My The Twilight Saga New Moon London fan event experience

I was front row at the London fan event for the Twilight Saga New Moon on Wednesday November 11th 2009. So here is my um.."report" from that.

My trip to London for the UK Twilight Saga New Moon fan event on Nov. 11th 2009

I left Norway on Tuesday Nov 10th and well arrived safe and sound to my hotel, contacted my friends who was already in London and another friend on her way to the hotel I was staying in.

On the London underground they got some cool posters and when it is time to promote my faves: Bon Jovi and The Twilight Saga New Moon they manage to put up some really cool stuff LOL. The pics aren't that great cos I took these with my Iphone in a hurry...but here they are none the less:

Bon Jovi poster for promoting their Residency at the O2 Arena next June:

Never a trip without these boys taking part of it...lol

Then yep there was posters for New Moon too, and sorry for any Team Jacob fans..I am strictly team Edward/Vampires so I took THOSE pics only..ya can see a lil bit of Jacob though lol:

Then the Volturi which I found really cool!:

When we all got together eventually we got a hot tip about a possible arrival with Rob and co from Paris. So after having dinner at some Asian restaurant we rushed to Paddington st to catch the express train to the airport and um..well silly things happend that will make us laugh for a while I think! After finally getting on the train and paid no less than £23 ONE WAY to get to the airport we started to wait, and wait and wait. At the end of the night it was clear that they wouldn’t arrive where we were hehe. As pics have since shown they arrived at some private airport I think?

Anyways the next day we got up EARLY. I am talking 5:40 am early. Then finally managed to make our way to Battersea Park where the event would take place. We got there by 7:45 am. Not too many people there but well the security there either wasn’t clear on how they would sort out the line for those picking up tickets and those who were there for the red carpet arrivals. After being moved here’n’there for a bit things started to look like they had a plan and the end result it turned out to be a good one. They ended up having the people for the red carpet in one line and when it was time to go inside they took us group by group of 10 ppl. This to avoid people running and to make it fair for those who had camped out/came early.

Some pics from the line to get into the red carpet area for the event:

Some of "my group" in the red carpet line:

Drooling over Rob pics in a magazine hehe

Worked like a charm for us! We ended up FRONT ROW at the actual red carpet arrival area. They had barriers around in the back too where the cast would go around to sign stuff. But our spot was perfect! Sure it got a little boring waiting for the action to start but when it finally started then things got moving quickly. It was funny how the media folks went up and down the front rows making people scream. My voice was going BEFORE all this happened due to a cold so all that shouting etc did NOT help lol. Then to boot we got interviewed quite a few times both on camera and by magazines/newspapers (not sure if any of that will be used or got used though!). So well by the time the ppl we were all waiting for my voice was well really bad lol.

This is how the area looked like when we got there:

These posters were hot commodity after the event...nope I didn't get one as I had only a carry on luggage to bring on the plane. No room for these posters either as they were HUGE lol

Yep it rained on and off but thankfully I had my umbrella with me, it didn't rain constantly though..

Our view of one of the 2 giant screens I saw there:

Laila and I trying to practice our poses for pics that night? lol

The anticipation is increasing as it drew closer to the start of the red carpet action:

Our group is getting very excited indeed!

Then it begins:

These boys to me resembled the Volturi and they even had red contact lenses!

There were some "wolf pack" action too but of course in their human form. They were hard to catch on camera so this was the best I could do:

Also snapped some pics of the bands performing at the event, since I have NO CLUE who they are I figured I could post one that actually came out somewhat decent...lol

I believe this is Band of Skulls or something..not sure..sorry to any fans of this band but I am useless with unfamiliar names!

Rob came first, 10 min before the others, and he JUMPED out of his car my friend Laila told me..I didn’t see it but she did. He then started to making the rounds with interviews by the media then the fans, and by fans I mean he did really sign just about everyone’s stuff all over that area…he was everywhere!

When he finally got to where we were I started snapping some pics and I got more lucky with Rob’s picks than the others! I guess my camera loves Rob too…When he was standing infront of my friend Laila and signed her magazine (over Kristen's face lmao!) He kinda hesitated and said "God, I can't even remember my name anymore!" and laughed, I guess he remembered... I told Rob that we know his new nickname now (that Kristen revealed in the Harper’s Bazar interview) ”I know your new nickname Rob, Hi Flippy!” He makes a funny face and goes ”pff” and laughs. I said something else too but my brain was mush at that point so I forgot what I told him lol.

Rob on the red carpet:

Getting closer to ME now :-)

What made him do THIS face I had no clue but I love it still! LOL, he had just signed my book here and moved onwards to the next group of fans hehe.

Somehow Rob was the only one that came out the best while they walked up or down the red carpet between the media interviews and pictures...my camera is apparently a Rob fan..lol

Aww I caught him smiling... *melts*

Funny how he looks taller than everyone else in this crowd..hehe!

Got a cold Rob? or just cold hands?

Not my best Rob shot but man it is hilarious, look he sparkles so brightly even his head disappeared...lol (not really!)

My friend Laila (aka @Stupid69Lamb on twitter) took this pic of Rob as he signed stuff:

Then Taylor came, he too did interviews first and then some but nowhere near all of the front row at the red carpet, he ran out of time. So I never got to take a good pic of him nor talk to him. We were told he’d come back but he never did. Ran out of time I guess.

The only pic I got to take of Taylor, shame cos I would have wanted closer ones...but oh well better than nothing!

Then Kristen came, she did the same rounds with interview etc first. Then she started to do the front row with fans but was told that she had to do more interviews, she was like ”just one more please?” and made this adorable face like she was pleading! The girl she signed for was crying out of excitement and Kristen was so sweet. She did og do more interviews but as we were promised she’d come back but after getting that promise from Taylor’s handlers I doubted it. But Kristen like Rob took time with the fans too. She must have done the same rounds as Rob and signed as much as possible. She even took pics with some fans! When she came by me I had my questions clear for her. Asked when the Runaways came out. She didn’t know. Then I told her what I told Rob about the nickname she gave him. She cracked up over that lol. Also asked her if she was singing in the Runaways movie. She said yes! Cool

Isn't she pretty? I always go "awwww" when I see her cos she has a very pretty but very adorable face and she is sweet! Sure she has her ups and downs but I just find her adorable and sweet and thankfully...human!

Then she signed my friend Laila’s magazine, Rob had signed over Kristen’s face in there so she signed over his! We both laughed at that, she heard us and came back ”oh I signed over his face?” My friend and I laughed and said ”well he signed over yours” She just laughed and made this funny face like” arrrrrrghh!” Too funny lol.

Here is the pic that my friend Laila (aka @Stupdi69Lamb) had signed, she took the pic and sent it to me so I could insert it here:

Isn't it cute? *awwwww*

Never thought this pic would come out but it did..shows what Kristen wore but from behind of course as she was posing for the media here:

We tried for a while to get Chris Weitz over and he finally did come over to sign stuff. He came by me and I got my tiny autograph from him LOL. I told him my friend Valerie and I were extras in NM when they were in Italy, he goes ”wow, thank you for doing that!” ”We were on set for 2 days and worked for free! ” I told him, he was stunned and said ”wow thanks again, I bet that must have been hard!”. I told him yes it was hard work but a great experience and fun!” He thanked me yet again! I was thinking to myself ”well damn, stop charming me!” lol. Then I told him he had to direct Breaking Dawn, he was ”aww that’s very nice of you!” and thanked me YET again lmao. I told him we love the look of NM we have seen so far so yes we want him for Breaking Dawn. The lady next to him said ”OK done deal!” and we laughed. ”I wish it was that easy” I said! LOL.

Chris signing autographs on the red carpet:

That was pretty much all the interaction I had with Rob, Kristen and Chris, but before Chris came to us the 4 of them, yes with Taylor, did pose for pics for the media again. I saw Rob and Chris do this funny dance as they moved down the line of photographers…Kristen and Taylor followed too! It looked funny lol.

Then it was over and well we were tired but happy and made our way back to Valerie’s hotel to finish up a bottle of Montepulcianao wine she had found in a store the night before…had to remember the fun days in Italy hehe.

Gotta show the autographs though! Top one says "Rob" bottom one says "KStew" and the itty bitty tiny autograph there is er..Chris Weitz autograph LOL..I guess he tried to sign it "CW" lol

So yes we both decided, Valerie and I that is, that our Montepulciano luck still worked hehe.

That was roughly all I can remember from my London NM event experience

A happy but tired bunch having dinner at..."Bella Italia" at Bayswater, London, UK. (no I am not in the pic cos I am the photographer lol!)

I went back to Norway Thursday Nov. 12th but since I had some time to kill before my flight, (evening flight), I met up with Valerie and her friends again to go shopping. One of our stops were Covent Garden and this huge Christmas reindeer decorated the Covent Garden market place or whatever it is called, pretty cool so I had to take a pic with my Iphone again!

Sightseeing in Vancouver

Well time for more updates from my Vancouver vacations, nothing exciting if you are looking for star sightings but I had fun with the stuff I DID see.

Tuesday, Sept 9th 2009

I intended to go sightseeing that day but made plans with a cool Supernatural/Twilight fan from Kansas, named Angela, to go back to Granville Island to the "V" set as she is a Lost fan too! So we went to the "V" set. We did waited for a bit hoping to see Elisabeth Mitchell but she wasn't on the set when we arrived, but we made friends with one of the PA's on the set, a lovely lady named Lynn who actually pulled out the call sheet and told us when EM was on set! So we hung around for a bit. Finally she did come on set but turns out she was filming a scene on the stairs on that set so not a great visibility for Angela, nor did we manage to get to talk to her. Shame for Angela but she was still happy. She had atleast seen her!

Some pics from the "V" set that day:

This sign with warning about the filming going on cracked me up so I had to take a pic of it lol, guess I'll be watching ep. 2 of this show and keep a keen eye on ppl in the FAR background..I may be in it lol

Here is a pic of the main set without all the ppl:

The street they filmed it on 2nd st near the entry to Granville Island was dressed up to look like a street from New York City, pretty funny to see NYPD cop cars and NYC taxis...in Vancouver lol

They even had the sales stands that ppl who has been to NYC surely must recognize lol.

Then after a bit we decided to get going as she had gotten the address of a Supernatural set up in Delta, just outside Vancouver. About 30 min drive from where we were. It turned out to be longer for us cos we spotted some more sets on the way there, went by one of them which turned out to be a kiddie movie set for "Diary of a Wimpy kid" or something like that. Turns out it is from another successful book series of the same name. I have never heard about it, but we were told it sold like 20 mill. copies in the US?? ohhkayy... We asked who was there and was told mostly kids around 12 years old, cute but er..NOT what we were looking for :p so we left hehe.

After a bit more driving we arrived to the set, thanks to Angela's GPS lol. Sadly though Jared and Jensen (two main leads in Supernatural for those not watching the series) had left the set hrs ago. So we didn't stick around much, we did however snapped some pics and by doing that we got proof of the set guys really DID tell us the truth and not telling us BS to scare us off. They didn't seem to care how much we snapped pics. So no big secret there apparently.

Pics from the Supernatural set, I do believe this from episode 6 season 5 they are currently filming:

The car has a sticker that says Supernatural filming production or something so had to take a pic of that lol

Not sure if this will show up in the episode but I took this pic anyways from inside the car as we drove buy, it was raining outside:

Some pics of the actual house, the house was hidden behind alot of trees so I did the best I could with pics...freakin trees covering it! lol

After that excitement it was time to head back to the hotel, I got back to mine, ate some lunch and chilled for a bit. then headed out to meet up with my friend Summerstone from Twitter and we hung out until it started to get dark.

Wednesday, Sept. 2nd 2009

Time to do some serious sightseeing in Vancouver. I opted for the hop on hop off trolley tour. I enjoyed this, this tour is divided into 2 loops, one blue that covers Granville Island, Vanier Park, Yaletown, Chinatown, Gastown etc...and the red loop covers Stanley Park, English Bay, some of the swankier hotel sites and so on. LOVED the driver's stories and humorous comments hehe. I did go off the blue tour at Gastown and had lunch there at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Nice choice. Nice area too but that was in the daytime as I trust the locals when they say do NOT go there alone in the evening. When you are visiting a city ALWAYS listen to what the locals say about which areas are safe and which ones aren't. I have yet to be hurt on my travels cos I listen to what ppl tell me to do and take no unnecessary chances! Took some pics of course of the sites we went by, I didn't hop off at many places cos well most places you had to pay admission and the coupon book we got on the trolly tour was mostly for restaurants and you had to spend so and so much to use them, pffff lol

Some pics taken on the "blue loop" of the tour:

Vanier Park, this is the Space Museum, and no the roof is not supposed to be an UFO as I thought, apparently it a replica or symbol of a hat used by one of the local native tribes in this area:

A locomotive that is displayed in the Roundhouse, Yaletown. It was open for the public on this day:

More of Roundhouse, Yaletown. This was one of the first buildings built after the big fire that burnt down then entire small town of Vancouver in 1886. After that fire when the city was rebuilt it was a rule that the houses were to be made of fire resistant material, bricks etc.

BC Place where Bon Jovi has played, this is where the open and closing ceremony of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, BC, Canada will take place, also AC/DC played here last Saturday...which I did not know until too late otherwise I'd gotten tix! This stadium capacity is 60 000 ppl. The roof there is a teflon roof and it is held up by fans constantly blowing towards it to keep it up. They were suppose to build a retractable roof over it but reports now say that it may not happen as it is too pricey, time will tell what happens I guess. Next to it is the GM place also the official home of the Canucks, one of Canada's hockey teams. (not pictured here though), venue capacity here is 20 000. Bon Jovi has played there too on their earlier tours I believe.

Edgewater Casino:

Library Square on Homer and Robson st. the building is mostly in glass, and in the front alot of local performers, demonstrations, artists and so on are entertaining etc the bystanders. Speeches even are done there.

Towards Chinatown:

This building is in the Guinness Book of world records due to be the narrowest building in the world. It only is 1.8 meters deep (about 6 feet). They even have a sticker or sign from Guinness stating this:

Here you see how deep it is, not very deep LOL.

Gastown, which name comes from "Gassy Jack" which was a nickname for a Yorkshire born gentleman named John Deighton who talked the workers there into helping him build a bar there so they could drink all the whiskey they could. The bar was up in 24 hrs and called the Globe Saloon. It is no longer there as it burned down in the big fire. But a statue of Gassy Jack is there:

This is also the oldest intersection in Vancouver. The nickname "Gassy Jack" isn't cos the guy loved to "break wind" but cos he was a motormouth, aka a chatterbox lol.

The Gastown steam clock which I heard go off without seeing it at first and wondered what the hell the noise was, when I saw it and read the sign on it I got why I heard that funny sound lol. How it works can be found here

This isn't of any historical value but it was a sign outside a bar in Gastown I had to take a pic of, as the comment or saying on it cracked me up lol, one side:

and the other side:

Gotta love this kind of humor lol!

Gastown is reportedly the fave "hangout" place for the Twilight cast members as "everyone" seems to know they used to hang out in Yaletown. However it is NOT recommended to go to Gastown alone after dark as it is a "dangerous area". Highly recommended to cab it to the place you want to go to and when it is time to leave wait for the cab to pick you up INSIDE the bar/club you are at. It is however perfectly fine in the daytime. Worth a visit in the daytime IMO. Yaletown on the other hand is safe at any time of the day or night.

Then it is time for the sights from the "red loop" of the trolley tour:

First off the start of it at Canada Place, as you see there is a huge IMAX theatre here too:

This building will be used as a media center for the media during the Winter Olympics 2010. It has a "live roof" as in grass and plants on the roof. You can actually see it from Stanley Park too (which I'll show later) and to me it reminded me of the Opera House in Oslo, Norway for some reason, must have been the contours of the building.

This is a huge gallery Downtown Vancouver, unfortunately I forgot the name of it:

Stanley Park, Vancouver:

This park is actually BIGGER in acres than Central Park in NYC! They have imported the black squirrels from Central Park into Stanley Park due to some connection in the past I cannot remember, but if you are interested in finding out about the park and it's history this is a good site for info, Stanley Park

There was several stops on this, I only got a few pics, one stop was Totem Poles but didn't get pics of them this day, I did however go back there on Thursday Sept. 3rd. (more on that later), and got pics. So for now here are some random pics from the Rose garden part of the park:

This shot is nearby an amphitheater there, not sure what the story is behind the statues in the pic cos I forgot lol.

I couldn't resist and took this pic of JBJ's "Fave birds" (not really lol) some Canadian geese lol

Some more random pics from Stanley Park:

What can I say, I love horses!

I believe this is Sequoia Grill at Stanley Park

Prospect Point at Stanley Park

Some Vancouver skyline view from Stanley Park

Same buidling with that will be used as a media center for the Winter Olympics and here you can see how it looks like from the waterfront, this view is from Stanely Park.

Lions Gate Bridge, view from Stanley Park

"Bird's eye view" of Lions Gate Bridge.

Then final pics from the "red loop" this day, English Bay, and the other day here Robert Pattinson had been spotted somewhere here. It leaked out on the radio that he was there and I suspect he was LONG GONE by then lol.

Saw this on the way there:

Finally English bay

I enjoyed the tour though. Then I had a quiet night at my hotelroom and went to bed.

Thursday, Sept. 3rd. 2009

This is today as I am typing this. Today is the day when I finally was gonna meet my longtime Bon Jovi buddy and one of the MAIN reasons why I actually came to Vancouver. He came to my hotel around 11:30 and was sweet to drive me around to whatever sights I wanted to see. So we went back to Stanley Park cos I wanted to take a closer look at the Totem Poles there. Got some cool pics of them. And low and behold they were friggin filming there too! What was filming? NO clue as we didn't bother to ask, we were too busy chatting Native American arts and Bon Jovi and he told me about his job etc! It was GREAT to see him again and he gave me the bestest hug as I remembered it from before LOL.

The Totem Poles in Stanley Park:

And another view of Vancouver from the Stanley Park side, took this while Jon was on the phone with some client :-).

He took me to 2 main Bon Jovi sites here in Vancouver. Where they were recording Slippery When Wet, New Jersey and Keep The Faith. The studio is Little Mountain Studios but now it was just a building even though the name was still there. Not sure what it is is for now. I was surprised how LITTLE it was, it is like some "nobody place" but PERFECT for a hugely popular band to hide out when recording! I loved it!

Little Mountain Studios, and well..me LOL

Then it was off to see the "birthplace" for the name "Slippery When Wet" which as any longtime Jovi fan and probably those new ones who did their research of the band's history know by now, The No 5 Orange Showroom Pub which is a strip bar where the boys hung out. They saw some stripper taking a shower onstage, all soaped up and the boys being young, lil drunk and horny were all like "wow I bet that's wet..." and one thing lead to another and they came up with the title "Slippery When Wet". So to the more new fans out there, NO it is not from the street signs that reads "Slippery When Wet" lol. My buddy told me that the area there is shady but since I wasn't alone and daytime I didn't feel unsafe really.

Me outside the No 5 Orange Showroom Pub

Then this pic is taken by @ThatDamJonGuy (Jon on twitter) on his blackberry, which he did tweet asap it was taken lol:

He also took me by Gastown as there were some sights there where the boys hung out but the place no longer exists. Same with another club they hung out at. But still it was cool going by the old Jovi haunts in Vancouver. Even passed by Marble Arch club that is being used in Motley Cruë's video "Girls Girls Girls" if I remember my friend's story correctly.

Then tonight I went out to have dinner with Anna from Australia, who I met outside the cast hotel during my first week's stay. It is her last night here and she's off to Australia tomorrow.

So that is all the excitement today really lol.