West End Live

West End Live is an opportunity for people who can't afford to buy Musical tickets or maybe just don't have the time to see one to still get a taste of it. Or maybe you are just not sure what you want to see.

At WEL several Musicals perform up to three acts from their show on a stage at Trafalgar Square. This year it included old plays like Les Miserable, The Phandom of the Opera and Lion King as well as rather new ones like Aladdin.

Funnily enough I saw two songs from Wicked before going to see Wicked that afternoon. So even though I was in the very top circle at the far back I had a closer look at the actors earlier that day.

There isn't much to say except that you should really go and see it. Everyone is very talented and the atmosphere is awesome. I'm really happy to know about it.

MCM London Comic Con!

A week too late I am finally back to tell you about my experience at the MCM London Comic Con. I don't really have an intro except how freaking cool it was!

For anyone who doesn't know, Comic Con is a three-days event in the Excel Hall near the London City Airport. You have a mix of Japanese Manga and food culture, British youtubers, Gamers, TV shows and movies as well as your usual nerd stuff to buy like wigs, clothes, weapons and small gimigs. All throughout the day you have several panels at the same time that you can attend for free or you can go and get a photo or an autograph from your favorite actor (if you have the money; it can be a bit expensive).

Preparation

Now, a lot of people, if not most of them, aren't just regular visitors. They are cosplayers. Some put more effort, time and money into their costume than others, but that doesn't matter as long as you have fun. 

And of course, because I have no idea to how many Comic Cons I will be going, I thought I might as well try it, too. At first I was thinking about going as Bucky Barnes/ the Winter Soldier from the MCU Captain America movies, but I wanted an attachable 'metal' arm and that would have been terribly hard to get back to Germany. Maybe I'll do that when I'm going to a German Con.

So, instead, I decided to go as Harley Quinn from the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. That would be easier, right?

Well, yes and no. The Tshirt and small things like the bracelets, fishnet stockings, even the baseball bat - an inflatable one in my case - were really really easy. Just go to Primark or ebay and that's it. The biggest problem was the jacket and the shorts. If you don't want to spent hugh amongst of money on a premade jacket you have to get creative. So I searched for a blue and a red baseball jacket to sew them together. Which sounds easy enough except it's harder than you would think to get the right colour. I couldn't find anything I was happy with until I was ready to just buy a normal blue/white one at New Look or go for another costume all together. The next week, We went to Manchester for our North-trip and I actually found two baseball jackets in the perfect colours for only 5 pounds each! Luck was on my side for once.

Anyway, a friend and I sat together to work on the jacket because to be honest, I had never done that before and didn't want to mess up. It took a few hours, even though that was mostly because we took quite a few breaks, but we finished it and it looked genuinely good.

The shorts I did myself out of the other half of the leftover jackets, and it went somewhat good. I cut up some old Primark sports shorts that I wanted to throw away anyway and then sew the finished Harley Quinn shorts and the elastic band together. It did resemble a pair of shorts in the end, but not very 'stable' ones. The materials fault, not mine! I swear!

So yeah, on the second day I went for a pair of normal black ones instead.

Day 1

That Saturday I woke up earlier than usual to get into my costume and most of all, put on my Harley Quinn make-up. Luckily it's not too hard, just some smudges and some drawn-on tattoos, but I wanted to get it done as soon as possible so I could be on my way. I had priority day tickets, which means I could go into the hall at 9am instead of 12am like everyone else.
On the tub you can already see others that are clearly on their way to Comic Con. It's like 'spot the emo' game during concerts, only it's 'spot the nerd' and a bit easier. A lot of people have priority tickets and the halls are filled with cosplayers by the time I join the mass.

That first day I meet Tomska in the youtuber section and see the cast of Being Human (the UK version) during a panel as well as the cast of Outcast, a new TV show. We are allowed to see the pilot almost two weeks early and it's great, a bit on the creepy side and not for an easily frightened person.
Other than that I just walk around and take pictures with a few people. Sadly I forgot to get some cash and the line in front of the only cash machine is hugh, so I stick to getting a bagel to eat and leave any shopping to the next day.
The last place I visit is a small panel/interview of the voice actor of Finn the Human from the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. He - kind of - answers my question about what he would do if he could direct/write an episode. Well, he doesn't really answer it, since it would be a spoiler for the next season. Still a nice guy, though.

