All Aboard the Hogwarts Express. Next Stop: Warner Bros Studio Tour

Life as a Harry Potter fan (Yes man):

I am a Harry Potter nerd. But you already knew that. My friend at work and I are constantly discussing the books and movies even whilst I have been overseas (that's what office email is for, right?). We have dubbed it the "Harry Potter Book Club", constantly encouraging our other colleagues to join in. It's still just the two of us so far unfortunately, though they kindly tolerate our Harry Potter banter over lunch.

Now that the films have finished, Warner Bros has opened up the Studios in London for tours. This is the actual location that most of the films were recorded at, and the location still contains many of the sets, costumes and props from the films. You can walk through the Great Hall and Diagon Alley and taste Butterbeer. (The latter is not so great)

This is a studio tour, not a theme park. There are no rides but there you can try riding a broomstick and driving the enchanted car from Chamber of Secrets in a green-screen activity. However, prepare yourself to feel obliged to purchase the £12 photograph that they take of you.

We purchased an audio tour which you can probably do without, as Warner Bros already does a good job of providing background and information on signs next to each of the displays. The detail in every piece of the movie is incredible.

The Verdict: 4 stars. I loved the tour but it is more for the die-hards. Those who don't care for movie sets, costumes and filming secrets may enjoy The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando more, which includes thrill rides and a shopping town in the theme of Hogsmeade.

The gift shop is a bit pricey and can be a bit tacky. I seriously wonder how many Hufflepuff sweaters and beanies they sell. But there are some gems - like the token chocolate frogs (really good chocolate) and Bertie Botts every flavour beans, and Ron's Christmas jumper which I'm proud to say that my sister purchased and wears:

Practical Information:

• You will need to pre-purchase tickets for a specific day and time slot because they do not sell any tickets on site
• We are hardcore Harry Potter fans and spent 4 hours at the Tour and still felt rushed (make time for the gift shop)
• If you are taking the train, there is a regular shuttle bus service from Watford Junction Train Station which costs about 2 pounds. Make sure you get to the Station about 45 minutes before your allocated time slot to ensure that you get there on time

Boybands and another one and another one

In 2003, I had two favourite bands - Busted and their proteges, McFly. They were the two biggest pop bands in the UK. Does "What I go to school for", "Year 3000" or "Love is Easy" sound familiar?

Fast track to 2014. Busted has been broken up for almost ten years with no hope of a reunion because there is no way in hell that one member of the trio, Charlie Simpson, is going to be in a pop band again (he was the one that left and broke the band up)

McFly kindly lend themselves to a Busted reunion by joining the two bands together to form one supergroup = McBUSTED. Three guitarists, two bassists, a drummer and a partridge in a pear tree. Who needs Charlie? This was going to be amazing. So this happened:

A pop lover's dream. Unfortunately, 5ive was cancelled due to the Barclaycard Unwind Theatre being broken and unfixable (how about just moving them to another stage??) This news was shattering, but McBusted managed to save the day. In front of about 15,000 people (including British celebs such as Ellie Goulding who is dating the bassist from McFly, model Cara Delevigne and Arya Stark from Game of Thrones) who had been starved of Busted for so long... the atmosphere was electric. The blokes as well as the ladies were singing along and being merry. It was hard not to - the entire show from start to finish was full of energy and so much fun. Beginning with one of Busted's last singles, "Air Hostess" and continuing with mainly Busted tracks and old McFly hits - it was like it was 2003 and I was 15 again. My only regret was not buying every single piece of merchandise when I had the chance.

My sister Sara and I sang and danced madly along to every song. My toes hurt from standing on my tippy-toes the whole time trying to peer through gaps in the heads in front of me. Because Hyde Park is so big, we were still a bit far away. (Concerts would be so much more enjoyable if I was a normal height.) We ooh-la-la'd when the band disappeared from the Great Oak stage and re-appeared on a a tall spaceship in the middle of the park - which provided much better viewing for little me. Even the rain could not kill the mood, with a double rainbow even forming over the stage after the showers during the aptly named McFly song, "5 colours (in her hair)". 

The rain was only temporary, and the weather became perfect as the tunes continued into the sunset. When the band told the crowd that they didn't want the night to end and were therefore going to start the whole set again, I was up for it! At that point, the opening track, "Air Hostess" started up again. It was dark by the last track, "Year 3000" and the show ended magnificently with fireworks and cheering. A good time was had by all. Oh nostalgia. 

