Toy Kingdom - Harrods

Ahala. This gone weekend, I think I had a nostalgic journey through my pre-teen ages. When I was a child, there was nothing more amusing than a well organised toy store, arranged by the type of toys. And it was nice to know the child in me is pretty much still around.

In order to keep my 20 month old (I know…I know…I should start referring him as a year and half old) entertained and in a major plan to wear him out a bit?(seriously super active kid), we decided to treat him with a trip to the Harrods Toy kingdom. But it turned out to be a bigger treat for the hubby and me.

Often toy stores tend to be crammed and just too busy for my taste so I usually tend to avoid it and just order my stuff online..well I say my stuff but it’s actually for the kid…honest! But the sheer size of the place will just impress you. I have never thought of this as a place to visit while in London but it’s definitely in my list now. The colours, the different types of toys, music and the different cartoon movies playing in different corners of the floor all will definitely take you back to your precious ages!!!

Couple of years back, now 6 year old Riley Maida was all over the news, explaining her frustration on the stereotype filled marketing of children’s toys and sectioned into pinks and blues. It might be Riley’s laments that may have got Harrods to put their thinking hats back on and make a bold decision to organise the department organised by themes as opposed to gender and the divide the department into six different worlds. My son didn’t see pink or blue, he just saw toys sectioned into 2 categories, Things I can put in my mouth and Things I can’t.

The department is sectioned into 6 worlds. In the words of Harrods

- The Big Top: a fairground of circus acts and candy floss, with magicians and jugglers on stage surrounded by fancy dress costumes, doll houses, rocking horses and soft toys.

 

 

- The Candy Store: a curious chocolate counter displaying a bizarre array of chocolate fancies and flavors, alongside Papa Bubble who makes flavorsome candy concoctions to order throughout the day.

- The Enchanted Forest: fairies whisper from tree trunks, while wigwams on the forest floor house the latest collections from Sylvanian Families and Flutter Fairies, alongside arts and crafts.

- Wonderland: a colourful ‘Grand Canyon’ of Harrods’ most exclusive and jaw-dropping toys (presided over by a giant dragon) is filled with Hornby train sets, remote-controlled helicopters and Scalextric.

- The Odyssey: a gigantic space rocket crashes through the floor and a huge sun bursts through the wall in front of an Area 51-inspired space and gadget zone, complete with alien space pods and limited-edition pieces.

- The Reading Room: choose from favorite children’s stories at the rotunda of books, climb into one of the special cubby holes to hear famous voices reading extracts, have fun with electronic gaming pods and explore the world of Harry Potter.

Trust my boy to go through all 6 worlds in 3 hours and not break a sweat. As toy stores go this is definitely one I would recommend. The whole place reeks of Willy Wonka-esque styling and will definitely be appreciated by the older kids as well.

The adults had a browse through the beauty section (Me!), Food section(Me!) and the technology section (Him!). I bought some skin care products for a dear price but hopefully the results will be worth the price tag. Will be putting more details in the Beauty section soon.

Needless to say my lil boy was knackered by the end of the journey and we all had some good night’s sleep!

  

BODY SHOP DROPS OF YOUTH BOUNCY SLEEPING MASK :Review

…you would understand this if you were a Bollywood buff. I AM…a complete Bollywood buff well until recently. I used to know the songs, the plots, the names of the actors everything. Maybe it was the colours, maybe because they were the initial creators of Twerkin’…but a Bollywood movie was an absolute treat for me once upon a time. But this post is not about Bollywood.

Miredita..that’s hello in Albanian. And today I’ve got some reviews sorted out for the Beauty column which seems to be quiet empty for some time now. So I love me some beauty products, like seriously good products that actually work. And The Body Shop is one of my fav places that have actually nailed this. The product that actually made me go gaa gaa goo goo is the The Body Shop Drops of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask. I was actually walking by TBS when I saw there 30% off promotion unfortunately this item was not included in the offer. Just my luck!

Ok , now let’s talk about the packaging , it actually comes in this gorgeous green glass jar and not the usual plastic tubs. love my glass jars, I use them usually to store stuff after I’m done with the product but there’s nothing fancier than glass jar products on the dressing table or by the bathroom sinks bouncing off lights all over the place. But this isn’t your fragile glass jars but quiet a heavy flat glass jar. But saying this, this might make it the only reason why this would not be favoured as travel friendly product.

