'Cinema under the stars'

caught my eye while surfing the 'whats on in London' web page and i decided i had to go for it. What came to my mind immediately was the scene from 'The Wedding Planner' where JLo and Matthew McConaughey watch a movie in a park eating M&M's. The event was over a span of 5 days and i had seen all the movies mentioned except the one called 'Funny Face,' a 1957 musical starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. What could be more romantic than watching a classic under the star studded sky? So I quickly did some research on the park in which it was being screened, timings, how to get there etc. and sent it out to Ro hoping he would be as enthu as i was. To my surprise he replied saying we should get a bottle of wine and just go. I was thrilled and i went a bit overboard preparing an entire picnic.

Syon Park, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, was the perfect venue for the evening. Although getting there was a bit of an issue, with us forgetting to get off at the required stop (which Ro claims was because of my non stop chit chat that we didn't notice the stop and over shot) and the sudden down pour which put us in a state of bewilderment on whether the show would take place at all, we were relieved to see a whole lot of cars at the car park and people walking in with huge picnic baskets. After paying 25 quid for both of us (yes very expensive indeed) we made our way to the park. It was so beautiful with well-manicured lawns and pretty flowers and trees breaking the monotony. There was a big glass conservatory, maintained in tropical temperature, growing all sorts of vegetables, creepers and palms. There was also a lily pond and an entire section on Cacti. The movie was supposed to start at 9pm, but it still wasn't dark by then and so we ended up finishing off our food and half the bottle of wine. There was a good crowd and most of them came fully prepared with portable chairs and huge picnic baskets and even umbrellas (which we also had brought along). By about 9.30 the movie started and everyone settled down pretty fast. The movie was ok. I expected it to be like the 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' type, but it didn't come close to that. Audrey Hepburn is gorgeous as ever and Fred Astaire is old. Towards the end, it started getting a bit chilly and the wine had made us pretty tipsy and we completely started fooling around and i secretly hoped the movie would come to an end because of the cold winds. I must admit, the whole idea of a romantic evening under the stars, huddled together with a blanket, was more appealing than the movie itself, though 25 bucks for a night out was a bit on the steep side, but what the hell...these are things you do once in your life.

There are more outdoor movies coming up in September at the South Bank Centre and are fee of cost. Only thing is, they are showing movies like 007 and Slumdog Millionaire which i cant really associate with 'romance.' I would however like to go see 'Mamma Mia,' the sing-along version again, just so i can scream out the songs :)

Events like these make me feel happy being in London.

I kicked myself for not taking my camera and had to make do with Ro's phone camera. So please bear with the 'not so perfect' pics.

The Great Conservatory, Syon Park

One of the Lily Ponds

A huge Cactus

Enjoying the picnic. See how bright it was...time was around 8.40pm

The huge screen

Thats the last part of the movie. Its not too clear.

West End Live

The husband is away on work for 2 days and its been kinda nice not having to do anything (not that i was slogging it out otherwise..but still). I was ordering take aways, watched quite a few silly chick flicks and then went and cut my hair at a salon run by Chinks who are supposed to be really good with their hair cutting techniques, but this was one where no one understood or spoke English. I only realized it once i had my hair washed and had settled down to get it cut. She didn't understand what i wanted and i didn't understand what she was trying to tell me (except that Indian women are pretty). Result of which was a really short hair cut and i look like a retard. Usually it looks nice after they blow dry it and set it and I flaunt it around for at least 2 days, but this was not even good even after all the styling and gels. I rushed back home and had a head bath. Ro is sooo gonna make fun of me when he gets back today.

Otherwise, things are pretty good. My gym expedition is still in full swing and since i combine it with badminton, its 4 days of gym and 2 days of badminton. I come back home and eat like a pig which is why i haven't noticed any change in my weight, but I think my body looks a bit toned...at least id like to think so.

Last weekend we went to see this programme in Leicester Square called West End Live. West End is an area in Central London where the entire theatre scene is. I have been wanting to watch The Lion King, Mamma Mia and Sister Act for a while now, but tickets are so damn expensive. That's when i saw on Time Out, London that the worlds largest free theatre festival was on and we decided to go. When we got there, the crowds were massive with a huge queue to get into the compound. Luckily there were screens outside telecasting it and so we got comfy in a corner and watched quite a few of the musicals. They were amazing- one, to see it free was a plus point and two, the actors who do the real shows were acting out their parts here as well. Though the props and colourful costumes were missing (which I'm sure would have definitely added to the glamour of the whole thing), this sure was a good way to decide which musical was worth watching. I personally loved Dirty Dancing, Jersey Boys, We Will Rock You (Queen) and just out of curiosity would like to watch Thriller Live (yeah, the Michael Jackson one). Sister Act was not as great as i thought it would be, though the singing was spectacular and Jerry Springer (the American TV Show host) singing in 'Chicago' was interesting because i was generally excited to see him in person.

After catching lunch at a Chinese take away, we managed to get inside the compound. It sure made a world of a difference to see the actors live on stage. The afternoon session was mainly for amateur theatre shows- a chance for them to display their skills. Avenue Q, a musical by puppets but managed by actors on stage, were remarkably good. The characters are inspired by the Sesame Street ones and it was hilarious. Another interesting performance was by theLondon Gay Men's Chorus. They were absolutely adorable with their action songs and of course the melodious music.

They didn't perform anything from The Lion King because its been running for a few years now and its time had passed. I hear its amazing with the costume and props. So that's still first on my 'to see' list. All in all it was a nice warm day with good music and singing out load some of the songs gave me a sore throat, but one i didn't complain about :)

Posting some pics:

Gothic puppets

Avenue Q at its best

Inside Leicester Square

They were distributing goodies. That's me with a 'Jersey Boys' fan and 'The Lion King' flag(before the hair cut)

Yabba Dabba Doo (guess which movie this is from!)

These guys were doing the 'hare Rama hare Krishna' dance outside and had a large crowd watching. I'm not sure whether they were serious followers or whether the song was just fun to sing and dance. There were a bunch of teenagers who thought it was cool to dance along!