New Year, Where's the new site?!

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!

It might seem awhile ago now we are in the second week of January but I do hope you all had a lovely winter break. I spent mine with my lovely family and generally taking a break from everything!

If you read my Facebook page then you'll know that the beautiful new logo by Chiichanny is up but the new site layout isn't - in fact is went so horribly wrong that the old layout is gone as well and page is now being displayed in a rather boring, plain, default white blogger theme! Several things went wrong - the layout I had chosen and spent quite a while working on wouldn't allow me to use the logo or add a banner of any sort, and instead wanted to use a rather ugly text description. Those of you that use blogger know that the template layout allows you to add in boxes for widgets/headers/content etc, for what ever reason, that I still can't work out, it just wouldn't work. After realising and spending quite a few hours trying to make it work, that it just wasn't going to happen I did try and revert to the old template, and this is where the fun began - the back up I made before fiddling with anything doesn't work. There's absolutely no reason for it not too as it will open fine, it just won't upload. If you can imagine me, sat in front of my laptop, with an error message, a site that looks like utter crap with various multiple colours everywhere and a broken template, you can probably imagine my face, in fact, here's a pretty accurate representation:

 

So, with the above in mind, the only thing I could do was switch it back to a default template, which is what I did. I still don't know why it didn't work or why the back up is corrupt and why blogger is so dang restrictive! I've come to the conclusion now that it may be time to switch to self hosted and move away from blogger entirely. This is looking like it will be going a head in the. Next few weeks - it'll take me a little while to sort as I need to figure out how to use something like Wordpress to build the site and sort the hosting.

So in the meantime I'll keep the site the way it is and work to something better! I'll still hopefully be updating regularly and I have some great plans for tutorials and posts this year that I'll hope you'll enjoy!

Ta-ta for now
X

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas Lovelies!

Thank you for reading my little blog for the last year! I wish everyone of you a happy Christmas and a wonderful new year!

The site will mostly not be updated over the festive season, but should return to it's usual scheduling in January - for more updates you can check out the facebook page here , twitter here or instagram here!

But now for a super fun and amazing announcement! The site is getting a total make over with new logo, layout and formatting! This will most likely be implemented before January! This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile and I'm very excited that I can now make it happen!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Becky

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Hey~! What's going on?!

Hello Lovelies!

Oh my gosh! Where has the time gone?! It's been a two weeks since I've had the time to sit and write a post for you all!

I thought I'd give you a little update about the last few weeks and the up coming weeks. So lets start at the beginning - I've been plagued by migraines for the last month or so which have lasted for weeks at a time, this is one of the main reasons posting dropped down to just one a week. I didn't want to take a break as I've worked really hard over the last year at posting regularly so I've tried to keep it going - until last week where I had to take a little break (Hopefully the last one of the year!). I've been umming and ahhing over whether to give the site and logo a make over, I feel the current layout isn't working so well and I'm just not as fond of it as I was.

Last month was also my birthday! I was totally spoilt by Mr Lock, my family and also my lovely work mates.

I even made a Rilakkuma cake for the occasion - it was vanilla and chocolate inside with little Rilakkuma chocolates!

I've also sold my motorbike! This is something I never, ever thought I'd do as I loved my bike very much, but as this year has gone on it's become more and more uncomfortable for me to ride. The riding position is lent quite far forward and I've had surgery on my wrist twice so it can be quite painful. This means I'm not looking for another one - I'm quite picky so I get the feeling it might take awhile to find what I want which is a shame as the Reading Toy Run is coming up soon!

So, upcoming in the next few weeks is Hyper Japan's Christmas Market! I cannot wait for this! I had a really good time at the last Hyper event (despite the crazy amount of scalping) and I'll be attending on the Friday on behalf of Cyten but also with my youngest sister again! But, But but! There's more! I'll finally be cosplaying!

