I’m not sure how you feel after watching a brilliant play, musical or musical performance. I am always left utterly mesmerised and singing or humming the entire repertoire for days on end.
Last weekend, we decided to watch (as you might have gathered from the title), the Phantom of the Opera!! It is my third time watching it but I don’t think it really counts until you experience a musical close enough to properly appreciate it. Previous two times I was far enough that I had to do a stupid amount of squinting and borrowing of binoculars to view the performance properly, and this time though, I was in the FOURTH ROW. The FOURTH ROW! We paid full price for the tickets and it was freaking worth every penny.
I know this entire post is dedicated to talking about how amazing the Phantom of the Opera is, but really, it definitely really is the best musical out there and I love it so much. I’d give it a 11 out of 10 if I could. I’m so pleased Kevin feels the same way about it. There is a reason why it is has been running for 31 glorious years – it is the longest running musical there is. I love absolutely everything about it, the brilliant singing and operatic highlights, the humour, the raw emotion of all the characters, the wonderful stage set up, the special effects, the rich details of the costumes and entire setting. It is an incredible show, and it absolutely cannot be faulted. The entire cast was brilliant, and Ben Lewis played such a brilliant Phantom. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who makes it such a brilliant show, and to carry this wonderful musical legacy onwards! :’)
Have you watched the Phantom of the Opera before, and if so, who is your favourite cast member? Who is your favourite Phantom or Christine? And if you HAD to pick one (an impossible task for me), which is your favourite song?
Came back home today with a massive surprise waiting for me.
A HUMONGOUS Thomas J Fudge Hat box full of amazing goodies!!
Turns out Kevin nominated me a while back, telling them about some good deeds I’ve done, and how I deserved some recognition for it.
He knows how crazily obsessed I am with their Florentines and he was going to get me a whole lot of them from their website and he spotted this and submitted my name!
I mean, look how HUGE the box is!!! ˆˆ
Cheese board, notebook, apron, dish cloth! Lots of their florentine varieties, cheese box, and mini wafers!!Can you believe it?! I cannot be happier with such a wonderful surprise from the other half! Apparently there had been loads of delivery issues because we only just moved houses. Hehee, many many Florentine boxes, mini wafers, a heart cheese board, Apple crackers, a notebook, and all beautiful things Thomas J Fudge (dish cloth, apron, box and all)!
I’m really pleased 🙂 Kevin, you sir, are a keeper.
You too can make someone’s day at their website and you should check out all of Thomas J Fudge foods and snacks, as they all taste incredible!
Dreamgirls. Thames Rockets. Staybridge Suites. Duck and Waffle. I can’t believe the weekend is over. And yes, I literally say that very same sentence every single week. I’m really glad me and Kevin took the plunge and decided to move down from Scotland to nearish London. We’re literally able to visit whenever we like, get in with the London lifestyle, and still get the novelty of being able to feel like tourists every single time. We’re far enough to be away from the chaos of it all, yet close enough to easily return to where all the fun happens.
Anyway, last weekend we tried to use a few of my prizes together again on another visit to London. If you haven’t gathered yet, I enter competitions as a hobby. Effort, photo, prize draws, you name it. It’s almost been a year anniversary since I’ve started and I’ve absolutely loved every bit of it. People tell me I’m so lucky all the time, and sometimes I want to rebuke and explain that it’s not all about luck and you do have to enter a lot to win anything, but you know what?! I’d like to think I’m pretty lucky. You could potentially enter thousands of competitions and STILL not win anything! Yeah, let’s just end it there. I am lucky! As the saying goes, you gotta be in it, to win it. I’m definitely in it.
So Saturday we train-ed down to London, and every now and then I enter on this fabulous app called Today Tix to see if we can watch a play / musical show that very day. We’ve tried before, and have won excellent seats to see The Entertainer (where actually the real highlight was meeting Rose Leslie from GoT in the theatre toilet, PS: still gutted I didn’t get a selfie but I wanted to be a classy and chill fan at that time) but since then, nothing. (Actually that’s not true, we were lucky in New York too, but that’s another story!) I got lucky, and we managed to bag ourselves £20 front row tickets to Dreamgirls!
Savoy TheatreNow I’m absolutely obsessed with musicals and have had this on my wish list for a while, so I was really pleased. Marisha Wallace has some incredibly vocals and gave an absolute stunning performance of Effie White. Hers and Liisi Lafontaine’s rendition of Listen really had me with a tear in my eye. The costumes were oh-so-fabulous, the vocal powerhouses were incredible, and the dancing was brilliant. I did think some of the singing was a little shouty for my ears though. (My Final Rating: 4/5) There was also an exciting interval where the second half of the musical was delayed because three pensioners somehow sneaked in and required security to escort them out!! (Well, it was what we heard through the grape vine anyway.)
