Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone.

Mr K-E are heading down to the Enchantment under the Sea Dance - based on Back to the Future. Let's party through to 2008. Woo Hoo!

The Golden Compass

Good. It's just an interesting story with well-fleshed out characters. No more, no less.

According to some, an attack on Christianity. Really? Maybe these guys don't get to watch a lot of films ;)

I really enjoyed Philip Pullman's trilogy (Northern Lights / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass) and thought that Lyra was one of the best heroines ever - both in children's or adult fiction. There's no doubt that Philip Pullman is no fan of organised religion and this comes through in his writing. However, I can't help feeling that the people who rant and rave about the "anti-religious" stuff must not get out a lot. A bit like the people who thought that The Da Vinci Code was ground breaking truth / blasphemy / the meaning of the Universe.

Apart from teenagers (who latch on to anything, bless 'em), I just can't understand this kind of reaction. Do these people not read the newspapers or watch the news? In a world where people hack other people to death, fiction cannot compare with awful reality.

Sorry - back to the film review. Yep it was good. Mr K-E and I are big fans of Lyra and Pantalaimon in the books and we were not disappointed by the film. I was surprised when it finished though, as it ends before the close of the first book. Mrs Coulter (and her golden monkey) are as horrible as they are in the books.

Definitely recommended. Just don't take things too seriously.

Handbag Girl

Some girls are rucksack girls and some girls are handbag girls. I've always been a handbag girl.



I got this bag from Selfridges today *big smiles*

The bag is from Celine and it really appealed to me because the panelling is unusual and the brand hasn't been "WAG-ged" to death, if you know what I mean. I did look around Dior, Prada, Jimmy Choo, Chloe etc but I don't really want a new bag that people (OK, other handbag fiends) would be able to mentally place immediately i.e yep Dior Gaucho..last season...Chloe Paddington etc...

"Celine" is only shown in a very subtle location - so it's not a bag for waving at the neighbours, hahaha..... And if you guys are as nosy as I am - it was 30% off, and I didn't get much change out of five hundred quid. *whimper*

Quick, here are more shots of the bag to make me feel better.

Here's a rare sighting of Katie-Ella. Taken while I was modelling the new bag and suede boots for Mr K-E.

Shop till you can't shop no more....

I haven't been posting photos of my purchases lately because:

1. our camera isn't working properly and I need Mr K-E to take the photos but also
2. I don't want people to think I'm some kind of shallow materialistic competitive- shoe-buying bimbo, even though I must admit I do have my moments of retail madness.
   

However, I have been out shopping the last two days, and woohoooooooo........

From top right: red patent crocodile-effect shoes, burgundy suede knee-highs, ruby "Dorothy in Wizard of Oz" shoes, black patent cracked-leather effect knee-highs, black slouchy ankle boots.

Mr K-E laughed when he saw my burgundy suede boots with stiletto heels. Practical as ever!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mr K-E and I are back from the in-laws. I thought I would be able to post while I was there, but their internet connection has been very dodgy. A side effect of living "in the woods" :)

Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely time with family and friends. May the feasting continue!

Tokyo, Japan November 2007 : Shinjuku

While we were Tokyo, we stayed in the Shinjuku district which is also the red-light district. It was a great place to stay because there's lots going on during the day and at night. There are cheap restaurants everywhere, big department stores and then at night there is the fascinating Japanese sleaze culture. (well, you know what I mean...) Not to mention the enormous pachinko parlours and arcades.

Mr K-E could barely take the photograph below, he was laughing so hard. It's an innocent pachinko parlour, by the way.



There were services available for both men and women :) but I couldn't really understand the stuff on offer for women. Look at the guys below. That over-teased hair, those coy looks... they look like women!!




Apparently, these guys are not 'hos. You just pay them to keep you company in the clubs and pay you compliments all night. Yeah right! Hahahaha.....

I got the job

I blogged awhile ago about an internal promotion I was applying for...I got it.

Unfortunately it's not hip, hip hooray because although it's great news; it's complicated by the fact that the Directors want me to stay on in the same team and I really don't want to. Because of this.

Aarrgggghhhhhh. Why is life so complicated? I should be so happy - instead I was really upset. What a crock. I won't bore you guys with the details..... *sigh*

Who are you again?

You know what, I must really be getting old because little things are starting to annoy me when they (maybe) wouldn't have annoyed me before.

Now, take Facebook. It's great and the best part is finding people that you have lost touch with. And once in a while, someone finds you...which is also cool.

But why do people send a "friend request" but not even bother to send a message? Like Hi, remember me? I mean, the name might be vaguely familiar and we might have some friends in common - but who are you again? I can't really be bothered to add people for the sake of it. See, I told you - I'm turning into a real grump.

I'm watching you.

Well I've been neglecting my blog lately because of work (boo..) and also because it's coming up to Christmas, so I've been out shopping, eating, spending money etc (hooray...)

I have also been busy on Facebook or "stalkbook" as I call it. I am such a lurker. And all those applications to waste your time, all those data gathering companies monitoring your every move! Yeah, well I don't mind being watched all the time. "Big Brother" watching my every move? Feels just like home :)

Interview

I had my interview for the internal promotion today.

It went well, I think. There were three people there, two Directors and the HR representative. They said that they would tell me before Christmas. They have one more person to interview for the position, so they can't really say anything till then.

*sigh*

Let's wait and see.

On a happy note, Mr K-E got his bonus letter yesterday. :) It's good, guys. I told him I wasn't holding back at the January sales. I think the phrase I used was " ...going to go mental..."

Ho Ho Hum.

I am so lacking in Christmas spirit this year. I haven't even bought any wrapping paper or gift tags and I normally get those in October.

It's because we went away on holiday in November and when we came back all the Christmas decorations were up, so it just feels all weird.

I have had my team christmas outing...woohoo, stayed out till three on a school night. Burn it up baby! Anyway, I thought I would have a nice easy run up to Christmas at work. You guessed it - manic with deadlines up to the 21st, the last day of work. Aaarrrgggghhh.

Mingling with Royalty (almost...)

I guess every Bruneian in the UK was at the Inter Continental Hotel on Park Lane this afternoon. It certainly felt like it: I heard there were two thousand people there. Holy Cow! As Mr K-E put it, if the population of Brunei is 300,000, then about 0.8% of the Brunei population is in this room. He thought that was hilarious for some reason.

He was also amused when I pulled out my baju kurong from the back of the wardrobe and tried it on last night. It's so bright compared to the clothes I normally wear in England but seemed positively drab compared to the outfits on show this afternoon. Note to self: black is not the only colour.

The food was good but please, why can't we have some chairs? My poor achy feet.

And yes, I got my cash. Woohoo! Thanks a lot Your Majesty!

(Background: The Sultan of Brunei and family usually visit London around this time of the year. The Brunei High Commission holds a reception for students and other Bruneians in the UK and Ireland. There's nice food in a big ballroom packed full of Bruneians, the royal family make a short appearance and at the end you get a cash "gift" from His Majesty. Errr, that's it in a nutshell.)

Christmas Shopping

Yep, it's that time of year again. Mr K-E and I fought the crowds in Selfridges on Saturday and bought Christmas presents for his family. Whew, at least the women in his family are taken care of now. Can't say more in case they read this and it spoils the surprise!

I also chose some of my own presents, mainly makeup and body goodies from Benefit (oh how I adore Benefit) and Clinique. *happy me*

I've realised that time is running out to read all the books that I got given for Christmas last year as I will be getting a whole box full again this year. Not that I'm ungrateful of course. I just never got round to reading all those hardbacks.