Sunday 27 December 2009

While everyone else is out

and the house is silent. and the ticking of the clock is mega glaring. i figured that i should include an update! yay!
Let me bring you up to speed

Winter wonderland in hydepark corner (i believe there's an indoor one at the O2) was...ok. It was mega fun for me mainly because of the company but the rides were overpriced(4-6 pounds per ride. its quite an excellent way to warm up though) as was the food (i got a bit of cheese fries and that cost me 4.5 pounds). The atmosphere was good though cos of the sparkly lights and whimsical looking cafes that looked like they came right out of Big Fish (ok so there is only one cafe that looks like that but thats better than none. where else have you seen a cafe like that?). oh ant the atms there charge you 2.50 pounds per transaction.
There was also a temporary HMV set up. HMV is going to take over the uk one day.

Note: The rides can be deceivingly unscary. i.e. The Tower Of Powerrrrrr!!!
totally unscary apparently.


Then we had christmas dinner at our place where I made :

Julia Child's French Roast Chicken (mega excellent stuff! I definitely recommend it)

Jamie Oliver's lasagne (the butternutsquash makes such a difference! if you ever make this do not leave it out even though you may be tempted to)

parsleyed potatoes! (the trick is to boil the potatoes in chicken stock-mega yum!)

Hummingbird's Key Lime Pie!!!!! (easy to make and makes an excellent dessert)

and red velcet cupcakes (which turned out a dusty pink for me)

......and then we forgot the drinks.
so khairul had to go out to get them and after waiting for him for over an hour he came home with two bottles of soda water =.=" major disaster. we even got some of them plastic champagne glasses to serve everyone. we just forgot the drinks :(
surprisingly everything turned out great despite being my first time making everything apart from the parsleyed potatoes.
we wii-ed n ps3-ed with the guests and two of them have stayed till today. ahahahahha.

Christmas Day was spent at home. We filmed our version of Peter Jackson's Cinderella! (remember the cardboard pantomine we bought? that's it!). Its in the process of being edited so it should be up soon. I cant wait to see what it turns out to be like!

Boxing Day! we woke up late XD because we were watching High Fidelity the night before....the movie was just okay. I expected more from a Nick Hornby novel adaptation.
We first CYCLED to Sloane Square for the low traffic Zara at the Duke of York Square. It was lovely cycling past St James Park and palace. The roads were wide and there were no cars on the road. Only sasha got some stuff. The vest i wanted did not come in xs and the pretty boots were pretty uncomfortable.
Next up was-Harrods. The perfume sale was lovely as always. Except most of the perfumes I wanted were not on sale :( I only bought Gaultier's L'eau D'amor in the end.
the only other thing i bought was a cape from zara. and that wasn't even a sale item.
By this point we were ravenous and cycled to leicester square to meet up with nainee hermainee and his friends to watch Sherlock Holmes!

nain n sasha fell asleep during sherlock holmes.

i was smarter. slept during the commercials. :)

Khai's view of Holmes (inserted later): I have only known Sherlock Holmes as a detective movie when I was young, didn't have any interest in the story or novel though. The fact that it is done by Guy Ritchie; director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, 2 movies which I love. Plus the characteristics of Robert Downey Jr, changes my point of view towards the movie. Guy Ritchie's auterism is evident in the film. 1 obvious example is the role of Mark Strong in Ritchie's film. Mark Strong always plays the character of immortal or unusually different. In Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, he is the strong guy whom people fear and gets lucky in the end. In snatch, he plays the role of a bullet dodger, ironically the character died by a single shot by his partner in crime. Then in sherlock holmes, he is the dark wizard who brings fear to the world. There are more of Guy Ritchie auterism in the film which you, the reader should find out with these 3 movies. Another element that you will enjoy the film is Robert Downey Junior. It is hard to describe his unique acting style(he somehow makes macho, serious roles a little bit comical) which is truly enjoyable for us. Futhermore his co-partner is Jude Law, the coming of this two actors seems just like Johny Depp and Orlando Bloom in pirate of the Caribbean. Besides all of these, the storyline is of an old formulae, nothing new. All in all, the movie is a movie that is enjoyable.


After the movie i went to look for volvic in strawberry because I was mega thirsty and nothing else could satisfy me!!! and at picadilly circus some people approached sasha and i and asked if we were looking for a club to go to. was quite amazed as i definitely did not look like i was going clubbing. but quite proud that they did not think that I am 13 (which is what happens normally)

Note:
Out of three times that i parked my bicycle today people stuffed finished drinks bottles in my basket all three times!! At sloane square it was a stella artois can, outside Harrods some random beer bottle and a squashed pack of cigarttes and at leicester square two mini bottles of jd. which says a lot about the drinking culture here (as well as civic consciousness).

Monday 21 December 2009

Cycling on Caledonian Rd.

On our way to Goodge St, where the political comic exhibition and Pollock's toy museum are.

