Sydney Life Archives - Page 38 of 46

Iron Man and Mr Wong’s Kitchen

May 6, 2008 / Sydney Food, Sydney Life / 0 comment

I love a good action movie, particularly when it is based on a Marvel superhero. I had never heard of Iron Man before, but after hearing some early rave reviews I was more than keen to see the movie.

Robert Downey Jr stars in the main role of Tony Stark, a brilliant rich play boy who uses his amazing mind to create weapons for the USA to use for “homeland security” if you get my drift. He is captured by a group of terrorists who want him to build weapons for them. Stark builds a robot to escape instead, and is motivated by the experience to turn his life around and save people rather than building weapons.

I just realised writing this how bad the plot sounds, but I really enjoyed the movie. I found it exciting, smart and funny. Robert Downey Jr is an actor who has shown a lot of talent over the years – when he hasn’t been on drugs or in rehab. It’s a shame that he’s been so screwed up as this movie shows what a great actor he really is.

After the movie we went to Mr Wong’s Kitchen. I absolutely love this place and its cheap delicious food.

Tonight however the service was really slow and the spring rolls weren’t fabulous. The vege fried rice and mixed veges were delicious however, so the meal was redeemed and I will be back for more.

Tokidoki Bag Arrived!

April 30, 2008 / Shopping / 1 Comment

I ordered this bag to take with me to Japan, but it arrived while I was away. No matter, it’s still a super, super cool bag.

Shopping in Japan

April 30, 2008 / Shopping / 1 Comment

I did go completely nuts. Here are a few things I brought home …

Tokidoki range from the Sanrio store. I will be re-selling most of these I think.

Cuuute Hello Kitty stuff.

New fragrances. The Prada one is particularly lovely.

Newtown Saturday

April 5, 2008 / friends, Shopping, Sydney Food / 2 Comments

I couldn’t believe Bev had never been to Newtown before. It’s my fave indie shopping Mecca, so met her for lunch, shopping and more food on a sunny Saturday.

Before shopping we needed to fuel up with some Thai that Newtown is famous for.

My fried rice and veges was amazing.

Bev’s beef thingy was enough for two. She said it was delicious. A shame I didn’t write down the name of the place!

After shopping, more snacks at Cafe C – my ice chocolate and Bev’s strawberry smoothie.

Churros and chocolate.

My shopping results – dress with little white hearts, books to read on the plane and warm peach cobbler-flavoured lip balm. It smells divine.

The Other Boleyn Girl

April 4, 2008 / Sydney Life / 1 Comment

I love a good historical movie so grabbed Ro and Jules to see The Other Boleyn Girl with me tonight. I’ve just finished reading the book, which is excellent, but I’ve realised that I know way too much about the period to be able to fully enjoy movies that are not exceedingly historically accurate.

That said, I still really enjoyed the movie. I don’t usually like Scarlett Johansson, but I thought she was good in this movie – not too much pouting required. I also thought Natalie Portman, as usual, was great. I was only disappointed that Eric Bana didn’t have a very well-developed role.

I also thought that the movie seemed like it had been put together in a rush. Editing is a fine art and great transitions and a strong musical score can really make all the difference.

Full Of Bliss

April 3, 2008 / Sydney Life / 1 Comment

I had my first full beauty treatment today at Ayurve Spa on York St. I took my favourite clients for a bit of a treat – and was completely unprepared for the extreme bliss it brought!

I had a two-hour package that included a 30 min back massage, a facial and a paraffin wax foot treatment. I will most definitely be going back, particularly for the massage and facial.

Shopping!

March 27, 2008 / Shopping / 1 Comment

I can’t help myself 🙂

This little felt unicorn was bought from Etsy.com

These gumboots came from the Easter show. With Sydney weather the way it is I think I will be needing them.

Step Up 2: The Streets

March 24, 2008 / Sydney Life / 1 Comment

Dance movies are a source of extreme relaxation for me. Nothing is more entertaining than some well-executed routines, with a romance usually thrown in for good measure.

Rosalie and I both loved Step Up the original, so of course we were super-keen to see the sequal, imaginatively titled “Step Up 2 The Streets“.

The movie has completely new characters but set in the same neighbourhood. The focus is also more on the neighbourhood than just the school, and is the story of a B-girl who, rather than trying to fit in with a performing arts school she is made to attend to avoid being sent to live in Texas, instead helps other students who don’t fit the typical dancer mould to become a dance crew. The crew rehearse with the intent to perform at the infamous (and apparently illegal – dancing is dangerous, yo!) “streets” competition where crews battle in the same way that rappers do.

The dance sequences are fierce – some really strong dancing, and I really loved the last dance piece – in the rain no less. I found the clip on YouTube, so watch it if you don’t mind a spoiler.

Horton Hears a Who

March 23, 2008 / Sydney Life / 1 Comment

Lisa and I are small children at heart, worshiping at the shrine of cuteness. We’ve been waiting for months for Horton to come out, and we were not disappointed.

The animation for a start is amazing. The scenes is set in a jungle with Horton, the eccentric elephant, finding a spec that contains a whole world on it. The spec rests on a flower, and Horton makes it his mission to save the residents of the spec, the Whos of Whoville, by taking them to cave on top of a mountain.

Horton’s mission is hampered by the head of the tribe, a kangaroo who fears change. The kangaroo sends a vulture called Vlad after him to destroy the spec to protect the town from Horton’s controversial ideas.

The movie has several homages to the original Dr Seuss animation, which I loved, and the narration kept the rhyming couplets from the original book as well.

Lise and I were the only adults in the cinemas without children, but found the movie was skewed to adults as well as children, so we both enjoyed it thoroughly. It kept the kids totally enthralled – no whining, crying, talking kids in the entire two hours. Except for a whack on the head I received from the toddler sitting behind me, I totally forgot we were seeing a kids movie.

My favourite thing about the movie was the theme, and line Horton spoke – “A person is a person, no matter how small”. A thought we could all keep and apply to race and species I think.