Hot Monkey!

I've just got back home after going to the Royal Opera House in our Nation's Capital to see Monkey: Journey To The West. I must confess that I wasn't as thrilled about going to see it as I thought I would be - If anything, seeing a documentary repeat on TV a couple of nights ago put me off more than raised my anticipation. However, I can happily report that all the reviews lauding it with praise are completely justified - It was absolutely brilliant. You'll be seeing a lot more of the characters from the opera this summer as they are being used by the BBC for their titles for the Olympics

For just under 2 hours, I was completely captivated by the visuals, the songs, the performances.. Usually, I spot when something is going on slightly offstage but there's one part where 2 of the characters appear offstage and i *completely* missed them going there. I thought it was testament to how captivated I was by everything that was going on that I missed that. I would happily go back to see it again because there was so much going on that I'm sure there are things that I've missed - Some acrobat trick, some hand gesture or something. I was particularly happy to see certain things only seen in Chinese Opera like how music plays an integral part of the performance, especially the fast-tempo for the fight scenes, or for when Tripitaka did the Buddhist chant to control/punish Monkey. It was just brilliant. I feel slightly protective about the Monkey story because it was something I grew up with (both on Monkey Magic and from Chinese school), so I was happy to see that it was treated with respect.

Add to that it was bloody HOT today.. I actually wished I wore summer trousers rather than jeans. I've decided that I don't like it when it's too hot - Much prefer it when it's cold (not that it ever gets really cold anymore, but that's another story). I also finally got to have some Ben's Cookies which I've been craving so much ever since they closed in the Bullring. The poor girls thought I was mad or something because I spent about £22 on cookies (I got some for some ppl at work to try). Then we had a really fantastic meal at Koba. It was the first time that Q and BT had ever had Korean food so it was equally satisfying to see them both really enjoy the food - I've got BT liking Mat Kimchi too which I'm especially proud of :) It of course helps that Koba is a very good restaurant in Central London - Definitely one I'd happily go back to. I'll stick photos on my Flickr soon and upload it to here when I get a moment.

Finally, we got the coach down to Londinium because we couldn't really afford the train but next time - I'm going by train. The coach was PACKED, it was hot and stuffy, and whilst my bag stunk of durian that I had got for Mum, I also had a Chinese woman talking VERY LOUDLY on her mobile for about 90mins. Now i know you get a lot of talktime with mobile packages these days - But it was midnight! It's not so bad when I'm on my own (I'll be making the same journey again for Madonna and Emmylou in Sept), but if there's someone with me - I'm getting the train.

Still, had a fantastic day :) I only need to eat some fruit...