Season 03, Ep. 06

#LeaveTaylorAlone

I have to say, human race never stops to amaze me. And I don't mean this necessarily in a good way.

First, I would like to begin by outlining some facts. We have, well what pretty much feels like World War III at the moment, I guess this is what WWIII looks like in the 21st Century. I don't need to elaborate on that whatsoever, do I? We are all aware of what is happening in Europe at the moment and the situation in the US. Any gaps, just log on to any social media platform or if you're more traditional, turn on BBC. War is a huge business. 

And in the world of entertainment, which is a world we all bury our thoughts into in order to escape from reality, we have the Taylor-Calvin war that has just broken out ever since Taylor Swift admitted to have written the new hit Calvin Harris has released with Rihanna 'This Is What You Came For'. Calvin claims she has not much to do with it and it is rude to come out now saying something like this. And suddenly she is not the sweet, funny and talented Tay Tay we all know and love, she is Taylor, the man-eater, the heart crusher, the 'let's all post snake emojis on her photos on Instagram for comments to express how much of a snake we think she is'. 

I'm sorry, how is this of an inconvenience to you? No, not war, this SHOULD be of a very big inconvenience to you, the Taylor thing. People are going crazy over it. Just check the poor girl's Instagram page. "Poor". Sorry, wrongfully used term. 

Seems to me, people have no clue how to export their anger, despair, frustration so they log on to their social media, hit the pages of famous people and begin with the hate. Brutal, bullying, disgusting hate. Towards celebrities who seem to have it all like Kim K, Kylie Jenner, Tay Tay etc etc, and produce envy. Fair enough on some level, but why SO much hate. They haven't killed anyone, they don't do drugs, they don't bash anyone in return. I read the comments that get typed and I honestly want to cry. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Or rather, would you actually be saying any of these things out loud to somebody's face? Is the convenience of the keyboard and the fact that no one can see you behind your sad little screen, bringing out the incredible Hulk in you? 

And most importantly, if you gon' hate, hate for the right reasons bro. Is Taylor Swift the vicious truck driver that mowed 80 lives in France last night? Is Kim K the cop that shot the innocent black lives? Are Kylie Jenner's lips causing bombings in Ankara at this very moment killing somebody's mother, wife, sister? 

Get your tiny heads out of your big bums and educate your logic please. There is real tragedy out there, and it ain't Taylor Swift swapping men within the same month. We need to get our priorities in check, our principles and role models right. The snake emoji you keep posting all day ain't making you any happier and you know it. So dear hater, I am asking you from the bottom of heart. Think before you hate. Or, hang on a minute, don't hate at all. Self reflect, and work towards your own happiness. A wise friend once said "you won't make your fire burn any brighter by blowing out someone's else's". Mic drop. 

PS: I'm not even a big fan of TayTay, I'm all about Pink. 

Season 03, Ep. 03

HaNmer Springs, not HaMner Springs

This is pretty much our only mini mid-year holiday. Four days away, once again at the beautiful South Island. But let's all remember that everything is about quality, not quantity.
This time a week ago we were dealing with our post-wedding blues, which always go according to the weather and let's just say the weather was not helping. But I'll start at the beginning.

A few months ago we got invited to a wedding in Hanmer Springs. Hanmer is a couple of hours drive from Christchurch. We had driven past the turn off during our last visit on the South Island in January. Remember? If you have no clue what I'm talking about, visit my last Season of The Moo Point. Beautiful road trip. Anyway, we couldn't really wait to go back down there. All I kept hearing for months was how gorgeous Hanmer Springs is, people go there during winter, book batches and visit the thermal pools. Thermal pools! How flash. I could NOT wait. It is winter here now afterall. Well, when I say winter, don't really allow yourselves to think of scarves, gloves and Ugg boots everyday, at least up here, but down there, they usually do get freezing cold winters and snow so the idea of visiting a resort with thermal pools while everything around you is white is heaven. Even though the seasons seem to be moving at a much slower pace in this day and age, and it still feels like autumn. So no snow. But yes pools.

We flew down there first thing Friday last. We rented our car and decided to treat ourselves with a townie experience in Westfield. A little taste of London felt superb. After spending two hours at Westfield, we embarked upon our road trip to Hanmer. Arriving we were greeted by the family in the house we rented for the weekend, oh dear, who owned this house, it was soooo cute. Comfortable as well. Fire was on and the party mode as well. ON. First night, was what we call the ''meet and greet'' night, even though we all knew each other, but even the ones we didn't really know we wouldn't bother meeting anyway, we were too busy catching up with the loved ones we know but live far from. We walked to the pub, since everything was walking distance. Hanmer Springs is a beautiful small town/resort/village, call it what suits you best, but very well taken care of. They know they rely on their tourism therefore they look their best. All of them. The shops, the cafes, the restaurants, even the kebab/souvlaki shop. The pathway across the shops which is also a mini-park with a couple of benches and on its other side there is the entrance to the hot pools, is lit with 'Christmas-like' lights on the trees and it looks FAB. Loved the feeling walking along.

The next day we decided to honour the mini put right at the heart of the village with the family, for two reasons. The weddings here start early as, for us Greeks at least, they start after 2-3 pm so you only get a chance to do something in the morning and take it easy since you know you have a long day ahead, full of drinking and dancing, before you go start getting ready. Also, partner loves golf. Any type of golf. So mini-put it was. I loved it though. I sucked, but I loved it. Sucking means I got one or two amazing shots only to make me feel cocky before my next sucky one. Meh, it was my first time. Next time let's  go do some karaoke, see how you'll do. LOL.

