When in Madrid, eat this, do this, and drink that.

When you find yourself in Madrid...
eat churros with hot chocolate, fresh oysters, caviar, and paellas

watch flamenco dancing

and drink sangrias

other things to see in Madrid are:

the crystal palace 

plaza de mayo 

 the royal palace

prado

unidentified fancy building

soundtrack your life

you know what's hilarious?

this song suddenly playing on your mp3, while walking on a street that looks like this:

i tried fighting my smile/laughter/chuckle/personal moment of happiness (bc people don't smile in London) and ended up probably looking like an idiot, half smirking, half smiling. suppressing a smile/laugh is quite difficult. i hope you have the pleasure of trying it yourself when you're caught off guard!

U

tonight i went out to watch the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform. i'd summarize my night to have been sort of a U-shaped ride--starting out high with excitement, being a bit disappointed, reaching a climactic low, then having a good chuckle, and ending the night with satisfaction. allow me to trace my U-shaped journey for you.

Top of the U
i was just about to head down to dinner when a friend of my mine texted me and asked if i wanted to have her ticket for tonight's performance. the program looked fantastic, and i had very little work to do, so i jumped with glee and took the ticket, of course.

Still pretty up in the U
turns out Philadelphia's conductor, Charles Dutoit, was conducting tonight! having seen the Philadelphia Orchestra perform quite frequently in high school, i was so excited to see him again in London. it was like seeing an old friend (not really. just in my dreams.)

Starting to head down...
the orchestra's opening piece (for you music lovers, it was Mossorgsky's A Night on the Bare Mountain) would have been just fine if the second flautist hadn't played out of tune on the final chord. what a fail. how unprofessional! of all places to play the wrong pitch, WHY THERE? it made me cringe.

Down, down...
and then i saw a freakin MOTH fly in front of me. whaaa???!! why are there moths in the city's finest concert hall? i was appalled.

Down to the depths of hell...
i was so excited for Grieg's Piano Concerto. it was going ok...until i came to a conclusion: the British audience is quite shameless when it comes to coughing, clearing throats, sneezing, and shuffling around in their seats during performances. needless to say, the second movement was ruined.

Drowning.
the concerto was pretty good, but i couldn't help but be slightly disappointed by the pianist's performance. i would have applauded his performance with more enthusiasm had he not been so busy whipping his hair back and forth, and focusing more on actually playing grieg's devilish rhythms audibly and placing his fingers on the wrong keys less frequently. (but it was still seriously amazing!)

We have hit rock bottom.
finally, during intermission, i went to the bathroom. came out and got ready to wash my hands. squirted some soap on my hands, only to find out that none of the sinks were working. first thought that came up in my mind: 'is this a third world country? why does this concert hall have no running water?'

Heading UP!
just in the nick of time, one of the staff members walked in the bathroom with bottles of slightly carbonated mineral water. they were very fancy looking bottles. this was enough assurance to me that i was not in the third world. i was indeed living in a rich, developed country, where wasting money, water, and plastic comes with great pleasure and ease. after happily washing the soap off my hands with this expensive water, i walked back to my seat, chuckling at how ridiculous my night was going and excited for THE FIREBIRD!!

Ending with a big smile, U
the night ended with Stravinsky's amazing ballet score, The Firebird. the performance was absolutely thrilling, passionate, and brilliant. i was at the edge of my seat the entire time. sooooo gooooood! bravo! clap clap clap. exit concert hall. lovely walk across the bridge over the River Thames, pretty lights in the night, tube back home.

the end.

i'm sorry for not posting any pictures for this entry...but guess what? i'm going to Madrid and Paris next week! i booked my tickets two weeks ago out of silly spontaneity...
so here's the deal: i won't be blogging for a while (what else is new?) but i promise to post up tons of pictures when i get back.

oh and BTW, as of today, i have been in London for exactly one month. holy cowbells! it's been a good month. this calls for a virtual toast (lift up your virtual glass of champagne): for better upcoming months!

Legally Asian

i went watched Legally Blonde the Musical last night! somehow my friends and i ended up with great seats that were originally £60 (only a whopping $97.11) for only £22.50 (a much affordable $36.42)! i wasn`t so excited to watch it at first.  every other phrase coming out of most of the characters was "OH MY GOD." they also said "...like..." in between all their sentences. and the show made me so relieved that i was not blonde. but aside from that, the show was fantastic! lots of pink, lots of girly humor, geeky harvard boys, and cute dogs!!

what should i watch next? The Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables or The Lion King or Wicked? seeing that my budget is limited and a fed stomach is more important to me, i would appreciate advice/recommendations from you musical theatre buffs :)

gosh, i love this city...