Saturday 31 December 2016

Year 2016


Hello to every single person all around the world! It is the end of 2016 which just went by so quickly. I can still remember gathering Easter presents way back in March, and then also seeing the movie Allegiant as well with my best friend Erin. This year was a good year, and had great beginning as well, but was very sad at the end of this year...
Now to get on with business, here are some highlights that happened during the course of this year:
  • The brand new app Pokemon GO was released this year, and was a huge success. People can now get the app on their phone, go outside and walk around to either hatch an egg they received from a PokeStop, or battle at a Gym, or walk with a Pokemon and do so much more on the app. People who always watched the anime show and played the Pokemon trading card game, can now finally be their own trainer and go out and be the very best...like no one ever was! (I am one of them!).
  • The Pokemon Sun and Moon game was released in November 2016, and this game is set in the Alola region.
  • Donald Trump won the US Presidential Election this year.
  • ABC Family officially changed their name to FreeForm in January this year.
  • The two-part play titled "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was released as a book for Harry Potter fans to read in July this year. This book seemed to be one of the highly anticipated books to read this year.
  • In September, Disney announced that the popular ride titled "The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror" will have it's last day in January 2017, and will be replaced with a "Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT" ride in summer 2017.
  • Captain America: Civil War was a critical and a commercial success, grossing over $1 billion, which made this film the highest grossing film for 2016, as well making this film the 12th highest grossing film of all time. This film also is the 4th highest grossing superhero film of all time.
  • In March, a suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Lqbal Park, Lahore killed 75 people and injured about 340 others with a militant Sunni Islamic organisation, claiming responsibility for targeting Christians celebrating Easter.
  • In June, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.
  • In August, the 2016 Summer Olympics was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • The terrible news of a gorilla by the name of Harambe was fatally shot in an attempt to protect a 4 year old boy, who had fallen 12 feet into the enclosure of Harambe.
  • Clearwater Marine Aquarium released 29 sea turtles in 2016.
  • Dunkin Donuts opened for the first time in South Africa.
  • Starbucks opened in South Africa for the first time.
  • This year, there was a reboot of the well-known Cartoon Network series, The Powerpuff Girls. To celebrate the reboot, there was an online app that allowed you to customize your very own Powerpuff girl - or boy - on the Internet and share your avatar with your friends or on social media.
  • Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar Award for Best Actor.
2016 Deaths:
Sadly, this year seemed to be the year of quite a few deaths. All these talented and outstanding people passed away this year. Here are some of the people who sadly passed away this year:
David Bowie; Curtis Hanson; Harper Lee; Garry Shandling; Ken Howard; Anton Yelchin; Alan Rickman; Leonard Cohen; Garry Marshall; Doris Roberts; Prince; Robert Vaughn; Kenny Baker; Gene Wilder; George Michael; Carry Fisher and Carrie's mother, Debbie Reynolds.
It is tragic to hear and see such fantastic actors/writers/singers pass away...it is truly sad, and my heart goes out to every single one of these talented people's family and friends. I am truly sorry for your loss.

A few of the talented actors/singers/writers who passed away in 2016.
This year, a good couple of movies were released this year that were all fantastic to see, and some of the movies you had to have watched on the big screen in 3D. Here are some of the movies that were released this year:
Finding Dory; Suicide Squad; Indignation; Alice Through the Looking Glass; Pete's Dragon; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Fallen; 31; The Secret Life of Pets; Allegiant; Deadpool; X-Men: Apocalypse; The Jungle Book; Zootopia; Captain America: Civil War; Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice; Doctor Strange; The Legend of Tarzan: Passengers; The BFG; Ghostbusters; Miss Peregrine's Home for the Peculiar Children; Moana; Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them; Independence Day: Resurgence; Ice Age: Collision Course; Max Steel; Jason Bourne; Sing; The Magnificent Seven; Warcraft; Storks; Angry Birds; Bad Moms; Trolls; Now You See Me 2, and the list does go on and on.
The Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $166 million in the USA and in Canada on this movie's opening weekend, which is the 8th biggest opening of all time, which is ahead of the movie The Dark Knight Rises at $160 million. The film had a worldwide opening of the amount $422.5 million, which the film also stands as the 2nd biggest for Warner Bros. and the 4th biggest of all time. This film also had an IMAX opening weekend of $36 million,which is the 3rd biggest openings ever, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World.
Suicide Squad was a box office success, grossing at $325.1 million in Northern America and a worldwide total of $745.6 million, against a budget of $175 million. Despite the negative critical reception and a lower-than-expected box office, the film was a highly anticipated movie by the audience (I was one of them!). Margot Robbie's performance as the character Harley Quinn, was praised and was a star-making performance, with critics eager to see more of her character in future films. The film grossed $745 million worldwide, which made this the 9th highest grossing film for 2016.
Finding Dory was a critical and a commercial success, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making this film the 2nd highest grossing film for 2016, and the 4th highest grossing animated film of all time. This film also became the 1st Pixar film to cross this worldwide mark since Toy Story, which was released in 2010. This film also became the highest grossing animated film opening of all time in North America.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them received positive reviews from critics, and grossed $747 million worldwide, making this film the 8th highest grossing film for 2016. This film was also considered as one of the most highly anticipated films for 2016. The film worldwide, grossed $219.9 million during the opening weekend of this film.
As of December, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had grossed $358.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $295.2 million in other countries for the worldwide total of the amount $653.9 million.

