February and March have come and gone. Time simply flew! I’ve spent my 2 weeks in San Remo (Italy) and 1 week in London. It was over so quickly! Too quickly, in fact.
I’ve had a lot of fun both in San Remo and London. Many friends made in the former, many musicals seen in the latter. Life was very fulfilling and I get to shop like some rich tai-tai in London because I was helping my sisters get their Guccis. Fun!
I didn’t mind the cold and very cold, but I hated the rain in London. There was a hailstorm in London on my last day there though. Good thing I was indoors, but it’s not everyday you get to see the sky raining ice.
Photos from San Remo can be found in my Facebook – Part 1 & Part 2.
Hardly took any pictures in London though. However, I do want to talk a little bit about the musicals I’ve seen there. Just to document some thoughts down, before I forget them.
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8 musicals in 7 days. Quite a feat, I must say, though I could have done another 1 or 2 if I researched a little bit more. Nevertheless, quite a feat. I’m a very happy boy.
21 Mar 09 – Avenue Q
22 Mar 09 – The Lion King
24 Mar 09 – Phantom of the Opera & Chicago
25 Mar 09 – Les Misérables & Hairspray
26 Mar 09 – Mamma Mia!
27 Mar 09 – Wicked
And to rank them in terms of my favourites:
1. Wicked
The story and plot were great! The music and singing were EXCELLENT! The Act (“Defying Gravity”) just before the interval was so overwhelming and powerful that I couldn’t stop feeling the emotions during the entire interval! AMAZING! Till now I still can’t shake off the feeling of “defying gravity”. It affected me a lot!
2. Hairspray
It was such a happy show! I was having a really lousy day (didn’t enjoy Les Misérables very much, and the weather was so cranky with the rain-sun-rain-sun getting drenched and all) but this musical just lifted my spirits ALL THE WAY UP!
3. Mamma Mia! & Avenue Q & Phantom of the Opera
I have to say I would have preferred Mamma Mia! over the other 2 if not for the fact that there were minor technical glitches (mic wasn’t turned on) and non-fantastic singing from the main cast (Donna & Sophie), AND the theatre allowing late-comers to enter disrupting the show a bit.
I love the songs still, and the Sam Carmichael’s singing here is definitely better than Pierce Brosnan’s Sam, but I expected more. Still, having the entire theatre to stand up and dance after the Final Act was a great experience.
Avenue Q was very funny and the talented cast and puppeteers were definitely a big plus-point. Very enjoyable, but less the memorable.
For Phantom of the Opera, I must say I went in with low expectations; Cara said it was hard to understand with the opera-singing and I thought the movie version was a little draggy. Was surprised that I actually appreciated the performance throughout and after. Again, I’m very impressed by their singing and music.
4. Chicago
I realise after the musical that I never actually liked the story of Chicago from its movie version. It was the songs I was attracted to. I enjoyed the live singing and dancing, and the performers were YUMMYYYYYYY (*slurps*). But that was about it.
5. The Lion King
Kudos to the set and props design. It was really an eye-opener for me with the “human-giraffes”. How did anyone even think of that? That said, I dozed off a little bit during the show. That explains why it’s ranked here.
6. Les Misérables
I dozed off a little longer than I did during The Lion King. Period.
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That was my overseas trip for the year. I don’t know if I’m going anywhere else again later this year, but 3 countries in 4 months (I just went to Taipei in Dec 08), I think that’s about enough for a while (long-haul flights suck! I hate flying now).
Would love to go back to London again in future for the musicals and maybe San Remo to get away from the hustle and bustle. I’m not a scenery-looking-appreciating person. I’ve no interest in photography either. My idea of a holiday is just to take a break from work and do the things I like, which is mostly eating, sleeping and shopping or walking around aimlessly. That’s mostly what I’ve been doing for the overseas trips I’ve had thus far.
And I enjoyed myself. 
