Nov Week 2
Still feeling a bit worse for wear from her most recent chest infection and lingering COVID symptoms, K started the week off back at the doctor. Chest X-rays confirmed she didn’t have pneumonia or COVID scarring in her lungs, and her blood tests came back about the same as they were in the states (generally good with the exception of things always off due to hemochromatosis; vitamin levels surprisingly within normal ranges). Her doctor recommended rest; K decided instead to take the “fake it ‘til you make it” mentality.
Tower of London
I was really hankering to go check out the Tower of London after passing it by so many times. K had already been during one of her previous trips to London, so she ventured over to the Tate Modern instead and would meet me afterwards.
Right outside the tube station was a big sundial and a great view of the castle.
On the way, a great juxtaposition of old versus new.
To get started I joined one of the free tours put on by the Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, or “The Yeomen Warders of His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign’s Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary” (thanks wikipedia!). This is a very exclusive group of retired military personnel, consisting of just over 30 members. They were originally the guards of the tower, but these days their role is primarily ceremonial (gotta keep that tradition alive). The tour was short but sweet, and packed to the brim with the most exquisite dry British wit.
After being turned loose, I did a loop around the castle walls.
Zodiac sorcery!
Some more old versus new.
Private water-gate for the king.
A “fun” story about a prison escape.
Wall decorations.
The last few pictures of Tower Bridge, I promise. (Actually, don’t hold me to that.)
A ridiculously elaborate cannon.
And on to the central building, the White Tower.
Horse armor! The face on the right made me laugh.
Armor made for kings! Left made me go hmmmmmm, and right is worth a zoom-in - the level of detail is incredible.
Armor for all sizes!
Spears on display.
A pretty cool dragon installation upstairs.
My last stop was to the building that houses the crown jewels, aptly named The Jewel House.
Seeing the old crowns and other accoutrement was fun, but my favorite piece was “the Grand punch bowl” just for the sheer absurdity. They had the volume listed in person but I can’t seem to find it after the fact . . . but the dang thing weighs 500 pounds if that’s any indication.
Here’s a link to the online collection page for The Grand Punch Bowl.
And here’s a link to a full listing of the Jewel House items, including crowns and scepters and such.
One tidbit I did find interesting was that the majority of the displays were only viewable from a moving walkway. Maybe a means to ensure everyone got an equal opportunity to ogle the finery, or perhaps a simple security measure? A heist would seem significantly more difficult if you had to walk backwards to stay in place :p
And finally, I kept running into these interesting metal wire statues that turned out to represent just some of the many animals that were on display here throughout the years.
Lions were displayed near the entrance as a flex and also perhaps to defer unwanted behavior.
Poor guy.
Monkeys!
Afterwards we met up at Borough market for a bite to eat and some more exploring.
Compliments of K - Millennium Bridge, or more affectionately known as Wobbly Bridge. From wikipedia, “. . . pedestrians experienced an alarming swaying motion on its opening day. The bridge was closed later that day and, after two days of limited access, it was closed again for almost two years so that modifications and repairs could be made to keep the bridge stable and stop the swaying motion. It reopened in February 2002.”
I grabbed one of these absolutely incredible sausage rolls from the Gingerpig.
K got her first tastes of mulled wine here, and we nabbed some local brews for later from a very friendly vendor.
While navigating the seemingly endless maze of stalls, we ran into some fun street art:
And a ridiculously beautiful sunset over the Thames to top it all off.
Totoro
After reading an article about an anime adaptation at the Barbican put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company with puppets by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (and recognizing one of the characters from me pointing out plushies), K casually asked if I’d be interested in attending the WORLD PREMIER STAGE ADAPTATION of “My Neighbor Totoro” during our stay. Just one of my absolute favorite childhood animes of all time being turned into a play by the RSC with all sorts of all stars involved in the production, no big deal 😛
Despite missing the initial ticket sale window, after some frantic ticket page refreshing and sysadmin wizardry 😎 I managed to nab us a pair of stellar seats.
Puppet-wise, unfortunately photos were not allowed and there’s still very little online that I could find even though the show’s run is now over . . . so you’ll just have to trust that everything looked AMAZING. Here’s a collage of some non puppet stuff though. For those unfamiliar with the movie, I’ll limit myself to one more reference, otherwise we’ll be here all day.