Some of the movies released during 2016.
Also, a good couple of music albums where also released this year, here they are:
David Bowie-Blackstar; Lacuna Coil-Delirium; Rachel Platten-Wildfire; Amaranthe - Maximalism; Skillet-Unleashed; Tarja-The Shadow Self; Panic! at the Disco-Death of a Bachlor; Charlie Puth-NineTrack Mind; Elton John-Wonderful Crazy Night; Daughtry-It's Not Over...The Hits So Far; Ronan Keating-Time of My Life; Simple Plan-Taking One for the Team; Anthrax-For All Kings; Charli XCX-Vroom Vroom; Asking Alexandria-The Black; Babymetal-Metal Resistance; Stitched Up Heart-Never Alone; Nick Jonas-Last year Was Complicated; Locnville-Taste The Weekend; Billy Talent-Afraid of Heights; Britney Spears-Glory; Lindsey Stirling-Brave Enough; Soilwork-Death Resonance; Epica-The Holographic Principle;  Idina Menzel-idina.; The Agonist-Five; Korn-The Serenity of Suffering; Lady Gaga-Joanne; Michael Buble-Nobody but Me; Bridgit Mendler- Nemesis; Metallica-Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, and the list goes on and on.
All these artists I have mentioned are all super talented. If you haven't already, I highly recommend you listen to these artists mentioned, as their music is incredibly amazing!

Some of the music albums released in 2016.
I know this band may not have released an album this year, but the band Bullet for my Valentine released an incredibly fantastic single out this year titled "Don't Need You", and this song is really a good listen.
Here is the video to their official music video for the song below:


Another band, Motionless in White, released a brand new single titled "570", which was also released for a music video, which you can view below:


The Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil released their new album this year "Delirium", as well as released a new music video titled "Delirium", and you can view the music video below:


Lacuna Coil also released a Christmas song titled "Naughty Christmas" which was released in December this year, and the band also released a lyrics video for the song. You can check out the lyric video below:


The duo Locnville released their album "Taste the Weekend" in June this year. They have released a music video titled "Cold Shoulder", which you can view below:


Amaranthe released their new album titled "Maximalism" in October this year. In the same month, the band also released a music video titled "That Song" which can be viewed below:


The Christian rock band, Skillet, has released a new album In August, as well as a music video titled "Feel Invincible", which you can view below:


On a more personal note:
This year, I decided to do something with my body and instead of having mostly, sugary and fatty foods this year, I have decided to become a lot more healthier and started doing exercises. I have become a lot more health conscious.This year, I decided I needed to be more healthier, and taking extra care of what I put into my body. There is the old saying "What you put in is what you will get out", and the other saying "You are what you eat". At first, I didn't know where to begin, what workouts to do, what I was capable of. I literally had no idea what to do first. The day I decided to get more fit and healthy, my mother told me about a lady who has written books about workouts and nutrition, and told me this lady had started a group, in April, called "Lucy's Squad", where you can follow 4 minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts everyday. This lady's name is Lucy Wyndham-Read, who is a YouTube trainer, and who posts real-time videos on YouTube with workouts for the "Lucy's Squad" group to do. At first I was a bit uncomfortable doing these workouts, but after about a month or so, I started to actually enjoy these workouts, and everyday I looked forward to a new workout all the time- and I still do! The truth is, I started in May with Lucy Wyndham-Read's 100 rep workouts, and after this challenge, I started taking on more challenges as the days went by. One thing I noticed is that whenever you start to do workouts, take a Before and After picture, to help you. You do not need to show anyone your photos if you don't wish to, it is simply for your own benefit, and to see how far you have come since you started your fitness journey.What is so amazing about Lucy Wyndham-Read's videos is that you can do them absolutely anywhere - no gym required! I considered maybe going to a gym, but it turns out you don't really need a gym to do Lucy's workouts. I am also proud to be apart of "Lucy's Squad" as I have been featured in 2 of Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube videos, and that is a goal achieved for me! In November, there were workout challenges, but Lucy Wyndham-Read also posted about eating clean (This is when you eat whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy proteins and fats). When I became a vegetarian, I taught myself to read labels. This is a great tool to use because it is always good to read the food labels as you can see what you are consuming into your body. Lucy Wyndham-Read also helped me to enter a competition called "USN Face of Fitness". Although I didn't make it to the top 32, that didn't put me down or make me feel upset. This actually motivated me more to keep staying as fit and as healthy as I can be. I also go running at least once a week, and Lucy Wyndham-Read also helped me with this as well as I feel more confident now to go out into the outdoors and go walking/running. Walking/running can help you a lot and what is nice is when you go in the outdoors, you can have a beautiful scenery to look at. I workout 5 days a week and the 6th day is a walking/running day.
Lucy Wyndham-Read is a fitness expert and is Ex-Army, and has more than 20 years experience in health and in fitness.
Another person I have discovered who has a blog about nutrition and wellness is Caralishious. Caralishious is an entrepreneur and wellness consultant, and a nutrition blogger who dedicates to balanced living through the nourishment of the mind and the body. Caralishious has blogs that show you how to optimise your health and well being with her delicious recipes and her blogs about how to practise self love toward yourself, like how to love yourself for who you are and build a good self-esteem for yourself. I discovered Caralishious when I purchased the ice-cream, and I discovered this ice-cream was actually healthy for you and is completely vegan. I then went onto Caralishious website and I spent quite a while reading her blogs about health and how to build a good self-esteem. The recipe's on Caralishious website are also healthy for you as you use organic products and whole foods to make the meal dishes. There are recipes for dinner, lunch and breakfast time, as well as if you are on-the-go and need to make something quickly. What is great about these recipes is you know it is healthy for you and you don't need to feel guilty eating these food dishes as they will be fuel for your body, and I am sure your body will be happy to have these foods.