This is something I've been working really hard towards this year, after seeing photos of myself from the last Christmas market,  I've lost over 50lbs! (Hopefully more by the time Hyper hits) - I'm by no means done with this but I'm very proud of myself for my efforts and will carry this on into next year - but weight loss means that I feel more comfortable with cosplaying now, I've nearly finished my costume!

So there you go, in a nut shell real life has been keeping me super busy!
Do look out for me if you are going to Hyper Japan - I'd love to meet some of my readers!

Ta-ta for now,

X

Hyper Japan Summer Festival 2015

Hello Lovelies!

It's taken me a little while to write this up as I wanted to reflect on the event, and it's turned into a bit of a wall of text which I hadn't intended on. 

Two weeks ago I attended the Hyper Japan Festival with my youngest Sister at the O2 in London. Now, many of you know how much I was looking forward to this, not only so I could finally meet my lovely friend Keren, watch Die Milch perform, but also so I could watch some of the other performances and events such as the bento making. I hate to say it but all though I had good time (So much so I almost went for a second day), but it was absolutely chaotic, and not set out in any sensible way what so ever - and oh my stars, it was so, so, SO hot! I don't think there can of been any kind of air conditioning in the area.

For those of you that have been to the O2 it was based in building six, across several floors and separated out into different sections, with the gaming area and a couple of random stalls as you walked into building six, the Hyper Kawaii on the right in the next part and most of the food stalls wedged right in the back. Lord only knows where the maid café and garden was as we sure as hell couldn't find it, nor find any signs as to where it was. This was also the same situation with finding the restrooms - when we approached the staff to find out where they were, we were pretty rudely told where to go and it turned out they were using porta-cabin bathrooms outside the building (Which were pretty gross, if I'm honest.)

To get in any of the areas you had to queue and present your wrist band which you needed to collect before entering the O2 (I'd heard a lot of people didn't realise this and were turned away to go get the wrist bands). I don't understand why everything was sectioned off like this, it made everything so much harder to get in and out of, and most of the sections didn't make much sense as part of the food court was in the back of Hyper Kawaii.

Hyper Kawaii itself was pretty full as well and we were continuously finding we couldn't get to the stalls we wanted due to people filming and taking photos (I gave up trying to film anything for you on my phone it was so busy). Unlike at Kensington Olympia, this time they had two stages for performances, once seemed to be for official acts like Die Milch and had a big lit stage with a very small seating area and the other was for dance groups and other performers. The problem with this is that they were so close to each other you could hear both performances going on at the same time, and the sound was very loud! (At one point someone was murdering karaoke songs. The other issue with the performer stage was that most of the acts seemed to be dancers to anime songs, whilst some were very entertaining it became very repetitive very quickly.

The food court seemed to be split between a sectioned off bit at the back of building six and Hyper Kawaii - there was far less seating this time and we ended up sitting on the floor to eat our lunch - I think we must have started something as a lot of people joined us on the floor for a make shift picnic!

I have no idea where the actual events were that I wanted to see, we never found the Bento making or anything else. I had found a schedule on line before we left that said Die Milch would be on at 4:00pm - it was only when I got back to see Keren that she told me they had already gone on and we could here Rosaria playing - I don't think I've ever run so fast across a building whilst trying to work out which of the two stages they were on (I picked right thankfully!) But I'm gutted that I missed the beginning of my favourite song.

The last thing that really irked me was the insane scalping on some of the stalls and people pretending that bought items were handmade. In some cases I saw items being sold for more than 3x their actual cost to purchase. I understand that people need to make a profit but a huge mark up is just disgusting and meant that I didn't purchase some of the planned items I wanted, and other people felt utterly ripped off when they realised, for example the bag they just paid £35 for actually retails at £13. Items bought on aliexpress or similar being sold as handmade. Yes they may have been handmade somewhere in China but not handmade by you, this isn't the same thing and you can't pass them off as being made by you, there were quite a few people doing this.

