Important News and Shakespeare
Right lets get this out of the way. Jo and I will once again be gracing the shores of Blighty, from the 5th-17th of June, You will thus be expected to shower us with barbeques, drinks and cries of “we miss you so much” during that period. But this is not the only news, read on dear friends, read on.
What with Jo’s humourous take on Vietnam I have nothing left to add… other than to say I’ve never been to a country where 4-ton trucks, mopeds, bicycles laden with pineapples/baskets/four other people and pedestrians have equal right of way on the road.
Not that you are safe on the pavement. I was quite fortunate not to meet my death in a multitude of vehicular mishaps – not least in that I wasn’t expecting the half a yard either side of a market stall would be prime moped racing track.
However you can’t say we didn’t sample Vietnam, as you can see from the photos (now on Flickr), and this video taken by the intrepid Jane ‘not holding on to my moped’ Mackridge.
I should also note other adventures undertaken by your very own Asian Red Hand Gang included; me trading places with the Cyclo Driver on the streets of Hanoi, kayaking around Halong Bay poking jellyfish with oars, all three of use swimming out to one of the islands followed by synchronised swimming and illicit procurement of beer from a lady in a boat and helping a Vietnamise lady with her art essay. Oh and LOTS of picture of bicycles, I’ve spared you a great deal of them.
Shakespeare
This weekend, we enlightened ourselves of some Shakespeare in the open air. The Singapore Repertory Theatre have put on a S$1m ‘all funky’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream throughout May and with Jane soon to leave Singapore, we are filling our every evening and weekend with entertainment pursuits, hence tickets to the second night!
Having procured wine and the raw ingredients for a picnic from Cold Storage there followed a decimation of our kitchen in a blur of chopping, frying, poaching and rice-boiling and the folding of rice paper sheets into fresh rolls. The asian banquet was created in the nick of time and we shlepped up the steep hills of Fort Canning Park.
The play itself was terrific, despite the initial misgivings of Jo ‘I don’t like Shakespeare’ Oldham (BA English Studies, University of Nottingham). Casting someone with a Welsh accent as the comedic lead is always funny and the rest of the cast performed the play on runways amongst the seated picnicers – meaning we werent straining to see the stage, as we were sitting in it.
Although there were some moments where following the Elizabethan English got a bit tricky (not helped by slighty wonky wireless mics) but in the main it was brightly performed and I enjoyed every bit of it. Particularly the dance number in the middle of the 2nd Act, who knew that Shakespeare wrote Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic I Will Survive?
Andy 8 May 2007
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