imperial war museum & rada.

started my weekend with an early morning visit to the imperial war museum with my art & war class. took the bus to south bank and got a feel for lambeth.

the main hall was filled with what seemed like enlarged versions of simply boy toys. however, our professor brought us to one particular item that wasn't displayed any more prominently than the rest of the items. it was the shell of the little boy bomb dropped on hiroshima on august 1945 during World War II; the first ever atomic bomb. it was almost frightening to see this incredible and historic weapon of death placed among so many others, and almost lost in the clutter. this single object reminded me that no matter how aesthetic a "war museum" strives to be, it is about ultimately about war and death and suffering.

then, after the class was dismissed, I, with a couple other people, decided to walk through the holocaust exhibition. My knowledge of the holocaust was peripheral at best, and I really wanted to learn more in depth about it after studying the art that came out of the event. It traced the history of the rise of hitler, nazi germany, and the genocide that happened in the early 40s. it was truly harrowing. I made it a point to read every plaque and description, and watch all the video clips to really peruse the exhibition; it was less an attempt to retain all the minute details, but to really give myself a chance to place myself in that time and learn as much about the event as possible. it wasn't a particularly jolly note to start my weekend on, but it was informative and necessary, considering I'm learning about WWII.

after i got back from the war museum, i went out to dinner with a few people in my shakespeare class before going to watch a performance. had a really nice, fun dinner at il casaarle an italian restaurant that opened on the 1st floor of our housing building. great food, friendly owner and the proximity is a huge plus. then we made our way to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, RADA, to see another production of Measure for Measure. I was excited to compare and contrast this production with the almeida production that I went to go see about a month ago.

however, everyone, including our professor, found the production mediocre at best. despite rada being the most prestigious acting school in london, none of the actors were spectacular. they all their short moments, but in general it was a very flat and static performance. it made me appreciate everything that the almeida production had: interaction with the audience, the performers' comprehensive understanding of the complex nature of their characters, and staying true to the text and not jeopardizing the power of the text. but due to the extensive voice training rada students go through, all the performers were excellent speakers. their speech also made me appreciate how great it is to watch shakespeare in london and hear it in its intended beautiful british accents. the most disappointing part was that the production WAS NOT FUNNY. measure for measure can be classified as a "tragicomedy" with as much comedy as there is tragedy and problems. unfortunately, the humor was just not there.

during intermission, our professor came over to our class and simply said, "I'm sorry." haha. he apologized for the quality of the production and told us that "productions are like parties, where maybe 1 in 7 is excellent." well, guess we've been really lucky this semester because the past three production have all been fantastic.

in about 7 hours, I'll be at heathrow airport picking up one of my oldest friends, jae lim. and i'm already too excited about the amazing week we're going to have. more pictures are to come to chronicle her visit in london!

midsummer night's dream in kingston.

yesterday, my shakespeare class went to kingston, a suburb of london, to go watch a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. I'd never read or seen the play, except a ballet performance of it in boston, so I was excited to go see this production.

our class went over to kingston together as a class. it took us an hour to get there via underground and overground. I enjoyed the train ride through southern london to get a feel of what 'real' london is outside zone 1, which is the tube-area with all the tourist attractions. It was rather monotone and dull, but i liked the authentic residential feel. our professor told us that the first time he and his wife from new zealand drove through southern london, she cried because it was so dismal!

after 45 minutes on the strawberry hill bound train, we arrived in kingston. it was a cute little town that retained a market-town feel to it. extremely pedestrian friendly and seemingly modest, but filled with posh shops. turns out, kingston, though an hour outside central london, is one of the most expensive suburbs of london because it's right on the river and relatively carless. it being a major suburb can be proven by its having its own performance theatre, which very few london suburbs/towns do.

our academic dean at nyu in london came with us and he and our professor created one of the most adorable scenes ever. we got slightly lost on our way from the station to the theatre, so our professor whips out his iphone and starts looking at the map. then the academic dean came over with his own iphone and started looking for restaurants. two old men in their late 60s, consulting their iphones, feeling accomplished and tech savvy was really endearing. I think our professor is slightly more adept because he started listing all these iphone apps that impressed our academic dean. oh technology.

