Esthee H.

Just came back from Matilda, the Musical and it is soooooo soooooo amazing! 

I can't even say how awesome and breathtaking it was because words just can't adequately do this musical justice.

Okay I say that about every single play/musical I watch in London or on Broadway but that's only because I truly mean it.

THEY ARE REALLY SO DARN GOOD, I TELL YOU.

*edit*

Us with our half-priced tickets that we got from TKTS. Yes, half price!

We got ours at 66 pounds, 8th row from the front!
I KNEW I'D ENJOY IT. Great deal for the 8th row from the front huh?

Some info on TKTS if you still have not heard of them.

What is TKTS?

TKTS is run by Society of London Theatre on behalf of the theatre industry. It is the original ticket booth and has operated since 1980 in the heart of Leicester Square. Its unique official status guarantees you amazing bargains, an incredible choice of shows, and friendly, award-winning customer service from our expert staff. And any profit from TKTS is used to fund a range of important activities in the theatre industry.

What can I buy at TKTS?

We're famous for half-price tickets on the day of performance for West End musicals, plays, opera and dance. But we've also got thousands of advance tickets, many at amazing discounts, all of them representing great value-for-money. A limited number of shows also sell full price tickets through TKTS. We also sell and accept Theatre Tokens.

How to find TKTS (Lesicester Square)?

The nearest London Underground stations are Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

From Leicester Square Underground station: Exit onto Charing Cross Road. Head West along Cranbourn Street. At the end of Cranbourn Street, you will enter Leicester Square. Turn left and head to the South of the Square. TKTS is the building next to the Park, diagonally opposite the Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel.

From Piccadilly Circus Underground station: Exit onto Coventry Street. Head East until you cross Wardour Street and approach Leicester Square. Once in the Square, turn right and head to the South of the Square. TKTS is the building next to the Park, diagonally opposite the Odeon cinema.

 PS: Information courtesy of TKTS.



Personally, TKTS is my must-stop every single time I'm in London or New York. (Yes, there's another TKTS for the shows on Broadway) Why wouldn't you go for heavily discounted tickets to the best musicals/plays in the world?!

I know for various reasons, there are people who don't appreciate theatre. Yes, it can be rather pricey for 2 hours odd, 3 hours of your life. But the very first time I watched one, I knew it was worth every single bit.

The professionalism of each and every one on stage as well as behind the curtains! It's live theatre and to be able to make it onto Broadway or London Theatre, every actor must have had a portfolio so mind-blowing, you can trust them to deliver the best on stage.

It doesn't matter if it's Les Misérables or Dirty Dancing or Matilda, the singing and the acting has never fell short of professional.
The grandeur of the theatre and stage set up is amazing too.


Okay, before I go further. Here's a couple of pictures I took of the TKTS booth at Leicester Square. There are instructions on how to get there above but it's also fairly easy to navigate without memorizing the instructions. Just go to Piccadilly Circus Underground tube station and ask the information counter or any of the staff for directions.

Note: The information counter also sells tickets to the musicals/play. They WILL try to sell you the tickets before giving you the directions to the TKTS booth. Take note of it and don't mistaken them for the TKTS booth! It's about 10 minutes walk from the station.

The TKTS booth looks like this.


Here's the queue forming to buy the discounted tickets. Not as bad as the queue on Broadway, really! And I was surprised to find that the TKTS booth in London also sells discounted tickets for shows the next day while the TKTS on Broadway, NYC, only sells shows that are playing the very same day.

So if you have time the next day for another show, why not?



A little bit information: Matilda is located on Covent Garden.

To get there, take the underground tube to Leicester Square. Exit towards Long Acre St and turn left towards Mercer St. It is about 10 minutes walk.

If you are lost, just ask for directions! The British are very friendly people and everyone there will know where these theatres are. You will be looking out for the Cambridge Theatre.

Here are some pictures of the Cambridge Theatre from the outside.


(Indeed it's one of the best musicals on my list so far!)

That's my friend Shirley saying Hi from across the street.

And me getting very excited for the show!


(See, I told you Samsung S5's front camera sucks. You can't even see the huge Matilda signboard behind. wtf)

Matilda was such a big hit by Roald Dahl. Also, having been made into a movie just gave me such high hopes for the musical.

