The Phantom of the Opera

My first ever musical and it's the most classic of all. I'm really glad that I splurged more for a better seat; right at the center of the seventh row. Which means I could see the performers' faces, where their expression and emotions could be conveyed to me.

I was really looking forward to this all-time-popular and famous musical. Even though I know of it's famous "Sing For Me" theme song (the one where the heroine will sing the highest note), I know nothing of the story. That's why it added onto my excitement. And I can tell you, I enjoyed every single bit of the musical. ^-^

When the light finally dimmed, I sat up straighter, leaning against the cushioned chair so as to feel comfortable as well as trying to sit up straighter and look poised. Oh and not forget trying to get a better view of the stage so that I can devour every single details of the musical.

The musical started quietly, with a creepy feeling that I could greatly feel. I shivered, but for good reasons.
Throughout the play, I was going between clenching my fists and holding my breathe. No kidding! My palms were sweaty even!

The performers came out and I was looking from one to another, taking in all the details. In fact, I was overwhelmed. The musical was so great that I was moved and almost teared. Because this is something I would love to do, and yet I do not have the ability to do. While watching the musical, I longed to sing my heart out in a choir and in front of many people. I longed to act for people and moved their hearts just as the performers from the Phantom of the Opera did.

This musical is really highly recommended by me. So if the musical was to ever come to Singapore again, do go and watch it. :)

Anyway, here are some pictures taken before the musical started. Give you a glimpse of the theatre Kristal and I watched the play in.

OOTD

London Day 1 (18/04/14)

This is a continuation of my previous post.

WARNING! 

THIS POST CONTAINS LOTS OF DELICIOUS FOOD PICTURE THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL ENVIOUS, JEALOUS, OR WHATNOT. 

Continue on at your own risk! 

Disclaimer:

The author holds no responsibility for any loss of control of drools, hunger spasm, cravings-at-midnight-which-resulted-in-agony-of-not-being-able-to-eat-any-of-the-food-shown-below. 

(Thought I should start my blog like this! xD)

After arriving at London Euston station at about 10am, Kristal and I bought a day travel ticket (which cost us £8.90 each) and headed off to Holiday Inn, the hotel where we would stay for the night. But that's not the main point. We dumped our bags in the hotel and off we went to our first venue!

Our journey... I decided to write down the details (the stations we go to and changed line at etc) so that you can get a glimpse of how much we walked around during the 2 days. And of course, how much we "abused" our day travel ticket since they are pretty expensive... 

Regent's Park (Bakerloo line) → Changed line at Piccardilly Circus (Piccardilly line) → Arrived at Covent Garden (Piccardilly line) 

Our first plan (or should I say my first plan, since I planned out the itinerary) was to go to Amorino for some nice ice cream. It was recommended by my friend who is currently staying in London. But sadly, the shop wasn't open even though we were gawking through the glass windows at the ice cream display. There was a staff inside the shop but oh well... Plan B! 

Covent Garden (Piccardilly line) → Changed line at Leichester Square (Northern line) → Arrived at London Bridge (Northern line)

What is there at the London Bridge? The famous London Bridge of course! But wait!! Did I just smell food?   *-* 

WELCOME TO THE BOROUGH MARKET! The absolute must-go for food lovers! 

The best thing about this place is that you get to sample some food the vendors have for you!

As auntie as I am, I'm sure no one can resist not getting the sample! 

Our first stop for lunch is at the Kappacasein! The Raclette sold at this stall is recommended by a lot of people and I thought "why not!"

One plate of raclette cost £6 which was shared between me and Kristal. This is definitely a must-try. Mmmmmmmm that cheese! Hot and gooey piled over hot boiled potatoes. Sprinkled with some cracked black peppers with an added pickled pickles and onions as a side. Mmmmmmmmmm~ 

Tried this since it was recommended by people online.
I would say it was okay.
Maybe it would have been better if it was hot... 

Helped ourselves to some sample of muesli and it's really nice!
We didn't buy it tho! Saving up for other stuff ;)

This traditional delights are really a great find!
We got to sample 2 of the pastries
and I can you, it's the best I have tasted in the market!

