#LFCC: The Game of Thrones Edition

London Comic Con is always full of some great Game of Thrones guests, last year I met some awesome people and this year I met even more awesome people, in all honestly I haven't met a single person from Game of Thrones I haven't liked they've all been so friendly and so much fun to talk to, I always try to sneakily get some info on the next season from them but they're good at keeping quiet although someone who shall remain nameless accidentally mentioned Kit Harrington being in the Belfast area so do with that information what you will...

Dorne is a new addition to the show so we got a couple Sand Snakes, Nymeria (Jessica Henwick) and Obara (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and a last minute addition of Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig) to the show who was such a nice guy and very excited about what's to come as am I because we're way beyond the books now and none of us has any idea what's going to happen next.

Sunday I dressed up as Daenerys (again!) because Iain Glen was going to be there and I thought I could get a cool photo with him and as I stepped up to the photoshoot he gave me a smile and an approving nod haha! Then I rushed off for a photoshoot with one of my favourite ladies ever Rose Leslie who I did meet very briefly at SDCC but never really got the chance to speak to. On my turn in the photoshoot she said how amazing I looked and how pretty my dress was, to which I replied how gorgeous she was and the result was this awesome photo of us, which is quite possibly my favourite Game of Thrones photo ever!

After meeting Rose in the photoshoot I then made my way upstairs to the Game of Thrones signings and get a few more signatures for my map of Westeros and of course I had to get myself an Ygritte Funko (even though I'm cutting down on my collection) because she's awesome and I love the little bow and arrow they gave her.

Will Simpson the Game of Thrones storyboard artist was also there so I got myself another beautiful print from him, he also remembered us from Belfast Comic Con and I asked him about Bangkok as I noticed him on the guest list for the last comic con they had there and he told us some amazing stories, I'm so happy Bangkok has a con now hopefully I'll be there to check it out next year.

Last stop on my Game of Thrones Comic Con experience was the talk which was attended by Daniel Portman (Podrick Payne), Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Obara Sand) and Carice Van Houten (Melisandre) who unfortunately had to cancel the next day when I had my photoshoots because she was ill so I hope she felt better afterwards as it was kinda hellish and hot that day in the con. The cast was due to start filming on the Monday after the con and of course no matter how hard we tried we got nothing from them about what was to come apart from one word from the script "Game" haha thanks Pod! Daniel Portman is a funny guy and it definitely fuelled my want for an Adventures of Brienne and Pod spin-off. They're such a great cast and I'm so excited to see what's coming next season because for the 1st time ever we're totally clueless about what the heck is coming, it's kinda scary times but one thing is for sure is that these guys will totally do an excellent job of bringing these stories to life.

What are your hopes for the next season of Game of Thrones?

Love & Dragons

Cate

xoxo

#LFCC: Meeting Hayley Atwell AKA Agent Carter

Ever since Peggy's introduction in Captain America: The First Avenger, I have been obsessed with this lady. When I heard about the one-shot debut at San Diego Comic Con I got there first thing to get tickets but unfortunately with the craziness that was Game of Thrones I missed out on seeing it BUT to my delight she returned with her own whole series and OMG it is the best thing currently on TV and I cannot put into words my love for this lady. I was thinking of skipping London Comic Con this year to save some cash but as soon as Hayley Atwell was announced as a guest I knew I had to go, unfortunately tickets quickly sold out for the weekend and just as I was about to admit defeat my awesome Dad knowing my love for Peggy got us a pair of gold passes so of course I cried...

I've been doing this Captain Carter outfit/cosplay thing since SDCC in 2013 so I thought I would do a mash up of past outfits seeing as I wouldn't have time to make a new one and even though I said I wouldn't do a con in heels again I had to wear the Peggy shoes because they're THE shoes she wore in the show. I was very excited but nervous to meet her and add heels into the mix and there was a very real chance of me falling flat on my face (Fun Fact: when I first met Kristian Nairn AKA Hodor I tripped and fell into his desk... so glamorous!). My first encounter with her was at her photoshoot and I honestly felt so faint and giddy waiting for my turn but thankfully I didn't fall over and when my turn came her eyes lit up and she said she really loved my outfit and I looked fantastic and all I could manage to say to her was a very squeaky "THANK YOU!" before skipping out of the photobooth.

When I met her again later at the signing I had no idea what I said to her or what we spoke about I was just in a complete daze but there was so many things I wanted to say to her like how much I love her, how grateful I am for her for speaking up about representation and equality and how much she's influenced and made me want to be the best person I can possibly be but I was so damn stunned I think I just said thank you a million times while grinning like an idiot but at least I didn't cry or fall over so that's something...

