Monkey Alert!

Went to Longleat Safari yesterday, the first safari outside of Africa. Longleat is a 3-hour drive from London. Was so cool, we hired an MPV and drove through the safari tracks, and saw the most amazing things!

1 - Monkeys jumping on our car and destroying other cars around us. Luckily we removed our antenna or they would have destroyed it! They have really red buttocks.

2 - Lions feeding on a big chunk of red, bloody steak. Crows parasiting on the feed and getting shooed away by Mommy Lioness. Watched Mommy Lioness play with her cubs. Was cool watching them chill out over their Sunday brunch.

3 - Wolves crossing the tracks right in front of us. Spooky!!!

4 - Giraffes strutting on the plain.

5 - Ostriches hanging out with their ostrich chick.

We attempted the hedge maze, only to have it pour down 2 minutes into the maze... Really romantic. Not really. But anything involving walking in the rain is romantic. I think. Or at least that's what movies portray. I think the heatwave is over. I guess we all need a little rain in our lives every now and again... Kinda like yin and yang.

Chicago, The Musical (London Cast)

Went to Chicago, The Musical yesterday in the West End. I have to give it to the company for doing their routines in the middle of this sweltering heatwave. Chicago is a c-teaser (I can't swear) though. When Billy Flynt turns up and the narrator goes, "And now... a tap dance". But he doesn't. If Billy has no intention of doing a tap number, the narrator should have just went, "And now... Billy walks on stage and sings his number wearing shoes with no taps on them". Gosh that's harsh. But I was looking forward to seeing a wicked tap routine at a West End musical! And the heat didn't help.

Seeing patrons take their shoes off in the theatre wasn't very appealing either. But watching the male dancers in their mesh tops were. I think the heat's getting to my brain. Anyone up for some iced lemonade?

Jamiroquai @ LoveBox Weekender

Went to LoveBox Weekender yesterday at Victoria Park and watched Jay Kay's performance. Why can't all guys dance like that? :) LoveBox, being a music festival for indie music, was a 6/10... They had MySpace.com bands which was pretty cool cos they were more hard core and put up a better performance. A classic was Mr. Scruff, who was playing tracks... and in the middle of one, walked away! Goodness... The crowd could have done with some of the oxygen shots they were peddling at one of the stalls... But hey, at the end of the day (literally), just seeing Jay Kay live makes it all worth it.

Wicked, the Novel

Oh. My. God. Just reading a Wicked flyer I picked up in Notting Hill today. Idina Menzel is performing the role of Elphaba in the Wicked production coming up in September 2006... right here in London! Idina Menzel was the original Elphaba in the Broadway production, and let's just say... She made the role like Michael Crawford made Phantom. If not better (don't shoot me if you are a M. Crawford fan!). But hey... I am nearly dying of trying to suppress my screams in my tiny studio apartment...

Not only is Wicked a sold-out show on Broadway, ie. you need to get tickets months in advance, but I had also lined up for nights and nights on 51st Street in New York when I was there in March to try to get some lottery tickets (where they give out 25 tickets to 25 lucky cats). And not only did I line up... I lined up in the freakin cold, and didn't managed to score a seat the whole two weeks I was there. So disappointed! How amazing would it be to see Idina Menzel, Tony-award winning performer, in her role of Elphaba, right here in London!

It's funny how things seem to trickle along... Haha not really, but! I did only just finish reading the novel by Gregory Maguire two nights ago. Fascinating untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. If you are a Wicked fan like most of City Centre Music Theatre School (CCMT) appeared to be, then read this book!

Saturday Morning Kick

Good morning! It's great to wake up to a fresh cup of espresso, from freshly roasted beans (green from the store!) that you get to grind yourself, and it's then you truly appreciate the skill and talent of the barista at your local coffee joint. For those who argue that there are other factors to what makes a good cup of coffee, you simply cannot disagree that the barista plays the most significant part of it!

I had to rate my coffee, as we do with all coffees we consume. Verdict? 2/10. Hahaha... Brazil (Karangapahe Rd, Auckland) baristas... U guys rock! I promise you next time I invite you round I would have improved. :)

Jamie Cullum @ Tower of London

Went to see Jamie Cullum perform at the Tower of London yesterday evening. It was great, got to see one of the funkiest twentysomethings in town, and got to do a bit of sightseeing at the same time. Wickid! (If you don't listen to Jamie Cullum, twentysomething is a really cool track his brother wrote, about... being a twenty-something :).