McBusted at Hyde Park: view from the top

Other highlights were the support acts - the Backstreet Boys (old school but they are still killing it... Backstreet's back alright) and The Vamps (new school - fun and catchy acoustic pop that makes you feel young again). James from McBusted made a guest appearance during "I Want It That Way" which you can watch below. Perhaps when Busted sings about seeing "boybands and another one and another one... and another one" in the Year 3000, they were actually predicting their concert in Hyde Park on July 6, 2014?

Come again soon. McBusted forever!

Thanks to Sara for coming with me.

Here are some links to some of my favourite songs being performed on the day - these vids are on YouTube (I do not own them):

Who's David

Sleeping with the light on

I Want It That Way - James & BSB

Year 3000 and fireworks! - click here

The Queue

My little sister Rachel loves tennis. I have to thank her for convincing me to camp all day and overnight in the Queue at Wimbledon for tickets to Men's quarterfinal day. I love tennis too but not enough to sit for a day and a night for it. (I can't think of many things I would camp out for actually - I don't particularly like camping). But it turned out to be a whole lot of fun and great experience.

Basic Guide to the Queue:

1. You can only pre-purchase Wimbledon tickets through the public ballot (ie. it is random - we had entered and missed out)
2. The other alternative is to join the Queue. Wimbledon allocates a certain amount of tickets for Centre Court, No 1 Court, No 2 Court and General Admission to the Queue.
3. These tickets cannot be pre-purchased and to get one of these tickets, you must join the Queue
4. There are about 500 tickets for Centre Court sold to people in the Queue. 
5. We began queueing at about 10.15am the day before and we were number 510 and 511 in the Queue. We suspect that some people began queueing the day before the day before!
6. We pitched a tent in the Queue, and we made friends with a lovely South African couple and three British traffic controllers who were numbers 505-509. 
7. You don't get notified if you are eligible for Centre Court tickets until the next morning, so we all spent the night fretting about whether we would get the tickets and convincing ourselves that if we didn't, tickets to the No 1 Court would still be good (after all, Novak Djokovic is our favourite player). Of course, if you are in the first 500 people in the Queue, you can choose which court you wish to buy tickets for. (The lady who got ticket number 500 was jumping and screaming when she received her ticket - her reaction was akin to Charlie's when he wins the golden ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A bit much)
8. You can leave the camping ground for lunch or dinner (or for a run at Wimbledon Common like I did), as long as you are present when the Stewards give out the Queue Cards which confirms your place and number in the Queue. We got ours around 4pm and the Stewards advised that they would be coming around 3-5pm. If you're not in your tent at this time, you are basically kicked out of the Queue and there is no way to get back in. One year, one of our friends' wives was in the toilet and the Stewards gave him a really hard time about giving an extra Queue card to him. I think they had to wait for her to get back from the bathroom!
9. Wimbledon Village is about a 25 minute walk up the hill and has cafes and stores.There is a Sainsburys grocery store just a 5 minute walk from the camping ground down Revelstoke Rd and on the right.
10. Guard your Queue card with your life. Someone from our Queue lost theirs - I don't want to know what happened to him.

Luckily, we were one of the last few to be allocated Centre Court tickets on the day. We got a pink wristband confirming that we had been allocated a Centre Court ticket. Pumped!

But I suggest that if you want to guarantee Centre Court tickets in the final week, you join the Queue in the early in the morning on the day before the day you wish to go to Wimbledon. People seem to be getting there earlier and earlier every year.

I had the worst sleep in the world as I had a paper thin sleeping bag from K-mart and a cheap tent that we bought for $10 on Ebay. If I had the day over, I would probably invest in some better sleeping gear. It had been a warm sunny day but I was shivering all night and it was a long and painful night. Luckily, everyone was getting up at about 4.30am because the sun rises really early in the Summer but it was possibly the longest 6.5 hours of my life.

I did not sleep... but it didn't sound like a lot of people did. I thought I was going to fall asleep in the match. Bring earplugs! There will be some heavy snorers and sleep-talkers around you. Early in the morning, we were asked to pack down our tents and stand in the Queue. There is a lot of standing and waiting.

Rachel was self-conscious about coming out of the tent in her pyjamas.

Anyway, we had a great day with a great view of Centre Court. We watched Andy Murray play, supported by a full-house British crowd. Everyone with a ticket was in there to watch the local hero and Wimbledon defending champion - and we even shared the Court with royalty. Prince William and Princess Catherine were sitting in the Royal Box cheering Murray on.

We also got to see one of the best tennis players in history, Roger Federer. I enjoyed my day and my strawberries and cream, and I even got a little sunburnt. How ironic that in the tent, I spent the night wishing it was hot and the day, absolutely burning in the sun. Love tennis, love London.