At the end of the day Hayley gave a talk and when she first came of stage she spotted me in the hat pointed at me grinning and gave me a wave then preceded to tell us all about her dubsmash adventures in SDCC and how she took a 5 hour flight to Altanta to make a 9 second video with Chris Evans (if you haven't seen it go forth and watch the madness it's amazing!) then as soon as it was done flew back to LA and how much fun they have on set pranking each other. Most importantly though she spoke so eloquently about the importance of Peggy and her role as a feminist working which almost made me cry because she just gets it and she's not afraid to speak out, it was just everything I love about her and it made me so happy, Peggy is definitely paving the way for more female led roles and representation in the superhero worlds and this is what I've always wanted, it's so warming to hear that Marvel are really taking these issues seriously and not just brushing us off. It's not everyday you get to meet your heroes and Hayley Atwell is definitely one of mine, she's a beautiful human inside and out and I wish her all the best and I can't wait to see more of her and Agent Carter soon.

More blog posts on London Film & Comic Con coming soon so keep following

Love & Lipstick

Cate

xoxo

Out & About in London

Whilst in London for The Game of Thrones Exhibition I had a bit of extra time to go exploring. I think I've seen more of London in these past couple years than I have in my whole life but I figure with the rise in train ticket prices I might as well make the most out of my trips there.

My train arrived late afternoon which gave me plenty of time to do a little shopping so I thought where better to explore than Hamleys, the world's oldest and largest toy store. I last visited Hamleys when I was 8 years old and remember falling in love with all the old fashioned Victorian Doll houses they had there. All these years later and I still get super excited about all the toys (check out the price tag on that Gorilla!) and the Lego displays of The Royal Family gave me a bit of a chuckle, only in London!

Fellow blogger Winnie of Diamond Canopy blogged about her trip to Korean restaurant Jinjuu and as we share a love of all Asian foods I thought I would go check it out. I'm happy to report the food was excellent we ordered so many different things to try including Mandu, Bibimbap, Korean Fried Chicken and Kimchi but my absolute fave were these Bulgogi Tacos I'd definitely visit there again if I got the chance and they get bonus points for all the Kpop boy band music and posters in the toilets, that was a great touch.

Shakespeare has been such a big inspiration to me, while studying Shakespeare I found my love for literature and theatre so I really wanted to visit the reconstructed version of Shakespeare's Globe. I loved it, it was a little piece of ye olde England amongst London's modern architecture. I would love to see a performance there the stage was magnificent and beautifully done, of course with it being open air it's not really audience friendly in the winter so I'll be sure to check back in the summer when you can get £5 tickets to performances there.

The more I see of London the less I dislike it and the better I am at navigating the tube. My next visit will be for London Film & Comic Con funds permitting so hopefully I'll manage to fit in a few more sights, museums and Korean tacos then.

Do you have any reccomendations for things to do, see and eat in London? Let me know in the comments

Love & LDN

Cate

xoxo

The Game of Thrones Exhibition 2015

Last week I took a short trip down to London to see the Game of Thrones Exhibition which was hosted by Sky in the O2 Area. I was lucky enough to see the exhibition in its 1st year in Belfast but unfortunately missed out last year and after hearing so much about the new Oculus Rift experience and all the other awesome additions, I didn't want to miss out again and so after an hour of website crash hell and endless refreshing I finally managed to get myself some tickets YEY!

There are so many amazing little details put into every prop and costume in the show that they only way you can really appreciate them is to see them up close, I had always thought Margaery Tyrell's wedding dress was gorgeous but after seeing it up close I'm in awe it's absolutely stunning and I would love a dress like that one day.

I was very tempted to visit in my Daenerys costume but I already had plans for the rest of the day however there were quite a few people working the exhibition in costume which is thought was an awesome addition one of the cosplayers even complimented me on my Stark jacket and Direwolf scarves.

So after all the hype Ascend the Wall Oculus Rift experience was actually pretty cool, I have to admit after hearing all the shrieking I thought it would be more terrifying although I did get slightly disorientated I would have loved to try it out again but the queue for it was huge! If you're lucky enough to visit the exhibition it's not something to be missed and totally worth checking out.

There were quite a few fun photo ops this time around, you could take a photo holding The Mountain's sword, take a selfie with a White Walker, turn into a White Walker, get torched by a dragon and there was even Game of Thrones karaoke. I had so much fun there, the exhibit just seems to get bigger and better every year and now I'm so hyped up for the next series April can't come soon enough!

Valar Morghulis

Cate

xoxo

The London Tourist

London is not somewhere I visit too often so when I was there for London Film & Comic Con I decided it was finally time I do the tourist thing and visit some of the most popular sights down there. When you live in a country you never really think to go visit all the "tourist places", in fact the same is true for me when I go back to Thailand as I still haven't seen the Temple of Dawn or the Grand Palace which are possibly the most famous sights in Bangkok.