Now, can we please talk about the consistency of this item? It’s not something; I have ever seen or felt before. The cream is an opaque, “bouncy”,crème caramel-y like of paste and the paste goes back to the smooth surface every time you open the lid. I have to keep this jar far far away from my little one as he could easily misunderstand it for one of his icky looking puddings.

I just used my finger to grab some pudding…I mean cream..and applied it to my face resisting every temptation to smell or taste it. The cream itself is actually a bit heavy for my taste and a bit oily on my face, so I didn’t use much product on my face. The concept of sleeping masks is to spread the cream on your face, let your skin absorb it and then sleep without washing it off. And obvio wash it off the next day. I personally love the smell, but I was not a fan of the sticky fingers that I had post application.

The next day my skin actually felt quiet hydrated and not the usual dry, ‘morning face’ kind of feeling that I usually get. I didn’t get glowy skin like those women off the ads but my skin felt taken care off and nourished so definitely yayy from me.

In a nutshell, don’t expect miracles with this cream but I can see this as an essential for the dry weathers and definitely one of dry or dehydrated skin. I did see some bounce but that could also be due to my chubby cheeks!!!!

KIKO Gel Eye Liner:Review

Goeda dag, Hallo my fellow beauty lovers.

For some time now I have been on the lookout for a good eyegel that would give me perfect jet black (ness) that I needed and also all the -proofs in the world….you know your waterproof, smudgeproof, foolproof..the works.

I thought I almost had my perfect match with my Bobbi Brown Long wear gel eyeliners and with all the lovely colours that they have. But I have no idea what secret coding they have in the gel but gone 1 month the gel just dries up and is just beyond useable and for £18 per pot, it costs much too dear to be unusable makeup. And it was even sadder to see this happening across all my colour pots.

I actually decided to browse the KIKO store in Westfield Stratford as my eyeliner was barely there and thought I could fix it whilst I was in the store.I tried some from the tester pots and it looked a perfect black. I always have issues getting the perfect black. There are just way too many random blacks in that transition from the perfect black to the greys. My other half just doesn’t get this and thinks I’m bonkers amongst many other titles. Please tell (assure!) me I’m not the only one who has this issue.

I was actually on my way to catch up with a friend of mine in Stratford and was quiet surprised that the liner was on my lids completely intact and still the same perfect black when I got home and also needed a bit of cleanser to actually get it off. Obviously when I went in there the next day to get some a glorious pot they were all gone. Just my luck!

But same store, another week, this time with a sale on, I found my KIKO eyeliner. The pot is quiet generous and has got a 6ml of whipped gel liner in there. Not sure how much it measures up with Bobbi Browns 3gm pots but it definitely looks like it’s got more in there than BB. Also, with or without the sales you still end up getting the KIKO pot £10 cheaper than BB. Sorry Bobbi Brown !

Pros: Actually delivers, doesn’t dry up as quick and also has this nice matte finish

Cons: Just the one colour…..WHYYYYYY!!!!! Why couldn’t they just do them in at least another 4 colours or even more?

Harry Potter-ed

Konnichiwa…ok I just had this crazy idea to start off my posts with a greeting in a foreign language…so this was Japanese. I have no reasoning behind this, and I know I will not learn a language by learning the word “Hello”….but hey it’s a start.

So, keeping up with the pace my month has been, my weekend was super busy and fun…Again!!! So my darling friend Bottom turned a year wiser and to mourn this occasion we decided…well I say we...but I had no voice in this as this part of the day was sponsored by her lovely sis Bee….so as I was saying…'we' decided to visit The Making of Harry Potter Studios….say whaaaa!!!! So this was my reaction when this was revealed as the plan for the day…now before I hear the wrath from the Potter fans….I just have to put it out there I haven’t seen any of the movies since the first and the only reason I saw the movie was because I read the first book which was Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. I always tried to read the later ones but always had something or the other come up….this something or the other used to usually be a thing called A LIFE!!! I’m only kidding…I’m just rubbish at remembering characters, their super powers and their sworn enemies for too long…all though how I remember Rebecca (aka Becky) Brandon (nee Bloomwood ) from the Shopaholic Series of novels by Sophie Kinsella is beyond me….oh well !!!