Day 2

Sunday starts at 11am which means more time to sleep. I take my Harley Quinn shorts with me, but put on my black jeans shorts and don't change them in the end. It's just way too comfortable.
That day I go to two panels I really want to see: One with the Big Bang Theory stars Melissa Rauch and Kunal Nayyar as well as Jesse Eisenberg. They talked about Jesse and Kunal's new theatre performance in London as well as the future of TBBT. They are all really nice and funny but drop hints of serious thoughts when it comes to their characters and their motivation.
The second panel is one about the DC TV show Arrow which is the last on of the day. Willa Holland and her co-star (I don't remember who, sorry) are funny and open about wanting caps and how much work everything is as well as how much of a prankster John Barrowman is actually. Great group.

Between the two I take a closer look in the Japan/Manga section which I kind of left out the day before. I take some Japanese candy with me as well as cute badges and a key chain. Then I go outsidee just to be met by a hugh group of other Harley Quinn cosplayers posing for pictures. Not just Suicide Squad Harley's, but also original ones, steam-punks, mixed, one cross-dresser and funily enough, a girl I met at Summer in the City almost a year ago. She recognized me, but anyway, how much of a coincident is that? I joined in on the pictures and then went on to the little music stage where a K-Pop band just finished up (at least I guess it was K-Pop, I'm not an expert).
Next came Make Out Monday, which features the voice actor from Adventure Times that I saw the day before. The band is really good, and I got a free CD as well as Tshirt, so I'm sure as hell not gonna complain.

After the set and only about 1,5 hours more to spare I went back inside and walked by the youtuber section once more when I saw another youtuber I like, Dean from Jack&Dean. He signed my Tshirt and we talked  bit about an upcoming project of theirs. He's a nice guy!
For some reason, the guy at the weapon store recognized me and I was really tempted to buy a katana or machete but I can't do that. How would I bring it to Germany after all?!

Conclusion

Some of the cosplayers really take it to the next level: a really convincing Mystique from the X-Men movies who must have been cold as hell, a Jack Sparrow who managed the right walk and mannerism, steam-punkers, Game of Thrones characters as well as other people in armour that looks too real to not be real are all over the place. And there are the clever ones, like Daredevil before he got his fnacy suit or superman in his normal undercover outfit. I wish I had taken more pictures.

In the end I would say that Comic Con is an event that's worth spending some money on. the tickets are really not expensive and you can have a lot of fun even of you don't get a picture with a celebrity (the panels are free at least!) or if you don't dress up. Hell, I would say even a non-nerd would have fun watching us get all excited about stuff.
Do yourself something good and relax for a day by letting your inner nerd out.

Mousetrap and the View from the Shard

You know what sucks?

Having plans in the evening and nothing to do until then.
Looking for Musical tickets but them being damn expensive.

That's what happened on Saturday. Our Au Pair group was looking for three musicals specifically - Wicked, Mamma Mia! and Les Miserable - but there was nothing to be done for less than 40 pounds. 40!

Turns out that wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to us as we finally managed to go and see Mousetrap, the longest running theatre play in London which is based on a story by Agatha Christie. I won't tell you who the murderer is, but it was one hell of a play. Really entertaining, especially if you like the books, movies or any old detective story. I even met two of the cast at the Starbucks outside (which is a great one, with waitresses and funny little charging stations!) and talked to them for a bit.

After that my friend and I didn't actually have a lot of time, so we grabbed a bit at McDonalds and took the bus to the Shard. The impressive glass skyscraper operated with two lifts that get you to the two top viewing plattforms in no time.

And wow. The view is definitely worth it. We were lucky enough that my friend got tickets for two for her birthday, but even so you should spent the money if you can effort it. You can see everything from up there. London is a rather flat city besides a few modern buildings, but even those don't compare to the tallest building in Western Europe.

Tipp for your time slot: go shortly before sunset. That way you get to see the city while the sky turns darker and darker with beautiful colours changing the landscape until you can see all sorts of light - cars, buildings, street lamps - lightening up the dark grounds.

We stayed up there for more than an hour even though we were sure there was some kind of time limit, but on the other hand, we were the last time slot available. When we drove back down we were able to see our picture that was taken at the very beginning cropped out and badly photoshopped into a View from the Shard and lets just say... keep our eyes open when taking the pic. You will regret it later if you don't.