Left: Caralishious, a wellness consultant and entrepreneur.
Right: Lucy Wyndham-Read, Ex-Army, YouTube trainer and a fitness coach.
The products I have used that have helped me stay fit and healthy is USN products - mostly the protein shakes - and Herbex products. Herbex is a definite must look at if you want loose weight. USN products, to me, are more for body building, but the products do work. Herbex products is more natural products as some of their products contain a formulation of 4 herbs which help assist with weight-loss, increasing your metabolism and burn calories. I have used the USN Phedra Cut Lipo XT, but it didn't work out for me, I use Herbex products now, and I feel it has helped me with weight-loss and has helped me keep fit. I also mostly drink water nowadays - plus the Herbex fat burn concentrate drink - and I stay away from the soda drinks and fruit juices when I can as they do contain sugar.

Photos of me during my progress of getting into a healthier lifestyle in 2016.
Last year, I was told that I can adopt a cat, and I have the most beautiful and precious kitty cat in the world! Her is name is Eevee. I decided on this name because it fit her perfectly. She is such a beautiful cat and I love her so much! We also welcomed a new dog to our family, and he is...Emmet the pug! We also have another dog by the name of Leo who is an awesome dog as well! Our animals really are good animals, maybe a bit energetic at times, but they are all good animals.

Left: My beautiful cat Eevee.
Middle: Emmet the pug!
Right: Leo.
This year marks 3 years being a vegetarian for me, and it feels good! I consider myself 85% vegan as the foods I make myself are vegan, it is only when I visit people's houses that I may eat vegetarian food there. Also, the restaurants I go to cater more for vegetarians than vegans, but I do hope all the restaurants will cater for vegan people soon.
What annoys me though with regard to this lifestyle, is that sometimes on restaurant menu's or at some event, there is absolutely - and I mean absolutely - nothing for people who don't eat meat. This isn't good as some people don't want animal meat, or someone is allergic to dairy, and at these events or restaurants, they have nothing for the people with food allergies. This doesn't happen often, but at some places this does happen, and it does annoy me.
One other thing while on this subject, it is always good to help the environment, regardless if you are a vegetarian/pescatarian/vegan or whatever you are. There is indeed, only so much one person can do to help the environment and animals. A person cannot do absolutely everything to help the environment, but that person is doing something by maybe not using a car to go to work, or by not consuming any animal products, or by being an activist. These are all great things to do, and keep doing them if it makes you happy, but remember...there is only so much one person can do to help out.
Lastly, if you are wanting to go vegan, then you should maybe take on the Veganuary challenge in January where you are completely vegan for the whole month of January. It is amazing to do as you can explore with food and see what meals you can make up. You can also enjoy vegan ice cream for the summer times. Fry's Food has recently released quite a few new flavors of vegan ice cream. Another person who has created a healthy and vegan ice cream is Caralishious. Her ice creams tastes super delicious and they are healthy for you as well.

This year I also read all 6 books of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, as well as the whole trilogy of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, plus the book Four: A Divergent Collection. All I can say is...I did not know what I was missing out on. These books were highly addictive, and I could not put these book down! I had to know what happened right up until the end. It was like when I read the Harry Potter books. It is un-put-downable - if that is even a word. After I heard about the movie Allegiant and that it was out in cinemas, I decided to start reading Divergent, the first book, and I absolutely loved the book. It took me not even a week before I finished this book, and then it was onto the 2nd book Insurgent, and then finally, Allegiant. The 3rd book was sad at the end, and I did cry a little, but I did enjoy these books, they were definitely a good read. I also went onto reading Four: A Divergent Collection book, and even this book I just couldn't put down. My absolute favourite Divergent series books had to be both Insurgent, as well as Allegiant. My favourite book from the Mortal Instruments had to be the 6th book, City of Heavenly Fire. I will definite be re-reading these books over and over again. The same goes for the Harry Potter books as well. I am glad to have read all these books, and I still have to finish the Peary Jackson books plus all of Cassandra Clare's other books, but it will be done.

