Tag: London

Design Museum and The King and I

Lovely day up in town.

Had to try Apoy, the new Filipino BBQ place in Market Halls, just off Oxford Street.

A brilliantly simple menu of Filipino classics like chicken adobo, Pinoy pork barbecue, beef pares and chicken inasal.

We went for the pork BBQ and chicken inasal with garlic fried rice and a couple of dipping sauces. All washed down with sweet, tangy calamansi juice.

The pork BBQ was marinated in banana ketchup, 7up and calamansi – perfectly grilled and served with a side of pickled achara. Full of flavour and beautifully matched with the garlic fried rice.

We spied ube ice cream on the menu and it wasn’t long before I approached the kitchen to order a couple of servings, but it was all sold out !

Strolled across a windy Hyde Park and dropped into the Japan House to take in their exhibitions of Japanese art and culture.

The weather was against us, so we headed on to the Design Museum, a London gem tucked into a corner of Holland Park.

I loved the displays on building materials and construction styles. Amazing to see designs for houses made of wood, brick and even straw.

I was particularly drawn by the technology exhibitions. A series of displays which charted the design evolution from the mechanical typewriter to the digital wizardry of the iPhone.

We kept pointing to old phones and computers – ‘I remember those !’ ‘I had that !’

I loved the old ZX Spectrum microcomputer. My brother and I had one, complete with rubber keys. It plugged into the TV and a tape deck !

Fascinating to see the evolution of the telephone and the television.

Particularly, enjoyed the section on how they designed the iconography of British roadsigns.

As Margaret Calvert, the lead designer, put it, “Style never came into it. We were driving toward the absolute essence. We were reducing the appearance to make the maximum sense at minimum cost“.

Enjoyed a light dinner of dim sum and jasmine tea in Chinatown, before taking our seats at the Dominion theatre to see the King and I.

Fantastic performance of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic.

The stage set was brilliant and the music and dance routines were perfectly coreographed.

really enjoyable performance.

Book of Mormon

Ramen

Amazing bowl of rich pork ramen at the Japan Centre followed by the Book of Mormon, just round the corner at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

Book of Mormon. Prince of Wales Theatre.

A fantastic performance followed by a trip down Carnaby Street to see the Christmas lights.

Christmas lights on Carnaby Street

Someone cut the fuel line on my car…

I noticed a flat tyre last week and thought I must have driven over a nail. On Saturday, I put the spare wheel on to take the car to Kwik-Fit and noticed the wheel nuts on the tyre were unusually loose.

I drove round the corner where another driver flagged me down saying I was leaking fuel. I jumped out to find petrol pouring from the underside of the car and pooling at the kerb. Turns out I had been trailing a line of fuel all the way down the street. Shit.

A friendly passerby, who must have been a mechanic, immediately stopped and offered to inspect the car. He looked underneath and announced that someone had cut my fuel line.

I looked under the car and this pic is what I saw:

I couldn’t believe it.

I spent an uncomfortable moment contemplating if this could, somehow, be personal. A slashed tyre and cut fuel line are a serious intent to harm.

It just seemed impossible.

Later, I Googled around and discovered that thieves cut exposed fuel lines on older cars to siphon out the petrol. It seems they tilted the car by deflating the tyre so they could get more fuel out of the tank. I think they tried to take the rear wheel off as well, hence the loosened bolts.

It was a real shock, but at least it wasn’t personal. I dread to think what could have happened. A smouldering cigarette end, random engine spark, stray firework could easily have sent me up in a ball of flames.

I reported it to the police who were very helpful, but said they couldn’t really do anything about it other than give me a crime number.

Shit.

Storm

Humungous storm hit London yesterday and I got caught right in the middle.

Took some pics as it gathered over West London.

You could see a wall of rain approaching the office over the houses.

When it hit, the downpour was intense.

But it passed over quite soon and went on to hail over South London like you wouldn’t believe.

Awesome storm.

Turned out the main signal box at Clapham Junction got hit by lightning and all the trains were cancelled.

Took me 2 hrs to get home. grrrr….

When I eventually got back, there was an amazing double rainbow.

Weird, weird weather we’re having right now.

Hay Fever

Went to see Noel Coward’s Hay Fever at the Theatre Royal Haymarket yesterday.

Brilliant production directed by Sir Peter Hall, starring Judi Dench, Peter Bowles and Dan Stevens, the lead in the BBC’s excellent new drama The Line of Beauty.

With Peter Hall in the director’s chair and Judi Dench as the leading lady, I knew we were in for a treat !

I’ve been a big fan of Peter Hall ever since I saw his production of Hamlet back in 1994.

The theatre is arranged on three levels and we were right at the top. I was surprised at how good the view was from up high and the acoustics were brilliant – we heard every word.

The play is a country weekend comedy set in the house of Judith Bliss a retired actress, played by Judi Dench, and her novelist husband David, played by Peter Bowles. They live with their dysfunctional children, Sorel and Simon. Each member of the family manages to invite a guest for the weekend without telling anyone and the comedy unfolds as the guests arrive amid much confusion and family argument.

The play is full of sexual tension as each gets romantically involved with the guests with hilarious consequences. The play ends with the family arguing over breakfast as their guests sneak out of the house to avoid their eccentric hosts.

Judi Dench was brilliant. Funny, charming and wildly eccentric. Without question, the star of the show. The other cast members were brilliant too, bringing the comedy alive with great timing and skill.

Noel Coward’s writing is tight and witty and very much of the 1920s. It’s a great pleasure to see such a funny play performed by the best stage actors directed by a master.

Afterwards, we wandered through London, stopping to feed the ducks in St James’ Park, before heading up to Josephine’s Filipino restaurant in Charlotte St for a gorgeous meal.

Kew Gardens

Went to Kew Gardens yesterday.

What a special place.

I didn’t know you could have so much fun with a bunch of plants ! I

f you get the chance, go ! it’s great.

The huge palm houses were hot, humid and spectacular. Some of the big palms were stunningly beautiful, displaying amazing detail and symmetry.

The towering banana trees, giant bamboo and coconut palms were surrounded by endless varieties of smaller plants and flowers.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory is a stunning collection of wet tropical and cloud forest plants along with ferns, cacti and a whole room devoted to carnivorous beasties.

The orchids were delicate and beautiful and the aquarium and aquatic plants awesome.

I loved the underwater tanks with their rays and brightly coloured fish. One little guy seemed genuinely annoyed to be photographed through the glass !

The bonsai trees were arranged in neatly clipped, miniature perfection and the rock gardens laid out with a bewildering array of plants and flowers from literally every corner of the planet.

The Temperate house had whole trees and shrubs from Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Some of the ferns were massive and the centre-piece was undoubtedly the world’s largest indoor plant, the great Chilean wine-palm.

We wandered down to the Evolution House which covered 3,500 million years of plant evolution (think about that for a second !). The first displays showed boiling mud pits and volcanic vents which soon turned into steaming ponds of potent bacteria and algae. Within a few steps this primordial soup gave way to mosses, ferns and damp rainforest before opening up to show a variety pollinating plants. Brilliantly conceived and put together.

I loved it.

It beautifully demonstrated how plants, and later animals, developed over millions of years. I couldn’t help wonder how those obstinate creationists would react to such a place. Imagine a family of fundamental Christians on holiday in London. They believe genesis is fact and evolution fiction. They come to Kew and are confronted with the Evolution House. Do they turn tail and run or sharply warn the kids not to go near ? How could they deny such overwhelming evidence. Surely they can see any notion that ‘God created heaven and earth’ is simply ludicrous.

In the real world evolution is obviously how it happened. Kew really is such a great place to see the wonders of evolutionary development and appreciate the sheer diversity of life.

It’s amazing how many plant species they have. All neatly collected, catalogued and nurtured for our appreciation. The biodiversity of the place is truly astounding. I never fully appreciated how amazing plant life really is…

A great day !

Eros, Piccadilly Circus, London

I’ve never been on the London Eye and thought it about time !!

We headed over to South Bank for a turn on the famous wheel.

It was a bit of a grey day, but WOW were the views fabulous.

You can see for miles in every direction – spectacular. Amazing how quickly the ride flies by. With feet firmly on the ground, we wandered over to Neds to refuel.

The afternoon was devoted to Tate Modern. The museum is fantastic – I’m a huge fan. The exhibits are thoughtful, and beautifully presented. The size and space are awesome.

We wandered through endless galleries, gazing at strangely intense paintings, sculpture and artwork. Rodin’s The Kiss was perfect; Gillian Wearing’s film In Sacha and Mum was disturbing and Michael Landy’s Scrapheap Services was eerie, but compelling. It’s a fantastic place.

We went on to Oxford Street for a spot of retail therapy and strolled through Piccadilly Circus and Soho before ending up at the Loon Fung Chinese Supermarket to stock up on essentials – rice, noodles, sesame oil, Chinese pork dumplings and sweet chilli sauce.