quiet so we went to the National Gallery. Obviously we couldn't film in there or take any pictures. The security guards where very very clear about that... But we saw some masters like Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Seurat, etc. We were very pleased about ourselves... x) I actually liked this one: the allegory of prudence by Titian. Of course there where other beautiful paintings, but this one stayed with me.

Link: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-and-workshop-an-allegory-of-prudence

 I took Molly also to the National Portrait Gallery next door, to show here the drawing of Jane Austen. That iny tiny drawing her sister made of her so many years ago is one of the few images of Jane Austen. Can you imagen? Nowadays, pictures and videos all over the place.

Extras: short update on my host family and skype with the parents
I am all settled in. I love my tiny room, I like the food, I don't forget I have to wash my hands when I come in and I like talking to my host mum and her daughters. I am a happy girl here :)

I also did a lot of skyping this week. Twice with a friend back home, once with another friend. And the mum and the dad of course. We had a lovely chat and a good laugh for an hour and a half. It is just amazing that skype excists. And I got to see my grandma, which was very lovely :)

Home sickness: I am not really home sick, but I am starting to miss the hugs from my dad and the laughs my parents and I sometimes had at the dinner table. Or dinner with someone in general. I always eat alone. Not that that is a bad, but company once in a while would be nice.
London city: it feels like I have lived here my whole life. Maybe not my whole life, but you know what I mean.
New people: This week actually: none. Well, I have seen a lot of new faces, but I haven't been introduced to someone new.
New word: stamina= endurance

Ooh, an extra extra. If you haven't seen this link yet, do it now!! It is the thoughest job in the world... You'll be amazed. Here is the link: Thoughest job in the world

Sooooo, that's it for this week folks. If you liked it, make sure you stop by next week for another update! Ciaoooo!

xo - Sara

Sunday afternoon at the museum, Captain America and premiere of The Amazing Spiderman 2.

Halloooo!!!


I don't really need to explain the title of this blog... It's been another fun week here in London, U.K. I spend Sunday afternoon visiting 2 "exhibitions" and saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Thursday (yes yes, Thor's day) it was the premiere of The Amazing Spiderman. And well, yeah, you can't really not go, do you?

So far so good, until I received bad news from home on Thursday evening. It might seem like I don't care when you read this blog, but I really do. I'm just not going to go into detail because it just doesn't belong on a blog.

So, this week I will cover again 3 topics: 1) Pieter stopping by in London. 2) Visiting Greenwich and watching Captain America: the Winter Soldier 3) Premiere of The Amazing Spiderman @Leicestersquare. But first a video! Enjoy :) 

Meeting Pieter in Brike's Lane.
Pieter, an old friend from high school was on it's way to see Arne, another friend from high school. Arne is currently studying in New Port, Wales. So Pieter decided to visit Arne. Since he had to pass through London and had a few hours to kill, I went to West End to meet him. I'd never been to Brike's lane before, so that was a nice change for me as wel. To explore the city a bit.

Brike's Lane is an up and coming neighbourhood in London for young hipsters. Yeah, that's correct: young hipsters. There are a lot of little markets and little cafés where you can read your book in corners with a cappucino on the table. It was a nice suprise to see that bit of London and I think I'm gonna go back :)


Greenwich with Molly and Captain America!!! 
On Sunday I took the bus to Greenwich. Since I was there just two weeks before, I still knew my way around pretty well. Mum and dad give me the tickets to the Royal Observatory, Turner and the sea, Cutty sark, etc. because they are 30 days valid... So why not use them? Instead of doing the awesome stuff kids in their early 20s do, Molly and I decided to use the tickets and take advantage of us being in Greenwich to go to the Picturehouse.

First, we met at the Picturehouse in Greenwich to make sure we had our tickets to the movie. We had no idea how big the theather was going to be or so, so we just wanted to be sure. It was an easy decision: Captain America. Although we both wanted to see Noah, but that is the next one to see and the Amazing Spiderman as wel.

After we bought the tickets, we went for the Royal Observatory. You know, because you can't go to Greenwich without standing on the Meridian! I know I already been there, done that, but it never hurts to do things twice.

