Arsenal vs Manchester United

This was our first live soccer (or football as they call it here) match ever and boy was it an experience!


Back in November last year, we started looking for a local club to be a member of for without a membership, it's almost impossible to get tickets to good games, especially against big names like Manchester United. Having narrowed down our options to Chelsea and Arsenal, we decided to go with Arsenal in the end, mainly so that we can get tickets to this game against Man U.


Being Arsenal members, we thought it's just fitting that we should support Arsenal so we bought ourselves an Arsenal scarf each as a sign of our support for this game. And with this our scarfs, we yelled and cheered along through the game with all the other Arsenal supporters.


Emirates stadium, Arsenal's home stadium, was quite impressive. Though not as gigantic as Real Madrid's stadium, which we visited on our Madrid trip, it was impressive nonetheless! The seats we got were at the very top of the corner. Despite the poor sounding location, we were actually quite surprised by how good the seats were. The actual seats themselves were also quite good, with good padding, ample surface area, and plenty of leg room.


When Arsenal scored their only goal of the match, the whole stadium jumped up and let out a deep victorious roar! That alone was worth every penny it cost us to get there!


Disappointingly though, Arsenal lost in the end, but to us, it was a great experience nonetheless!!!

Proud's Cabaret

Irene found a deal for a dinner and show at Proud's Cabaret late last year and knowing that I am interested in shows of a singing and dancing nature, she went ahead and bought a package for two. Last night, after a couple of week's wait, we finally made use of the deal.

We began the night with a cocktail at Revolution bar next to my office. Then we made our way across a few blocks to Proud's Cabaret.

Proud's Cabaret is in a rather secluded location in the City of London. It came as a bit of a surprise to me that such a venue exists in the otherwise dead serious City of London.

Walking down the stairs to the actual dining and show area, we immediately felt that we were going to a classy cabaret show. Such was the effectiveness of the decor. Then in the dining and show room, the atmosphere and mood immediately turned to one of partying and fun where everyone really did dress to impress, as the tickets instructed us to. To create such an atmosphere, the venue employed dim lighting and the room was filled with a smoky haze.

Our table was pretty close to the stage and was at the edge of an elevated section, giving us a great vantage point for the show. Deciding to make the most of the night, we decided to go for a bottle of Champagne but was convinced by the waitress in a skimpy outfit and never short of words to say to go for a Proseco instead. We then went through the menu and was quite impressed by what was on offer.

Given we were at a cabaret show, we didn't hold much expectation for the food but surprisingly, the choices available and the actual food themselves were fantastic. For entree, both Irene and I had duck leg terrine with foie gras paste. That was superb! The flavours were subtle and well balanced, and the texture was smooth and delicate. The plating was also quite impressive. Seeing us finished with our breads, the waitress then insisted she bring us more to have with the terrine; a level of service that we never would've expected from such a venue.


For main, I had a deconstructed beef wellington. That was cooked to perfection and tasted equally of perfection. The serving size was also very very impressive. Irene ordered a slow cooked belly and that too was equally good. In particular, the crackling was made in such a way that it was not hard but crunchy. The meat on the pork was soft and did not have much fat, which is the way I prefer.



For desert, Irene got a cheese board. Again, they were generous with the serving, especially with the quince paste. I, on the other hand, ordered a rice pudding tart, which was divine!



The actual cabaret show lasted over two hours but came in three parts with rather lengthy breaks in between. Some acts were great but others were average. However, on stand out performer of the night was the hostess, whose singing was superb.







Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable night! Great food and fantastic entertainment; no better way to finish the stressful working week!

London NYE 2011

Having spent New Year's Eve in Sydney for most of life, including experiencing the chaotic Sydney scene where my sister was separated from our family (this was when we were still kids and don't worry, we eventually found her crying at CQ station) after she managed to get on the packed train while the rest of us didn't, it was a nice change to experience the NYE chaos on the other side of the world and after an 11 hour delay from when I'm used to celebrating it!

The London scene is quite different to Sydney. For one, there are ridiculously more people and ridiculously less fireworks. But that aside, there were other differences too, some nice and some not so nice.

We left home shortly after dinner and took the bus to get to Westminster Bridge, one of the best viewing locations being right next to London Eye and Big Ben where the fireworks were being set off. Unfortunately, the roads started closing at 8pm and the driver ended up getting lost as all the streets he/she wanted to turn into were closed. After an elderly male passenger realised we were going in circles, he told the driver off and asked that he be let off where we were before the driver wasted any more of his time circling the area. Submitting the the request of the angry passenger, the driver stopped and opened the doors. Realising the dismal fate of bus journey, all passengers followed the old man's lead and got off.

Worried about the viewing areas being closed off once they're full, we hurriedly walked to the bridge. As it turned out, the viewing areas didn't close until 11:45pm! Nevertheless, by the time we got there, all the good spots were taken and we ended up occupying a little area with good views of both Big Ben and London Eye.


While we waited for almost 4hours for the fireworks, we had to put up with an increasingly large crowd, inconsiderate people carrying their prams over us, pushy Indians who were standing increasingly close and intruding into our personal space, a crazy bunch of lunatics dancing (and bumping into people while doing so) to the music played out on the loud speaker that hung at one end of the bridge, a stoned idiot trying to dance with his group while he lapsed in and out of his stoned trance, sausage sizzle sellers pushing their carts through the crowds, and the occasional piss from the skies!

Finally, the real party began. Just before midnight, a voice pumping out of the loud speaker told us all to act crazy as the world will be watching us and shortly after that, the count down began and an amazing display of pyrotechnics blazed the skies.







Using my Nikon advanced compact digital camera, which Irene never ceases to remind me of it being my Christmas present from her, I managed to take some dazzling photos of the fireworks. And with that, we stepped into the year 2012.




After the fireworks, we hurriedly walked to Waterloo station. One thing I like about the London celebration is that public transport is free after 11:45pm, but getting to them is no easy feat! First, you got to make a long trek to the station, then there would be a huge huge crowd that you would have to compete with to get into the station. Seeing how pathetic the whole situation was, we started to walk in the direction of home.

From Waterloo Station, there was only 3 stops before our station and so we could have walked home but by the time we got to London Brdige station, there was no crowd trying to get into the station and so we took the tube home from there. Fortunately for us, we got off at the first stop. The tube was so packed, the trip would have been extremely uncomfortable for those travelling long distances. Irene told me this is what she puts up with everyday going to work so I guess some of the people are used to it.

The walk from the station back to our flat was quite nice. It was not too cold and there were still many people about. And as we walked, we talked about how much better Sydney is and what we would have done if we were in Sydney instead...

Eye Skate, London

With all the outdoor ice rinks in vogue around this time of the year, choices are abundant and one of the first that we've tried is the Eye Skate. This outdoor ice skating rink is rather small but with the London Eye as a backdrop, the surrounds is rather stunning.

Given the limited operations of these outdoor ice skating rinks during the year, I was rather surprised by the relatively new ice skates that were provided. And given the weather was not that cold, I was also surprised by how well the ice held up in the great outdoors.

One gripe that I had with the session was the large number of kids and beginners, and the limited space in the rink. But despite this, it was a great 45min on the ice!