It was so wicked being there, we only managed to get seats way out back as it was a sold-out event! But Dawn and I went up to the front and boogied with the rest of the crowd that probably paid a hundred quid more than us. Even the security people were having a good time! It was so much fun! There is something about seeing a male musician that makes two chicks hold hands and giggle... Not making that sound dodgy!

Anyways what can I say. Jamie Cullum is truly in a class of his own.

Belgium for the Weekend

Went to Brussels and Brugges, for the weekend with some mates and my task was to find a place for us to park on Saturday night. So it was Friday evening and I had just stuffed a few t-shirts into my Kathmandu backpack and I hopped on my iBook and typed "live jazz, brussels" into my Google search bar. Heheh...

Well, we ended up at this place in between a sea of clubs with rainbow flags outside, smack in the middle of Brussels, called Music Village. It was a really good set, and it didn't hurt that the front man was speaking in French, and the chick on the double bass had no shoes on. The jazz quartet played Chick Corea and some of their original compositions... At first when I went to the Music Village website I thought Chick Corea was playing and I nearly fell off my seat! I rung Nev straight away and was delirious for a good 2 minutes. Heheh. Then I saw that it was not Chick playing (we are on first name basis), but a jazz quartet. It was a good gig all the same! I got one of the drum solos on video, SO amazing. Ok we know what my highlight of the trip was.

Other highlights include:

1 - Di and the cute way she pronounces "bluck" (she means black).
2 - Mina and her stunts on the rental bicycle.
3 - Ray taking Nev's singlet off at night.
4 - Chad and his random one-liners... He is quiet most of the time. But when he says something... And his voice is kinda loud for someone that doesn't say much.

Was so cool in Brugges, we hired bicycles and rode through the town... Cobblestone streets, sidewalk cafes, medieval buildings, and a stuntwoman (Mina) riding off the curb randomly at very high speeds.

Oh and did you know that the Smurfs originated from Belgium?


Back to the real world now, but was a great weekend away with really awesome people. Now if only I can learn how to do those stunts...

Europride 06, and The Hunt for the Coffee Machine

The Europride 06 Parade was on yesterday. 500,000 people marched down Oxford Street, mostly wearing hot pink and the 6-coloured rainbow. It was pretty amazing. 500,000 people! That's like half the population of Auckland. Hehe.

Now that the 500,000 has marched down Oxford St, donned their colours, and blared "All That Jazz" from Chicago from their float, this weekend has been devoted to hunting for the perfect coffee machine. I've taken it on my own accord that I will have to get a coffee machine to last the rest of my time here in London. Not that London isn't great, it's fan-titty-tastic! However, one really does require the basics in life. There are luxury items, those we don't really need. But in Stage I Economics we are taught that basics... it's the basics that we need to get sorted out.

So I'm off to hop on my hunt on this Sunday afternoon.

Ministry of Sound

Went to Ministry of Sound in Elephant and Castle last night. Oscar's mate was playing there last night. We got to go to the DJ booth at MOS! I was kinda tempted to press one of the buttons on this huge switchboard thing. But I might've gotten in trouble for that. Hehe. Wicked Drum 'N Bass! We were there for 3 sets and I am not being bias, but his mate was def the best out of the 3. Heheh...

MOS is not what I expected at all. There was a room, about 80m2, so it's not that big, and it had over 20 mirror balls of all sizes, and a harem in the middle. Hahaha... Awesome.

Last night I learnt 3 things:
1 - Elephant and Castle is not as dodgy as people say. Then again, Kings Cross (where I'm at) gets a rep for being dodgy and it's not at all! I've added a pic of my street for illustration purposes.



2 - English people are nice and friendly. And no, I'm not that naive when I say that (thus I exclude people on chem substances from that statement).

3 - I can't say it in this blog but if you are interested, ask! :)

I can't believe I am up already! It's going to be a gorgeous day in London today... 30C!!! So if you are planning to visit, come today!!!