 Upon entering, I was greeted by the amazing array of colours on stage. The stage setup is absolutely bright and cheery, and sets the tone for the anticipation of a fun-filled night.

My view from the 8th row. No zoom, no edits done.



The wonderful thing about Matilda is that they aren't dead strict on photography inside the theatre. Yes, photography and videography isn't allowed whilst the performance is ongoing but pictures before and after the show and during the interval is allowed.

I remember going to other shows like Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables and the staff hunt cameras down like dogs.

Of course it would be unethical to video parts of the performance due to rights and all, but I'm really glad that they do at least allow pictures inside the theatre when the performers are off stage.

That way, I can keep these pictures as memories!


I won't go into details of the show because I am not a critic. (though I've been trained to be one as a literature major, but come on, those people are too harsh!)

But I must say Matilda is one of the best musicals I've ever watched. Be prepared for a theatre full of children, be it onstage or offstage. Offstage because this is such a family oriented performance, do be warned you'll be surrounded by children in the audience.

Onstage the children are wonderful professionals who certainly do not pale in comparison next to the adults. Though I may not say so for the other way because the child actors are simply impressive that you might tend to give them all the credit!

Although I really give credit to Miss Trunchbull who was very very into character, so much so that when he she speaks, you can see specks of saliva shooting out of his her mouth for there's always so much vehemence in his her words. Poor actors around Miss Truchbull, they must have saliva on their faces all the time, every single night.

Thumbs-up for this Miss Truchbull!



Matilda, a must watch for all theatre-goers! For non-theatre goers, you might enjoy it too. Just get your tickets at half price and I'm sure you will feel the pinch less. 

Nakhon Kitchen at Kovan


Pineapple Fried Rice (6 SGD)


Yummy!

Rice was rather fragrant and the pork floss on top really goes well with the rice.
They were quite generous with the pork floss so there was enough pork floss to go with every mouthful of rice.

Only downside was that I thought there should be more pineapple since it's pineapple fried rice afterall, but as you can see, only two slices of pineapple can be found on the plate.

Plus, a tad oily. You'll see what I mean when you get to the end, because the oil will clearly reflect on your empty plate.

BUT, your plate will get empty before you see the oil because it's that delicious! Kind of regretted wolfing down my food when I saw how shiny my plate was. Oh well.


Pad Thai Tang Hoon (6 SGD)



Also very yummy!

As you can see, generous with the ingredients.
Goes well with sugar, which we requested for, and they also gave a large bowl of it, as if sugar didn't cost any money.

We finished every bit of it.

I would recommend to order the Tang Hoon because if you are a sucker for Pad Thai like I am, this is fried exactly the same way as Pad Thai so you'd get the same taste, except that Tang Hoon isn't as filling as Pad Thai. So your stomach still has space for other food!

The Tang Hoon is a dollar more expensive than the Pad Thai though.


Chicken Green Curry (8 SGD)



Good, but I've tasted better elsewhere. Still good though. (the good one I've had was from the Thai restaurant located at the basement of Far East but they've closed down. Anyone knows if they've relocated elsewhere because their green curry is to die for!)

Okay, as you can see, this Chicken Green Curry is on the thick side. Would have been great to go with plain rice. You can't drink it on its own because it's so thick but thick better than watery right?

Also, they use chicken breast but I think most places serve chicken breast with green curry. I'd have preferred thigh meat because breast meat is so dry and tough.

Again, extremely generous with the Thai eggplant and the pea aubergine although I must admit chicken parts were on the less generous side.


Seafood Tom Yam Soup (6 SGD)



Good! But mind you, it's spicy!

You can choose the clear or the thick base. We went for the clear one because I think it's less filling.

I thought ingredients were just right for the size of the bowl, because when it comes to a soup dish, it's really the soup that you're looking out for.

The spiciness is bearable for sure, since I am one who doesn't take to spice that well and this Tom Yam soup kept me going. We finished every bit of it.

But do have a cup of ice tea with you!


Thai Iced Tea (3 SGD)




I'm a sucker for all types of milk tea and this definitely doesn't disappoint.

Might be a tad too sweet for some but you'd expect that from Thai Iced Tea right?

Wanted to order another cup but damn you calories.




So here's our dinner for the day. A total cost of 32 SGD for two. Rather reasonable, I'd say. Considering the rave and the popularity that's been going on for years.