Back to London, I spent my morning visiting The National Gallery to see Van Gogh's infamous Sunflowers then it was out to Trafalgar Square to climb some bronze lions. I'll admit there was a slight fail in my plans as it was harder than I thought to climb up there, but I did get up there albeit not very elegantly, also as it was so sunny that day the lions were way too hot to touch let alone climb on!

 

 

As the horse guards are just down the street from Trafalgar Square I thought I'd go get another touristy snap with a guard, apparently when my mum first visited London and got a snap here one of the horses tried to bite her, luckily they weren't too bothered my my presence and I came out with all my fingers in tact.

 

Big Ben was just down the road so of course I couldn't miss out on another photo opportunity and also a bit of tourist shopping as I couldn't resist the kitsch allure of a Big Ben Pen. Then as all the walking and photo taking was making me hungry we went up to Convent Garden and devoured some burgers from Shake Shack, all in all a great day out in London although next time I think I need to take a trip to Buckingham Palace!

Do you have any local "tourist attractions" you've never visited? Let me know in the comments

Burgers & Big Red Buses

Cate

xoxo

London Film & Comic Con 2014

London Comic Con this year was CRAZY! I've been going to this even for a while and this year by far was the most busy with some people waiting as long as 6 hours to get inside luckily we had V.I.P. passes this year so managed to get in quick although there was just so much to do and so many people to meet this year that I hardly had time to cram it all in.

Preview night is normally empty but this year it was so hectic and I spent most of the night in line buying photoshoots but I did managed to meet the awesome Juliet Landau AKA Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and get my box sets signed, Drusilla and Spike were my all time favourite villans on Buffy so it was so cool to meet her.

Saturday I dressed up as Captain America (again!) as I didn't have time to make a new cosplay for the event I just mixed up my previous Captain America outfits from San Diego and Wales Comic Con and as usual I didn't have much time/forgot to get proper outfit shots but I did manage to get a quick photo on a coffee break outside the infamous Earls Court Tardis.

My favourite Doctor Who assistant Clara Oswald was there on Saturday so I booked a photoshoot with her but didn't have enough time to go to her talk and signing but I'm happy I got to meet he if only briefly and she said I looked fantastic which was pretty cool!

Speaking of Doctor Who the legend that is John Hurt was there so I got my Watership Down blu ray signed by him and my Dad got his Day of the Doctor DVD signed. Watership Down was my childhood and John Hurt voiced Hazel (Rah) so I had to get it signed, I felt like Watership Down taught me so much when I was younger and John Hurt said that it's a beautiful book and I totally agree.

One of my favourite cosplays of the day was this guy dressed as Emmet from The Lego Movie, it was such a fun outfit although I imagine a bit uncomfortable to walk around in but props to this guy because he looked amazing!!!

Gail Simone was in the comic area so I got her to sign a few of my favourite comics, I also bought a Wonder Woman script from her as I absolutely loved her Wonder Woman run and I love to see how comics are brought from script to page. I also ordered a the Batgirl #32 DC Bombshells variant which I wanted her to sign but it didn't arrive in time and all the sellers I asked at the con didn't have it but nevermind at least I got to meet her.

Gail Simone's Birds of Prey was pretty much a gateway series for me and how I got into reading more female centric comics. It's probably the reason why there are so many awesome female led comics now and some great female comic creators in the industry, I almost exclusively read the female led comics now, sorry Batman I still love you though!

As I was leaving on Saturday I passed by a web of Spider-Men so I had to get a photo also note the little Spider-man and extra Spideys in the background, it's good to know we have a few backups should Peter Parker want a day off...

 

Sunday was another crazy day meeting lots of Game of Thrones people, which I will save for a separate post, but my first stop was Carrie Fisher because CARRIE FISHER, I waited quite a while to meet her as she arrived late but it was totally worth it she was so sweet and she had her adorable dog Gary sitting next to her, I would have loved to have a photoshoot with the both of them as she wasn't doing photos at her table however I was running short of money by that point but this was more than enough, never in a million years would I have though I'd meet her!

These blind box Funko's have been taunting me, I told myself I would resist as they're kinda pricey considering you have no idea what's inside and I was convinced I would end up with 20 Joffrey figures when all I really wanted was Ghost but I caved and I'm glad I did as the first one I bought ended up being the one I REALLY wanted!

 

I bought a lot of comics at the con (20 in total!), some to read and some to do crafty type things with as I don't have a local comic shop I always tend to stock up when I'm at cons. Despite the crowding and craziness I had such a fun time at London Comic Con the guest line-up was amazing this year and hopefully I'll get to go again next year.

Love & Lemonade

Cate

xoxo