DerivAnto

[tiggergalore]

An illustration I completed recently for NBCUniversal. It’s celebrating an Anime weekend, all weekend for the Syfy channel.

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Beautiful illustration!

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Afternoon tea at the Corinthia Hotel (London)

My ratings: Quality of the tea: 5/5 tea leaves Quality of the food: 5/5 scones Location: 4.8/5 Price (per person): £60.00 (afternoon tea & glass of rose champagne) 

Dear Reader,

Welcome to a post about food and drinks in a prime location in London! 

Saturday 11th February we tried the afternoon tea at The Crystal Moon Lounge of the Corinthia Hotel. My Husband got me the experience as a gift voucher for Christmas (he knows me too well!!), so we used it on the day. Since we arrived at the venue 15 minutes early, we browsed around the ground floor: stunning! Full of beautiful art and incredible details. 

We decided to have a drink while we waited, as our table was not ready yet. We headed to the Northall Bar for a drink. What a beautiful room! We sat at the bar, and an Italian barman welcomed us and handed us the drink menu. What a choice! I wanted to try everything on it!

Conscious about my wallet and my health, I refrained from ordering some 50 cocktails and I narrowed it to one of my favourites: gin! Well, the choice was superb! My eyes fell (not literally) on one brand I read about in a book: the Monkey 47! Guess why it is called so?

Close enough! It has 47 botanicals and it is 47 degrees of alcohol. It is made in the Black Forest (not the dessert!). Probably the priciest (£18.00) among the gins on the menu, but I wanted to try it. 

Great choice! You can smell lots of scents, and at the taste it is simply delicious! Bitter and a bit spicy... I loved it!

By the way, if you are into gin or if you are simply curious to read more about this lovely spirit, I recommend a book that was recommended to me by a friend that knows his drinks: “Gin & Tonic - The complete guide for the perfect mix” by Frederic du Bois and Isabel Boons (www.Lannoo.com, 2nd edition, £13.99 on Apple’s iBook Store). Really worth reading it!

The barman clearly noticed our interest in spirits, so he offered us a glass of Tanqueray 10 especially made for the Corinthia Hotel. It contains the delicate flavour of a special white tea made for the hotel. It was very delicious! Rather sweet to the palate, and with strong apricot and lemon notes when you smell it.

Half way through our drink, we enquired about the table for the afternoon tea, and guess what? It was ready! So we got accommodated to a table by one of the two entrances of The Crystal Moon Lounge, and we looked at the menus.

When you enter the hotel, and the lounge for the tea, you can’t help admiring the beautiful chandelier at its centre. Enormous, and beautiful! 

If you are a huge Star Wars fan like me, you can’t help thinking that it looks like a giant crystal Death Star, especially because, if you look well, one of the crystal spheres is actually of another colour. To add to the experience, we even spotted Daisy Ridley (Rey in the latest movie of the Star Wars saga). That obviously made the experience even more exciting for me!

The food menu for me was gluten free, and I must say that the scones in particular made it one of the top three afternoon teas I ever had in London. Incredibly delicious! The husband opted for the standard food menu, and he thoroughly enjoyed it!

The choice of teas was great. I asked some questions to the waitress regarding few teas, and with positive surprise I learned that the teas are supplied by Camellia’s Tea House (https://www.camelliasteahouse.com). I was a regular client at their shop in Kingly Court. The choice and quality of teas is simply unbeatable! I noticed their white elegance tea on the menu, which is the one used for the Tanqueray 10 special blend, but I preferred to order the snow buds white tea, which I think tried before, and I know it is exquisite.

My husband had gifted me the rose champagne afternoon tea which included also a glass of Laurent Perrier. The whole experience was great thanks to the food and drinks that were out of this world, and to an incredibly friendly and well trained staff!

If I can give you an advice on which table to book, ask for a table that is not directly facing either of the entrances. As the doors open automatically, in winter you may get a cold breeze from now and then that is probably going to chill your tea too quickly!

Now stop reading and go on the Corinthia’s website and book your afternoon tea! Here the link: http://www.corinthia.com/en/hotels/london/dining/afternoon-tea 

Ciao for now and thanks for reading!

Anto

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Musical review: Aladdin (by Disney)

Music notes: 5/5

If you are looking for an event to take your date to, this is a total winner! Even if you want a night out with friends, family or by yourself, this is a winner too. 

The Disney story has been perfectly adapted to a stage performance, with few twists from the original cartoon (sorry to say it, but there is no monkey singing in this one). All characters are great, colour palette matching the one in the Disney’s classic, and songs are really catchy. 

Obviously the Genie steals the show, but Jafar is up there among the best performers. Two scenes were absolutely brilliant: 

1. In the cave, when Aladdin meets Genie - that performance is AWESOME! There was lots of magic going on. Watching this was truly a treat for the eyes.

2. The world is mine/yours bit on the magic carpet. So romantic! It really felt like the two lovers were flying in a starry night on dunes and lands far away. Spectacular! 

Last night was also my first time at the Prince Edward Theatre: very nice and super central venue! Clean toilets too, which is always a plus. 

Now let's focus on the economic aspect of the experience. Bring your date only if you have serious intentions as it is going to be an expensive treat! We had great seats in the stalls (£127.25 each, including lots of fishy fees), courtesy of my brother and wife (thank you guys, we loved it!), we had an overpriced ice cream (£3.00 for an Haagen-Dasz mini cup) during the interval, and they were selling peluche toys at around £25.00 each - some of our neighbours fell into the merchandise trap, and they now can cuddle their bear peluche with a lighter wallet. Event programs and other items were available to purchase, and there was also a cloakroom, but I don’t know how much they were charging. 

Go watch it: you’ll love it!

(Photo credit: me!)

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Movie review: Allied (2016)

My rating: 4/5 popcorn

Beautiful movie, brilliantly directed by the great Robert Zemeckis. It is set in the 1940s first in Casablanca (Morocco) and then London (UK). Costumes and filming are really good! It is a two hours long movie, but you almost don't feel it. It is not what I’d define a "colossal" movie, but still it is worth watching on the big screen.

It is a story about love at the time of the Second World War. The plot may not be one of the most exciting, but I enjoyed it! It unfolds as follows...

Two cold blooded spies on a mission to kill the bad Nazis, fall in love. Unlike James Bond, Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) has a clear mind when it comes to relationships. Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard) is stunning, has an adorable French accent when she speaks English, she is always the life of the party, and she offers Max a thrilling sex experience in a car in the middle of a sand storm, few hours before a black tie event where they will kill some Nazis. What else could a man want from a woman?

After completing their mission, they leave the party in high heels, with no wounds, and armed. They get into their car without any visible creases on their outfits, and not followed by anyone. What a lucky day!

That has to be Max's day: after all those signs sent by the Providence, he gets the message (even if he is a man), and asks Marianne to marry him. Being a smart woman, it does not take her long to weight the pros and cons of the proposal: moving to London, marrying Brad Pitt, ehm, Max Vatan, settling down while continuing her job (secretly) and from home, using her husband's work... what a bargain! I (and clearly she) could not think of any cons to such a proposition. Could you?

The first hour of the movie goes by, and the story fast forwards to about one year after their marriage. God knows what happens in that year, but a third hour in the film would have killed it, so Robert Zemeckis conveniently calls in a super highly ranked official in that summarises what happened to us (the audience) and brings Max some bad news: his wife is thought to be a German spy. They tracked messages sent by someone about where they live, that signes herself as "lady". What a great way to give away your identity, Marianne! What kind of spy is she? Anyway, that is clearly a bad day for Max.

All of a sudden, he realises that she already hinted this to him few times along the movie, but he (being a man) clearly did not read through the lines. Well, the highly ranked superior, to put the icing on the cake, adds: "If she is a spy, then you have to terminate her with your own hands".

Now, did this highly ranked dude got where he was because he is smart. I don't think so: how can you kill Marion Cotillard, ehm, Marianne blah blah, after all the great sex had so far and still to have? Max gets very conflicted and, as every straight man would do, he can not get himself to kill her. Sex, ehm, love always triumphs.

The end scene, compared to any end scene of a James Bond movie, made me understand why they did many JB films, and why Max's story will have no sequel: career and love can not go hand in hand. Shame. I genuinely thought till minute 119 that it was possible at least on the big screen.

This is it for this movie. Oh, before I go, one advice: make sure you have a drink on you before entering the cinema room, so that you don't get dehydrated during those two hours!

Enjoy,

Anto 

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Movie review: Moana (2016) by Disney

My rating: 5/5 popcorn

This is one of those rare movies where I do not have much to say. Why? Because it is simply perfect! 

It is 90 minutes of pure entertainment, lots of action, great screenplay... What else?

The design of the characters is beautiful: each and every one has its own personality and physical features. 

The landscapes... OMG! sometimes the sea looked so real, that I really wanted to dive into it.

The story, well, I never heard of it before, but it is very nice and relevant to the world we live in. I think the two main topics that it wants to bring up are climate change, and self discovery. 

We all know that climate change is happening, and that we (humans) have drastically accelerated its course. In Moana, climate change is a demon that was triggered by greed and egoisms of men. I think it is a very nice way to see it and to portray it in a movie.

The hero that transforms the demon to the goddess of nature (and obviously stops climate change) is a girl whose name is (surprise, surprise...) Moana! She is genuinely a nice person, very curious and with a huge crush for the sea. Or I should say, the “ocean”. Which is by the way her friend. 

She goes on a (real) journey to discover who she is and where she comes from. In a world where globalisation is anywhere, it feels like teenagers are getting more and more lost in a place that has no clear origins and no visible directions. Life is indeed like an ocean that calls you to it. At first it is clear blue, warm, and appealing, but along the way it may hide tricks and difficulties. Only when you know who you are and where you want to go, you can dominate your journey and reach your destination.

Beautiful movie, I highly recommend it! Even in 2D (like we watched it) is perfect.

Enjoy,

Anto

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Movie review: Fantastic beasts and where to find them (2016)

My rating: 4.7/5 popcorn

Do you believe in magic? I only believed in the force, before watching the latest J. K. Rowling's movie. Now I believe in the power of magic (wooden) sticks, too. 

It is such a good movie, that you can't miss it. The cast is definitely perfect for the story! It is a bit dark, but not as dark as the Harry Potter series, so this time I could keep my eyes open and, for once, I can write a review having watched the whole movie.

It is set in a New York City of almost a century ago, and it is beautifully portrayed in this movie. The buildings look real, the streets likewise and the wizards' headquarter is awesome. It is like a bank, but it is not. It is brilliant!

As the film title suggests, there are quite a few animals featuring in the movie. The coolest creatures you could possibly imagine! Chimeras are nothing compared to the new species that J. K. Rowling created. I don't know what kind of hallucinating air she breathes, but it works. On top of that, the special effect guys made a wonderful job: the animals look so real! One of my favourite parts of the movie takes place in the protagonist's suitcase, where he keeps all those fantastic beasts. It is genius idea and so beautifully done. I loved it! I wish I could open the zip of my suitcase, enter it, and visit my pets.

Oh, make sure you check out the mating dance moves that Eddie Redmayne does to win the attention of mega female rhino (that is not a rhino). Epic!

The story is very nice and full of surprises. For example, you get to see Johnny Depp at the end. Can you believe it?! Ops, I hope I did not spoil it for you. 

The movie ends in a bakery shop. Everything looked so delicious that when I left my seat on my way out I really hoped that the Cineworld guys would hand us out one of those soft and delicious pastries. Unfortunately that did not happen, damn it!

We watched it in 3D, but probably they were a bit old, as the images did not look very sharp.

Go watch it and enjoy it!

Anto

AntoTrivia: Do you know what J. K. stands for? I wonder whether there are other people out there that, like me, call her J. K. and that have no idea of what her real name is. Well, I googled it for you: her full name is Joanne Rowling. As a pen name, she uses J. K., where the J. stands for Joanne (or "Jo") and K. stands for Kathleen, which was her grandmother's name. 

She was requested to use two initials before the last name to sign the books, so she thought to "borrow" her grandma’s name. I think it is a cute idea! I'd be either A. E. G. or A. A. G., if I had to chose a pen name using my grandmothers' initials. 

The first option would sound like the German brand of appliances and the second one, well, none of the searches that google came up with particularly excited me. So I guess I will just keep my job and won’t change it to become a writer.

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Exhibition: Star Wars Identities at the O2

On Tuesday we were lucky enough to get some tickets to the preview of Star Wars Identities exhibition, which opened on November 18th. My wonderful husband found the tickets on Timeout and booked us in for the 19.00 entrance.

1.5 hours was definitely not enough for me to visit all rooms: it is so interesting and unexpected that I think you should allow at least 2 hours (if you are a huge SW fan like I am!!). I'll definitely go back at some point: the force is strong there!

Before entering the exhibition, you are given a rubber wristband (similar to a Fitbit) and a small audio device to wear around your neck, with a one-sided headphone to fit on your hear.

Once you are all equipped with these gadgets, prepare to feel the force, and to begin your journey.

With big and pleasant surprise, you buy the ticket for one exhibition and you get to visit two: what a bargain!

Yes, because one is obviously about Star Wars, while the other one is about behavioural analysis. The two are put together by a subtle, but clever connection: two of the most important characters of the saga lead you through the development of their personalities across the 9 rooms you'll visit.

The exhibition explores the behaviour of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, and analyses their characters, environments, social group, decisions, ... everything is based on the latest research on such topic.

Each room has a subject to explore. Whether it is DNA development or group thinking or other fascinating discoveries of the science behind our human development and behaviour. I learned a lot!

The Star Wars bit is amazing: there are many original costumes, figurines, and drawings from 1970s and onward. The SW characters you’ll see are not necessarily connected to the topic of the room you are visiting, but they are anyway extremely fascinating. The level of detail in sketches and mannequins is simply stunning!

I learned how George Lucas created Chewbacca, or how Yoda came to be the mightiest Jedi, Yoda, and so many other insights that I did not know before. My brain was loaded with fascinating information!

Let's jump back to the second layer of the exhibition: each room develops a theme about personality and social behaviour, using as an example short extracts from the movie.

How does it do it? If you place yourself in front of the screen where they are explaining, for instance, how our DNA works, your audio device automatically starts playing. Make sure you don't miss any point that has a yellow speaker sign in front of it, and listen to the stories! The audio content is also available when you stand in front of some of the many display cases that hold original models and sketches.

So what is the wristband for? It is used to create your own Star Wars avatar during you visit. There are some hubs where you get to touch your wristband and it will upload some content. Each hub features a particular content. It is a curious activity to put in practice what you learn in each room. Don't worry if you tap the wrong answer: you can always touch the wristband again and it overwrites your previous answer.

Practical advice:

Allow plenty of time to visit it, and try not to go during peak times. Since you want to interact with the tech stations, you do not want to queue every time you touch your wristband or you listen to one of the videos. 

The shop looks great and has plenty of nice gadgets: browse around to find nice presents for family or friends. Or for yourself!

You can take photos and videos, but with no flashlight

Here is a link to the official website, should you wish to know opening times and to book your tickets. 

Let me know your thoughts, if you visit it!

May the force be with you!

Anto-Wan Kenobi

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Movie review: Nocturnal Animals (2016), directed by Tom Ford

Anto review: 5/5 popcorn

Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful! This is a movie that appeals to the eye as much as to the intellect.

You can tell that it is directed by a fashion designer: everyone wears trendy outfits, houses seem to have come out of an Architectural Digest’s magazine, Susan (the protagonist - Amy Adams) has an arty job, and what triggers the whole story is her focus on “1st world” problems.

She grew up in a conservative and fairly wealthy family. Susan is a woman with lots of artistic talent, but because of an inner restlessness, she ended up owning an art gallery, instead of becoming an artist herself. She is unhappy with her life: her husband cheats on her, she works with boring people, and she has a superficial circle of friends. Curious enough, her art gallery is full of artworks that very much reflect her unhappiness, but she seems not to have noticed it till now.

The movie instigates in you a dilemma: better to live a life poor but in love, or rich but unloved? All her life Susan thought the problem was a dichotomy, but only at the end of the story, she understands she was wrong. Will the author (Austin Wright) give her a chance to redeem herself eventually?

It is a beautiful psychological thriller to read in two keys. The first one (superficial) is about Susan’s life and her day-to-day problems typical of a fake society, and her frequent insomnia. The second one, more intriguing, is the revenge of her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal), a writer that sends her his latest book, still to be published, and that unfolds a parallel story with lots of drama.

The director gives you some hints of where he stands and what idea he embraces. However, I’ve appreciated that he does not force you into his thinking, and he leaves the choice to you. What character will you prefer?

The title has possibly two meanings. Because of her restlessness, Susan can hardly sleep, and at night is when she analyses her life and thinks of a change. The second level of reading refers to actual nocturnal animals, mostly intended as predators, that impose themselves on others, on those that are weaker.

Weak is indeed an adjective that emerges several times in the movie. Susan thinks that her ex-husband is weak, because he does not aspire to the same values and lifestyle that she does. This weakness is used and amplified within the book that he wrote for her to read. In his book, he faces this weakness and takes a revenge on her, proving that she has always been wrong.

The complexity of the characters is very well portrayed by the cast. So many different personalities to cope with, and you get to understand them all perfectly. 

If you don’t like violence, I am afraid this is not for you. Approach the movie with an open mind and without prejudice on people and lifestyles. 

The dilemma that the movie poses you has multiple solutions. Very sad that Susan could not see it...

Enjoy,

Anto

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Movie review: Doctor Strange (2016) - by Marvel & Disney

Anto rating: 5/5 popcorn

Are you one of those people that when they see some fights and extra-human martial art moves feel like they can do it too?

I am, 100% of me! 

After this movie you can not help thinking that a trip to Nepal would make you become the mightiest warrior ever existed. Yes, they can teach you how to bend time and space to your will. Quite cool, right?

I did not know anything about the story, and the cast is not one of my favourite, but Disney and Marvel made (as usual) a wonderful job to impress me: continuous action, intriguing story plot, suspense, AMAZING special effects, great jokes, and everything you would expect from a fantasy/sci-fi movie. Plus the usual magic touch to “awesomize” it even more. It totally beat my expectations.

Man, if only I had their powerful ring that can open doors to travel in other corners of the world... No more monthly travel cards or Ryanair flights at crazy hours... I tried with my wedding ring, but Tiffany does not seem to craft such magic jewelry. 

Who’s up for a trip to Nepal with me? I can’t wait to learn how to become a powerful sorcerer like Strange!

Dear Harry Potter fans, as soon as you watch this movie, you’ll see another level of magic. Drop those sticks and learn martial arts!

We watched it in 3D. It may have been the screen or maybe the special glasses, but it looked a bit blurred at times. I’d suggest you watch it in 2D, unless you have astigmatism, and hence it’d look normal to you.

Hint: don’t leave your seat till the cinema staff comes to kick you out. There is one (or maybe two) things you may want to see after the end titles.

Enjoy!

Martial Anto

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Movie review: Storks (2016)

Anto rating: 4.5/5 popcorn

Dear Reader,

Prepare to laugh for 87 minutes, when you watch this movie! The script is awesome and the characters are so human... You’ll love it, I promise!

The story is pretty simple: a stork and a girl have to deliver a baby made in a giant machine located on the clouds to a North American family of three. Oh, the baby has to have ninja skills. Easy-peasy!

> What did you just say?! 

That’s right: it’s insane! That’s why I loved it! Whoever came up with such a plot, either eats Mario’s mushrooms on a daily basis, or is a genius! 

The action is everywhere in the movie: it is really fast-paced, and full of cute moments. 

Eventually I did not quite get if Junior and Tulip are in love with each other or just friends... Who cares?! It is such a politically correct movie, that nobody can be discriminated or feel a minority, after you watch it.

The graphics are great, the soundtrack is very nice and, we watched it in 2D, so I have no idea if in 3D it would look as great, but why not trying it?

Best song for me was “how you like me now”: I am singing it to my boss every time I do something good at work. Because I, like any stork, dream to become a booooooooooooss one day!

Enjoy!

Anto

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Movie review: The Accountant (2016)

Anto rating: 5/5 popcorn

This was a hell of a good movie! What an awesome thriller!

The story is, at times, violent (like I had to cover my eyes and peep through my fingers to see what happens), but it is very fast paced, intriguing, with lots of suspense and comic relief at the right times, and very well acted by the cast.

A special compliment goes to Ben Affleck that perfectly brings his character to life. He plays the role of a grown up coping with autism. His genius and math skills make him become a very popular accountant among an elite of clients. Oh, he is also really good as a sniper and a fighter… probably extra skills you need to be such a popular accountant. ;-)

During the movie there are flash backs of his boyhood and you can’t help but sympathise with the character for the tough upbringing he had from his father. Even when he shoots dead one or two people. Or maybe few more.

The other characters are also well thought and played.

Go watch it and make sure you breathe from time to time! You may be too focused on the action and forget to do it!

Enjoy,

Anto

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Event review: Chambers of Flavours (October 2016)

Hey there!

Welcome to my post about the secret experience had this past week. It is so secret that I can’t say anything about it.

End of the post.

Anto

_____________

Ah, ah! I got you there! It is secret, but I am sure I can let you know some things about it. Without breaking the promise not to disclose what happens in the chambers.

Have you ever watched “Charlie and the chocolate factory”? Maybe you are more cultural than me and you read the book? Or maybe none of the two, but you certainly have heard of it, and you have an idea of the story it tells.

Either way, imagine you enter a place where you start a journey that fulfils all your five senses… The central theme here is food, and everything else unfolds around it.

Magic, hey?

The experience lasts about 90 minutes, but I highly recommend you go there for a drink or two before your journey officially starts. 

You’ll visit 5 different rooms, and in each one you get to sample a particular dish. I must say, I was really surprised by the incredibly tasty mix they gave us. They perfectly catered to my dietary requirements, and I thoroughly got to enjoy each single dish. Everything was delicious and filling!!! I guess I should also say that the drinks were good, too, and that the bartenders were definitely not shy on the alcool: totally good value for money!

The actors are really smart and engaging, and you should try to play along and to blend in during your experience. It is, in my view, the way to enjoy this event at its best.

We went on a weekday, and it cost us about £60.00 + drinks. Some people would say it is cheap, some others expensive. I think that, for a London thing, it is fairly priced. You get to eat 5 tasty dishes and you get to live a wonderful theatre experience for 90 minutes… 

I would definitely recommend it.

The Gingerline team (the organisers) want you to have a great evening, and I am sure that, with time and experience, they will refine these events more. It is an incredibly original event that can be adjusted to many ideas.

Monday 31st October they will release new tickets: snap yours here !

Enjoy,

Anto

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Movie review: Trolls (2016) by Dreamworks

Anto rating: 5/5 popcorn 

 Have you ever been to Luxembourg or Switzerland? I haven't, but I'd imagine them to be just like the village of the Trolls: green, cute, everyone's happy and they always sing and dance in the streets. Obviously Trolls look a little different than the Swiss or the Luxembourgers (is this right?): small, furry and with long hair. Oh, and they are really colourful too, unless they are depressed, in which case they turn into a green cabbage colouring. The movie is full of great jokes, great soundtrack (first time ever I know all songs in a movie: woohoo!), and a great plot. OK, they borrowed some ideas from other stories (Cinderella, the Smurfs, Boxtrolls,...), but everything blended into an amazing cocktail of fun and entertainment. The animation team did a wonderful job at creating characters with distinct personalities and the settings are truly beautiful. The whole production is well done, and length of the movie just the right time for the story it tells (approximately 90'). We watched it in 3D, and it was a good choice: no blurred images or strange tricks: it was a totally seamless experience. Spoiler: yoga teachers are never as calm as they seem. 

Keep an eye on the little blue and green guy! 

 Cheers, Anto

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Movie review: Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children (2016) directed by Tim Burton

Anto rating: 4/5 popcorn

Disclaimer: I love Tim Burton’s movies. My review of this movie may therefore be a bit biasedd. :)

This is a very clever story that takes place in the U.K. during the Second World War. Actually, it starts in today’s world, but it goes back to that time. Well, it is a bit of a time mess, because once you ttravel back in time, you are stuck in a time loop, so you live the same day over and over. So I am not very sure when it takes place, but eventually you get the story anyway.

As the title of the movie suggests, the heroes here are peculiar children. Not really those that are talented at drawing, or at running or at maths. Peculiar here means kids that would eat a whole Nando’s jumbo platter with a huge mouth hiding at the back of their head. Or children that light up anything they touch (no more electricity bills here!). After all, a title saying “Ms Peregrine’ home for freaks” does not sound as well (apologies for all the people reading this that have similar powers…), does it?

Meet Miss Peregrine, Tim Burton’s version of Mary Poppins. Dark, very British, unfortunately Miss P doesn’t carry a magic bag and a talking umbrella. She can although control time (and create the famous time loops I mentioned before), and she can turn into a bird (guess which one? A peregrine!). Way cooler lady to me than Mary Poppins!

As many ofmany Tim Burton’s movies, also in MPHPC the colour palette is represented mostly byinone cold colours, where blue and green are predominantpretty much. Only hope, love, and happiness, usually represented by a pretty blond girl, stand out from the darkness and dullness of the surrounding and catch the attention of the protagonist. There is always a sense of loneliness, desolation in the landscapes, and his characters are never content. All except one: the angel that saves the protagonist; the pretty blond girl that has dreams, ambitions, and that warms people’s hearts. Scenes look like they were set for a theatre play, where characters and landscapes are fit together within a beautiful composition.

The cast is good, filming great, story very compelling. A bit scary sometimes and dialogues could be at times better, but I definitely recommend watching it!

Oh, I almost forgot: Samuel L. Jackson is the best evil man you could possibly find a movie!

Enjoy!

Anto

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Afternoon tea at the Ting restaurant in the Shard

My video of the surprise tea!

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Afternoon tea at the Ting restaurant in the Shard

Images of the Asian and traditional afternoon teas, and of the surprise steamy tea!

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Afternoon tea at the Ting restaurant in the Shard

My ratings: Quality of the tea: 4/5 tea leaves Quality of the food: 4.5/5 scones Location: 4.5/5 Price (per person): £54.00 (afternoon tea) + £12.00 cocktail

What is better than having an afternoon tea? Being treated to an afternoon tea with your beloved in one of the most amazing and chic places in London!

It was 3.45pm on a Sunday, and we arrived (in only 30 seconds) to the 35th floor of the Shard, located in London Bridge. The Shard offers spectacular 360 degree views, of London Town regardless of any weather conditions!

The check-in was swift, and we got a lovely table by a huge west-facing window. Our dedicated waiter, Nelson, declared that he had a special treat installed for us.

The menu offered two afternoon tea options, the conventional and normal option, while the other had a unique Asian twist to it.  What do I mean by Asian twist? Rather than having normal scones, sandwiches and pastry, they served you things like salmon hosomaki, tuna-wasabi-mayonnaise-toasted sesame seed rolls, matcha tea layer cake,... Very clever!

I have few food allergies, so there I was challenging the Ting team with my annoying requests.

What do I mean by allergy? If I eat any of the foods I am allergic to, my body reacts like the one of the Princess in Shrek. Fortunately, rather than becoming green, I become red (which suits me much better as a colour!). If I am lucky, with my tablets I will feel better within a couple of hours. If I am not lucky, well, I would have been still lucky as the London Bridge hospital is just next door.

Nelson called the maitre de salle, who honestly did not know much about allergies and intolerances, but he passed the message on to the chef, who was very well prepared and knowledgeable, and saved me from potentially mutating into Mrs Shrek.

Did you know that it is a tradition in Malaysia to welcome guests with a special tea? I did not know either. So Nelson brought us a little wooden tray, with a tea pot, two cups (same size of the ones you use to put soy sauce in) and a milk carafe. Then he pored the tea and the milk onto the tray and...the magic happened! A grey mist started spreading and quickly engulfed the table. It looked like a miniature of Table Mountain in Cape Town. Only in a smaller scale. Best surprise ever for an afternoon tea!!!!!! Welcome to the Ting restaurant!

In the soy sauce cups there was an incredibly tasty black tea, that had a chocolate note to it. Delicious! Malaysia, if this is what you serve to tourists, here I come!!!!

Let's fast forward to when the tea came and the food appeared at our arms’ length. I am not sure you are interested in the chitchats we had while waiting...

To drink, I chose a delicate white tea with light peach tones. It was very nice and light, and had a wonderful aroma.

My afternoon tea buddy opted for an oolong tea: definitely the right choice! So flavoursome and easy to drink!

The Shrek-free menu included a salmon sandwich (my favourite among the savouries), and three other delicious sandwiches (coronation chicken and cucumber). Two scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam (reeeeeaaaaally tasty), and some sweets and cakes. All very nice. No, sorry, what am I saying? Delicious!

What are you saying? Of course I asked for a refill. The reality is, I could not even eat 1/3 of the refill: I was full!

Now, one of the things I like to check when I go to restaurants or bars are the toilets. My mum always said that if the toilets are really tidy and clean, it means that the venue really cares about every single detail.

Well, for sure that was one of the best views you could possibly have when you wash your hands! Everything was nice and clean in the ladies. The toilet cubicle was spacious and clean, with a nice Japanese mechanism to warm the seat or to do other stuff (quite unusual for Europeans!), and.... three cables to charge phones or tablets! That detail left me quite puzzled... thinking that my iPhone may take 2-3 hours to fully charge, I can't possibly immagine the amount of pins and needles in my leg for sitting for that long!

Anyway, the whole experience was great and I would highly recommend it.

Here is a link to the restaurant: open a new windows on the web browser and book! http://www.ting-shangri-la.com/afternoon-tea/