'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.

If only every day was a Friday

The Tate Modern Art Gallery on the Way to South Bank. You can walk all along the river side.

It was a productive Friday for me, for a change. I went out to Borough market for a lunch date with Ro and enjoyed it a lot. I had tomato and basil baguette with a salty beef filling. The condiments were the best part..apple sauce, Dijon mustard, spicy salsa and garlic mayo. For 4.35 quid you get a huge baguette and very filling. Ro opted for his usual- prawn and fish (very very fishy) in a tortilla wrap. Dessert choices were way too many and we started with a chocolate filled eclair and a french cake (teeny weeny cakes with a caramel and orange glaze). I had to have the carrot cake and after walking past umpteen dessert stalls i finally decided on one, but when i got there the banana cakes were way more appealing and i bought that instead. Ro picked up a double chocolate brownie (so much for my Kelloggs Special K diet!).

From the time Ro went for his Schengen Visa to the German Consulate, he's been telling me to head to Sloane Street in Knightsbridge (a very upmarket area- home to a lot of celebrities like Nigella Lawson, Hugh Grant etc). Since i didn't have much on my agenda, and since i wanted to pick up a pair of shoes, i thought id head out there. Well, well what awaits me is a never ending lane of Armani's and Louis Vuittons and D & G's and Chanels. He sent me to a street with only branded shops! Why? I have no idea? Does he generally want me to feel horrible? No idea! Anyways i walked down the lane and each step i took i just felt more miserable in seeing the beautiful clothes, shoes and bags. I walked into the  Jimmy Choo boutique and loved almost everything there. Now the weird part was, the shops were practically empty and so when a customer walks in occasionally, its a treat for them. They hover around you in the hope you would buy something. I, with my torn jeans and dirty sneaker, was definitely not of interest to them. So it made me very awkward walking into these and trying on stuff. In some of the shops, i was the only one. I blamed it on the credit crunch. The Yves Siant Lauren outlet had a sale. I walked in to find out that the cheapest item on sale cost an arm and a leg. Walked out telling myself that it was anyways not my style. But i also told myself I'll pick up a Jimmy Choo shoe atleast on eBay!

After a vain attempt at trying to figure out the bus route to Trafalgar Square i decided to walk towards the nearest tube station. There are a couple of affordable shops in and around that area. Did numerous trial sessions at Next and H&M, picked up a nail kit and mag from Boots and headed to Ro's office in London Bridge. His office is right by the Thames River and there are a couple of cafe/bars/pubs with Al fresco dining. Picked up a coffee and was just beginning to settle down with the mag when the freaking pigeons started bugging me (I hate anything with feathers- to be more precise birds freak the hell out of me). So in my process of moving from one point to the other i ended up not reading the mag and not enjoying the coffee and would have sent atleast 10 messages in a span of 15minutes to Ro asking him to come out fast. Anyways we then walked over to South Bank where a lot of concerts and dance and arty farty stuff happens. There was a free Jazz concert on and so hung around there for a long two hours. I, for a change, actually enjoyed the concert even though i couldn't relate to it that much. Caught a movie on the way back and reached home really late. 

.....if only every day was like this Friday:)

No Easter bunnies or Easter Eggs but loads of food, fun and good company

Jazz at South Bank

Fruit Preserves at the market

Freshly baked bread, cake, brownies...

Varieties of Cheese

The four day weekend went by so fast and i had loads of fun. In UK, we have something called Bank Holidays where they club a weekend and give the Monday or Friday off so people can enjoy their Spring/Summer. We have four or five i think every year. So the Easter weekend was also a Bank holiday weekend, where we got Friday and Monday off. Last year we never knew this Bank holiday deal and so stayed at home when the whole of England was on holiday elsewhere. So this year we decided to plan way in advance and make use of the holidays. But as usual getting the whole gang to decide on something and plan turned out to be a mess and i gave up. I had Europe in mind and by the time Ro got his company to approve etc., it was too late to apply for the Schengen Visa. I lost my interest by then. Some of our friends came up with the idea of Dover and Isle of Wight. I did my research online and found out there was nothing awesome about the place other than the scenic beauty. Now, dont get me wrong here, i love the nature and the beauty and all that. But I think, here in UK, if you have seen one you have seen it all. The castles, the coast, the hills...I have been to Wales and Scotland and have seen some of the most beautiful places on Earth. I know, i know, it may not be the same, but seriously an overdose of nature kinda makes me bored. There is a limit to how much ohhh’s and wow’s you can do. Also, it worked out a bit expensive and i didn’t think it was worth spending so much to see the same thing again. Of course we argued about it (we never let anything go without an argument!). Ro wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover, but he didn’t and now blames me for it!

Anyways, coming back to my Easter lunch, it was a success, atleast i thought it wasJ. Ro helped me out a lot. Seriously, i would have lost it way before if it wasn’t for him. So a friend offered to split the cooking and i had to make pulao and chicken roast and she, prawn curry and dessert. Ro cleaned the chicken and marinated it the previous day itself. So it was a cake walk the next day and it turned out absolutely gorgeous (although i think we could have made a bit more, since it was just about enough for all of us) and was a good combo with the pulao. By the time everyone left it was about 8pm and we watched a movie for the rest of the evening. Revolutionary Road is a nice movie. Women stay away from it, men folk..watch it so you’d get an idea of what women really go through even todayJ

Day 2 was laazzzyy. Had leftovers for lunch and was watching a mallu horrible flick when a friend called asking if we wanted to meet up. So off we went to South Bank- a beautiful riverside stretch. Restaurants, markets, theatres, movie halls dot the river side and there are these free events like jazz concerts, dance workshops, art programmes etc open to the public. We walked around a bit and headed to the Jazz concert. I’m not that into jazz and so didn’t really get it. But it was a pleasant experience..some sipping wine and chilling out, some requesting songs and some soulfully into the music oblivious of their surroundings. Dinner was at Phoenix Palace, a Chinese joint. Ambience was good, a bit noisy though..but extremely child friendly (im not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I personally like it quiet). The tables were an inch apart from each other. You had to make sure you wouldn’t bump into the table behind you when you were taking a breather in between your courses. The pretty stewards running around in short skirts, who didn’t really understand or talk proper English, were obviously the highlight. Beers and wines followed and pork ribs and garlic chicken which were starters were nice. My aversion towards seafood was persistent and so didn’t enjoy the prawn dish (i forgot the name) but the duck in black bean sauce was just out of this world. I am not that adventurous and usually don’t try out meat that is not too familiar, but this was really really good. Ro was darn surprised about the fact that i atleast tried it out. The service is really quick, which is something i really appreciate while eating out. I found it a tad too expensive for a Chinese joint but, what the hell, when the food is good and the company even better you tend to not mind the exorbitant bill sometimes. Well this was one of those days. On our way to PP we passed by a Belgian waffle van and decided to come back and have that for dessert. Unfortunately they had packed up by the time we were done and so missed the chance. Now since the idea of having dessert was already in us, we decided to get some anyway. As usual none of the places were open (they close at 6pm, leave alone 10pm). So we headed to M&S, picked up a chocolate and fudge mousse and headed home. I wanted to catch a movie but Ro and this other friend who was staying with us were too tired and so chucked the idea (This is what happens when you marry really old men!!!).  We however ended up watching Cliffhanger on TV, munching on the fudge.

Day 3 and 4 is way too long for me to write about. So il post that later.