While Mikael was busy doing business, mom and I decided to venture down south. The weather was beautiful in Broadbeach, we put on swimmers and went down to Coolangatta, just to get off the bus an hour later where storming winds were raging!
The string-quartet-in-candlelight-environment idea was just too good to not do again. After Mikael brought me for my birthday to the Rings & Dragons tribute, we decided to take my mom along up to Brisbane to listen to Phoenix Collective play tribute to Queen. We all love Queen, so this was a given!
This concert was by Phenix Collective, a string quartet from Sydney and wow, I am so glad we went to these guys version rather than the same we listened to last time (Paradiso Strings). The lead had such an incredible way of engaging with the audience and his introduction to each song made the experience so much better!
They had very strong opinions on Spotify, so their music is only available in concert format or on CD. I can’t remember the last time I had a computer with a CD reader, so concert format by candlelight was definitely amazing.
At one point, early on in the concert, Mikael leaned over to me and asked if the guy sniveling next to him had a cold or if he was crying. I couldn’t tell, but we later discovered that that guy was a hardcore fan and was crying almost all throughout the concert. It was really good! Goosebumps for some songs, for sure.
Before mom’s first weekend in Australia was over, she had already ticked off so many animals on her list. The biggest one, and definitely the most anticipated, didn’t come until Sunday afternoon when we went for a walk in beautiful Burleigh Heads National Park.
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Title: Dawnshard
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Stormlight Archive #3.5
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 171
Published: 2020, Tor Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5
Review Summary: If you’ve read Oathbringer and like me, wanted to know more about the mysterious island of Akinah – this one is definitely for you!
Title: Oathbringer
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Stormlight Archive
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 1248
Published: 2017, Tor Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5
Review Summary: The Sanderlanche is unreal in Oathbringer.
It was the first Friday of mom’s visit down under. It was raining. Tickets had been booked months in advance. They were rather expensive. No turning back.
And what a great evening it turned out to be!
Harry Potter – A Forbidden Forest Experience was definitely cool.
In one week’s time, Mikael and I have explored Natural Bridge in Springbrook National Park in full. During the day, in the twilight, and in the dark in the company of glow worms.
After 14 months in Australia, my mom has finally arrived after one hell of a trip. All went well, she slept most of the way, but taking off at 9pm local time, flying three flights for 25 hours and landing 6am local time must be rough. We were lucky to have a super early flight and landing late at night. But flying in so early in the morning, we had to keep her awake until it was time to go to bed to make sure she wasn’t suffering from too much jetlag.
I do believe we did a good job of keeping her awake. Breakfast at Alkemist, 6 koalas and hundreds (probably, I lost count) of kangaroos at Coombabah and dinner at Fricken Chicken in Broadbeach. It would have been on the beach if it hadn’t started pouring along with some distant thunder out at sea.
Title: Edgedancer
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Collection: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 170 of 831
Published: 2016, Tor Books
My Grade: 4 out of 5
Review Summary: You know when you hate a character? And you realize it’s because it is so well-written? Sanderson creates magically annoying characters as well.
Title: Words of Radiance
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Stormlight Archive
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 1088
Published: 2014, Tor Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5
Review Summary: I’m stunned. I’ve laughed, dropped my jaw, been wide-eyed, shouting internally (and sometimes aloud), this book put me through everything.
Bemm 