Warning: Incoming wall of text
Feel free to skip ahead if hearing the word “anime” makes your eyelids heavy or you don’t want any spoilers on the off chance the show go on tour.
Review Time!!
Waiting for the show to start, they had the standard “My Neighbor Totoro” static graphic displayed, but it turned out it was actually made of a fluffy cloud-like material that wiggled around. A letter “u” also appeared from the top right and forced its way into “Neighbor” - a funny nod to how it’s spelled in the UK. They then recreated the opening sequence complete with puppet bugs and the like.
At this point the stage is super wide but the display is only using maybe 75% of that space. After the opening sequence, it opens to the full “resolution” of the stage and a countryside landscape is displayed. A 2d puppet car is shown going left to right across the landscape, as if it’s getting closer and closer . . . then we get our first glimpse of the actors as they drive out on stage!! Both girls were perfectly cast - Mei was amazing in how she was able to channel that over the top kid energy. (I got a kick out of the little details . . . in her first scene, her dress is tucked into her knickers.)
Also, music has been playing but there’s no orchestra in sight. The first transition to the house set features outlines of trees to show that they’re out in the country. When they move into the forest, the were trees brought into focus to reveal that the band is sitting at multiple levels . . . in the TREETOPS. So cool.
From the perspective of “how do you adapt an anime, which has a near unlimited potential for pacing, perspective, etc, for the stage???” I thought they did a magnificent job. The set for their house was made up of a bunch of super modular pieces, and the center of the stage featured a big rotating circle, so they were constantly switching perspectives and opening rooms and morphing things to fit the scene. It made for really interesting and seamless transitions (from outside to inside or room to room for example).
This also brings up one of my absolute favorite parts of the show - they had a bunch of “kokens” (from wiki: “A black-clad person who enters the stage to rearrange the set, unremarked by the actors”), which was fun on its own, but they were also super self-aware. If I remember correctly, the first time we see them they peer out from behind some doors without their black veils on as if to say hello (or perhaps they were watching the show, too?), did a little wave, then pulled down their masks and assumed their role of moving around the set.
Another example of them being self-aware was when the older sister, Satsuki, left to walk to school with the classmate that you only see once, that classmate character is handled by a koken. They come out all flustered like, “this isn’t in my job description!!” only to get a backpack thrown at them and kicked out on stage so that they can walk away with Satsuki.
They also controlled the soot spirits (attached to handheld long bendy sticks), laid down acorns the kids chased, did all the puppet work, etc, etc, etc.
They even manipulated the characters a few times which I got a huge kick out of. They moved the dad into a sleeping position at one point while he was working at his desk (passage of time or maybe a subtle representation of exhaustion?). Another example was when the dad was visiting the sick mom; they cut the scene short right after the mom and dad embraced by moving the dad away and whisking the mom and the hospital set off stage.
Kanta (the bashful boy crushing on Satsuki) got his story a lot more fleshed out in the play than in the movie, which was pretty fun. He even got a small “how do I talk to girls?” scene with his dad. K really liked this aspect - that was one of her takeaways from watching the anime in preparation for the show.
As for puppets: The two little totoros were the cutest things ever. Controlled by two sticks - one to rotate the head and another to help them waddle/walk.
The big Totoro had at least two different puppets, but we only saw the “smaller” version once or twice. The biggest one was GIGANTIC and looked so fluffy and so, so, so cute. The first time Mei runs into him in the forest while he’s sleeping, they make use of the rotating circle, which was epic. She actually climbs up on his belly, and after she tickles his nose they showed off that he had a big ol puppet tongue, too, that was basically its own puppet! 😄
His teeth were great, roars were great, eyes moving around were great, whiskers were great, big fluffy tail was . . . um, great!!
Cat bus was a gigantic lit up inflatable dealie, like you see in yards during the holidays. It had people controlling his head, each of his legs, and one controlling his tail (which was pretty fun to watch because they just hit it back up in the air when it dropped down). When Totoro got on, his shadow appeared on the inside and likewise when the two girls are flying around you can see their shadows in the back, which I thought was a cute touch.
The famous bus stop scene with Totoro was also very cute. The dimensions of the umbrella don’t really work in real life, so instead they did a couple goofs on how he held it - first upside down then, eventually, just off to the side.
