London - Spice up your life!

Tuesday 8 January 2008
I am slightly embarrassed to be admitting this, but tonight I went to the Spice Girls' Reunion World Tour at the O2 Arena. But I have to say it was AMAZING! Firstly the venue is amazing, much better than Madison Square Gardens and definitely better than Earl's Court, and crowd control was very organised. Secondly, the concert was extremely entertaining, with the numerous costume changes (designed by Roberto Cavalli), props etc; they really put on a show...which was good as we know they can't sing that well! Thirdly, the crowd were people my age and older, so there were no screaming teenage girls...just 30+ women and gay men (Yang was glad he didn't have to come with me!). Finally, I'm so glad I watched it in London given they later canceled all their concerts in Australia.

Wednesday 9 January 2008
This evening, I engaged in more musical entertainment by watching Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of The Sound of Music at the London Palladium. The role of Maria Von Trapp was played by Connie Fisher, who won the BBC competition How do you solve a problem like Maria?, a reality TV show where the audience chooses the Maria, a bit like American Idol. I thought the production was okay, but I wasn't blown away...most probably because I watched the Julie Andrews version so many times and love it. As a result, I decided that I was most probably going to have the same reaction to watching Grease the Musical so I decided to save myself £65 by not going.

Friday 11 January 2008
I had a nice catch-up with Boon and Yee Von at Kiasu this evening, but I definitely ate too much!

Saturday 12 January 2008
As all the furniture for the apartment had finally arrived, I thought it was time to have some people over for a bit of a look. So this evening, Ammy, Alli, Aaron, Tammy, Linus, Felix, and Loreen gathered in our small apartment for a few drinks, cheese and then moved to Cafe Naz on Brick Lane (about 5 minutes walk away) for curry. Why is it that waiters / waitresses at Indian Restaurants can't provide service with a smile? The food was okay, but I think there are definitely better restaurants on Brick Lane. Ryan joined us at Cafe Naz and then after dinner, we (sans Ammy) headed back to the apartment for more drinks.

Sunday 13 January 2008
This morning, Jane and I wandered around Spitalfields Markets, which is conveniently located about 10 minutes walk away from my apartment. It was really good to visit the markets early as it wasn't as crowded. I also like Spitalfields because it is a mix between the Borough Markets and Camden Markets, as it sells both local food and clothes, hats etc. If you want anything vintage looking, Spitalfields is definitely the place to go. It is also undergoing significant renovation, so it is much cleaner than the Borough or Camden Markets...not what you would expect of the east side of London!

Then we headed to Song Que for lunch...it had been a while since I had some Phở. After lunch, I had to say a quick goodbye to Jane at Liverpool Street as she wanted to wander down Petticoat Lane (Sundays in Spitalfields is market central!) and I needed to head to Heathrow to fly to Hamburg for work.

I only got to Hamburg around dinner time and as I wasn't in much of an exploring mood, I just had dinner at the Hotel, in the Le Ciel restaurant, the hotel's roof-top restaurant which had views over the Alster Lake and Hamburg’s skyline. The food was actually really good for a hotel, I guess it helped that the menu was created by Michael Rostang, a renowned Two Michelin Star Parisian chef.