After seeing everything that was there to see *oh what a lovely view*

When I see this picture now, all I can see is: Thor the Dark World

We went for lunch at Nando's. We'd never been there before, but apparently it has a great name umongst the Britisch youngsters and since we are acting like we are one of them, we had to try it. And boy it was delicious! I'd definitly recommend it to anyone who's going to the U.K.!

In the afternoon we went totally 100% cultural and we visited the Turner and the sea exhibition. It was beautiful. I had a fair idea the sea has many 'faces', but the way Turner portrays it, it's like a character dominating the world. So mind blowing. Seeing the sketchbook etc really made me wonder why I stopted drawing. I used to draw quite a lot, now I don't even touch a pencil. Why?

And of course we took a turn around the little Greenwich market afterwards:)

By 16h30 it was time to go to the theater to behold an awesome superhero: Captain America. In my last video we talked about the movie (which you can watch here) and I clearly had no idea what I was talking about... Well, I wasn't completly wrong! Anyways, if you like superheroes: go watch that movie!! But only after you've seen Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. Yes, in that order. And preverable after seeing The Avengers, you want to watch Iron Man 3 and Thor: the Dark World. Speeking of Thor: the Dark World. The climax of the movie happens in Greenwich!! I can't ever look normal again to that part of London.

Molly totally ready to see the Cap in action.

We were watching the movie like two teenagers. Completely blown away by the looks, the action and the storyline. More than once we had to hold our breath or keep our mouths shut because an "Oh My God!!!" wouldn't be very well received by the Brits in the theather. Also, this meme of Sean Bean *sigh* is definitly so true.

 

Link: http://weknowmemes.com

The premiere of the Amazing Spiderman 2
As you all know, the premiere of Noah was kinda mind blowing for me, so I decided to go to the premiere of the Amazing Spiderman 2 on Thursday as wel.

Since it is a sequel and a very very popular charachter, there were a lot more people on Leicester square and with a lot, I mean A LOT. Not yet Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-part-two-a lot, but still a lot. Molly stopted by as wel. We were in complete tourist/fan modus and stood on the tip of our toes, trying to catch a glimps of Emma Stone, Jamie Fox or Andrew Garfield. On my part without succes. Partly because of the massive amount people standing around me (and I'm not too keen about crowded places) and partly because I received a phone call from home with bad news. After that, the mood to stay and catch a glimps of one of the YouTubers was completely gone. Thank god Molly was there with me. And so we went for a coffee at Costa at 8p.m.. Yes, that is my comfort 'food', so shut up. The magic around the premiere is a bit gone, but I still have some pictures that I want to share with you. 

Andrew Garfield himself

Emma Stone, just, you know

The red carpet after the event

That is it for this weeks blog/vlog. I hope you enjoy reading and watching it and don't mind my massive grammatical/vocabulary/typing errors too much... See ya next week!
 
Home sickness: Not really home sick, but it's been a though week 
London city: Still love London. I'm completly at ease and the look-right-then-left is becoming normal. 
New people: Not so many. I recognize every face in the office now and I can remember some names.
New words: Amending= adjustments; miscellaneous= various

xo - Sara

Saturday fun with Molly and Noah premiere

Hallooooo! 

What a week. Well, weekend I have to admit. But, Monday wasn’t too bad either. 

I’m pretty sure the next blogs/vlogs will cover all of my adventures during the weekend and not so much during the week. Work is unfortunatly not so exciting. It’s fun, but just not worth sharing. 

So I’m gonna cover 3 topics this week. 1) Saterday with Molly 2) Noah Premiere @leicestersquare 3) sneak peek at the RDP office. The first 2 will be covered in the video linked at the end of this paragraph. The thirth one will be covered in a video, but obviously not this week.