We tried the green Turkish delight at the left side
and another Greek pastries which you can't see here.
But fear not! Look below!

That's the green Turkish delight that appealed to me
'cus it looks like some matcha dessert.
It's really sweet and a little sticky because of the gelatin I assume.
But it's really soft and chewy and totally awesome!

I got the one in the middle just to try and it's a really pleasant surprise!
I like how the pastries melt inside your mouth and
there's also the crunch from what I presume is the pistachios.

The 3 pieces of innocent-looking pastries,
yet another Greek delight, was what caught me and Kristal's taste buds.
The stall holder pre-cut a few bite size pieces for us to sample
and when it touches my tongue, ooooooo yummy yum yum!!

It literally melts inside my mouth and the sweetness slowly spreads 
and fills you with indescribable happiness.
You may say I'm exaggerating but that was how I felt when I first tasted it. 
Even Kristal agree with me!

I bought the sweet pastries for £9.50, which is quite expensive. 
But for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of eating these delights, 
it's totally worth it. TOTALLY! 

Paella & curry anybody?! 

Wanted to try the meringue but meh,
I found something even better!

Hmm... I can't quite remember which I like better
but I faintly remember the unique taste which I personally prefer.
I have no idea how to describe to you the taste tho! ><

P.S. I think it was the white truffle oil that I prefer! :)

These fudge is downright awesome!
But I didn't buy it for fear of getting diabetes! 

More fudge!

There's lots of cakes and pastries that I didn't try because:

1) after the Raclette, I'm pretty full

2) I had my fair share of sweetness after eating the Turkish and Greek delight (as you peeps out there might have guessed by now, yes I did return for more of the samples *-*)

3) I don't want to spend too much in this market as it's only the first day!

Now, since we are at London Bridge, we should really go see the London Bridge! Here are some pictures:

After London Bridge, we decided to go back to our hotel to change our clothes and rest a while. But on the way back, we thought we should visit the ever-so-popular King's Cross station and the Harry Potter shop (Platform 9 and 3/4) there.

London Bridge (Northern line) → Arrived at King's Cross St. Pancras (Northern line)

Any Harry Potter fans out there? I am one myself! 

The store is not very big, in fact it was rather crammed with many other Harry Potter fans trying to snag a souvenir back home. I would say the most popular would be the wands, after all what can make you feel more magical than having your own wand? 

Just too bad the spells don't work with them if not I would have surely gotten it! 

We didn't buy anything from the store on that Friday but we came back the next day to get some souvenirs.

Kristal bought 2 wands (Snape's wand for her and Hermoine's wand for her brother) and 2 chocolate frogs. 

I bought a collector metal bookmark in the shape of the various houses' symbol, 2 chocolate frogs and a Hogwarts badge.

But not all of them are from the Harry Potter store itself. Kristal's wands and my collector metal bookmark are from a Bookshop next to it. Hidden right at the corner of the Bookshop are some of the most amazing Hogwarts stuff (like my collector bookmark!) and the wands sold there are slightly cheaper. 

The reason why Kristal didn't buy from the Harry Potter shop itself is because Hermoine's wand in a better box with velvet lining has sold out. If you want to buy something that expensive, you would want a nicer looking box to hold it right? And thus, she bought the 2 wands from the Bookshop at £29 each. I got my bookmarks at £20, the chocolate frogs at £4 each and the badge at £3.50. 

Oh wait, did you think I would just leave you there without some pictures? Of course not! 

I'm still missing some photos tho! I will try to upload them ASAP! 

King's Cross St. Pancras (Northern line) → Arrived at Regent's Park (Bakerloo line)

I forgot where we changed line but it doesn't matter! Had a short rest in our hotel and changed our clothes to something more formal for the main highlight of this trip at night. 