But this wasn’t my birthday and if I had to pretend to ignore the fact that the 3 main characters have'nt aged a bit and still look like they are still in their teens…and that this could have been a potter curse/blessing…then that’s what I will do for the birthday girl….besides it’s another thing to blog about…Cloud, meet your silver lining.

The Studio itself is based somewhere around Watford and I had to get off the Watford Junction station and make my towards the collection points where there were buses that looked like they were drenched in the Harry Potter film realms. But it does add to the excitement and I could see little kids really enjoying themselves and some even crying with excitement. OMG! Have I missed out on something BIG by skipping these books!

The girls were in their Potter mode and were looking at me for some or any facial reactions. They could have been talking German for all I knew, coz I had no clue. Desperate to make some Potter related conversation; I told them how sad Christopher Lee’s passing away was …completely oblivious to the fact that this was a Lord of the Rings character and not a potter character, but seriously did they have similar stylists???Yes, I did get geeky "tsks tsks" and nodding of the heads. But come on, there’s just too many similarities to ignore, both include stories of short guys guided by old guys with beards, there’s your  mystical creatures and potions,and you also have one of the Potter creatures looking a bit like the lil bald guy looking for ‘Precious !’…although why Golum needed a bit of Gabby Sidibe in his life...I will never know... I’m going to regret saying this on a public platform…aren’t I?

So couple of helpful pointers

1.     Bee had to book way ahead for the timed ticket slot. But my co-sister…wait …is that actually a word???…my main girl Sheets decides to join us the last minute and had to get a later timed slot. But if you ask any of the Potter guides, they will happily let your group through if it’s not too busy. The tour that we were on was moderately busy. But yea, book early to avoid disappointment.

2.     There’s an hour and half, depending on your pace of walking, before your next food/coffee stop or the loos. So relieve yourself or/and stuff yourself before the tour. And try not be distracted by the inviting gift shop.

3.     If you are travelling with kids, please do find out about getting Potter passports for them .This is free and also has a lovely treasure hunt. I HAD to have one. But saying that a 5 ft 8 inch woman begging for a Potter passport is not a pretty sight. It’s a great souvenir for the kids (and adults!!) and the passport does get stamped at key points of the treasure hunt. I got my souvenir pic stamped...*smug look

 4.     You do not have to know the entire collection back to back or even who the good and bad guys are to appreciate The Great Hall. If it is your birthday or if it’s just gone by, you get the golden opportunity to open the doors to the Great Hall. Listen to the guides as they do know their stuff and not too shy to share their geeky potter knowledge.

 5.     The place does have Wi-Fi available absolutely free. So if you do need it, please do ask for this. If not for anything else, check yourself and/or your mates in on your social pages.

6.     When inside, jump on the Flying Ford Anglia or the broom in front of the green screen for a picture souvenir or video souvenir. And more importantly go crazy with l’expressionz. You do get to decide later on if you want to buy it or not.

7.     An hour and a half after your walk you come out of one the studios and there is a break out seating area with a food and the ButterBeer counter. Now again , I had no clue what ButterBeer was and I just couldn’t understand why 3 grown women were drooling over the word ButterBeer….I love butter…I like beer….but I don’t like my butter on my beer or the other way round. You do get to buy a souvenir plastic beer mug if you want to. The food selection was very basic and it was like hot dog, hotdog with onions, burger…yea..you get the picture. The ButterBeer was “interesting”…it tasted like a light butterscotch drink. I actually liked the froth; it was like eating cream and the froth gets frothier if you leave it for a bit. So more cream! Also, I came up with this “Bee and Bottom bought a bit of ButterBeer, but the ButterBeer was too bitter, So Bee and Bottom let the ButterBeer bubble, to make the ButterBeer better”

 Ok, so it’s not your average tongue twister.

Bring your own picnic lunch if you want to, you can eat it in the restaurant area.

8.     The second half of the tour is more of what went into the creation of the movie like the creatures, monsters and architecture. There’s nothing that will prepare you for the amazing room that held the scaled down model of the castle, which was (using my very limited Potter knowledge here) for all dreamy exterior shots. Amidst all the photography poses that you will be striking in this room, don’t forget to use the touchscreen displays which will allow you to learn more about what actually went on in getting the films together.