Wedding is lush. The sun was shining, it wasn't even that cold so they did their ceremony outside in the garden before we proceeded inside the fancy hotel for the reception. Flash hotel be-tee-dubs. The Heritage, check it out. It looks like a typical hotel until you walk around it and see that there is a lake at the back and a bunch of super cute houses that spread all across, and yes they are all part of the hotel too. So you don't have to book a room at the hotel, you can book a batch. And still receive the room service. Lush.

The party went on, after the yummy food but the DJ was so crap, we decided to make the best out of a PRETTY bad musical situation. Dude could not read his audience. I mean come on. Our requests were not even helping him sense the tone and taste. Anywhoo, if you can't beat them, join them, I guess so we made the most out of any song he would play and had a pretty good darn laugh.

The next day was very poor. Weatherwise especially, very cold, damp, rainy. The initial plan was to go for a bike ride and then to the pools. That flopped. We drove around instead having a good old fashioned nosy at the houses around, some of them, most of them really fancy. We treated ourselves with lunches and dinner out and then home and fire. And cards. Why not, it was great. However, we didn't get to really do the one thing everyone raves about, the pools. Pools were pricey though and apparently word has it not all that great though unless it is all white around ya. So no, winged it.

Out last day was back to our beloved Christchurch. Back to Sumner Village for lunch and a walk by the seaside as the weather was definitely in our favour more than ever on our last day. Any information on Christchurch is on this very blog, Season 2. Look it up. Worth it.

At the airport I got to enjoy my cuppa at the cutest pub after purchasing a copy of the best selling book soon to be movie 'Me Before You', by Jojo Moyes. I am almost half way through, next episode shall definitely be a review on the book. Easy read, very sweet story. And our beloved queen of Dragons is the main character in the movie. Double win. Not that I watch Game Of Thrones, don't hate, but I like her anyway. Now as far as a clearer description of Hanmer Springs goes, pictures speak way louder than my words. All I can say is that so far we have a winner. Take a look and follow the entire journey on my Instagram. Toodles. Be well! 

Season 3, Episode 01

The Social Media Vanity Fair Issue

So lately I have decided to follow the Kardashian-Jenner clan on Snapchat. And at times when I get bored, I'll flick through their snaps and have a laugh. It lasted me a week. A week of seeing their snaps until I decided to delete them of my snapchat. That's all it took me. I mean don't get me wrong, I love me some Kardashian craze, been watching them since pretty much season 1 on E!. But only because I never take them seriously. It is my 'go to' show, along with some MTV trashies when I need to escape, have a laugh and...just have a GOOD laugh.
We all know and agree that this family's vanity levels are growing along with their bank accounts but hey, we are responsible for that, I mean, I am right here, number 1 guilty fan of the show, sitting right here aren't I. And that's fine, that's what they do best but at least they're genuine, I give them that.
But oh my DOG, their snapchat accounts are OTT vain even for them. But not all of them, here's the catch. Kendall's and Kourtney's are pretty mild, everyday, hardly annoying little post, Kendall who is in my opinion the most devine looking one, we hardly even get to see her face. Kim and Kylie are all about that ''look at me and my flawless but completely made up where nothing is nature's gift face". And then there's sweet blunt Khloe. That girl is finally looking hot after all those years of getting slammed for being the ugly sister, she has this massive thirst to show it off on her snapchat. Bless her soul. Oh well, enjoy it sista, you deserve it.
But here's my point. Social media have been feeding our egos and vanities so much over the last 8 years, that I am starting to see how much we have all started to sink in this fake world where a profile picture HAS to be 150% better than the real deal.
I am guilty of selfies, I have taken my fair share and I am the first to stand up and admit that every time I took one and looked good and I ended up posting it online, I did it to show off something, or to prove something. Two things I don't like, are denial and lies. And I would be in massive denial and lying to myself and yous out there if I said that I didn't post a selfie to attract someone of my interest in the past and to prove something. Feels familiar?
Does it also feel familiar that you post way more selfies or photos of you looking gorgeous when you're single or when you have just been dumped and trying that ''look what you're missing out on" routine? Come on, honesty is the best policy...
I usually have noticed that truly gorgeous people don't usually bother with selfies (eg. Kendall Jenner on snapchat). Oh, I feel like I have offended people here. But no, that's the problem. You're all gorgeous, we just insecure. And social media's likes help mend that for a day or a week. Right?
The more insecure we feel about ourselves, the more we want to post a selfie online, add a million filters and even smooth our skin out a little bit and wait for those likes so we can take a massive breath and say ''ah cool, I'm hot again, phew". Pfff, sad but true and we're all guilty. And I don't expect suddenly for everyone here to decide to deactivate accounts or never take a selfie again, I mean, it is fun at the end of the day. But here is my advice. Don't take social media so seriously. Don't rely on social media to tell you what you look like today, and how you feel. You have nothing to prove to anyone. Now go take a selfie pulling a funny face instead of a duckface. And if you don't get 100 likes, that's okay, you're comfortable with yourself and you're a person not a billboard. Be real. In a world full of Kims, be a Kate Middleton. I KNOW, how gorgeous is she!