based on the iphones' suggestion, we had a class dinner at a japanese restaurant called wagamama. I sat next to the professor, and had a really good time during the dinner. it reminded me that fun, engaging, and intimate class experiences outside the classroom are possible in college too. (maybe just in london, in a shakespeare class). we were all slightly taken aback when he offered us have a drink with our meals. drinking with our professor? slightly bizarre. well, everyone was hesitant at first, and he said "well, i'm having a beer!" and a few others joined in, and it was not a big deal at all. we all had fun watching our professor and each other struggle with chopsticks (except me haha i felt rather special). one of our classmate's food didn't come out for almost 20 minutes after everyone else's so our professor went up to the waiter and "used his charisma," and we all thought that was very sweet of him.

finally, we got to the rose theatre at kingston. only when I got there did I realize that this production was starring Judi Dench! (who I mostly associate as james bond's boss in the new 007 movies.)

I was both excited to see this mega star and shakespeare actor, but also worried that she'd be the only star of the show and everyone else mediocre. fortunately, the production was fantastic and most of the protagonists were all excellent actors. judi dench was titania and she wasn't on stage much, but when she was, she was great.

but for me, the real hero of the show was actor Oliver Chris, who played Bottom. He made the funny subplot, absolutely hilarious and had everyone in the theatre on the verge of tears due to so much laughing. it was a really great theatre experience, and got me excited for the remaining shakespeare plays i'll be going to this semester.

caerdydd aka cardiff, wales.

had a relaxing and peaceful day at cardiff, wales.

took a morning train to cardiff and went on a short walking tour of all the major sights.

cardiff central train station.

millenium stadium for rugby. the welsh are crazy about the sport.

river taff over the cardiff bridge.

random bar with the iconic red dragon.

one of the many animals on "animal wall."

cardiff central market!

freshly baked bread!

welsh cakes. yummmm

gorsedd gardens

national museum of wales.

cardiff castle. and the locals hanging out on the grass.

view of bute park from top of the keep.

spent about 2 hours at the castle, walking around with my audio guide. learned a lot about welsh history.

then, took a 25 minute boat ride on the taff to cardiff bay.

beautiful harbor overlooking fresh open water, albeit artificial.

welsh millenium center. home to a lot of cultural organizations and performance venue.

VERY modern looking national assembly building.

pink ice cream truck. sunny day on a boardwalk, how could I not have soft serve ice cream?

little norwegian church that held a small local art exhibit.

mermaid quay. a giant commercial complex with lots and lots of restaurants.

sunset.

cardiff bay is currently undergoing a major revamping/regeneration, so there's a lot of modern buildings and the government's planning on building lots of sports centers to make the city one of the social hubs of europe.

in fact, I was surprised by how commercial and young cardiff was. most of the people I saw on the streets were mid to late teens.

it was a rather perfect, sunny day for me to take a day trip to wales, walk along the taff, and the boardwalk at cardiff bay. had plenty of time to explore everything that I wanted to without feeling rushed. it was nice to see 'open' water for the first time in a while.

british library and whitechapel gallery

finally made it to the British Library to see its famous 'treasures.' I've been inside a couple times to see temporary exhibits, but today I got to see its most prized possessions including the Magna Carta, Lindisfarne Gospels and handwritten Beatles lyrics.

not a particularly aesthetically pleasing building.

no photos of the interior so, you'll have to check out the treasures yourselves on your next trip to london!

then headed to the east end to visit whitechapel art gallery for the first time.

it's a collection of small modern art exhibits, and I was particularly interested in:

Goshka Macuga: The Nature of the Beast.