Left: Me by the Allegiant poster, about to go watch the movie. (Photo by Erin Kennedy).
Middle: My two favourite Divergent series books, Insurgent and Allegiant. (Photos by Erin Kennedy).
Right: Me with my favourite Mortal Instruments book, City of Heavenly Fire.
For those of you who would like to check out Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube channel, as well as her social media pages, you can check them out below:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LWRFitnessChannel
Official website: http://www.lwrfitness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LWRFitness/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucyWyndhamRead
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucywyndhamread
And for those who would like to view Caralishious website, as well as her social media pages, you can check them all out below:
Official website: http://www.caralishious.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caralishious/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/caralishious
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caralishious

For those of you who would like to know more about Bullet for my Valentine, Lacuna Coil, Motionless in White, Skillet, Locnville and Amaranthe, you can check out their social media pages:
Bullet for my Valentine:
Official Website: http://www.bulletformyvalentine.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BulletForMyValentine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfmvofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bfmvofficial/
Lacuna Coil:
Official website: http://www.lacunacoil.it/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lacunacoil/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lacuna_coil
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacunacoilofficial/
Motionless in White:
Official website: http://motionlessinwhite.net/?frontpage=true
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motionlessinwhite/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MIWband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miwband/
Skillet:
Official website: http://www.skillet.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skillet/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skilletmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skilletmusic
Locnville:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Locnville/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Locnville
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/locnville
Amaranthe:
Official website: http://amaranthe.se/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmarantheBand/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amaranthemetal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amarantheofficial

For those wanting to know about Herbex, you can check out their website below. Herbex also has amazing workout routine's to follow and they do indeed have amazing products to choose from,a nd so much more on their website:
Official website: http://www.herbexhealth.com/
Here are their social media pages as well below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herbex1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/herbexhealth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbexhealth

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this blog! I do promise I will try as much as I can to post more blogs next year and try to work more on my blogs next year!
2017, we are all ready for you, and we cannot wait to see what the year hold for us! I am pledging to be a lot more healthier and to do a lot of workouts I really enjoy doing! I just know 2017 is going to be THE YEAR I will get a whole lot more fitter, stronger, and healthier! Bring it on 2017!
Thank you everyone!
Have an amazing New Year!!!

Goodbye 2016! I will definitely be doing a lot of workouts and being as healthy as I can be!
A photo of me with my Body Toning for women book by Lucy Wyndham-Read.

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Sunday 19 June 2016

Finding Dory Movie Review:

©Disney/DisneyPixar
Before Finding Dory came onto the movie screen, we first see a Disney Pixar short film titled Piper, which is based on a baby sandpiper. We first see a flock of sandpipers go near the sea to peck at the sand to find food. A mother sandpiper encourages her baby to go with her to find the food, but the baby refuses at first. When the baby sandpiper joins the flock, she fails to retreat from the sand and is then drenched in water from the sea water. This leaves the baby sandpiper scared of going back into the water, but then she soon discovers she is standing on 3 hermit crabs that are walking toward the sea. The baby sandpiper then notices how the hermit crabs dig deep into the sand to prevent them from being buffeted by the tide. The baby sandpiper copies what the hermit crabs do and discovers the beauty of the underwater world and also discovers the food. She then becomes skilled at discovering food for the flock of sandpipers. The short film ends with the mother sandpiper looking at her baby foraging food into one pile by the sea.

©Disney/DisneyPixar
We then see the movie Finding Dory. The movie starts off with Dory as a baby who suffers from short-term memory loss. Her mother and father try to help Dory remember things, but Dory's mind seems to wander elsewhere. Dory then somehow ends up lost in the ocean. We then discover, over a few years, how Dory ends up knocking into Marlin, the clownfish who at the time was chasing after the boat that captured his son Nemo.
It then changes to the present day which shows it is 1 years later after the incident from the first film. We see Dory start to remember that she has a family –a mother and a father – as she says that they lived at “the Jewel of Morro Bay, California”. After hearing about a speech on migration from the eagle ray Mr. Ray, Dory’s memories start to come back to her about her family and she suddenly starts to swim super fast and says that she needs to find her family. Marlin at first is reluctant to go across the ocean to help Dory find her family, but with encouragement from Nemo, he then agrees to help Dory. We then see the trio with the sea turtles with help from Crush, riding the ocean current to California. After saying their goodbyes to the sea turtles, the trio then swim near a shipwreck. As they are swimming, Dory starts to call her parents out loud, but crabs then tell her to keep quiet. We find out there is a giant squid there that attacks the trio and nearly kills Nemo. Marlin is then angry at Dory and tells her that she must wait at a spot as forgetting things is all that she is good at. Hurt at these words, Dory wanders off only to hear a noise above the surface, and she swims to the top of the surface. She is then taken by volunteers who work at a nearby place called Marine Life Institute. As Marlin and Nemo get help from 2 sea lions, Fluke and Rudder, Dory is then put under Quarantine in the Institute, and is also tagged on her one fin. She then meets an octopus by the name of Hank, who escaped from his own tank. Hank lost a tentacle in the past, which causes Dory to refer to him as a “septopus”. He notices Dory’s tag and asks her for the tag as he wants to go to an aquarium in Cleveland. They both then make a deal that if Hank helps Dory find her parents, he can take her tag so he can go to Cleveland. Hank explains that due to a past traumatic experience, he would rather live in an aquarium where he can be in a safe enclosure. Hank takes Dory to a map of the Marine Life Institute and asks where her family are situated, and Dory remembers that her family was in the Open Ocean section of the Institute. Along the way, Dory sees a bucket with the name “Destiny” on it. Dory thinks she knows the word, so she jumps into the bucket and sees fish in this bucket – but is unaware that they are all dead fish. The human lady that is taking the bucket throws Dory into a tank and it is here that Dory is reunited with her childhood friend Destiny, who is a short-sighted whale shark. We find out that Destiny and Dory used to speak “whale” to each other through the pipe system back when Dory was a baby. Dory also meets a beluga whale named Bailey, who believes he cannot echolocate due to a concussion. Dory does eventually get to the Open Ocean section, but before she does, her and Hank end up at the “Kid Zone” where fish and starfish are in a tank and children can pick up the fish and touch them – this does show that fish in real life actually are stressed out from being handled vigorously. During this time, Dory remembers her parents singing to her the song "Just Keep Swimming", and the song is how Dory and Hank manage to stop the children from touching them - one child puts his finger on Hank, and Hank releases ink into the water, which ends up making the water black and scaring off the children.