Speaking of prices, here are some pictures of their menu for your reference.







And yes, the queue here is insane. Everytime I'm here, there's always a queue. Even though it might be still bright on a weekday, people are still in the line. It's only a matter of how long the wait is. Despite being there at 5pm on a weekday, we still stood in line for close to 30 minutes.

I noticed that yes, the line's due to the restaurant's popularity, but it's also because the restaurant's seating capacity isn't too big. You can be seated faster if you're willing with share tables with others but most people there really want to sit down and have a decent good meal before moving on.

It isn't fast food because the food is good! People enjoy the food here so they'd order a fair amount and take their time to finish it.

But the good thing is that they take your order while you are in line and food is served immediately once you are seated. Food was piping hot when it came!

It was my third time to Nakhon Kitchen and will be returning again soon.
Not on a weekend for sure though, queue will be mad long.

Do head to Nakhon Kitchen for good Thai food people!

Went on a hiatus for a bit for the past few days for something awful happened.

I'd like to think of it as tragic but I know that's exaggerating things though I really feel that way deep down.

I know it's not a life and death matter.
But.....

My stupid Samsung Galaxy S3 died on me. The mighty all powerful legendary S3 died on me! Committed suicide without me doing anything damaging like dropping it or whatsoever. 

It simply died because it reached its lifespan of only two years. All other Samsung smartphone users y'all agree?!?!?!

Of course it showed signs of being critically ill some time ago when it started becoming extremely laggy and apps would force close itself or wouldn't start.

Why didn't I listen and backup my data every single time! :(

This is why a part of me died as my S3 died too.

The past two years that S3 spent with me, it served me well. It accompanied me across the globe and contains all my most precious memories.  Some of them so precious I refused to delete inspite of backing it up multiple times on my computer and hard disk.

But what's most painful are the recent memories which I hadn't had the time to backup. And I think they're really gone. Gone with its owner to its grave.

And the recent trips I hadn't uploaded because it hadn't transferred them to the computer. So I can't even retrieve low quality images from Facebook.

All I can do now is beg friends who had travelled with me to send me via WhatsApp the pictures that were sent in the group chat. Of course my own selfies are gone with my phone cos I not so narcissistic to send others my selfies. 

I know it's not easy digging through one's phone's camera roll again and separate the images to send to me again which is why I say I'm begging.  :(
Being such a pain in the ass but really no choice lah.

Also, not having prepared for its death, I also didn't manage to transfer my contacts.  I wondered why I never saved the contacts to my SIM card or Google account previously.

I think that's the thing with smart phones. You most probably are multi-tasking as you are saving the contact, distracted by another app that was running in the background or eager to return to something that u were doing previously - WhatsApp-ing, trolling on Facebook, or reading some stupid 9gag webpage. And nowadays there are so many options to save to! Your device, your SIM card, Google+ account,  Samsung account, etc.
Okay it's my fault also for not being consistent, then go and blame on technology for giving me too many choices. 

Even after S3's disappointing short life, still didn't learn my lesson and went ahead to purchase S5. Maybe I'll be cursing again after 2 years. Idk, but I'm too used to Samsung smartphones now.

Sigh. Lesson learnt. ALWAYS ALWAYS BACKUP THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU.

Or risk losing them.

Thankfully I had my Canon camera with me on those trips. So not all pictures are gone.

I try to comfort myself by telling myself it isn't a life and death matter. And If a gadget of mine decides to commit suicide, it's easily replaceable.

No big deal.
Right, no big deal.

Part of the BABYFACE series, which I suppose helps to create a babyface look?

No 5. - Hot Pink Candy

(note that picture colour is different because this lip colour only reflects well in pictures under white light)

Think American teenage drama style. I thought of Confessions Of A Shopaholic and kpop group SISTAR.

I love this Babyface Candy Glow Tint Bar much! 

Got them at Korea for 6, 000 or 7,000 won, which is about 10SGD each? Cheap and good!

 Can anyone tell me if these are available in Singapore??? If they are, you all go buy them okay. If not go Korea and stock up. haha

Okay, ending the post with a selfie, wearing Babyface Candy Glow Tint Bar No. 4!
Hope the lipstick baby-faced me a little. Wahahaha. #thingsyoudotolookyounger

Eyes are so blood shot red because I tried to be a chiong-ster and didn't sleep. LOL.