Hyper Japan is advertised as being a cultural event too. How ever I didn't see this in the slightest this time round. There were far less traditional stalls. I did see the Sake stalls in the food court, and one maybe two travel companies, but that was it, considering this was one of the main draws of the event it was pretty disappointing.

I know I'm not the only to think this. I've spoken to several people since HJ weekend and I don't know if the Saturday or Sunday were any better but from what I've been told it was even more chaotic. The winter event is being held in a different location and I'm hoping that will improve the situation as it'll be in one place and probably not as split up as this one was. I'm also hoping there will be a better schedule for events and that they will be easier to find as well, I think though I will be treating this as a shopping event rather than anything else.

Don't get me wrong, I really did have a great day out with my Sister and I finally got to meet my friend and I did a ton of shopping and did find some pretty good bargains! (Which was what this post was originally going to be about, but will have it's own separate post). But I have to say that if I wasn't as close to London as I am, and I wasn't going to meet up with friends, and if it was at the O2 again I think I'd have serious doubts about going again as I could have saved myself the ticket/travel money and bought everything I wanted on-line instead.

Anyway! Enough of the downsides, next post up will be my small haul from Hyper Japan!

Ta-ta for now

X

Glossy Box July 2015 + Bonus box review ~*~Neutral/Negative~*~

Hello Lovelies!

So I've tried something new and made a video for you to review the Glossy Boxes I recently received! I hope you like it!

So Lovelies, which do you prefer? Video or picture reviews? Let me know in the comments!

Ta-ta for now,

X

Presents for a friend!

Hello Lovelies!

Today I'm really excited to share my post with you as this is probably the best thing I've made in quite a long time!

A friend of mine at work is going on maternity leave today! Everyone decided to buy a present and I made a cake and card to go with it!

Here's a picture of the card I made, I think there's a bit of theme going on!

I am ridiculously proud of this cake - ha! It's the first time I've used the duck mold that I brought last year and I can't believe it turned out so well! I really love making cakes but I don't get to make them very often any more, so this was really fun (and a little bit nerve wracking too!) It's a maderia cake, iced with lemony butter cream.

Next week's post should be up on the usual Monday and is very Harry Potter orientated!

Ta-ta for now!
X

Changing brake pads on a CBR600F!

Hello Lovelies!

Today I've a slightly different post for you - How to change the brake pads on a motorbike! Specifically this is a how to on my bike a 95 CBR600F, but it's very similar on most bikes and really isn't that hard to do!

If you've never done this before a Hayne's manual/someone who knows what they are doing is going to come in very handy! Haynes manuals are especially useful as it'll have the torque settings. You'll also need a pair of brake pads for each calliper on the bike - I got mine direct from Honda for £50.00 for both sets, a screw driver (check what screws you have on your bike), allen keys, brake cleaner (Make sure it's suitable for use on all brake parts), piston tool, nylon brush, brass brush, spray copper grease and red rubber grease. We also used a sonic cleaner but it is possible to clean everything by hand, but it's way easier to use a sonic cleaner - and handily my husband had one from when he'd changed the brake pads on his bike. 

I'd also recommend one of these handy little dishes - it's magnetic so if you knock it over you won't loose all your screws! (Which, if you're me, you'll knock over a lot!)

Lastly, I did start off with rubber gloves, with the intention of not getting mega grubby (these brake callipers were filthy)/ covered in brake cleaner and grease. By the time I got to the second calliper I gave up with that idea and just went with it!

The first thing to do is remove the pinch bolt that holds the calliper in place over the brake disk, mine came away pretty easy with a screwdriver.

Underneath this is another bolt that you need to withdraw using an allen key - at some point you'll find its not coming out any further by turning the key and you should be able to remove it with your fingers to withdraw the entire pin.

Next, carefully remove the screws that hold the brake calliper, you should then be able to lift the entire unit off of the brake disk - do this very gently else you run the risk of scratching your disk or wheel. Make sure you keep the calliper supported as letting it hang can damage the hose.