Front Row, baby! Standing ovations all over!We had lunch at Shoryu as Kevin and I were craving ramen close by (Note: I have a life-long affair with tonkotsu and could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.) It reminded us that we can sometimes be pretty boring and we like to stick to what we like. Kanada-Ya, you still hold number one in our hearts.
Putting in this photo we look good here 😛
Tokotsu Ramen Shoryu
We then embarked on an awesome Thames adventure with the Thames Rockets. This really was a unique experience and was such fun! It was basically a speedboat tour of the great city of London from the Thames river with all the fun facts and hilarious quips, and none of the boring stuff! The tour guides are hilarious and sure know how to make sure you have a good time. Once past the big London Bridge, that was where the fun really started and we whizzed and rocketed in awesomely fast s-bends with fabulous music pumping in the background. It was pretty much a a water rollercoaster in the middle of London! Kudos to whoever picked the music too that included 007 theme songs, boat/pirate/river related songs and some of the more modern summer hits. We also had some rum cocktails in classic red cups on the way back too!
I found it really romantic pointing out the gorgeous sights from the Thames River and being on a super cool speed boat at the golden hour and peak of dawn, it sure was lovely cuddling up with the other half as we enjoyed the view. We got to see the gorgeous glow of the city of London transit into night and experience the capital in all it’s evening glory.
Now it has been so long that I honestly don’t remember who exactly I won this with. I think it might be Thames Rockets?! I just remember it took AGES for me to be contacted about this and then an email finally popped up saying that they’ve finally sorted out the voucher for the experience. Anyway, thank you Thames Rockets for the wonderful experience! Here are some of the photos from the evening.
With the Tower Bridge in the background
Whee! Under the Waterloo Bridge Cheers to this Thames Rockets Tower Bridge at DuskWe finally cashed in our one night stay prize with Staybridge Suites at Stratford. These are apartment-styled rooms right in the heart of the Westfield Stratford City shopping and leisure complex. It literally had everything you need, an entire kitchen, and also a phone called Handy you can borrow during your stay! The service was excellent and staff were so friendly and helpful. Also you get an amazing breakfast where it even has a pancake making machine, a bread station and all that enchilada.
Our Deluxe Suite Salle de bain Breakfast Hub
Special mention to the pancake making machine!
And literally all the juices and breakfast milks you could want
Hello Staybridge Suites!
Westfield Stratford at our feet
Free phone to use!
Weather was crappy, but the view was lovely!
Thumbs up to the awesome place!
We had a good nights rest, were contented with breakfast, and we were absolutely refreshed and ready for …. SHOPPING the next day! Thanks for our wonderful stay, Staybridge Suites – we shall be back.
Fast forward and following some £££ spent – we had our dinner at London’s highest 24/7 restaurant, Duck and Waffle. This place gets completely booked months in advance, but you can always call up at short notice to ask if there are any cancellations – which is how we managed to get a place for dinner! This is my third time there but Kevin’s first. To start, we had the ‘Nduja Seared Octopus and Spicy Ox Cheek Doughnut. Both were very unique and to be honest, the ox cheek doughnut was too confusing and our taste buds couldn’t wrap it’s little head around it.
To startWe both had the duck and waffle for our mains – exactly as it’s stated – über crispy duck leg, yummy mustard honey, fluffy waffles and a sunny side up duck egg!
The infamous duck and waffle
Mandatory wefieDecent food and drinks, but definitely overpriced – a given when you get this kind of wonderful view.
Sunset The GherkinTill next time London, you’ve been good to us.
We spent the rest of bank holiday weekend visiting Snowdonia National Park, in the wondrous North of Wales. We’ve been saving this trip for a while, and have been been meaning to conquer the infamous Titan Zip Line Experience for 2. (Thank you to membership bespoke for this lovely prize!) It was just one of those things where we figured we waited for some glorious summer weather to visit (as not all of the zip lines are open throughout winter), but well, what do you know, British summer weather is so unpredictable. Anyway, enough about the weather, I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.
Having had quite the late evening on Saturday in London, we had a late leisurely drive to Snowdonia National Park, and I must say, I absolutely love driving through amazing valleys and mountains like these (see below). It really reminds you that the world is a beautiful place.
One of the gorgeous valleys in Snowdonia National Park.
We spent most of our day just driving along the gorgeous mountains and valleys, and visiting Harlech Beach for a beautiful sunset. There is also a majestic castle that overlooks the the entire bay that I’d imagine has wonderful views.
Mandatory Wefie
Kevin’s photo directions: MAKE A HEARRRRRT!
