Yep, watched Thor last night. Yep, am in love ;-) I've never gone for a blonde before. And I usually can't stand guys with long hair. I think it was the arms that did it, just look at them!
Thor
But in all seriousness, I loved the movie. The trailer really doesn't do it justice at all. In fact, it made it look pretty dull and I'm not the only one who thought so. Quite a few of my friends were completely underwhelmed by the trailer and don't really believe me when I tell them what a fun movie it was.
As someone who knows next to nothing about the myths of Thor and Asgard, everything was surprisingly easy to understand and get into. It's also great to see a superhero/ fantasy movie that I don't know everything about for once! The story was a bit predictable at times but of course it would be, it's a superhero movie.
Meshing the world of Asgard with the real world can't have been easy and could have been a disaster but by some miracle, they pulled it off! Asgard was amazing to look at, especially the rainbow bridge (even though at first it reminded me of super mario kart [watch here] or Michael Jackson's 'the way you make me feel' video) and also the bifrost in action as it sent them to other worlds.
If, like me, you thought "what's so great about a hammer?" you will be amazed about just how great the hammer of Thor is. The action scenes were all enjoyable and it was great to see everyone's powers and how they use them.
Natalie Portman was perfectly cast and did a great job. I loved how tiny she is because it made Thor look even bigger plus it made it easier to put myself in her shoes ;-). Kat Dennings was funny as usual, even though it was a small part. The good thing about the movie is that despite its extremely serious dramatic scenes there was still humour. And not the kind of puerile over the top humour that killed 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.' Actually, I think everyone was perfect and Idris Alba was especially awesome as Heimdall, the guardian of the worlds.
A few things took me out of the movie though. The first was my own problem and nothing to do with the film-makers. Whenever they had slow music it sounded a lot like a children's song I'd just heard at work that day a billion times called "koala, koala" and it kept coming into my head during the movie. The second was during the final fight when the antagonist kept saying rather theatrically "haha!" which kinda spoiled it. Don't know what idiot told him that was a good idea. Also, during most of the closeups, it seemed to me that I could see the foundation and face powder on all the men's faces, especially Thor.
In line with the latest stupid movie fad, there is a scene after ALL of the credits which we stayed to see because someone told us we should stay and watch it. It so wasn't worth the wait. I don't get why they showed it at the end of the credits instead of just putting it at the end of the movie. If I was you, I'd wait till they show it on youtube or just ask me what happens and I'll tell you.
I regret not seeing it all in 3d but never mind, will just watch it in 3d next week when I get my contact lenses :-)
...Well, I'm not sure it can really be called being pampered when it also involves really bad pain.
Have you ever gone through a tough patch made worse by (or perhaps resulting in) feeling ugly and awful? Well I have. Putting on a few extra pounds over chistmas didn't help :-p. So today when there was finally a break in all the bank holidays, I went and had my eyebrows threaded and had a facial at a Nepalese beauty parlour that I frequent.
Even though I never had a facial in London, I've had loads of facials abroad in my home country and every beauty parlour does it differently. Even so, this was one of the strangest facials I ever had. It was also actually very comfortable. I had to undress and wear a towel wrap and then lay down and was tucked up under a blanket because it was quite cold. Apart from the blanket, this was all fairly normal.
I always feel weird during a facial. You're lying there with your eyes closed, while someone slathers God knows what on your face, something you can only guess at by it's smell and feel.
This time it started off with what I guessed was cotton wool soaked in rose water wiped over my face. Then, a herbal smelling lotion was massaged into my skin for what felt like hours but must have been around 20 minutes. Piles and piles of lotion was slathered over my face and neck, and although it might not sound it, it felt wonderful. Odd, but wonderful.
After that was wiped off with a warm wet towel, my face was gently coated in what felt and smelt like, sugar in sweet lemon juice. It probably wasn't though :-p my skin would have stung like hell. I thought it was a scrub but it wasn't massaged in or wiped off. Instead, a light muslin cloth was laid on my face and a steamer brought over to me. The cloth was an awesome idea. The last time I had a facial the steamer was insanely hot and directly on my skin and the beautician was a cow who wouldn't listen when I told her it was burning me. Anyway, not so this time. I was left for a while under the gentle steamer, all tucked up in the dark alone for quite a while. It was so cosy, even with the gritty lotion and light cloth on my face, I very nearly fell asleep.
But then the weird thing happened. My arms were gently brought out of the blanket and I thought maybe it was because the steamer would make me too warm. But no. My arms were then covered in cream and massaged all the way from my shoulders to my hands. Imagine having your hands massaged and someone sliding their fingers between your fingers while you're lying there unable to open your eyes. At first I was freaking out but once I relaxed, it was actually quite pleasant.
Well anyway, my arms were then put back under the covers and then began the torture part. Blackhead removal! Ahhhhh!!! One of the most painful things I've had done for beauty. Imagine your skin being scraped away by something sharp pressed hard into it. Because that's what blackhead removal is. I endured this for a few minutes and was then tucked up again while my face was thoroughly wiped clean.
When I got up and looked in the mirror I was astounded. My skin looked amazing! The dark patches on my cheeks had cleared up completely. I'm going to go again next month :-p it's so worth it.