The day ended with our group, now reconnected to the rest who went home for a bit while we were up in the air, sitting on the couch eating pizza, drinking champagne and laughing about a guy we nicknamed 'paint brush' on "Ex on the Beach". Really, a show worth watching when you get drunk.

St. Patricks Day

If you are planning to stay in London for St. Patricks Day, you should be prepared for a lot of people.
Though, only a few are actually dressed up apart from a bit of green make-up smears on their faces. I actually saw a few with green wigs, green dyed beards and hair and more unusual clothes.

And lets be honest, a lot of people see this holiday as an opportunity to get shitfaced. So if you have a problem with any of these you should find another activity.

Anyway, the first thing we saw after getting dinner was the parade at Picadilly Circus with several trucks including dance groups, bands, a marching band playing "Uptown Funk" and even a football team. In between smaller groups of Irish people and kids walked along, waving at the people behind the barriers. We came just in time to see a gigantic thing drive along, to this day I have no idea what it even is. Looked cool, though!

To my surprise, Picadilly Circus was still fairly empty at this point. Maybe because it was rather early or most of the visitors were standing somewhere else along the way. So we made our to Trafalgar Square where we finally found more people. At this point we were actually concerned that we were the only ones dressing up at least a bit. I mean, we actually painted our lips green with eyeliner, that's commitment right there!

Trafalgar Square had a gigantic stage. In the time I was there, which wasn't for very long to be honest, several bands performed a few songs each, mostly traditional Irish or at least with an Irish touch to it. The crowd was nice and there was still space to move around and breath, though I don't know how it got once it was late. To catch our breaths we took a break and went to Waterstones for a bit. Books are just relaxing, especially after standing in a already slightly drunk group of strangers. That's also the reason why I split up after and went to a comic book store instead of joining the others.

So no, sadly I can't say a lot about St. Patricks Day or spill some secret stories or tips. I don't like hugh crowds, even during concerts I can barely tolerate them. It's the feeling of being restricted and the difficulty to breath that I just can't stand. Not to forget that I wasn't feeling very social that day.
But, as always, I'm happy to have tried it. It was quite an experience after all, and I had a reason to wear my little green hat I got in Dublin in February. And the glances you get when you step into the tub with green lips was definitely worth it, too.

Musicals: Kinky Boots

(pic: thetimes.co.uk)

Kinky Boots. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Kinky Boots is a fairly new musical in London that three friends of mine and I decided to see last Saturday. With daytickets at only 25 pound it wasn't even too expensive (like some others).
Basically, the story is all about Charlie Price inheriting a bankrott shoe factory from his dad that he will probably have to close down. His plans to go to London with his fiance are destroyed as he has to try to save his fathers work. Then he meets Lola, a drag queen who complains about her shoes and how badly made they are. Charlie decides to start making 'kinky boots' for drag queens and manages to convince Lola to be the designer. They work together to overcome different obstacles like money shortage, prejudices and even a bit of love drama.

It's a wonderful show, I especially loved the singing and the costumes. The sassy and funny conversations made everyone laugh multiple times. I can really recommand it to anyone who wants to see something extraordinary.

Hindu Temple

Did you know that the biggest Hindu Temple outside Asia is located in London?

Yeah, me neither.

So when a friend of mine asked if we wanted to go there I was actually really surprised. Good thing I didn't have anything planned. With only three busses and a bit of waiting we made our way to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.

First thing you had to do was leave your bag outside the whole area and once you enter the building, you also had to get rid of your shoes. The entrance hall is very high, with beautiful wooden walls and carpets. Once you go to to through the left door you have the choice between a Hindu museum, which explains the origins and most important aspects of the religion as well as the temple itself, and the small praying hall. 

(pic from londonpass.com)

We went to the praying hall first, which is made of a very bright stone (marble as far as I remember) that is carved into small lovely details. Panels all around the room explain the importance of several deity and their relationship with one another. 

Don't forget to look up at the ceiling and the inside of the dome!

(pic from lbc.co.uk)

The museum (the only part of the temple you have to pay a small fee of 2 pound for) is a mix of explanations of how the religion was founded, which people and deity are the 'most important' or most commonly known and facts about when and how this specific temple was built. It's weird to know that it was built in just about three years. And lets not forget how advanced the people hundreds and even thousands of years ago were in maths, medicine, language and many more in comparision to Europe. Somehow it's easy to forget about all of that when you never really think or even learn about it.