©Disney/DisneyPixar
When Hank and Dory make it to the Open Ocean section, Dory says goodbye to Hank, who receives the tag from Dory. Dory finds her home by following the shells on the ground as Dory remembers when she was a baby, her parents told her to always follow the shells if she ever got lost. Dory discovers that her parents are not at the home she grew up in, and she also remembers how she left her parents: She overheard her parents talking about her, and she saw a purple shell and wanted to give it to her mother as she knew her mother loved the purple shells. As Dory tried to get the shell, she was pulled into the current in the water and was pulled into the ocean.
After speaking to a crab, Dory finds out that all the blue tangs are all being moved to Cleveland, which means her parents should be by the Quarantine section.

©Disney/DisneyPixar
During this time, Marlin and Nemo ask the sea lions to help them get into the Marine Life Institute. The sea lions then call on Becky, a common loon who is dimwitted, and the sea lions tell Marlin to imprint with Becky so that Becky would recognise him in the future. As Becky flies into the Institute, she is sidetracked by popcorn which was on the ground and drops Marlin and Nemo – who are in a bucket of water – into a tree. Marlin tries to call Becky, but then pushes the bucket to the end of the branch, which leads him and Nemo flying in the air and the two end up in a small tank with a toy windup fish. Dory on the other hand, is stuck in the pipes as she swam through the pipe system and has forgotten the directions which was given to her by the crab, and is then heard by Destiny, who asks Bailey to echolocate and find Dory.

©Disney/DisneyPixar
At first, Bailey cannot echolocate, but then he starts to echolocate and finds Dory and also helps her to try and escape out of the pipes. Marline, Nemo and Dory are then reunited in the pipe system. The trio then head for the Quarantine section and they manage to find the tank where the blue tang fish are. Before the trio reach the tank of blue tang fish, they fall into a bucket of cleaning water, but are then saved by Hank who puts them into the tank of blue tang fish. The blue tang fish explain to Dory that her parents went to the Quarantine when Dory was sucked through the pipe system to look for her, but are not there anymore as this was years ago, which could mean that Dory’s parents are gone. While Dory is shocked by this information, Hank attempts to help Marlin, Dory and Nemo escape, but in the haste, Hank couldn’t retrieve Marlin and Nemo, and also the Marine Life staff capture Hank, who drops Dory into a drain, which leads her back into the ocean. Dory then forgets who she is looking for in the ocean, but then comes across shells. Dory then remembers to follow the shells, which leads to another home – home to where her parents have been staying since Dory was sucked through the pipe system. After reuniting with her parents, Dory’s mother Jenny explains that she and Charlie – Dory’s father – have been placing a trail of shells everyday in the hope’s that Dory would find them one day. Jenny also explained that since she and Charlie couldn’t find Dory in the Quarantine section, they both escaped the Institute because they knew Dory must be in the ocean. After hearing this and happy to be with her family, Dory remembers that she needs to rescue her other family – Marlin and Nemo. Dory asks Destiny and Bailey to help them rescue Marlin and Nemo. Both Destiny and Bailey escape from their tanks and jump into the big wide ocean. At first though, Destiny is scared of the ocean as there are walls everywhere, but Bailey tells Destiny that “there are no walls in the ocean” – which is a clever way of showing the cruelty behind captivity. Dory has a plan to stop the truck which Marlin and Nemo are in, with the help from the cute and adorable sea otter’s who sit on the highway to distract the traffic.