I put the link to Youtube below :)

Enjoy watching this one on Youtube (For some reason, I can't put the video on the blog... I'll try again later)

Spending Saturday exploring London with Molly

On Saturday Molly and I spent the day together. It was the first time we saw each other since I arrived in London the weekend before. It was excitement all over the place. We met at Piccadily Circus, since it is an easy statue to find on the square. Well, we didn’t foresee that it would be covered in plastic etc. But luckily we found each other very easily. Like the good old days: no cellphone, no texting, ... Just waiting and looking around. 

Because Molly only had been in London one day before she started this adventure, she hadn’t really covered the essentials like Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Camden Town, Notting Hill, Big Ben, etc. Before you could explore the city, you first need to be up to date with all the touristic parts of London. So that’s what we did. Piccadily, Leicester square and the m&m shop, Covent Garden, starbucks, Big Ben, etc. Might not seem like an awful lot of sightseeing, NOTE: we walked the whole thing. It’s not like everything is miles and miles apart, but still, it was a nice walk and excercise for us. I also took Molly to the best sushi bar: Yo!Sushi and for diner we had italian food. Because is was Saturday (mom, dad). In the next couple of weekends we’ll try to go to Camden town and Notting hill. That are the basics (in my opinion) and after that we’ll go and venture out en see stuff like Spitalfield, etc. 

Random picture on the internet

Recreation of random picture on the internet

Well, close enough ^^

Sunday chilling

I knew that on Sunday the premiere for Divergent was on Leicester square. Little did I know that the premiere for Noah would be the next day! On Sunday, I hadn’t planned to go to the West End so instead I went to Bromley Mall. You know, just to see something els than the city. I walked around a little bit in the mall and very quickly I found a Costa café. Unfortunatly there was a little event going on in front of the bar, so it was in no way possible to drink my coffee and read my book in peace. So I went on and found a little further a Starbucks.

Happiness

Noah premiere
On Monday I was in the centre of London, you know, because I work there (how awesome is it to say that!? x) ) and thank god I saw on Twitter that the premiere was that night. It was not like I was planning on actually going and staying there. I just wanted to see what was up on my way to Charings Cross. And since it was a Monday I needed something to look forward to at the end of my work day.

Upon my arrival, I wasn’t to impressed with the scene. People walking around on the square, around the square. Nothing unusual. Until I looked at my lefthand side. There was something that wasn’t there on Saturday because I’d walked on that side of the square on Saturday and now I couldn't... Hmmm, let’s take a closer look. HOLY CRAP, it that LOGAN LERMAN on the big screen!? Yup, it was. Well, I guess the premiere had already started and it was going on at one side of the square.... Of course I went in for a closer look to see what was going on.

I just couldn't help myself

Russel Crow being interviewed

A small part of the square was surrounded by black fences so nobody could see from the outside. 3 big screens hung above on the theather’s walls (as you can see on the photo above) so everyone on the square could see what was going on behind the fences. I was able to see the heads of Emma Watson, Russel Crow, Logan Lerman and Jennifer Connelly though. Hugh Jackman was visible on the screen.

 

Emma Watson, you know

It was just so awesome to hear them being interviewed. Kinda cool :) Of course I filmed some bits and pieces, which you already saw in the video that I've linked above.

 

The 'red' carpet after the premiere

So on Monday night, I was home pretty late. But hey, when will there be another opportunity to see something like that? :) What I still wonder is: which company has organised the premiere? The ‘red’carpet (in this case the ‘flood’carpet), the after party, etc.?

Next thing on the agenda: go and see Noah.

Sneak peek at the RDP office

 

This is all you get until I get the chance to film in there :) Also, another thing I did this week work related: I went to the office of 20th Century Fox ALL BY MY SELF, TWICE.

Those who follow me on Twitter already knew the Fox news. I update Twitter the most so if you really want to be up to date, just check over there.

I'm so sorry it is such a long post this week. I'll try to trim it down for next week! 'Cause I know I don't like to read long blog posts... :/ There was just loads I wanted to share this week :)

Home sickness: ok. 

London city: still in love

New people: at work still everyday. But now I learn the names with some people faces and I have actual conversations with some of them (other than my team) 

New words: binocular= verrekijker; venture out= going on an adventure, visiting places

xo - Sara