My Art & War professor had told me about this exhibit featuring the tapestry reproduction of picasso's guernica. In this exhibition, goshka macuga poignantly reminds viewers of the power of picasso's guernica and also the horrors of the iraq war.

heartwrenching detail.

so what's the relevance between picasso's guernica and the iraq war you ask? well, in february 5, 2003 then secretary of state Colin Powell presented to the UN security council, the u.s. case against Iraq. he was supposed to deliver his speech in the Security Council Chamber, except that's where this tapestry reproduction of guernica was hung. Concerned about this powerful and blatant anti-war artwork, the UN headquarters quickly covered it up with a blue curtain, and the piece was hidden from newspaper and tv reporters, and the general public.

makes me wonder how the public would have responded to the proposed invasion of iraq, if people had seen guernica while powell was delivering his speech. would they have realized that powell was proposing precisely to repeat the tragedy of guernica and prolong it for 7 years? and the UN and powell covering the tapestry up, clearly shows that they knew exactly what atrocities they were committing.

cubist colin powell.

on one of the walls of the exhibit, they showed a documentary on the iraq war titled "occupation: dreamland." without intending to, I ended up staying there for about half an hour just watching the video on the invasion/occupation of fallujah. the soldier's treatment of iraqi civilians were hard to watch, and their interviews hard to listen to. asked about the effects of war, one of the soldiers replied "just be prepared to get completely f***ed up."

then, on the way back to my room from king's cross I discovered this little creature.

a blue monkey! just like the pink one i saw on oxford st, yesterday! i can't believe i didn't notice it until today, and I wonder how many of these monkeys are in the city.

clerkenwell & smithfield.

today, i explored the northeast-ish areas in london called clerkenwell & smithfield.

first stop, st. paul's cathedral. (yes, i've been here 2 months and haven't even walked by it until today) the cathedral is actually bordering clerkenwell & smithfield, and lies inside what used to be the old 'city of london'

st. paul's cathedral, designed by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren.

largest church dome in europe, second only to st. peter's basilica in rome.

classical/baroque front facade.

corinthian columns and clock tower.

got a quick look inside, but didn't want to pay the 10 pound entrance fee. so, i'm thinking ill return for a service there, since it's free then. it'd also be an interesting/authentic way to experience the church.

right around the corner was temple bar, the only surviving gateway into the Roman City of London.

postman's park. a small memorial park honoring acts of bravery by ordinary people.

then, one of the best kept secrets of london: St. Bartholow the Great.

tudor-style entrance

oldest parish church in london. famous for the being the site of many movies, including Shakespeare in love

then, once i got there the keeper told me it was the background of another famous, more recent, movie: SHERLOCK HOLMES! w/ robert downey junior and jude law. as soon as i came in, he asked me if i'd seen the movie, then whipped out a giant folder full of photos of the filming!

look familiar? this is where they filmed the opening scene with the ritual with the girl tied up.

the window on the far left is the one where robert downey jr. and jude law looked down onto the crime scene.

organ.

cloisters.

i was pleasantly surprised that this church was where sherlock holmes was filmed, but also just how quaint the church was in general. the keeper, who is originally from chicago, was SUPER friendly. he gave me an introductory talk to the church and showed me around. and he showed me a 15 minute video on the history of the church. he seemed genuinely excited to tell people about the church.

my experience at st. bartholomews was the antithesis of the one at st. paul's just twenty minute prior. St. b's was stone, quiet, rugged and unpretentious. and st. p's was marble, crowded, pristine and over-the-top. and i personally preferred st. b's because of its intimate atmosphere. at one point, i had the entire church to myself to wander around and photograph. the best part was the keeper who was so friendly. I left the church without seeing him, but then two seconds later he followed me out door and waved and screamed 'GOOD BYE.' so sweet.

clerkenwell & smithfield is definitely not a 'hip & happening' part of town, but i'm glad i got to see the two churches.

then i decided to go window shopping at soho.

this pink monkey on oxford st. was watching me. maybe it's by banksy? not sure.

(photo taken from google)

found Milkbar, another one of the cafe's featured on the previously mentioned nyt.com article from aspen reese. i had a flat white there, and i like it slightly better than the espresso room's. but only slightly. i plan on visiting all the cafes mentioned in that article. and right across milkbar, i stumbled onto lorelei, which is the italian restaurant recommended by a local. so will definitely be returning to the south of soho sq. on firth st.