©Disney/DisneyPixar
Destiny then throws Dory into the hands of an otter who then takes her to the truck. Once inside the truck, Dory helps Marlin and Nemo escape into the ocean, but during this, Dory is left behind. She then asks Hank to help her, who was also in the truck after being captured by the Marine Life staff. Dory then convinces Hank that the ocean is not so bad, which Hank then agrees to help Dory escape. Dory and Hank work together to hijack the truck and to drive the truck into the ocean, which also releases the other fish who were inside the truck. After being reunited with everyone, Dory, Marlin, Nemo, Hank, Bailey, Destiny and her parents swim back to the Great Barrier Reef. The movie ends off with Hank being a substitute teacher for the school as Mr. Ray is migrating. Bailey and Destiny also help the class with Hank. Dory then swims just to the edge of the Great Barrier Reef to look out at the view, as Marlin also joins Dory to look at the view as Marlin said earlier in the film why can't they - Nemo, Marlin and Dory - just swim to the edge of the Great Barrier Reef and just look at the view.

During the post-credits scene, we see the fish from the dentist’s tank from the first movie still trapped in the bags they were in. They all manage to make their way to California, where they are supposedly “rescued” by the volunteers from the Marine Life Institute.

Before I end off, there is something I noticed in this movie: There was a focus point on captivity. When Destiny was scared that there are walls in the ocean, Bailey says that "there are no walls in the ocean". This is true as animals can swim for miles and miles in the ocean as the ocean is huge. In captivity however, animals only have the limited space available in their tanks.It could feel like a cage to an animal.
Another focus point in the movie was when the children picked up marine life in the one tank. Fish do in fact get stressed when so many hands are in the water, and sometimes unfortunately, children do tend to not care too much for handling animals. In the movie, children stuck their hands in the water and grabbed fish they found. Dory and Hank had to try and hide away from all the hands in the water. Fish and star fish were terrified being grabbed on and being taken out of the water.
What impressed me was that what you see in the film, does indeed happen in the real world, and some of it is sad. Animals just want to be free. Some animals however,do need to be rehabilitated and some animals who cannot survive in the wild, are then put into an aquarium or rehabilitation center.

A drawing of Dory as a baby and as an adult. The drawing is done by the blogger.
I retrieved most of my images from searching on Google.

Thank you to everyone who read this review,
I hope you enjoyed reading this movie review.
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Monday 9 May 2016

The Wonderful Cape Town: Part 1: Kalk Bay:

Top left: Looking at Kalk Bay Main Road from Kalk Bay Harbour.
Top right: Picture taken in Rouxville road, opposite Lever Street Park.
Bottom left: A view of the railway and Kalk Bay Harbour.
Bottom right: Erin and I in Kalk Bay with the railway in the background.
Hello everyone! For the next few blogs I will post about what it is like to be in Cape Town, in the country, South Africa. I will be posting some tourist attractions, where you can go to for the best service, the shopping malls you can go to, the best walking trails you could go on and much more. This will also be from my point of view as I explain the attractions.
For now, we are focusing on the suburb Kalk Bay, and one part you could go to in Fish Hoek. So let’s get started...

Firstly, a little introduction as to what to expect in Kalk Bay: Kalk Bay is a fishing village. It lies between the ocean and mountains that are structured by rugged cliffs of the Table Mountain Sandstone. A literal translation from the Afrikaans/Dutch name “Kalkbaai”, is called “Lime Bay”. This is due to the vast deposits of mussel shells found there, which in earlier times, the settlers burned to make lime for construction. The lime kilns to roast mussel shells are still found along the west coast. The Foundation Stone for the harbour was placed in the year 1913. The railway from Cape Town to Simons Town, passes through Kalk Bay and in some spots, the railway line is just metres away from the water’s edge - and can lead to trains running late as sand can sometimes blow onto the railway tracks. Kalk Bay is also known for the famous surf spot titled “Kalk Bay Reef”.

A few weeks ago, I went to Kalk Bay with my friend Erin, and we both got to Kalk Bay just a little bit earlier than what we expected. We took a train to Kalk Bay and I must admit, the view you have from Lakeside train station all the way through to Fish Hoek or even Simon’s Town is breathtaking! There is also a tourism train you can take, but Erin and I decided to go on the normal train to Kalk Bay.
As we got off the train, the view you saw was spectacular and just as you exit the train onto Kalk Bay station, you will find the restaurant called “Brass Bell” where you can eat in a place and you can have a great view of the ocean and also see into Kalk Bay Harbour.

Top: Picture of St. James train station.
Bottom: The Brass Bell sign to the restaurant.
Once we walked out of the train station, Erin and I decided to go walking along Kalk Bay main road first before sitting at any restaurant. We noticed Kalk Bay has quite a few cafés along the main road. There are roads you can walk up, along the main road, and where there are shops and cafés up the roads.
Erin and I walked up the road titled Rouxville road, and up this road, there is a park called Lever Street Park. You are welcome to go into the park whenever you want, but when Erin and I were at the park, it looked like there was a party happening on this day. So instead of interfering with the party, we decided we would sit on one of the open chairs for a little time, and then we decided to look around at what there was around the park.