Regent's Park (Bakerloo line) → Arrived at Charing Cross (Bakerloo line) 

After changing, we headed to the iconic Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery. Look around inside but got kinda bored soon after. There's a lot of paintings inside but only 3 caught my eye: The Japanese Bridge (The Water-Lily Pond) and The Execution of Lady Jane Grey

The Japanese Bridge and The Water-Lily Pond paintings are both by the same artist and they do look like the same bridge. What do you guys think? And which do you like more? For me, I like The Japanese Bridge more for some reason. But they do not sell that particular painting in the souvenir store, only The Water-Lily Pond one. Anyway, we still got a few nice postcards! 

After visiting The National Gallery, we decided to have a drink at Costa cafe. I got hot chocolate while Kristal got mocha. 

P.S. We are not supposed to take picture in the gallery but I did took some pictures of the Trafalgar Square. 

Trafalgar Square

Man performing Star Wars theme song
using bagpipes!

Charing Cross (Bakerloo line) → Arrived at Piccardilly Circus (Bakerloo/Piccadilly line)

We decided to walk around Piccardilly Circus and grab some dinner before we head towards Her Majesty's Theatre for the show The Phantom of the Opera. 

Here are the pictures of some iconic stuff in London! 

For some reason,
these  advertisements on the building is iconic.

My dinner!
There's cod fish, beef stew (?),
Thai green curry, some vege etc etc

After dinner, it's time for The Phantom of the Opera! As this post is getting too long, I'm going to write my experience watching The Phantom of the Opera in the next post.

Till then! 

Cheers, Enny

Bliss and Blessed

Today I'm on-board the Virgin train to London Euston station. How excited I am! It will be a 2 hours plus ride so I shall take this time to blog about the 

past weekdays. Some pictures to start.

This week is really a fabulous week. Many  happy things happened and I can't wait to share it with you guys. It's the week where Kristal and I got complimented a lot for our job well done!

On Monday, we tried our first purification without supervision. We did it and our supervisor was pretty pleased with the end result.

On Tuesday, we did the same purification again on a different protein. We saw a few new faces who are back to do their pHd research. They were really friendly and approached us first (quite unlike the people in the office somehow...). 

There was one middle-age man whose proteins were cultured and purified by us. So we were helping him divide the proteins into aliquotes and then flash freeze them in liquid nitrogen. This man was really amazed by how fast Kristal and I did with our job. And we were doing it while working on other stuff as well. I can really say that we are really used to multitasking back in Singapore so it was a no-kick for us. XD 

But anyway he asked for our name because he was really amazed at how efficient we were.

On Wednesday, we did a second round of purfication of the proteins we are working on. And again we managed to amaze our supervisor (Sravan) as the amount of proteins we cultured was a lot more than expected. 

During the purification run, we did a minor mistake but being a "kiasu" Singaporean, we decided to collect anything that the machine eluted out. Turns out, our "kiasu-ness" saved us. Funny how much of the Singaporean characteristics we still portray though we may be in a foreign country huh? 

Once a Singaporean, always a Singaporean. 😂

On Thursday, we got complimented big time. Again. I have forgotten which day of the week it was when Sravan told us that "he trust us to do our job well". 

Well we did!:) Just when the day started, Sravan came in and asked us what were we doing. We told him what we were doing and he said, "Good! You girls know what you are doing. I'm impressed!" 

At around midday, we went to calculate the final concentration of the proteins. Sravan came in and asked if we have done "Nanodrop" on the proteins. (P.s. "Nanodrop" is a method we used to calculate the concentration of the proteins in a certain sample.) 

We told him we did and he was again, impressed. (I guess he didn't expect us to do it yet.) He calculated the concentration and it amount to a very high concentration. He gave us a very happy face and instantly I felt very accomplished and proud of myself. (I'm sure Kristal felt it too!) 

Before he left us, he told us "you girls are really good! I love you girls!" 

I'm really glad that I'm able to impressed my supervisor and others more than once in a day, let alone the whole week. 

This was and is going to be an awesome week. Perhaps the most awesome it has ever been. 

And so now, with a peace of mind and a happy soul, we are heading off to London! 

I will update soon on our London trip with loads of picture included! So until then! 

Cheers, Enny

P.S. Because of the busy week I was not able to Skype with my parents. I miss them a lot and all I want to say is "I love you Mommy and Daddy! ❤️️😘❤️️😍"