Loving sunset and fire in the corner
Dinner was takeaway Fish and Chips (Which i feel is a mandatory meal at the seaside,) but for fear of seagulls attacking our food, no photos were taken. We stayed in a lovely 3 Star Bed and Breakfast called the Gwesty Seren Hotel which I highly recommend! The staff there were some of the best in hospitality, were friendly and couldn’t be more helpful. What I felt was the ultimate brilliance of it all was that this place also caters for anyone with physical and mental disabilities, their carers and families. Some people may feel that this isn’t for them, but I felt that this is a really lovely initiative and if you’re ever looking for anything with these sorts of facilities, this is it.
The bed
The bathroom
Monday morning we woke up extra early to go climbing up the Idwal Slabs. It’s an easy walk to the lake in the mountains and there’s even a beach there! For those more adventurous, Idwal Slabs is a perfect place for climbing up high as well. Bloody windy it was, but some gorgeous views.
#FollowMeTo Idwal Slabs
Woot
Winds were much too cold
Here’s a whole lot more photos of where we climbed – the weather really was quite unpredictable, stormy and sunny followed by being absolutely glorious! Thank you Wild Trail for our awesome 18 snack bar prize too, perfect for our outdoor adventure.
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Close by is the town of Betws-y-Coed – a lovely town with plenty independent shops with crafts and local homemade produce. There’s also outdoor gear shops too, and plenty of cafés, bistros, restaurants and pubs around.
And for our main event… *drumroll please*… The Zip World in Llechwedd slate quarry! So there’s a few adventure-y things to do here, zip lining, bounce below (trampolines underground) and an adventure trail in the caverns featuring rope bridges, short zip lines and tunnels underground. We did the awesome zip lining up above in the valleys, and this is apparently the largest zip zone in Europe! Not to mention, you get some stunning views over Blaneau Ffestiniog and its surrounding valleys. It encompasses of three zip lines – Alfa, Bravo and Charlie, and each rider travels a fabulous distance of over 2,000m! Who do you think wore it better, huh. Kev or moi? 😛
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Definitely a whole lot of fun, and definitely would love to come back soon, especially for the underground slate adventures!
That’s us for now. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and Too-daa-loo!
You know what I love? A 3 day weekend! Hope you had a great August bank holiday weekend because I had a brilliant one. One should never waste a day off!
Spent Saturday afternoon up the Shard, thanks to the lovely people at Red Letter Days for our #RedLetterDate. We won this a while back and have been waiting for a good day to use it! It sure is a gorgeous view overlooking the beautiful city of London, and it was simply brilliant pointing out the many attractions that London has to offer. Side note: How they keep the glass quite so clean, I have no idea.
Definitely make sure to check out the loo too, I’ve now ticked mooning from a high place up off the bucket list!
This sure is a loo with a view!
Of course the place is right next to Borough Market, so we had to have some food here. Tried the minced lamb wrap with spiced rice and vegetables and it was pretty delish. Photos were not insta-worthy but its yummy taste was definitely worth a mention!
We were also rather greedy and decided to takeaway two crabs from the market for eating in the evening when we headed back home. Having tried awesome Cromer Crabs before, we thought this would be a good idea! I can safely warn you that having two initially fresh crabs in a rucksack for the entire duration of a warmish British day is inadvisable. It results in two rather mucky inedible seafood items, two disappointed souls and leaves a trusty backpack smelling of fish.
We also visited Shoreditch, and everyone felt way too cool and hipster for us.
Dinner was in Boisdale Restaurant in Canary Wharf, overlooking the fountains of Cabot Square. What did we think about the food? The Hot & Spicy Oysters “three ways” to start were delicious. Wished they had a few more than 3 though… Like 6, for the same price. Kevin had the Terrine of Tamworth pork with seared peaches to start and the plating was pretty nice. Our lobster meal was delicious – oh so fresh, succulent, and very tasty indeed! And of course, dessert. Kevin had the apple strudel which was absolutely melt in your mouth and I had the lemon meringue cheesecake which we both agree was better, hands down. Everything was on the pricier side, but you do pay for excellent service (12.5% worth to be exact), really great atmosphere and top notch food!
Terraine of Tamworth pork with scorched peaches
Of course, the main reason why one should dine at a Boisdale restaurant? The fabulous live music. Tribute to the Beuna Vista Social Club, the live music show that we watched started at 21:45 and is exactly what you need to end the day in style. We enjoyed every moment of it and are still humming along (with some secret snazzy hip shaking, of course) to the Cuban music from that night.
Apparently Boisdale Restaurant also has the world’s most extensive whisky bar (over 1000 malt whiskies) – which is pretty cool, and would have probably changed our drink choices had we known… when we were actually there. Oh well.
Do you have any food recommendations or things to do for when you’re in London?
Till next time, lovely London, we might be seeing you sooner than expected!
The Happy Project(s) 