Still buzzing after the show, we took a short train ride to Soho for some dinner. While waiting for our table we grabbed a cocktail at Be At One Bar just down the street where they were playing some jammin’ tunes. We both ordered a drink then realized we had caught the end of two for one happy hour, so we ended up with our hands full!
Dinner at Blacklock Soho was a pretty tasty meat filled frenzy - we ordered the “All In” to get the full chophouse experience:
“Pre-chop bites followed by a heady mix of beef, pork and lamb skinny chops piled high on charcoal-grilled flatbreads with a choice of side each.”
We then rolled ourselves over to nearby Chinatown where K surprised me with a trip to a secret cocktail bar. We only spotted the unassuming black door entrance by the well dressed bouncer standing nearby.
After a lovely post-meat cocktail, we finally called it a night and stumbled our way home.
Notable mention: After Totoro, we enjoyed a free exhibit at the Barbican featuring feminist icons from pre-revolutionary Iran. From the description online, “With humour and verve, Rebel Rebel explores the contradictions of Iranian women’s lives between 1925 and the 1979 revolution – an explosive period of both liberation and commodification that proved short lived.”
The entrance featured a beautiful mirror piece, and the end had a place to relax and reflect while watching Filmfarsi clips embedded within a really interesting hanging piece.
Okay okay, one more Totoro reference, which I found while writing this. This should appeal to both established Ghibli fans and to those who had never heard of Totoro (assuming the review piqued your interest). My Neighbor Totoro: Otherworldly Cinematography
Neal’s Yard
We took a day off then went right back at it! Today was a trip to Neal’s Yard and surrounding neighborhoods, full of cute shops and places to eat.
Fun fact: A few members of Monty Python lived here!
Festive and colorful.
Fun planter.
“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
A short walk away was Sir John Soane’s Museum, an old 19th century home packed with all sorts of objects collected by the renowned architect of yore. Unfortunately there was a line down the block that did not seem to be moving, so we called it and continued our walk (even though I do love a good queue).
Instead we looped around past the building where K interned and to The George Pub across from the Royal Courts of Justice where she used to listen in on all the juicy gossip after the courts were out for the day.
Back in Neal’s Yard, we rested our feet with a glass of wine and people watched while locking down our dinner plans. We managed to get right in to Punjab Indian Restaurant, a spot on K’s list known for their tikka masala. Their menu had a highly entertaining history of the place.
The place was deceptively massive and they really knew how to get people in and out. Our waiter was visibly irked (though still perfectly polite) when we weren’t immediately ready to order. But I was trying to decide what to get, and K was enjoying reading the hilarious menu descriptions (“Yes, you too can have a body like Amar, our family Pahalwan (wrestler), just eat plenty of this delicious mint dish, avoid strong drink, and stand on your head for at least three minutes a day.” K was so entertained by the menu, she asked if she could buy a copy. She was promptly gifted one by our waiter, who seemed genuinely pleased that K wanted to take one home.) All of the food came out quickly and was delicious.
For dessert we stopped at a yummy looking ice cream stall we had passed by earlier. K got a whiskey flavored soft serve with corn flakes topping in a waffle cone, while I got their Oreo Mini Freakshake which was just ridiculously over the top.
Before heading home, we tracked down a candy store in an attempt to find some treats for the kids of K’s old coworker we were meeting up with the next day. After wandering around a giant market a few times we finally found the place . . . only to be laughed at for asking for what turns out to be extremely common in the UK. It was like asking for M&M’s at a ‘Joe Bob’s Rare Candy Emporium.’ Regardless, it seemed like the whole city was out enjoying the new holiday decorations, which made it well worth the detour.
Back at home, Jamal was using Miss Vivian as a pillow.
Ealing Hangout
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we took a train way out West to the Kew Gardens to meet K’s ex-coworker/buddy and his family. The park was gigantic and gorgeous; our only complaint was that the treetop path was closed in order to set up decorations for their winter lights experience >:(
After a lovely stroll we got to see their beautiful house and had fun getting walked through all their renovation plans. We ended up catching the very last train back into town - it was some much needed socialization! K even kept her cursing to a minimum (for the most part).
Apologies as always for the wait between posts! I had a particularly difficult time typing this one out.
Words are hard :(
👋 Until next time! 👋
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