9.     While walking you just land in this magical land with all goodies and before you know it…you realize (sadly!) that the tour is over and also you have ended up in the gift shop. Ok, so being a gift shop for something this prestigious and popular, the prices were a bit steep for me but it is your average London souvenir prices. But I had to get something for my better half (consider this as a bribe money, as he had to take care of the little one  !!) and my little boy. I got a beer mug which came up to around £13 and a battery operated blue flying car which sadly didn’t fly and just kept going in a continous loop like some drunk puppy trying to catch its tail which came up to £12 and a fridge magnet for me, which was around £6 , so… not cheap!

10. If you can, watch the movies or read the books but I dont think that would make the appreciation of the place any less. I have been told that the movies don’t come close to how beautifully the books unfold the stories. But do know your Potter basics so that you appreciate the little things all over the place. I was wikipedia-ying the whole thing as we were walking through the tour. You will appreciate the art that went in the creation of the movie, regardless!

 

The Heartbreak Hotel

Yallllowww!!!! So I had a pretty busy 2 days and after a day to catch up on a well-deserved break I was back on my feet to check into the Heartbreak Hotel. No, I just didn’t make that up and yes, it’s another thing I ended up doing. For anyone wondering, all my weeks aren’t this exciting and there are some days where I treat going to the shops for grocery as a trip. But my friend Bee actually stumbled upon this whilst looking for places to eat around central London when our mutual friend decided to visit us. And yes, we all get very easily distracted. So the four of us (Me, Bee, Bottom and the hubby) decided to check out the show, which was based at the Jetty, along the River Thames, near North Greenwich tube station . Now my lovely husband is very very difficult to please and was quiet hesitant about joining us but tagged along as it was a lovely day.

So first things first...lunch!!! Grabbed some Kebab from the Yalla Yalla Beirut food restaurant.My lamb was a bit dry but the chicken tasted awesome...but dont you just love the yellow and black theme that the restaurant had going!!

Heartbreak Hotel is set in a…well, a hotel…which is a temporary theatre platform, by the riverside. Now we had tickets for the 18:30 show but were about 4 minutes late so we had to wait for the next show which was at 19:30.

 







You check in to the hotel by handing your tickets to the counter and getting a room number assigned to you ( Mine was 103), where you will be handed a sticky label with your name and room number. As we were late we sat by the Bar and snacks area for some drinks. There are some table inside the hotel lobby as well some outside by the riverside. TBT, one hour just flew by.

Then at 19:30 sharp, we made our way to the counter and were showed to our relevant rooms by the receptionist. The hubby and my friend Bottom left for another room (7).




We were led to the corridor by a bell boy where we met some disciples of the ACHE program, who explained what A.C.H.E stood for ( I forget now L) and what they hoped we would achieve by the end of this “experience”.The corridor was filled with A.C.H.E inspirationalists and it did give this whole "cult" vibe. It did get spooky when one of the inspirationalists called me out by my name ....till i realised i had my sticky badge with my name on it ....duh!! When the journey was about to start there was another inspirationalist talking to us from a recording from a small TV monitor.

The hotel corridor looked really dodgy and it looked like somewhere people who fled from the law would end up staying. It’s in these rooms by the corridor where little stories unfolded. Lost souls, couples trying to reconnect, guilt ridden lovers and overly excited camp inspiritionalist , which was my personal favourite. The inspirationlists lead you from one room to another....so basically from one story to another.

I don’t want to say out much about the plot, but this was something new to me and Bee tells me its quiet similar to the Punchdrunk shows but not that polished. The production did have its glitches as we kept bumping into the actors when we were led through the corridors and they kept breaking out of their characters and I also heard one of the guys throwing a tantrum as we started the show about 5 minutes late.To be honest I didnt know what to expect ,the Youtube video looked a bit grey and there were cautionary messages  on the tickets and around the place advising if any of the stories made anyone a bit uncomfortable or closer to the reality they should give one of the staff members a shout ...so I was expecting horror but was pleasanly surprised... I liked it as it was something different; hubby hasn’t still made his mind about it.



The tickets were around £15 each and the show was about an hour and a half. Although that hour and half flew by too quick.