London Day 4
(This is a part of a 7-day series about my trip to London.)
Date: February 14, 2008
Today was a big day, because it has been the only day so far where I really had a plan of action. I went to two shows. Count'em: TWO! Woot woot. It was something I'd really looked forward to since my last visit here since I'd enjoyed the shows so much last time around.
It turns out that shows have a pretty long run at the theatres -- two of the three shows I saw last time (Avenue Q, Stomp) were still going strong (I imagine the third one (The Producers) has gone to the US somewhere and is touring). Some of the shows were into their third, fourth, and easily more years (though I don't remember which or for how long -- I just remember being surprised). Just to give you a sense, the tickets for these shows range from £20 to £60 (at least the kind I'm willing to buy) -- this translates in $40 - $120. While that may seem like a lot (still), one thing to note is that: (a) it is typically possible to get half price tickets to these shows (no idea why), and (b) since a decent meal is about £20, it's really not that expensive. Imagine being able to see these shows for the price of a meal at Boston Pizza -- suddenly, it's not really that expensive (especially compared to say the price of a Canucks ticket).
After scouring the review sites, I selected four or five shows I wanted to see. I bought tickets to two yesterday: The Importance of Being Earnest (comedy), and Cabaret (musical). Both were really good. Earnest was more of a language humour, so I really had to pay attention. I had to put on my "sophisticated hat" to try to understand some of the jokes, as well as my "universal translator hat" because sometimes it was difficult to understand what they were saying (since they were speaking so quickly). This show was really about old-time theatre, I think: medium amount of props, focus on dialogue and acting... It was clear which actors were really really good, and which were just starting out. It is a funny thing, but it really does fall along the age lines -- the older actors were far and away superior actors. It's difficult to describe why this is, but I'll give it a go: in comparison to the older actors, the younger guys just seem like they're yelling and going through the motions; the older actors really se em to be immersed in their character -- they really seem to be emoting, and have far greater range and control of how their voices and bodies are used.
Cabaret was more of a show, a production. Lots of lights, live band, but surprisingly, very little in the way of a set decorations or anything. There was lots of singing, but I think the thing I'll remember most is that there were nekkid people! Holy cow, I don't think anyone in the crowd was expecting it (me neither) -- there were lots of muted gasps and stifled laughter. It's good to know that even when I'm in one of the cultural epicentre of the world, people laugh at seeing pee-pees and hoo-hoos.
The hardest thing about this day was that loneliness really set in. I think it was in part due to the fact that it was Valentine's Day, so lots of people had flowers in hand, or a loved one in hand. The shows were filled with couples, or couples lined up to buy tickets together and so forth. I suppose the lack of meaningful conversation with another human being was also starting to get to me -- it's been about two days since I've had a conversation that lasted longer than an inquiry ("Can I get a samosa?") and a response ("That'll be £1.50.").
I broke down and bought internet access. At first, I had grand visions of sneaking around until I found an open wifi, or hacking into a network based on my brilliant password guessing skills. Heck, I would have even settled for a Starbucks, but as is always with these types of things -- Starbucks are seemingly plentiful and ubiquitous... right up until you start looking for one, and then they seem to be no where to be found. Anyway, I think I found a pretty reasonable deal: £10 for the next 5 days, so that's about £2 a day, or $4. The other nice thing is that they have lots of different locations ... unfortunately, I have no idea where these other locations are off the top of my head. I know they exist because I saw it on the map they have on the Internet; however, they didn't have a printer, and didn't have any maps to these other locations. The one that I started using was pretty good anyway though -- nice and central at Trafalgar Square. Incidentally, it turns out that the ability to get wifi access at McDonalds that we were all laughing about earlier last year is available in London. Of course, I didn't see that until after I'd paid for internet access. Next time.
Jet lag really set in today. My 2:30pm enjoyment of "The Importance of Being Earnest" was really hampered by my body's desire to be fast asleep, and so I acquiesced between Acts and napped while other people ate ice cream (seems to be the hip thing to do at these shows). That show ended around 5pm (very long!), and I only had 2h45 before Cabaret. I debated whether to try to find a public place to nap or to go back to the hostel to get some shut-eye. In the end, I picked hostel, and got about an hour and a half of decent Zzz's before heading out for Cabaret.
I found one street corner where a Chinese girl was selling some buns and things, so I bought a chicken bun. Not bad. £1 was the going price, so Jon, the $2 chicken bun you like at the dim sum place is about the same cost -- that bad boy has many other kinds of meat in it though. On the way home from Cabaret, I had a lamb samosa, and that was it for dinner, really. For some reason I didn't ever really feel hungry in the evening, so didn't really eat dinner. I don't have a good explanation for why this was, it just was.
When I got home, the fashion show party downstairs was in full swing. It seems as though the Baden Powell Scout House, which houses this hostel (not exactly sure of the relationship), whores itself out to these private groups. The fashion group was insane and there was much partying going on. I took some photos of the thing, but it doesn't nearly capture the chaos or the amount of alcohol that was being consumed. Really something. Fortunately, four or five floors really does a good job of deadening that racket -- we didn't hear a thing up in our room.
I've begun to get a funny feeling while staying here. It's not overt racism, but it's kind of like a clear unease around "The Orientals" such as me. The perception of "The Orientals" is clearly based on stereotypes. This is not simply directed toward people like me though, it's really everyone -- they view Germans in a certain way, the Turkish a certain way, the Persians a certain way, the French, and so on. The only thing I can brealy be sure of is that no one really goes out of one's way to talk to strangers that look different. How can they be so xenophobic when the "xenos" are already inside?
Date: February 14, 2008
Today was a big day, because it has been the only day so far where I really had a plan of action. I went to two shows. Count'em: TWO! Woot woot. It was something I'd really looked forward to since my last visit here since I'd enjoyed the shows so much last time around.
It turns out that shows have a pretty long run at the theatres -- two of the three shows I saw last time (Avenue Q, Stomp) were still going strong (I imagine the third one (The Producers) has gone to the US somewhere and is touring). Some of the shows were into their third, fourth, and easily more years (though I don't remember which or for how long -- I just remember being surprised). Just to give you a sense, the tickets for these shows range from £20 to £60 (at least the kind I'm willing to buy) -- this translates in $40 - $120. While that may seem like a lot (still), one thing to note is that: (a) it is typically possible to get half price tickets to these shows (no idea why), and (b) since a decent meal is about £20, it's really not that expensive. Imagine being able to see these shows for the price of a meal at Boston Pizza -- suddenly, it's not really that expensive (especially compared to say the price of a Canucks ticket).
After scouring the review sites, I selected four or five shows I wanted to see. I bought tickets to two yesterday: The Importance of Being Earnest (comedy), and Cabaret (musical). Both were really good. Earnest was more of a language humour, so I really had to pay attention. I had to put on my "sophisticated hat" to try to understand some of the jokes, as well as my "universal translator hat" because sometimes it was difficult to understand what they were saying (since they were speaking so quickly). This show was really about old-time theatre, I think: medium amount of props, focus on dialogue and acting... It was clear which actors were really really good, and which were just starting out. It is a funny thing, but it really does fall along the age lines -- the older actors were far and away superior actors. It's difficult to describe why this is, but I'll give it a go: in comparison to the older actors, the younger guys just seem like they're yelling and going through the motions; the older actors really se em to be immersed in their character -- they really seem to be emoting, and have far greater range and control of how their voices and bodies are used.
Cabaret was more of a show, a production. Lots of lights, live band, but surprisingly, very little in the way of a set decorations or anything. There was lots of singing, but I think the thing I'll remember most is that there were nekkid people! Holy cow, I don't think anyone in the crowd was expecting it (me neither) -- there were lots of muted gasps and stifled laughter. It's good to know that even when I'm in one of the cultural epicentre of the world, people laugh at seeing pee-pees and hoo-hoos.
The hardest thing about this day was that loneliness really set in. I think it was in part due to the fact that it was Valentine's Day, so lots of people had flowers in hand, or a loved one in hand. The shows were filled with couples, or couples lined up to buy tickets together and so forth. I suppose the lack of meaningful conversation with another human being was also starting to get to me -- it's been about two days since I've had a conversation that lasted longer than an inquiry ("Can I get a samosa?") and a response ("That'll be £1.50.").
I broke down and bought internet access. At first, I had grand visions of sneaking around until I found an open wifi, or hacking into a network based on my brilliant password guessing skills. Heck, I would have even settled for a Starbucks, but as is always with these types of things -- Starbucks are seemingly plentiful and ubiquitous... right up until you start looking for one, and then they seem to be no where to be found. Anyway, I think I found a pretty reasonable deal: £10 for the next 5 days, so that's about £2 a day, or $4. The other nice thing is that they have lots of different locations ... unfortunately, I have no idea where these other locations are off the top of my head. I know they exist because I saw it on the map they have on the Internet; however, they didn't have a printer, and didn't have any maps to these other locations. The one that I started using was pretty good anyway though -- nice and central at Trafalgar Square. Incidentally, it turns out that the ability to get wifi access at McDonalds that we were all laughing about earlier last year is available in London. Of course, I didn't see that until after I'd paid for internet access. Next time.
Jet lag really set in today. My 2:30pm enjoyment of "The Importance of Being Earnest" was really hampered by my body's desire to be fast asleep, and so I acquiesced between Acts and napped while other people ate ice cream (seems to be the hip thing to do at these shows). That show ended around 5pm (very long!), and I only had 2h45 before Cabaret. I debated whether to try to find a public place to nap or to go back to the hostel to get some shut-eye. In the end, I picked hostel, and got about an hour and a half of decent Zzz's before heading out for Cabaret.
I found one street corner where a Chinese girl was selling some buns and things, so I bought a chicken bun. Not bad. £1 was the going price, so Jon, the $2 chicken bun you like at the dim sum place is about the same cost -- that bad boy has many other kinds of meat in it though. On the way home from Cabaret, I had a lamb samosa, and that was it for dinner, really. For some reason I didn't ever really feel hungry in the evening, so didn't really eat dinner. I don't have a good explanation for why this was, it just was.
When I got home, the fashion show party downstairs was in full swing. It seems as though the Baden Powell Scout House, which houses this hostel (not exactly sure of the relationship), whores itself out to these private groups. The fashion group was insane and there was much partying going on. I took some photos of the thing, but it doesn't nearly capture the chaos or the amount of alcohol that was being consumed. Really something. Fortunately, four or five floors really does a good job of deadening that racket -- we didn't hear a thing up in our room.
I've begun to get a funny feeling while staying here. It's not overt racism, but it's kind of like a clear unease around "The Orientals" such as me. The perception of "The Orientals" is clearly based on stereotypes. This is not simply directed toward people like me though, it's really everyone -- they view Germans in a certain way, the Turkish a certain way, the Persians a certain way, the French, and so on. The only thing I can brealy be sure of is that no one really goes out of one's way to talk to strangers that look different. How can they be so xenophobic when the "xenos" are already inside?
posted by tangaroo at 11:33 a.m.
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