Remove the old brake pads and disguard them - you'll also want to remove the top of the calliper and the two clips that keep the pads in place.

Either put everything in the sonic cleaner or clean the items by hand using the brake cleaner and a nylon brush.

The next step step is to clean the calliper - spray this generously and scrub with the nylon brush, once you've done this - you'll then want to clean the pistons - to get the pistons to come out place the piston tool in between the pistons and the side of the calliper, fully shut, then pump the brake leaver to get the pistons to move out - stop before it becomes too tight to remove the tool. Give these a really good clean with the nylon brush and use the brass brush if there are any stubborn marks to get these clean. Coat the outside of the pistons with a thin layer of red rubber grease and use the piston tool to push them back into the calliper.

By this point the remaining parts should be clean, lay them out on some clean sheets of kitchen towel. Remove the new brake pads from the packets and lay these down also being careful not to touch the fronts of the pads.

Next spray everything with the copper grease - be very careful NOT to get this on the front of the brake pads.

Next replace the clips, and carefully pop in the brake pads. Replace the top of the calliper and reinsert the retaining pin through. Pop the calliper back over the brake disk carefully and re-attach the bolts - you will need to do these hand tight then use a torque wrench to get the right tightness (check Hayne's manual for torque settings). Replace the pinch bolt and do this up as well. Lastly pump the front brake to push out the pistons and check everything is working as it should do! You can then repeat this process for the other side.

Lastly you can admire the awesome shade of soot you've accumulated on your hands/arms/face during the entire process!

Once you've finished changing both I suggest you check everything is working as it should do with a very gentle ride up and down the road - and remember the new pads will need to bed in so don't go crazy with them!

Ta-ta for now
X

Glasgow!

Hello Lovelies!

If you've ever wondered if I'm capable of looking some what human at 3:00am then the picture above is it! A while ago we had a business trip to Glasgow with a very early start!

We flew from Heathrow and it's changed quite a bit since I last went anywhere - there are little pods now that you can take from the car park to the airport! The design reminds me a lot of Honda's Asimo and are definitely very space aged!

Inside are the pods are little screens that tell you different information and show how far you are away from the air port. You can just about fit five people and luggage in one of these!

Early morning airport! I was surprised it was this busy this early in the morning.

In Glasgow we spotted two different Tardis's! I'm not sure why one was red but they were pretty cool anyhow! Our office is right off the high street and there were quite a few different shops to look at, though as it was such a short trip we didn't get much time to look.

I've forgotten the name of the restaurant but we went for a curry after work.

The Citizen M hotel! I've never been to one of these hotels before and they are a little bizzare! (Not in a bad way though!) They are definitely great for sole travellers though, I'm not sure how they'd be for couples thought (I'll get onto why I think that in a moment.) Check in/out is all automated on touch screen computers.

In the hotel was a Samsung tablet, everything  is controlled from here, the TV, the A/C the lighting, even the blinds! It was super easy to use though.

The sink is right in front of you as you walk in the door, this struck me as super odd and possibly rather un-hygenic as the bathroom is in that little pod on the right hand side of the second picture! That's right, the bathroom/shower is in a semi-translucent pod!!! This is why I said the rooms are suited to single travellers rather than couples. I'm not sure what they were thinking with this but why on earth would you want to watch your room mate in the bathroom! The other think that struck me was the gigantic bed, it's literally the width of the room! I have to say I did find the room a little claustrophobic, everything was wedged in and I don't think I'd want to share it with anyone.

View from the window in the morning. I didn't bother with the hotel breakfast, I'd read reviews saying that it wasn't very good, and some others that I went with commented that it wasn't very nice.

We managed to find some interesting food! Including a deep fried Mars bar, a deep fried pizza and some really lovely macaroni cheese (one of my favourites) The deep fried pizza was a bit odd as it tasted really sweet to me!

Have you ever been to Glasgow? Where are your favourite places to go or see? Let me know in the comments below!

Ta-ta for now
X