The River Ride

It was the X-mas holidays recently.

Therefore as usual, Mr S and I were desperate to create 'entertainment' for the kids. The thing about London is, there are plenty of tourist attractions but they are mostly pretty pricey.

The museums of course, are free...but we've been to almost all of those... And the kids, being kids, got to run around in those museums looking at paintings and statues and bones and mummies...but let's face it, that's not much of an entertainment to them..

And for us parents, running around after the kids in these places - where they're certainly not supposed to run or scream or play hide and seek behind the exhibits - is definitely not what we would call a jolly time either.

And so we had to look into other things to do...

That's our boat coming! Note that you can see through the middle of the boat.

View inside the boat.

Going on a cruise on the river Thames have always been one of those things that I had wanted to do with Mr S. I've always imagined though, when we actually did it, it would be a hot summer's day and it would be just us...cruising together, the wind and sun in our faces...looking at all those historical sites and buildings around us from the perspective of the river...

But fate determined that on the day we went a sailing along the Thames, it would be just a boat, instead of a cruise, we were with the children - not just us having a romantic time together, and the weather was f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g. cold.

View behind us from the QE2 pier - The O2

But surprisingly, I had a really, really good time. (As usual..I think I am quite easy to please lah!)

It was a surprise, really... We actually took the boat from the O2 pier which is the nearest pier to us (the pier is called the QE2). I thought I would be cold and uncomfortable (water sickness and what not) and I just thought it would be slow and boring and probably another session of running after the kids (this time to make sure that they don't fall over the boat)...but let me tell you, it was none of those things!

View of the David Beckham Academy next to the O2

First of all, it was because we didn't go on the actual 'tourist cruise' thingy. This one was basically a commuter. Thus, it was cheaper, which is always a plus point of course, and because of the fact that some people actually use this thing to go to work, it was quite fast!

The kids went in free and the adults only had to pay 5 pounds each and we didn't even need to queue up beforehand in order to buy the tickets - they have a conductor on board and we just pay when we're seated! Hassle free!

Just passed underneath the Tower Bridge

It was absolutely warm in the boat too and thus absolutely relaxing. And the kids were quiet - somehow they weren't running around as much - maybe they were a little amazed (just like their mum) by the fact that we were on a boat on the river Thames. Towards the end of our ride though, Little H did ask me if he could 'run about'...

Well, at least he asked for permission and of course, the answer to his question was NO.

We went pass Canary Wharf, and saw Mr S's old office building there...and then we went under the Tower Bridge, The London Bridge and the Millennium Bridge and passed the Big Ben, The Parliament Building at Westminster and The London Eye etc. etc....so of course Mr S took out the camera and we were snapping away....

I tell you, I would have thought that going on that red double decker tourist bus would be enough for tourists in London but I think now I've changed my mind.

Big Ben and the Parliament Building in the background.

I definitely recommend going on a boat (especially a commuter boat) on the river Thames if anyone of my readers come over to London. I think you'll enjoy viewing the normal sights with a twist - from the water.

For more info on the river commuters: Thames Clippers

Potter, Potter Everywhere

This entry WILL HAVE SPOILERS so you'd better skip the spoiler part if you haven't read the final installation of Harry Potter and you plan to do it sometime in the near future.

Have no fear..You need to highlight the blank part in order to read them!

I woke up on Saturday, the 21st knowing that some people already had a copy of the Deathly Hallows in their hands and probably some have finished it already. Although I promised myself not to get too excited about the book, I could not help the anxiety of not knowing 'who died' and how it all ends so I announced to Mr S that I'm going out for a while to go and get my very own copy.

I took the bus - and I never willingly take the bus to go anywhere!

I went to the nearest Asda and found that the book had sold out. So, I had to take the tube to Stratford (the next nearest station) to get my book at the mall there, where there's a Sainsbury's and I got my copy for £8.87 as opposed to the RRP of £17.99.

Bliss!

