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.

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.