Leap-frogging to and through London

(David on EOS flight to London - looking very much like a poster boy for the airline.)

A little summary of our time in London so far:

The EOS flight to London was excellent. The airline shares its lounge with Emirates, and the food and drink selection available to its guests were the best we have experienced on any airline. The airplane itself had fantastic seats (only 48 seats on an aircraft that normally would accommodate 220) and great service. The food on the plane was unimpressive -- I've flown to London on Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and that trip set the standard for me in terms of airline food excellence (if such a thing exists) -- this did not compare. David and I had a wonderful time on the flight, however, and were excited to be on it. Due to our excitement we did not get much rest, as we chatted and drank and laughed merrily for much of the flight. We did manage to sleep maybe an hour or so, and were actually able to fit both of ourselves on one seat. David asked permission from the flight attendants for us do so, and they said it was fine so long as we buckled up. This we did. It was like being at university again, squeezing onto a twin-size bed... except it was a fully reclining Business Class seat and the flight attendants make your bed. As one might imagine, just how much space we had on this EOS flight was most evident to us when we were able to sleep side by side with each other comfortably. (Don't worry, we were perfectly innocent, not at all scandalous or sketchy.)

We arrived on Thursday, which we spent walking about London after our usual debacle of changing hotel rooms. The first room we checked into was very dark and depressing. Luckily, we were able to change rooms - the room we are in now is bright and airier, which makes all the difference. Since I will be staying in this room for 10 days, most of which are without David and by myself, it was important for me to feel happy about my room. The hotel was very accommodating and sweet about our changing, which made the change easier. That night, as I wrote in the previous blog, we went to Roka and had wonderful food and shochu.

Friday morning, I went to a massage therapist recommended by Fabi. It was my first deep tissue massage therapy, and it was excellent. I will have another session next week, coupled with sessions with Fabi. After the massage therapy, I went for my first day of London re-cast auditions while David ran errands and prepared for his European casting tour, which he begins on Monday (tomorrow). We didn't see too many people who are right for our show at the auditions, so we hope this coming week will yield more potential. That night we went to see the show, which was thrilling, since we had not seen it since it opened. As I blogged before, the show is in excellent shape, has gotten tighter and tidier, and the audience continues to be passionate and responsive. It made us proud to be sitting in the theatre amidst such a fervent audience, to be part of a production that gives so much joy to people and has so much heart and soul.

Yesterday -- Saturday -- we slept in. We needed the sleep. We completely crashed and did not wake up until well past 3pm. When we did wake up, we managed to decide on where to take our holiday, over which we have been mulling for some time. We are quite happy about our final decision -- we are going to the Cotton House on Mustique Island in the Grenadines. We have done careful research of various Caribbean islands, beaches, resorts and snorkeling locations, and think this is the best choice for us this year. We have to finish sending in the forms and such, tying up loose ends, but are delighted to have settled on a plan.

In the evening, we met up with our friend Val and went to dinner at Yauatcha, which was lovely. We drank fabulous cocktails and ate delicious dim-sum style dishes. Our favorite was tea-smoked silver cod, which we had never had before; the tea-smoked organic ribs, which we have had before at Yauacha and is one of its signature dishes, were also gorgeous. Since we woke up late, we had not eaten anything all day, which turned out to be a good thing as there was a lot of dishes we wanted to try.

(Val, me and David at Yauatcha.)

After dinner, we met up with the Dirty Dancing cast at Nell's Pub, a pub to which many West End theatre performers go to socialize after their shows. We were happy to see the cast members and to catch up with them, especially the Australians, whom we have known for a long time. As the pub closed, the party moved to Adam Street, which is a membership-only private club. As one of the perks of being a part of Dirty Dancing, we can go to Adam Street without personal memberships. Adam Street is a great club/lounge, never crowded, lots of interesting people and fabulous bartenders who concoct beautiful martinis. David had been there years ago with Kylie Minogue, apparently, and we have been there a few times since working on Dirty Dancing on the West End. Always a good time. And always could lead to a very late night! We carried on after Adam Street to Heaven, a giant gay club and one of the last clubs to close in London. It is considered one of the most famous gay clubs in the world. A group of us went to Heaven and danced up a storm, stayed out until it was almost light out -- around 4am. It was one of those nights that just keeps going... and while we were slightly tired this morning, it was a fantastic night out. The best part was that Ben Mingay, the beer-drinking, motorcycle-riding bloke-of-all-blokes-type Aussie, lead the group to Heaven, and he is the last person one would expect to willingly go to a gay club -- he had earlier been talking about how his girlfriend, Nadia, was going to a gay club with a bunch of girlfriends and he'd decided he'd rather drink beer at the local pub than to do that... well, the night took a different unexpected turn! (We think he had fun, though). David and I meandered back to our hotel from Heaven, behaving like our usual silly, drunken selves, picking up awful pizza to eat (all that dancing made us hungry), and I even did a leap frog over a road post. Unfortunately, we do not have a photographic record of my phenomenal leap frogging, but we do have our meandering photos through London dawn:

(David being silly in the streets of London at wee hours of the morning, after clubbing the night away...)

(Tomoko being silly in the streets of London at wee hours of the morning, after clubbing the night away...)

And so we had a nice weekend. The weather has turned a bit cold with drizzling rain. Today we have had a relaxing Sunday, going to a late-ish leisurely lunch, doing a bit of shopping, spending some quality time before David leaves tomorrow for Dusseldorf. We have not been apart in a while, so this is slightly sad, but we shall manage. I am hoping to meet up with him this coming weekend in Hamburg, as I have the weekend off before I head to Amsterdam. Ironically, of all the cities David will be in as he looks for dance talent through Europe (including Zurich, Vienna, Paris, and Rome, to mention the lovely ones), on the days I have off and am able to fly to see him, he will be in HAMBURG. Alas. So it goes.

I suppose I could always eat chicken wings (see blog entry about chicken wings for more information).

TM