Top: Lever Street Park.
Bottom: The building opposite Lever Street Park showing the Pottershop and Bobs Bagel Cafe.
Top left: Having a rest looking out into the ocean before walking along Kalk Bay.
Top right: Picture of a building along Kalk Bay Main Road.
Bottom left: Erin holding a "peace" sign while walking past The Courtyard Cafe.
Bottom right: Picture showing a direction to The Courtyard Cafe.

After spending some time at the park, Erin and I walked back down to the main road and continued walking ahead towards the shops/cafés. On our way, we decided we would go to the Olympia Cafe to have breakfast, but before we did that, we first looked around a little more in Kalk Bay. I was reminiscing about the past times I have been to Kalk Bay. I have been to Kalk Bay way back when I was a little girl, and my goodness! How times have changed. I was looking at what Kalk Bay once looked like back when I was a young girl, and a lot of things have changed. An example would be that there are new cafés around Kalk Bay. There is one store I know which has been in Kalk Bay main road for some time now, and that is the Ice Cafe: Real Italian Ice Cream – just a note: They only accept cash and no cards. I can remember my grandmother telling me how expensive this ice cream cafe was, and it still is now, but I must admit, the pricing for 1 scoop of ice cream is good. I just cannot take over how it has been years since I have actually looked around Kalk Bay and have seen what really changed in this place.

Top left: Picture of the Oh So Boho shop.
Top right: Picture of The Kalk Bay Gallery shop.
Bottom left: Picture showing what Kalk Bay Quarter sells in their shop.
Bottom right: Picture of Kalk Bay Co-op while walking along Kalk Bay Main Road.
Left: Looking down an alley while walking in Kalk Bay Main Road.
Right: A picture taken where I used to go when I was a young girl.

After reminiscing about the past, Erin and I then went to the Olympia Cafe as we could hear our stomachs growling for food. The Olympia Cafe was quite full, but the seating Erin and I got was a good spot as we could look out at Kalk Bay Harbour. What we realized was that the menu was all on the walls, and you do not receive any menus. We weren’t sure exactly what to get, so our waiter came and asked us what we wanted. We stated we do not eat meat and the waiter asked Erin and I if we would like hot food or cold food. We both said we wanted something cold with fruit, so there was an option on the menu which had mango, yogurt and granola in a glass. I picked this option – it could have been because I saw someone else with this food dish on their table – and Erin also had the exact same option as me. The waiter said he could change the mango for strawberries, which was a good option to choose as this dish tasted delicious! Erin and I also ordered freshly squeezed juice – I had an apple juice and Erin had the orange juice. The Olympia Cafe was a very nice café to be in as some of the words written on the walls were comedic and to me, the words seemed like a don’t-care-what-you-think sort of feel, but they were hysterical to read. I must admit, the Olympia Cafe has got great service as the waiters/waitresses are very helpful and also give some good advice about the food choices, should someone – like me – not come to a decision as to what they’d like to eat.

Top: The Olympia Bakery just around the corner from The Olympia Cafe.
Bottom: The Olympia Bakery.

Left: A glass with strawberries, yogurt and granola cereal from The Olympia Cafe.
Right: Freshly squeezed apple juice from The Olympia Cafe.

Top left: Picture of me in The Olympia Cafe.
Top right: Picture of The Olympia Cafe's menu - and some of their funny comments.
Bottom left: Picture showing what I ordered at The Olympia Cafe.
Bottom right: Picture of what is in The Olympia Bakery.
After the Olympia Cafe – and giving a good tip to our waiter – we made a pit stop just above the Olympia Cafe to go into the Olympia Bakery where there were a lot of options for choosing tasty pastries and also quite a good couple of choices of bread as well. We decided to then go to Kalk Bay Harbour. We spend a lot of time on the piers while we were at Kalk Bay Harbour. As we entered the harbour, we first walked past the restaurant titled “Kalky’s”, which is a very well-known fish and chips restaurant in Kalk Bay. We then walked past the section where the fisherman were selling fish they caught that morning. We then decided to walk on the pier which lead us to the lighthouse. Just as we turned toward the pier, we noticed that there were about 4 seals in the harbour. What was sad was while we were looking at the seals, there was litter in the water, which I found to be not good for the animals. It saddened me to see one of the seals swimming among the litter.

Top left: Picture showing Kalky's Fish and Chips Restaurant.
Top right: Picture showing two boats with what looks like crab cages.
Bottom left: Picture of Kalk Bay Harbour.
Bottom right: Picture of Kalk Bay Harbour with the red lighthouse in the distance.

Top left: Picture of the seal on a step.
Top right: Picture showing a seal swimming in the litter of plastic/bottles/rubbish.
Bottom left: Picture of me and the seal who came onto the harbour.
Bottom right: Picture of Kalk Bay Harbour.
Erin and I then walked all the way to the lighthouse, and it was very windy where we were standing, so we quickly took some photos at the lighthouse, and then walked to the other pier, but on our way there, we saw one of the seals jump onto the harbour, which no one wanted to pass him because they feared the seal might bite them. I didn’t have that fear, so I just walked around the seal, his eyes were big, like his pupils dilated, but the seal was alright, he didn’t do anything to anyone. I guess he wanted the fish the people were selling.
Along the other pier, there were more fisherman boats. We took some more photos by this pier, and it was also very windy, but we could handle it.