But I did not read the book straight away. I was reading another book at the time and I just had to read a few more chapters of that book before I skip over to that long awaited thick black book at the top of my 'To-Be-Read' pile. We had guests anyway during that weekend - an auntie and our cousin stayed over for 2 nights, so had to SABAR...I knew that once I start with that HP, it would be terribly hard for me to put it down and what would that reflect on my emm..'skills' as a hostess??

Plus, have you ever had that feeling - when you want to read a book so badly but you feel a little afraid to do it because you know that once you start to read it - it had to of course... end? And there will be nothing else to look forward to? And thus, you are content just to look at the book and stroke the book cover and read the blurb again and again?

You think that's sad?

Well..you may be right.

But I have been waiting for this book with a mixture of anxiety and dread and if you are a real fan and a little crazy like me - you might understand.

Unfortunately, I could not stop myself after all and started the book anyway, the day after I purchased it, while my guests were out sight-seeing in London...

****WARNING! WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW! WARNING!WARNING!****

I knew it!!!

I knew that Snape has always been a good guy! And believe it or not, I also predicted that he will be one of those to die in the final book - it was pretty obvious to me, as I believed him to be innocent from the start and I ABSOLUTELY believed in Dumbledore who always, always trusted him (to me, there was also 1 clear indication of a 'plan' in the prior book) and thus, to me, it was beyond doubt that the author would kill Snape off and tell his story only at his 'deathbed' and make everyone feel remorse for thinking that he was Dumbledor's murderer. To me, only upon his death that the author can make Harry and all else understand the kind of sacrifice he had made.

But that surprise story about him loving Lily Evans/Potter all these years, ever since they were small just takes the cake, for me. I was touched to the core and I could imagine the young and wide eyed Snape lacking in confidence and wanting to blend in with all the Slytherins, as he was supposed to and yet only had eyes for that girl in Griffyndor. And that horrid James Potter who bullied him! Snape was a better man than James Potter ever was!

I was so very sad and my eyes watered when I found out that his Patronus was the same as Lily's and when Dumbledore asked him, his eyes full of tears:

"After all this time?"
"Always," said Snape.

I nearly bawled at this point!

It just shows the genius of the author, to make the readers sympathise with a character such as Snape's. Of course, since I had loved Snape from the beginning, all this was just a twist of the knife for me who was already feeling so very sad because Snape had just died!

I did wonder though, how come his Patronus was the same as Lily's - shouldn't they all have different animals conjured at this spell? But then, I remembered Umbridge's Patronus - and her strong attachment to cats. It seems that if one has strong feelings for something (or someone), it could affect one's Patronus, and thus, this is how I self-explain Snape's.

And how can I not mention the moment when he died..

"Look...at...me..." he whispered.

Even at his last breath, he remembered Lily for again and again it has been mentioned that Harry looks exactly like his father, except for his eyes...which is exactly like his mother's.

Sob.

Over all, I thought the book was great. Although I really wanted more info on wandlore - it appears that suddenly Harry was 'a master' at this at the end and I just find that difficult to believe - that he thought of everything suddenly. I had forgotten that Draco was the one who disarmed Dumbledore of his wand, even though Snape was the one who said Avada Kedavra, and thus, I was a little confused at the time...

And don't you think Ron's flight in anger (due to the chain's powers) is reminiscent of LOTR...?

I have so much more to discuss and I can't discuss with Mr S just yet as he is still too tired after the exams to actually open a book, even a storybook! He is also a fan of Harry Potter, mind, and he will not stop reading, even on the Tube once he starts but as to when that will be, I am still waiting with baited breath..

*****END OF SPOILERS*****

Order Of The Phoenix, the movie.

And then, during the weekend, we went to watch the latest Harry Potter movie. Had to leave our children for a few hours with a good friend and went to the nearest cinema which was the Odeon in South Woodford. JK Rowling said in an interview with Jonathan Ross that it is the best HP movie so far but I am inclined to disagree - I still do think that Prisoner of Azkaban is still the best one!

But the fighting scenes were brilliant.

