Yesterday afternoon, we had a leaving lunch for a colleague who'll be greatly missed. I guess it was her choice to eat at Eat Aroi Thai, a few minutes' walk from the office. Anyhoo, she booked and off we headed, stopping at a cashpoint on the way, because they only take cash. We were seated, as usual, at the high table in the middle, with the slightly awkward high stools. They'd set out a cosy 15 places, but someone had forgotten the ex-colleague that was joining us, making 16: no problem, they produced another high stool from the back, and he squeezed in at the end.
A number of the group had never been there before, and amidst the confusion over what to order, and the lack of familiarity with the dishes, there was hilarity over the drinks panel - black print on a black background. Also over the ordering system, where you grab a server as soon as possible, they take your order, it's cooked immediately, and quite possibly served to you while others are still waiting to order.
Anyway, I ordered some very refreshing lemonade - which comes served with ice and a mint leaf. For food, well, I've been here twice before and it wasn't very successful - their Massaman curry ("voted tastiest") and their pad thai I found a bit bland. However, this time I looked just under the pad thai, to find a dish called pad see-iew, which sounded ok. So I ordered that.. good choice! It was a succulent dish of chicken, fried egg, and flat noodles in soy sauce - and it was delicious. Definitely my new favourite. Afterwards, they produced dishes of complementary lollipops - how long is it since I had one of those? And after the little ceremony of giving each of us a little dish with the bill, collecting them with the cash, and returning them with the change, we left.
For last night, I got a nice discount from Time Out for the House of Burlesque production, Straight Up, in the Spiegeltent, as part of London Wonderground - a £16 ticket (£16.50 with booking fee) for £10. Also good was that it started late, so I had time to have a proper dinner. And it felt strange, leaving the house after dark - kinda spooky. Well, it's been a while!
Unfortunately, I just missed a direct train at West Brompton, and had to wait about five minutes for another, then change at Earl's Court. Another five-minute wait, a train arrived, and we got on. And waited. A train arrived at the other platform, headed the same way. Ooh, I hate that.. sure enough, that one left first, and ours waited another five minutes after this before trundling on its way. Sometimes the drivers are good enough to point out that the other train will be leaving first - not ours last night, though.. Nope, Earl's Court is not a good place to be if you're in a hurry!
I panted my way across the bridge - out of practice, y'see: paused very briefly to admire the spectacular view - and made the box office with five minutes to spare. Exchanged my emailed, printed voucher for a ticket, and followed the signs to the Spiegeltent. Well, to the queue for the Spiegeltent, which stretched out around the corner and under the bridge. This tent has a great capacity, and it was a long queue.. it was raining on us, slightly, by the time we got in.
It was quite full, but not completely sold out. We with the cheap tickets were prohibited from the front two rows, but they were full anyway - I ended up in the back, but there are only four or five rows here. I was to the side, but you nearly get a better view from there. So I was ok with my seat.
So! Another burlesque show! They started in darkness, with costumes and hoops decorated with leds. Very high-tech vibe, and a bit naff, in my opinion. After that, a procession of acts invented new and artistic ways of taking their clothes off - well, down to the standard thong and nipple covers. Quite professional, but a bit samey, except for the one (ripped) male performer, who, for variety, started with practically nothing and put his clothes on! I did like how not all the girls were stick insects - a couple were pretty but chubby, or what would commonly be known among silly people as "obese".
During the interval, the mc encouraged us to tweet her the craziest things we'd done while drunk, the best tweet to receive a bottle of Beefeater gin (the sponsors). The theme of the show is drink, you see. In the second act, the quality of the acts noticeably improved - there was a story to some, an acrobatic act with a hoop, and a really well conceived, artistic performance, with a girl in a skintight, nude, sparkly costume, cavorting on a hoop in front of a machine blowing bubbles. Very reminiscent of champagne. I particularly liked the bit where they held up a sign reading "BEACH BODY READY" and geefully ripped it to pieces. It's tough, this business, you know - on the way out (when it had, mercifully, stopped raining), we passed so many posters for other burlesque shows currently running. This is a quality act, and I wish them well. Just three more shows - the next two Thursdays, and Thursday 24th September. Worth a look.
Tonight, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend, and we're headed to the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble, tomorrow at the University Concert Hall. On Monday, I'm finally going to see Memphis: the Musical, at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
And the next two days, I'm headed to the Guildford office - first for a
meeting, then the Sports Day. Coincides nicely with the next Tube strikes, assuming the current talks don't help.. On Thursday, I've booked a ticket to see the comedian Iliza Schlesinger at the Soho Theatre - she was sold out for Monday, so I said maybe I'd better. And that Friday, I'm headed to the Boat Show. Those should both be interesting to get to and from, if the strikes go ahead!
The following Saturday, I'm back with the London Dramatic Arts group, for Oresteia at Trafalgar Studios - its West End transfer. (I see it's at the Globe as well - bummer, that'd have been good.) On the Sunday, I'm headed to the Scoop, for their double bill of classical plays. Technically, I'm accompanying the Free London Events and Talks group, but with 100 of us going, I doubt I'll be much bothered with actually meeting anyone. Unless I see someone I know.
I'm finishing off the month by going to the Proms, and on the 1st September I'm going to What's It All About? Bacharach, at the Menier Chocolate Factory. And then there's more..
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