Concerts were good. Kaiser Chiefs was mosh pit fun (got a spot right in the front of the stage!) nice nice nice – they are good in concert. Jumped, shoved, sang my brains out. Shoes totalled. Brilliant night. Turin Brakes was a more “mature” crowd so more karaoke session-ey.

Frost Festival was very good too. Best view just eating pie, (choc-covered) churros and mulled wine and looking at the river. Lots of little stalls, performances, stilt walkers, acrobats… Globe Theatre had an open day and that was fun too – actors running around everywhere overacting Shakespeare’s pieces.

Kew Gardens also had open night. Audience carolling, fun fair, carousel, snow dome (turned out to be foam) and Henry Moore sculptures. I lost a lot of feeling in my face, legs and toes that night.

Heliosphere at Covent Garden finally came out after 2 weekends of lousy weather. It’s an acrobatic performance involving a female acrobat attached to a big balloon and she flies around the square, occassionally touching people on the ground. Either thrilling or sappy, you decide.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cQLOfAO1Upg

It’s getting pretty painful to stand outside for hours like I’ve been doing all weekend. According to BBC’s average temperature, it is actually now 3 celsius colder than last year. Not that I would know, because I wasn’t there last year so I’ll keep on trying to freeze my toes off every night.

Everyone has started leaving London for the hols…my turn next Sunday! woo!

ho ho ho
Shi

nice that in london there is so much choice to do the conventional xmas stuff and the unconventional xmas

like:

shopping: John Lewis,Debenhams (conventional) v Spitalfield markets, Brick Lane flea markets (unconventional). Acryllic jewelley is all the rage atm, even Chanel & Tate Modern have gotten into it :p I wonder if Mexican wrestling masks might make good gifts…

xmas cookies: Design Museum where I made my own rainbow gingerbread men. Meet Selvi the Indian gingerbread woman and Frieda, the cross-dressing (at the same time) gingerbread transgender

There were also girl go-go dancers Actionettes – they were swingin!

St Martin in the Fields are having Christmas concerts. On Sat was audience carols & my favourite (ever!): Vivaldi’s 4 seasons! Divine to hear & see the fantastic skill of the lead violinist, I was in heaven.

Trafalgar’s square’s Xmas Tree & Menorah (Chanukka this Tuesday)

Company Xmas dinner last week. We had it at a middle-eastern restaurant, stand-up buffet with dj & free flow drinks afterwards. Can’t say it compares to a pirate xmas party, but by the end of the night you could have been a 6ft peg-legged parrot & no one would have noticed.

Lion King was both gorgeous (costumes, make up, props) and disappointing (plot line, lead’s singing, some set design).

Comedy Store (Picadilly Circus) improv Sunday night follows the same format as “whose line is it?” and I have learnt a new word to love and cherish: “Tosser!” I’m sure it must mean something good because they only said it 50 times during the show.

And they’ve got more xmas fairs set up in front of City Hall and Leicester Square.

Turin Brakes & Kaiser Chiefs this week. Looking forward to it. Woo!

It’s still been raining all week.

Hope all is well,
Shi

ps: yes, I know what tosser means so please don’t send me emails suggesting how I might integrate using it into my daily life…
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=A+-+Tosser

1. Jack the Ripper walk – very good, the guide (an actor by profession) did voices (horny wretches, toff, Cockney, fire truck (??)) , sang, danced – it was a good night. www.walks.com

2. Syon Park Enchanted Woodland Walk – very very pretty – they put up lights & effects in the park and it just turns into something else. It’s also the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northcumberland but unfortunately Their Graces are not part of the exhibit http://www.syonpark.co.uk/

3. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. Ice rink is fully booked til Xmas (I’ve been told) but it’s more like a sandy watery rink..better to go to Somerset House. Excited kids, parents, couples, teens – everyone in London had turned up. Ferris wheel, tube slide, carousel, haunted house, rides, food, stalls for pressies, Santa

4. VIP shopping weekend – they closed parts of Oxford Street for shoppers – jugglers, entertainers etc. There’s this Argos ad on the telly now that has people sommersaulting over bollards, pushing, shoving…that was probably based on this event :p

5. Columbia Street Flower Market – oh the glorious smell of pine needles…mmm 25 pounds for a 5 ft xmas tree..sigh

6. East London Design Show – it was good. Didn’t find any xmas pressies tho

Oh yes in my previous email I said that it was Richard VIII – it should actually have been Henry VIII – my bad

Interestingly, Henry VIII was eaten by the estate dogs at Syon Park – considered divine judgement for turning Syon Abbey into Syon House.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syon_House

Got soaked in the rain, it’s been raining all week. And the story behind that nice graffiti is here:

http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm

It’s located above the bus stop at the Old Street tube station and the story behind it is worth a read.

That’s it for now..I’m absolutely knackered.

zzzz
shi

My goldfish bowl (london) is getting colder!

The new St. Pancreas train station opened few weeks ago and they had a performance/circus act/parade on Friday night called Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA). We started from a street off the main road near the station and followed this parade of lanterns and bands to a “secret spot” where there were 3-4 stages set up with tv screens, “wheel of death”, tight ropes with people abseiling in, acrobats, orchestra, breakdancing, rappers, singers, beatboxer, bollywood dancers…it was awesome!

Of course we couldn’t feel our feet or fingers afterwards but it was so worth it.

Checked out Somerset House (lots of bling bling), the ice rink there, hayward gallery, more London Jazz Week.

Today went to Hampton Court Palace where I got really excited in anticipation about getting lost in the garden maze! I didn’t get lost, but I tried my best and was very disappointed when I found the centre. Good fun though. The ticket guy suggested that I should walk through with my eyes closed next time. And there were a lot of excited children racing through with their disgruntled parents leading the rear.

Hampton Court Palace is best known for Richard VIII & his many wives. I’ve heard about him (not educated in Britain, thank you very much!) but still feels like a harsh way to break up with someone. He should have just converted to Islam that permits 4 wives at a time. Very plush interiors, but very spooky when it gets dark (sun starts setting at 330pm now).

Anyway on more important matters… Bel & Cheryl’s bro Nat supported a peaceful political demonstration in Kuala Lumpur city 2 weeks ago that resulted in them being tear gassed several times. It’s illegal to have mass gatherings or criticising the Malaysian government. Nat walked to support the rights of the economically disprivelledged Indians in Malaysia and how they are being ignored by the government. Financial & economic assistance from the government in Malaysia is racially legislated when it should be based on actual needs rather than racial terms.

Participation estimated to be up to 30,000 people. Nasty way that the government dealt with it : tear gas & riot soldiers.

Pics of the incident & Nat’s personal experience are at his webpage:

http://jelas.info/

Al Jazeera footage (1 1/2 mins long)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q6558tY58E&feature=related

Kinda shocking for anyone who’s visited/lived in KL because it’s always been peaceful. Malaysian controlled media is doing a fine blanket job on the issue..

Life still goes on in KL I imagine. I was pretty surprised that John Howard’s finally going… Gordon Brown is doing ok so far. And England lost against Croatia?

Hope your part of the world or your gold fish bowl.. is good

Shi

Forgive the fragmented nature of this email, I don’t think I’ve had time to process the varied stuff I did over the weekend.

Weather’s gotten cold, rainy, windy and dark. Feels heaps better to get into a warm concert hall & listen to some jazz during the London Jazz Festival. Southbank’s beautiful in the rain huddled under an umbrella and wrapped in a warm coat.

Went barn dancing for laughs in London in a kitschy town hall with cherubs and chandeliers and an all-english country western band. Steel capped boots would have been handier than the prescribed cowboy hats and gingham togs.

Feeling horrified by the (admittedly very good) Holocaust and the Crimes Against Humanity exhbitions at the Imperial War Museum.

Laughing at the Camouflage exhibit.

Feeling bored at the V&A museum, then impressed at the broad spectrum of exhibits and then loving the cafe with the high ceilings and beautiful lights – the most stunning cafe I’ve ever eaten in.

And all the normal Friday & Saturday night shennenigans.

And titled “1 experience never to try in London” is dropping your Ipod onto the tube tracks, having a train pass over the Ipod and lying on your chest on Waterloo platform to pick it up. No, I don’t know why if you do touch the metal bit you do not turn into a smouldering cinder. Possibly the dumbest thing I’ve done in a long time. Yes I deserve a good scolding.

Stupidity aside…

I’m going to Malaysia and Australia for 3weeks from xmas, so really looking forward to warm weather, clear waters, the sun setting at 7pm and sunshine.

Have fun viewing the pic
Shi

After last month I’ve been quite happy to stay in london & not move. Coincidentally the last 2 weekends I spent it mostly around the Thames River, except for last weekend when I went down to Corwall, Newquay, St Ives etc.

Thames Boat Festival was good fun – about 200 boats (dragonboats, rowboats etc) went down the thames. Personally I get quite thrilled by dragonboats (proper dragonboats go really fast, and they have drums!) but I stayed for the funny costumes.

Best costume(s) was the orange dutch rowboat with blond pig-tailed milkmaids, matching orange dresses and tulips; going down the thames. And of course, I didn’t take a pic of them

Oyster & seafood festival too, and that was good..yum. Went cable wakeboarding & flopped about not being able to get a good take off then shivered like a puppy (how embarassing).

Cold water & cold weather kills me, I’m always the person looking very cold on the side of the field/beach/office/bar/anywhere in london.

Last weekend was a toss-up between the Lord Mayor’s festival or Cornwall – picked cornwall. Saw St.Ives and the 5 hr ride was sooooo worth it.

St Ives is a beautiful little english coastal town but we didn’t stay long. 1 invisible green bunny rabbit later (long long long story) & we had to take the train home to london.

I’m feeling kind of wrecked at the moment. Mostly work-related but sleeping in a car on sat night didn’t help.

Need sleep now, hossegor next weekend – hope that goes alright.

Later,
Shi.

hiya,

it’s been a strange August, just a lot of things happening. But came out of it ok, although slightly tired and not wanting to move from my bed/apartment.

What a boring git.

Mostly working, eating, trying to sleep and at the end of it – absolutely hating airplane food. Sent out postcards, met up with people, listened to my ipod. Came back home, packed again, tried to do laundry. Caught taxis, buses, trains, connecting flights, made notes, wrote emails, took photos. Lots and lots of photos. Smiled at customs people, got my luggage, went in and out and in and out and in again.

Saw my family, got sent to the airport, picked up from the airport. And again and again and again.

Working at london time in Vancouver.

Vancouver Pride Parade.

Eating fantastic seafood around vancouver.

Feeling absolutely shite when I couldn’t get my Japanese visa in time.

Playing company softball in the rain.

Flying/travelling for more than 24hrs.

Loving the weather in Msia.

Loving the 25m infinity pool with the view of Spore river.

Cycling in Holland, eating pickled fish in a bun.

Walking through the red light district.

Humongous carbon footprint.

Singing crazy singstar (karaoke) at home with colleagues.

London borough markets for coffee and eats.

And now I’m writing this email on a sunny sunday morning in london, with sunshine pouring in the window.

Soon I have to catch the ferry down the thames for a bbq in Greenwich..

Late already! eeks

Hope all is well, write soon
Shi

hullo from sunny/cloudy/rainy/sunny again london!

It’s been quite fun summer so far (odd weather aside).

Went to markets last weekend – Borough (2 times in 2 weeks) & Notting Hill Made our way chomping through oysters, lamington & cheesecake, hot & cold apple cider & Monmounth coffee. Got rained on in Notting Hill, and saw a green Lamborghini with Arabic plates in Holland Park. I was told in Dubai that visiting sheikhs like to fly their cars over to London with them for visits – understandable, as cars are sensitive like babies, pets & senior citizens.

Weekend before saw Z’s sister doing a open air performance in front of National Theatre. It was inspired by (I use the term loosely) Shakespeare’s Tempest. Hung about South Thames enjoying brilliant warm afternoon. Also got to watch Chicago (a colleague said he’d go watch hot chicks in knickers & fishnets anytime).

Greenwich was fun as soon as I got off the wrong train to Orphington & onto the correct train to Greenwich. Unfortunately I got there too late to stand across the Greenwich line, but the Maritime Museum was quite alright.

And best bit was watching Keane at the O2 dome (formerly known as the Millenium Dome). Everyone really got into the music, standing, dancing & singing. Great live performance.

First lesson of parkour last week, quite alright if you fancy running, jumping, flipping, stretching & sit ups. This is parkour (not park hour):

http://www.timeout.com/london/sport/features/175/2.html#parkour

Flooding all around London, some lines affected & people’s houses have been flooded. I’m living pretty centrally, so it’s alright here but people are taking it as good with the bad – at least the water reserves are up.

Finally settled in. Busy at work, but not working weekends or late nights yet thank goodness.

Hope all is well with you, and without further ado, here are the pics

shi.

Tour de france time trials around london – I am not a cycling fan but it was pretty cool to see them whizzing around the parliament houses, big ben, buckingham palace… all the tv newscasts don’t give anything about the atmosphere at the races – banging, cheering, the big screens set up, the crowds (very nice lot, these cycling fans! except for the pushy guy next to me who insisted on not pulling his elbow out of my side because he had “come early”)

The races started at 3pm ; counted down by Big Ben & started out somewhere next to downing street & finished around buckingham palace.

Buses, cars & roads were shut off for the time trial route to pass through, little pedestrian bridges set up so people could pass over. But mostly walking 200m out of the way to get places…

I ended up sitting in green’s park after standing 2 hours ..lazing in glorious sun & then we walked off for evening beers on a blue boat on the thames..pigged out on nachos & dip. Fell asleep when I got home, exhausted (having flu didn’t help)

Nice and early (if 930am counts as early on sunday) to the london zoo. Honestly, it got a little silly going thru exhibits like “aquarium” or “tropical rainforest” when I’ve been in Malaysia for a bit…

But the giraffes were spectacular. I think some of my favourite animals are strange looking graceful creatures like sea turtles & giraffes that move quickly as if they are moving in slo-mo. Funniest moment was at the pig exhibit & realising that there was a middle-eastern family across me also looking at the pig. Mom & dad looked disgusted & little boy shouted at it & left. hmmmm

Walked out the wrong way & climbed Primrose Hill, rewarded by great view.

Went home very tired.

Now very tired & flu-ey coughing my germs at everyone at work. Colleague going for hols for 2 weeks leaving me to hold up the fort! I need all the rest I can get…

So I’m going home to sleep.

Hope you like the pics.

Shi

Hiya..

1 month later, here’s the list of things I’ve been up to since I got to London:

1. Experience delays to the Piccadilly line due to planned engineering works
2. See footballers’ mansions (from the outside of course)
3. Sit through 3 hours of commuting everyday for 2 weeks
4. Apartment hunting
5. Move into new apartment
6. Picnics in the park
7. Barbeques in twilight
8. Eat strawberries, blueberries & cherries
9. Drink beer
10. Play softball (actually drink beer & eat sandwiches)
11. Stay late at work
12. Get hayfever
13. Get stuck in shopping mobs on Oxford Street
14. Walk in the rain
15. Sit in the sun
16. Queue up (anywhere, everywhere! brits will queue up just like
indians will shove, and malaysians will elbow & trample)
17. See scanning scam at Oxford St Citibank ATM with ipod battery &
wireless transmitter (see pic)

Vancouver
1. Get jet-lagged london-vancouver
2. Eat very good Canadian nosh
3. Wake up fri morning & see on CNN that there has been 2 bomb scares in london
4. See Vancouver
5. Marvel at its natural beauty
6. Marvel at what people don’t get up to at night (nothing)
7. Get jet-lagged vancouver-london & can’t sleep for 3 days
8. Big pile of stuff to do when I get back

Truth is, the discovery/travelling/glamorous bits only happen for 2 (at the most) days out of many months…

but am quite happy to share those happy bits once in a while.

So from london that is apparently having the coldest & wettest summer in years (or so everyone tells me)..

cheers!
Shi.