Finally we see on film Dumbledore's great powers in that duel with Voldermort and the latter appears scarier and even better than the previous film. Never did like Michael Gambon's acting in the earlier films although I have to say that he is a great actor, really, and was brilliant in most of his other non Potter films. In this movie installation though, he somehow wore Dumbledore's shoes perfectly and Mr S agreed with me too, saying that perhaps the actor has finally read the HP books and has begun to understand the character...he he.

The thing about Dumbledore is that he is much, much more intelligent than Voldermort, and this, I feel, we can see from their duelling and how he parried all of Voldermort's attacks until finally, infuriated, the latter decided to 'attack' the young wizard instead.

My eyes watered when Sirius was killed with the killing curse by Bellatrix - indeed, Helena Bonham Carter did justice to that evil witch character - her acting was brilliant and you know what, even when I first heard she was part of the cast in that movie, I knew that she would be Bellatrix as she is just perfect for that role.

As for Sirius who was described as 'handsome' in the books, I wouldn't really categorize Gary Oldman as handsome by any stretch of the imagination but I have to admit that the long hair made him look 'dashing' enough. In fact, Sirius looked really cool with his wand moves during the showdown with Lucius Malfoy near the arch.

There were lots of short scenes though, which I found a little annoying but I understand the points that the film had to make to compliment and align itself as much as possible with the book - as opposed to filming the whole book verbatim, which is unfortunately, impossible.

Needless to say, there were lots and lots of other details that were left out from the movie so if you liked the movie, you should pick up the book because you're really losing out on a lot of interesting information that makes up the book and will probably be important to know to enjoy the next HP movie.

A 'Present' From Mr S

Mr S got this hp (over here they just call it 'mobile') for me for the usual reason - because HE wants to have it.

Confused?

Mr S is a little unusual in that sense - whatever HE wants to have (usually a gadget or something digital like a camera, camcorder, laptop etc.) that is NOT really a necessity, if he has the extra money, he will purchase and give it to ME. Why? So that he will not feel any guilt over the purchase.

You see, a 'present' for me is always fair justification in his digital convoluted mind and he can enjoy all the gadgets if he terms or categorise them this way. Otherwise, he will just NOT enjoy having the gadget - no doubt because of his guilt at purchasing expensive stuff that is not really necessary.

But IT'S OK if it's a present for his wife, even though I don't really care to have the thing. He will be the first one happily scrutinising and 'godek-godek' as he calls it and I'll be the one looking on from the side with one raised eye-brow.

I was very happy with my nearly 2 year old Nokia N70. But now, he is using this (because his old Nokia is nearly dead anyway) and I am 'forced' to use this new one: A Sony Ericsson K800i, bought just for me so that I 'don't have to carry around my digital camera anymore' for I tend to do that for blogging purposes...

Hey, I'm a homemaker and a 'professional' blogger, remember? Heh heh..

Anyway, suffice to say, although I didn't like this phone in the beginning, due to the speaker that looks like an 'old radio' and the annoying 'joystick' plus the fact that Mr S forgot to transfer my MP3s from the previous phone to this one (irrelevant, I know), I have to say the 3.2Megapixel Cybershot camera (remember, this is Sony camera technology) of the phone is just great. You can see from the pics I took at Valentines Park and all the pictures henceforth.

And yes, I have been using the pics in my blog. And yes, the pics are good. And yes, it is damn convenient. So, yes. I now love my new phone and thank you, my darling Mr S, for getting this new phone for me!

If you're like me, busy with my kids and always finding the need to have a camera around to capture a moment in digital form but you can't be bothered to carry around your bulky camera all the time, well, I recommend this hp to you.

Next, Mr S is waiting for a phone that can take good digital pics AND better quality video (than the ones in the market plus MORE memory) so that Mr S doesn't have to carry around his camcorder everytime we go on trips - a reliable 3 in 1 phone, camera and camcorder.

Then, perhaps, I'm going to get another 'present' from Mr S.

More pics using the K800i hp camera: