Tuesday 4 September 2012
Highlights from the life of a busy bee
Dear
reader,
Again, it
has been a very long time since I updated the last time (I am actually considering renaming my blog to: busy bee is busy lol). As always I have been
insanely busy (o.o this has been the busiest holiday ever!!!!), so please bear
with me. This post will provide you with the highlights of the things that I
have been doing.
Efteling.
On Juli 26
I went to an amusement park called the Efteling with my "big sister". This amusement park has a fairytale theme. A part of the park is taken up by
'the fairy tale forest'. In this forest area you can walk past houses and
statues which tell the story of the world's most famous fairy tales. One should
here think of Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. The
park also has regular rides, such as roller coasters, but the best rides (to my
opinion) really are the ones related to fairy tales. My favourite ride in the
park is called "Droomvlucht" (which would translate into dream
flight). Here you take place in a cart and "fly" past different parts
of the fairy world. You see fairies located near a pond, little trolls causing
a bit of mischief. The video below was recorded by someone else and gives you
an impression of the attraction. I should add though, that you experience it
very differently when you are on the ride itself. So if you ever have the
chance to visit the Efteling, make sure you go into Droomvlucht!
What really
made this visit to the Efteling extra special was not just that I was there
with my big sister, but also that I happened to run into my two aunts who I had
not seen for about a year whilst waiting in line for Droomvlucht. :D So I guess
the slogan of the amusement park is very fitting: "Miracles really do
exist". ;)
The
Efteling also has a new park show called Ravenlijn, which I have been wanting
to write a review about. The show tells
the story of five children who have to save the town Ravenlijn from the
suppression of an evil lord. By being turned into Ravens they are able to
access the town and are turned into knights upon arrival. Although the story is
alright (be it a bit cliche) and the decor is pretty spectacular, the show
itself was a letdown. Somehow, you cannot shake the feeling that it is still
work in progress. I believe one of the reasons why you cannot help but get this
feeling is the subject matter.
The five
knights which are supposed to kill a mechanical five headed dragon so as to
save the town of Ravenlijn from the clutches of the evil lord are element
wielders. They each wield one element, namely fire, water, metal, earth and electricity.
However, because the stage is set in an open air theater this poses some
serious difficulties. For how on earth do you show a thunderbolt or an
earthquake on an open air stage. And how in heaven's sake do you give the idea
that metal is being bent when the audience is too far away to see any details?
Unfortunately, the director of the show has not been able to get past this
difficulty. The combined attack of the knights therefore looks rather fake. To
give an impression, you are confronted with one knight pointing a fire blazing
sword at the monster (which breathes fire, so it does not make any sense whatsoever),
another knight shooting a little bit of water towards it from a fountain
located on the side and another one directing an "earthquake"
towards... or rather, the night sends some tiny bits of earth flying around.
The attacks of the metal and lightning wielders are entirely missing from the
scene (or well, I at least was unable to see them). To my opinion a show less dependent
on special effects would have been better suited.
After the
dragon has been defeated the knights perform some tricks on their horses... This
part of the show was very oddly timed. It would have been much better to have
the knights perform the tricks when they were fighting the monster. I can
imagine that the creators they did not wish to run the risk of the horses being
scared by the fire produced by the mechanical dragon. However, since the
monster does not immediately start breathing fire once it appears on stage, they
could have easily done the tricks then (so as to distract the dragon, so the
other knights could attack or something) without putting the horsemen and
horsewomen in jeopardy.
Another
loose thread in the performance is the miniature bird show, which just consists
of five ravens, an owl and a falcon flying off and on to the stage at set
periods (the idea behind the owl and the falcon is beyond me...). I really do
believe that the creators could have either made the bird show a bigger part of
the show, or should have just left the owl and the falcon out entirely, so that
the ravens would just be part of the story line and nothing else. For, as it is
now, this just comes across as an idea that they wanted to in there.
Meeting up with friends.
The other
days of my holiday have been greatly devoted to meeting up with friends, some
of which I had not seen in ages. :) I was really happy to see everyone again!
And will try to keep in touch outside of holidays as well! hahha. (I am just
keeping this section rather short, because I do not like to put up names or details without permission of my friends. So it is not because I do not find it important enough to write about!).
Abunai.
On August
25 my fiancé and I went to the Anime convention Abunai. The convention had
arranged for more events and workshops then previous years, so I could hardly
wait for the day to arrive.
The first
thing we did upon arrival was go into the dealer room to see what awesome anime
and manga merchandize were on offer. I usually refrain from buying anything
during my first round through the room, but I really did not want to run the
risk of missing out on this really awesome bag:
(It's a bag
that looks like a book.... *drool*).
After
having bought this awesome bag we went towards the room where the Lucky Stars
workshop was being held. I really wanted to go there, since I have been in
correspondence with the girl who was hosting the workshop. I have ordered quite
a few items at her webshop, so that is how we got in touch.
For those
of you unfamiliar with the Lucky Stars phenomenon:
Lucky Stars
are little stars which you fold yourself. These stars are said to bring luck.
Many people who make them place them in a jar.. These jars with lucky stars
make a really nice present if you want to give your loved ones something
special, for who would not want to receive a little jar of luck? :D Last year I
gave a jar of Lucky Stars with some Lucky Star paper (so she could make them
herself as well) to my best friend. She absolutely loved it!
During the
Lucky Star workshop the owner of the webshop Marjet taught everyone how to fold
the adorable paper stars. You were allowed to keep folding them until the
little jar that you were given was filled. I had already done it a few times
before, so I ended up helping my fiancé to fill up his as well.
Please
visit Marjet's website www.mostcutest.nl if you would like to purchase some
lucky star papers. There is even a tutorial video on there on how to make the
stars! :D She also sells other adorable things, so even if you are not that fond of folding, the website is definitely worth a visit!
I also
wanted to go to an Amigurumi workshop, but unfortunately that one was already full
*pouts*. Amigurumi are adorable crocheted little plushies... I would have loved
to learn how to make those, but oh well, better luck next time :).
With no
workshop to attend we went back to the dealer room. Where I ended up buying
some more things. Amongst them were two adorable shirts from a webshop called
Fluff 'n Tuff. They have some adorable things on their website, http://www.fluffntuff.com/ so make sure to
check them out as well if you are into cute things like me. :D
The two shirts:
I could not
resist buying the entire series of an anime called Romeo X Julliet. (I'm an
English literature student; what do you expect?!).
Well those
are the highlights of the past month in a nut shell. :D Look forward to my trip
report of Sheffield, which should be up soon enough.
Love,
Blacky
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