Top left: More of fisherman boats with cages/nets at Kalk Bay Harbour.
Top right: More of the fishermans boats while walking along the pier at Kalk Bay Harbour.
Bottom left: Picture of the red lighthouse at Kalk Bay Harbour.
Bottom right: A picture of the green and the red lighthouse, as well as the entrance for the boats to enter the harbour.
After walking along the pier, taking in the beautiful view of Kalk Bay and looking around Kalk Bay Harbour, we decided to quickly get some ice cream before we went to Fish Hoek. As we were exiting Kalk Bay Harbour, we quickly looked at Harbour House, and then we exited back to Kalk Bay main road to get ice cream. As we were walking along Kalk Bay main road again, many people were walking toward the beach as it was indeed a warm day, but the wind kept this day from feeling the heat. We quickly had a look at Kalk Bay books, where I bought the 6th book for the Mortal Instruments: City of Heavenly Fire. We then walked along the main road, and I went into the restaurant titled “Lekker” which I bought a croissant and a red velvet cupcake. The service at Lekker was also very good; I was helped out straight away.

Below is a photo I posted on Instagram of the 6th book for the Mortal Instruments: City of Heavenly Fire I purchased from Kalk Bay Books:
A photo posted by Andria (@andriamackinnon) on

Top left: Inside the Lekker Restaurant.
Top right: The outside of the Lekker Restaurant.
Bottom left: A picture of what the Lekker Restuarant offers.
Bottom right: Cupcakes, as well as cans of cooldrinks that is sold at the Lekker Restaurant.

After this, we went to the place The Ice Cafe: The Real Italian Ice Cream store. I must admit, the ice cream melted very quickly, so you had to eat the ice cream before it became like a milkshake – that is what Erin said. We then walked toward Kalk Bay train station as we wanted to go to Fish Hoek beach. We didn’t wait long before the train arrived that took us to Fish Hoek.

Top left: Picture of me with my ice-cream at The Ice Cafe: The Real Italian Ice Cream store.
Top right: A picture of my ice-cream I ordered.
Bottom left: A picture up on the wall inside The Ice Cafe: The Real Italian Ice Cream store.
Bottom right: Kalk Bay train station.
Top left: An overview of Kalk Bay Harbour.
Top right: On a the train looking at Kalk Bay Harbour.
Bottom left: Took this picture while on the train.
Bottom right: Fish Hoek train station.
Once we arrived at Fish Hoek, Erin and I walked to Fish Hoek beach, while admiring the view of Fish Hoek itself. I wanted to get a picture taken at Fish Hoek beach to show what I looked like now, versus what I looked like back in the day when I was younger, at the same spot.

Below is the picture I posted on Instagram to show what I looked like then and now at the same spot in Fish Hoek:


We then spent some time by Fish Hoek beach. There was a quite a good couple for people on the beach, as well as in the restaurant. It was quite a warm day. The restaurant on this beach is titled “The Beachcomber Bistro”. I bought yet another ice cream – on a cone and it was a soft serve – only to realize the ice cream was quite a lot to have. Erin ordered a milkshake.
After spending some time at Fish Hoek beach, we then decided to leave Fish Hoek and go home.

Top left: Fish Hoek beach.
Top right: The dolphin monument just as you enter Fish Hoek beach.
Bottom left: A picture showing The Beachcomber Bistro in the background.
Bottom right: A board sign titled "Sandy Shores" that has information about the dunes.
 Overall, if you are a tourist visiting Kalk Bay, it is well worth it! Kalk Bay is a great place to visit and is really a nice place to go to and see spectacular views of the ocean. The shops along Kalk Bay Main Road are unique with their styles/fashion/jewellery you name it! So don't forget to buy yourself - or a friend - something unique and classic from any of the Kalk Bay shops.

There are also many caves to explore while in Kalk Bay. There are 2 famous caves that are in Kalk Bay, and they are: Boomslang cave and Ronan’s Well – this was names after the Walter Scott novel titled “St. Ronan’s Well”.

Southern Right whales also swim near the shore in Kalk Bay during whale watching season, and the whales are often seen near the piers.
Lastly, I have been told by many people that one hasn't had the full Kalk Bay experience unless you walk up the side roads in Kalk Bay, as there are quite a few unique shops up these roads. So make sure to walk up the side roads and see what shops there are, and maybe take a walk in the park.

Here are some of the cafés and restaurants you can indulge yourself to - or with your family/friends - while you’re in Kalk Bay:
Olympia Cafe
Lekker
Brass Bell
Kalk Bay Cafe
Kalky’s
Harbour House
The Courtyard Cafe
Ohana Cafe 
Bobs Bagel Cafe

With regard to the information I gave about Kalk Bay, I received my information from Wikipedia.

Thank you to everyone who has read this blog,
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I wrote it!


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