AMAZING ENTERTAINMENT IN MACAU

Macau is a city that I have well and truly fallen in love with. The sheer amount of attractions and phenomenal entertainment the city has to offer makes it a worthwhile holiday destination for everyone. 

EXPLORING MACAU

If you're a real explorer with a passion for adventure, you're going to love today's blog and video. 

Day 5 saw Rachel and I venture into the heart of Macau, accompanied by her friend to visit many of the famous landmarks and we also did some urban exploring of our own. 

Social Media Favourites I January 2015

Last year I documented my best weekly social media finds with regular blog updates called ‘Social Media Favourites’ and i’ve decided to continue this series of blog entries into 2015. After all, i’m an advocate for using social media for goodness. 

Therefore, please find below a hand picked selection of funny, entertaining and educational content that have been shared across YouTube and twitter over the last week. 

1. Foot tapping in New York

New York based band Coyote & Crown performed a cover of ‘Me and my uncle’ by Greatful Dead in Williamsburg back in November last year and their performance certainly sparked a few funky dance moves and the odd jig.

Source: +Coyote AndCrow 

2. Awesome Facebook profile pictures

Everyone loves a good looking guy with a sense of humour and this one has oodles of creativity too! Each week he uploads a new transformation, complete with costumes, make up and the perfect location. 

There’s 20 to scroll through and no two are the same: 

Source: +Bored Panda 

3. Break Free

Australian model and DJ Ruby Rose wrote, produced and stared in her own short film last year about gender roles. The film addresses gender fluidity, being Transgender and what it is like to have an identity that deviates from the status quo. The autobiographical video includes insightful images of Ruby cutting hair, removing make up, binding breasts and putting on a prosthetic phallic. 

For those that don't understand, please take five minutes to watch and for those that do understand, you still may learn something. I did. 

Source: +RubyRose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFjsSSDLl8w

4. Mini Me's

Baby boy’s dressed in cute outfits to match their dad’s is pretty adorable and Bored Panda have gone one step further by collating 20 of the best ‘like father, like son’ photos of dad’s and their sons in different scenarios. 

*Warning* - Cuteness overload!

Source: +Bored Panda 

5. Isabella takes on Gaston 

Imagine taking a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida and being able to meet the characters from your favourite Disney films? Well, YouTuber ‘Jonas Almost Famous’ happened to capture the funniest moment whilst queuing to meet Gaston (Villain from Beauty and the Beast). Situated at his meet and greet spot in Fantasyland, Gaston meets an adorable little girl named Isabella who takes upon her self to stick up for the Beast and the scene that unfolds, is just hilarious. 

Source: +JonasAlmostFamous 

Have a great week!

Keep smiling :-) 

Goals

On Wednesday, during the build up to the New Year. John ( my fiancé) and I decided to participate in a task that will hopefully benefit us throughout 2015 and help to shape what we would like to get out of the year. 

We decided to set some goals. 

Cheesy as it sounds, I thought it was a brilliant idea! John on the other hand would have rather grated his face off then think about what he wants to achieve this year. But as he clearly loves me (we have been together over 8 years) and presumably to shut me up quicker, he got involved with the idea.  

The categories (yes we had categories) were as follows:

Personal goals
Work goals
Couple goals
Goals for each other 

The aim was to write both big and little goals within each category and then we discussed how achievable they were. To finish the task we are now going to write them all down onto one piece of paper, place them somewhere prominent in the home and tick them off as they are completed.  

Top tips for setting goals:

1. Make positive statements - For instance, ‘Learn to play the guitar’ instead of ‘Stop playing the drums’. 
2. Be specific - Make yourself accountable with dates, times and amounts so that you can measure the achievement.
   
3. Prioritise - Once you have written all of your goals down, take some time to work out a list of what to achieve first, directing your attention to the most important ones to begin with. 

If you are thinking of starting off the year with a clear focus on the rest, or perhaps you want something to look forward to, then have a go and let me know how you did in the comments below. 

In our hour of fun, we decided on some great additions to our New Year such as completing driving lessons, taking a holiday abroad together and having black out nights! 

Have you made resolutions or goals for 2015?

Keep smiling :-)

Social media favourites | Week 7

Happy Sunday!

This weeks favourites are all about singing and most importantly, Beyonce and Frozen! But i have also added in a couple of amazing heart warming stories to balance out the power ballads. 

A quote I have found today which I am feeling really inspired by, is:

"If it's both terrifying and amazing then you should definitely pursue it!" - Ereda. 

I interpret this to be linked with having dreams and changing your direction. 

Hope you have a great week ahead!

1. Let it Go - Disney 

YouTuber, Brian Hull recorded a phenomenal cover of Frozen’s Let it Go with the help of Seth O’Neal this week and what makes it special, is that Brian sang the song whilst imitating other Disney characters, such as Mickey, Minnie and Winnie the Pooh. 

Click on the image below to listen to the mashup!

Source: +Brian Hull


2.  BEYONCÉ

You may have heard or watched a video from American acapella group Pentatonix at some point over the last few years. They are a group of 5 vocalists who are just incredible at putting together covers of their favourite tracks. Two of the group, Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi, host their own spin off YouTube channel called Superfruit. 

Each Tuesday see’s them uploading a new video and their latest Beyonce inspired cover demonstrates how their voices are truly sensational. Listen to them singing a collection of songs from her new album. 

Source: @sup3rfruit  @scotthoying  @mitchgrassi

3. Anything for love

Photographer, Albert Bredenhann recently documented and shared a video of a few loving ladies participating in a photo shoot which had been organised to show support to their friend Gerdi McKenna who was diagnosed with cancer. Not only was the photoshoot a surprise, Gerdi also didn't expect the courageous acts of kindness her friends and family made. 

Source: @albert_pixelpro

4. Random act of kindness

An anonymous donor left fresh knitted hats on the statues of canal workers inside the Wellend Memorial Monument, in a bid to keep those in need, with warm heads throughout their recent snow storm. Each hat came with a handwritten note encouraging people to take one. 

What a lovely gesture and the statues look cosy too! Read more about the story by clocking on the image :)

Source: @StCatStandard

5.  Christina Bianco's 'Let It Go' 

Heading back to Frozen and in particular, another fantastic cover with a twist. Christina Bianco who is a well known actress, singer and impressionist has put together her rendition of Let it Go by impersonating Idina Menzel, Demi Lovato and a few other celebrities.  

It’s brilliant how she captures their accent and mannerisms in a few words. Close your eyes and you won’t be able to tell it’s the same person. 

Source: @XtinaBianco1

Happiness Fact!

Did you know that Penguins only have one mate their entire life and “propose” by giving their mate a pebble?

Keep smiling :-)

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 |Week 6|                                                     |You're in the YouTube video Grandad|

 

Social media favourites | Week five

Good afternoon! We are in March and doesn't it just feel great to see the sun shining and the sky blue? For this weeks instalment of social media favourites there are some fab, heart warming stories, funny dancing and a crazy animal. But first things first, here’s a little bit of motivation for the week ahead. 

“There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things whig are beyond the power of our will”

1. Do it for the vine

Vine is a mobile app owned by Twitter that enables its users to create and post short looping video clips. Video clips created with Vine have a maximum clip length of seven seconds and can be shared to Vine's social network, or to other services such as Twitter. 

The beauty of the app is that many videos are of great comedy value, including this one that features a dancing grandad! 

Source: @JakeFoushee

2. Would you help a freezing child in need?

SOS Mayday, part of the SOS Children’s Villages action network in Norway, released a heart-wrenching social experiment video to raise awareness of displaced children in Syria who lack coats to weather the winter.

In the video, a young boy sits at a bus stop in Norway, shivering from the winter cold because he doesn’t have a coat. Compassionate passers-by stop to help the boy and give him their coats, gloves, hats or scarves, and all of it is captured by a hidden camera. The point of the video is to illustrate that the same kind of aid can be given to cold children in Syria by donating to the SOS Mayday campaign. To contribute to their efforts, please visit their website: SOS Mayday.

Source: @SOS_barnebyer


3. YouTuber Dance Battle With Marcus Butler and Alfie Deyes

Alfie Deyes, also known in the YouTube world as PointlessBlog is a British Youtuber and all round funny man!  He has a tag line of ‘do more of what makes you happy’ and that’s certainly what happened in his latest video featuring fellow YouTube sensation, Marcus Butler. 

The pair took on the ‘Just dance’ game, over on Alfie’s gaming channel and proceeded to dance in a battle to be crowned the winner. This film had me laughing from start to finish, with their serious faces and terrible coordination, you’ve just got to watch it! 

Source: @PointlessBlog @MarcusButlerTv

4. A 99 year old Beggar! 

Dobri Dobrev from Bulgaria to most looks like an old beggar but what he does everyday to benefit children without families is out of this world. I won’t give away his story, please follow the link below. 

It just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book my its cover and we could all take a leaf out of Dobri’s book. 

Source: @ViralNova

5. Dancing Cat - What is love?

When you think of amazing 90’s tunes, its guaranteed that one of your go-to songs is Haddaway’s ‘What is Love’ as it’s such a great song and makes you want to dance. To my surprise, this week I came across a cat dancing to this very song on Vine, created by Esa Fungtastic and now I can’t stop listening to the song! 

Here is the cat bopping:

For a weekend special, here is the original video - let me know in the comments if you can’t get this out of your head too!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhrBDcQq2DM

Source: Esa Fungtastic via @vineapp & @HADDYMUSIX

Happiness Fact:

It has been suggested that there are several factors that contribute toward happiness. This is an ”equation for happiness,” suggested by psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman:
H = S + C + V

H = Happiness
S = Set range (genetics: about 50%)
C = Circumstances (8-15%)
V = Voluntary Control (past, present, future)

Keep smiling :-)





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 |Week 3|                                                        |Week 4|