Day out in Londy 1

So on Thursday we embarked on our first documented trip to the Political Cartoon Gallery at Goodge street. It started off as a lovely day with wintry sunshine which made cycling to central London a pleasant experience. The exhibition was extensive in material but had no labels of explanation which made it harder to enjoy for one who is not too familiar with the local political scene (or rather we should have done more research XD). It was also very cold within the gallery (the only person who had access to any heating was the receptionist). However, the works were entertaining (the ones which we understood anyway) and i particularly liked a book by an artist whose works were based on great works of art. i.e. Washington crossing the Delaware depicted as obama crossing the Delaware. I would find you the author but the society’s webpage is down...tsk tsk.. Entrance fee : 1 pound

As soon as we left the gallery it started to drizzle
Pollock’s Toy Museum (also on Goodge street) was a lighter contrast to the cartoon gallery (ok so it was pretty much a no-brainer compared to political cartoons). They display toys from all over the world and from different categories. i.e. board games, parlour games, dolls, whistles, teddy bears etc. I found the science based ones more interesting as they created optical illusions, chemical reactions, and what not. By the way, the 3D image was created in the 1800’s! There was a display of it by Sir something. It would have been better if there were some basic explanations on how the optical illusions worked.
Observation by Khairul: The illustrations on board games depicted adults having fun in the early stages of its production and kids thereafter.
Yan: Maybe that was when they invented tv and the adults thought that board games were lame. Or advertising realised that they were targeting the wrong group. Or both
My favourite displays were those of the paper pantomime theatres which were very popular in Victorian times. One of the more popular makers was Pollock himself, whom the museum is named after. (we bought a Cinderella edition of this and will be staging it soon! So thats something to look forward to). It comes complete with a theatre, background changes, characters and a script! Perhaps it would be better to visit the museum in the summer as the gloomy weather added an eerie atmosphere especially when we came to the dolls section. The oldest doll dates back to the 1880’s and is balding. Mega scary. Especially when we came to the alcove where they recreated a girls bedroom FULL of dolls. One cant help but notice the quality and details of toys then compared to today. We also met a charming little grey pup named Haggis. I believe he was a terrier and belonged to the proprietors .

Khairul: Yan! Jangan bagi die jilat your kasut!
Yan: Hello anjing comel!!!!!! Sorry I cannot pat you cos khairul says so....... 
The museum also comes with a toy store where one can buy things like Victorian paper pantomime theatres and interesting books. We also bought The Weather Calendar, a book which compiles diary entries or letters from famous diarists and authors i.e. pepys, jane austen and Emily Dickinson on the weather for everyday of the year. i.e.:

December 17 1887. The morning is charming here-a south wind and bright ascending sun which illuminates the whole Cathedral east and south. We have had many such mornings lately. M.S.Holland

It was pouring when we left the museum. Temperature had fallen from 5 to 3 degrees.

It is interesting how the eccentric weather is such a big deal in this country in contrast to where the weather is more or less constant in kl. Today is also the shortest day in the year. And according to my weather calendar, it was also the shortest day in the year on Dec 21st in 1887. The knowledge of nature’s unchanging rhythm is soothing. What other things have such an effect on you? Might make key lime pie tomorrow. And more on winter wonderland coming up! p.s. we dropped by habitat after the museum visit and i saw a ravioli maker for 24 pounds! Is that considered a good buy? It would be lovely to be able to make your own ravioli.

Official Intro : filemduatayar.blogspot.com

Sunday 20 December 2009

Je te presente......

I have never liked the word blog. Not because of its meaning and connotations but just the way it sounds and feels as it rolls off your tongue. When I say ‘blog’, ‘blob’ comes to mind followed by the idea of word vomit (like how onomatopoeia works, not as in most bloggers produce word vomit). I also sometimes think of these writers as having to portray themselves in a certain way to fit a certain image or conception of themselves. But that is perhaps over-thinking it. It is after all something that is inevitable. Man became self conscious and political the moment he started perceiving himself through the eyes of others, so much so that perhaps the act itself has become something unconscious.

But I digress. This is a project by Khairul and myself as a sort of resistance towards being jaded by routine, age and time. A reminder to ourselves to defy the desensitization that becomes almost inevitable with experience.

The title of the blog: Filem Dua Tayar

Literally meaning -The Film of two wheels.

Wheel 1: a film student in north London who is constantly on the search for a different perspective, new ways to inspire and the perfect fedora hat in size S

Wheel 2: economics-politics student in warwick who likes to make a mess in the kitchen and is a life-long aficionado of Chanel.

Location: UK (Coventry, London), Malaysia.

Mission: To keep the perspective of a tourist in this journey of life.

Our chosen mediums : the internet + whatever camera we happen to have + two vintage bicycles


First post on london coming to electronic things with net access near you!

Friday 18 December 2009