My pampering was later ruined a bit when I went to the town centre and found everything closed! Even the doctor's surgery which is supposed to be open till 8pm today. What's more, they had no sign or anything to say when they would and wouldn't be open and I needed to put in my repeat prescription.
When I tried to leave the centre via the exit by the bus stop, it was locked. There was another exit at the bottom of the escalators near another bus stop so I walked there but that was closed too. I could also have gone through Matalan, gone down the stairs in the store and exited to the bus stop but even though Matalan was open, the upstairs entrance was closed.
So I went back to where I had come in by and there were huge gates closed across there too. I was trapped! Trapped and in a panic cos all the stores were closed so I couldn't ask anyone for help. I remember seeing a girl go into the beauty parlour on my way up there so I checked there and luckily a worker was still there hoovering. So I asked him and he told me about a fire exit I could use. I opened it cautiously but luckily, no alarm went off. It would have been nice if there was at least a sign somewhere with the timings for the things, with timings for when the gates would close or some sort of warning. Oh well, they call it a modern centre.
Haven't written for a while as I've been busy with work, cooking and writing my stories in my spare time. And also, to be honest, reading more Diana Wynne Jones books :-p. Namely, Charmed Lifeand Conrad's Fate. They are part of her Chrestomanci series of books which begin with The Lives of Christopher Chant. She's such an amazing writer, seriously. I hope I can one day write as well as her. Plus, having one of my books made into an anime like hers (Howl's Moving Castle), would be an absolute dream!
Well anyway, I've also been recording Pointless everyday in the hope they'll show the one we saw live but it still hasn't been on! I wish they'd told us when it would air, it's been ages.
Now the easter hols have started, YAY :-D!!!!
I actually had to work today and Friday but that's it. I've resolved to make good use of my time off. Mainly, exercising more. Feel so achy after work there's no chance of exercise and I feel fat as a pig. A slimmish pig :-p but still. Saw a double chin in the mirror the other day and it gave me a heart attack. Anyway so have started a regime of cereal or fruit for breakfast, light lunch like salad, playing Just dance 2 (3 or 4 songs on the Just Sweat setting), early dinner, fruit whenever I'm peckish then biking for as long as I can. Haven't biked for a while so will have to build it up to 20-30mins over the next few days. I can barely get through 5mins at the moment :-p.
I also get to enjoy my time writing and hopefully getting nearer the end of my novel(s) and best of all, I bit the bullet and spent the £30 for my favourite korean drama called My Girl. So have been watching that in all my spare time. Sadly, it's only 16 episodes and I'm already on 11.
My Girl
It's a light-hearted yet complicated love story. A guy (Gong-chan) hires a girl (Yoo-rin) to pretend to be his long lost cousin to fulfil his grandfather's dying wish of making things right with her. His grandfather had banished his daughter for some reason (still not sure :-p maybe over her marriage) and she and her husband died in an earthquake in Japan leaving her daughter orphaned. When the grandfather gets ill he feels guilty, blaming himself for his daughter's death and wants to be sure that his granddaughter didn't suffer because of him. So Gong-chan tries to find his cousin without much success and decides to get a pretend cousin because he's afraid his grandfather might die before he can find the real one. Gong-chan meets Yoo-rin through a series of her pranks and lies that he somehow gets involved in. He ends up choosing her to be his fake-cousin because she's so good at bare-faced lies and looks a little like his late aunty. She's reluctant because she only lies when she has to, but she's being dogged by her gamester father's creditors and really needs the money to pay them off. Only, his grandfather is so happy to have found her that he recovers and she has to keep on pretending indefinitely. A charade further complicated when she falls for Gong-chan and he starts liking her too. Then there's his ex-girlfriend come to win him back and his playboy best friend who likes Yoo-rin making it a lovely square. There's also a Philippine version but I haven't seen it.
Goong - Princess Hours
The first kdrama I ever saw was Goong (Princess Hours) about a school girl (Yoon Eun Hye) who ends up having her marriage arranged to a prince who's in love with someone else. We see her struggling to learn all the traditions and customs that come with being a princess and also struggling with her feelings for a husband who doesn't want her. Well, not initially anyway :-p. The story, the characters and the wealth of Korean culture in this series is what got me hooked on asian dramas in the first place. It also got my big sister hooked when she happened to come in my room as I was watching one of the last episodes. She ended up staying to see the whole thing. By the time I was on the second to last episode, she had caught up and watched the whole series :-p.
Coffee Prince
Another of my favourite dramas is Coffee Prince, also starring Yoon Eun Hye. Coffee Prince is about a girl struggling to make ends meet who gets a job as a waiter at a coffee shop when the owner mistakes her for a boy. She doesn't tell him the truth in case she loses the job. Yet another love square because she likes his friend and he likes his friend's ex. Alot of hilarious scenes as well as heartbreaking ones. She looks soooo different with a boy-cut. It just goes to show what a difference hair can make to a girl.
The heroine in this is also in Vineyard Man which I quite enjoyed too. She's a clothes designer who loses her job when a superior steals her ideas. She is then offered a job at her Grand-uncle's vineyard and reluctantly agrees. She goes from living in the city to living in a village without any of the facilities she's used to. A HUGE transition. She grows as a person as she learns to grow grapes. My sister didn't like this one because she thought the guy wasn't good looking. Maybe someone needs to send her to work at a vineyard :-p.
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