So even if you are not the most religious person, you should definitely pay it a visit. It will be worth it. We can only truely understand and therefore accept other people when we open our minds to their believes and way of living and thinking. Ignorance is not acceptance after all.

Theatre

Jim Broadbent is a well known actor. To most young people he is Professor Kirke in Narnia or Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter. But he also playes in theatres!
His latest role is (was) that of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol in Central London.

It's a bit late now for a recommandation since me and my friends were there on Saturday for the second last performance. We got day tickets for the first row for only 10 pound; they are not exactly the best seats, but better than nothing. And who knows how much the actual good seats would cost.

Seeing the play was actually a huge coincidence! Our original plan was to go see a musical, our favorites being Mamma Mia! or Wicked. I arrived a bit early and started walking around when I saw the theatre A Christmas Carol was playing in. I already knew the theatre, it was the same I saw Daniel Radcliffe almost three years earlier in. I met the others and we decided to at least ask for ticket prices for the muscials. We could have gotten seats for Mamma Mia! for only 18 pounds (restricted view obviously). But we went with the theatre instead since, like I said, it was the last day. So four tickets for the afternoon show it was.

After getting lunch and walking around, we came back. And wow, it was truely amazing. Really funny, a bit ridiculous at times and the costumes were amazing. Props to the staff behind the scenes for that.
One of the funniest moments was when the entire cast broke the fourth wall and started packing away the equipment and later even threw chocolate coins into the crowd. Or was it the scene where Jim Broadbent confessed his love for a lady in the audience?

Great performance by everyone. Afterwards we went outside and to the stage door at the back of the building in the hope to catch some of the performers. We actually got three autographes! But we wouldn't get Jim Broadbent's until after the evening performance.

We actually didn't plan on staying so long after he didn't come outside in the afternoon, but we staying in CL for so long that we decided to try it. We spent the time eating Italian at Leichester Square, I had pasta and the others very well done pizza for a surprisingly low price considering the location. Then we went looking for a Shisha bar and eventually found one in a side street near Leichester Square station while looking for a different one. By the way, did you know there is a Starbucks that actually has people bringing you to your seat and taking your order? Fancy!
On our way to the tub station we figured out the evening performance of Christmas Carol was over and we decided to try it again. This time he had to come outside after all.
And yes, we got his autograph as well. I told him it was great, especially the breaking of the 4th wall, and then we left for good. Nothing exciting, but still a great memory (and yet another thing to show off with, lets be honest). If there is one place to meet famous people in Europe, it is definitely London.

fancy tea house

Planning an event before the day it actually happens would be a good thing for once.
So we decided to throw our plans overboard and go do something completely different!

Last sunday we spent the entire morning discussing on whatsapp what we were going to do. Our original plan was going to an indoor swimming pool, but we didn't really feel up to it and had to figure out what else there was. In the end, we went to the Horniman museum which filled with anything animal-related the owner collected on his trips around the world. There was also a small exhibition about Africa and it's history. But not only the museum itself is very nice - though you can't spent a lot of time in there, it's too small; the garden outside and the little pavilion you can  book for private events are worth a look, too.

After that we went to a little traditional tea house called La Chandelier and got, well, tea and pastries. I got a green flowerish tea, which is one of those flowers that open in the hot water. Combine that with a chocolate tartlet with raspberry inside and you have the perfect treat.
The tea house is very cute, with mismatching interior, a lot of flowers and small details that you don't immediately  pick up on. The tarts, tartlets and studels all looked very delicious. I would definitely recommand it.

Lumiere London

Last Saturday was a really, really cold day. Warmer than right now, but cold nevertheless. So when I met up with some of my friends at the Old Spitalsfield Market in the East End, I was really happy to grap a coffee before doing anything else. Not to forget the three nice girls giving out 'free hugs' with big smiles on their faces.
Even though I've been here for just about five months now (puh...) I've only been to the East End once before. I was there a few times in 2013, but that was two and a half years ago! It's quite far from my part of the city, so I never really bothered.

Now, I'm happy I was there again. Old Spitalsfield market is not the most interesting, but the food is so much the better. One thing I can really recommand is the Beef and Vegan Combo Mix from Habesha Ethiopian & Eritrean Kitchen, which is a bit on the spicy side and is a mix of everything you could want in a meal.

When you leave the market and go past the Ten Bells pub and then turn left, you will find youself in a street with great shops and restaurants and will soon arive at a market hall. Sadly, we were too late and everything was already removed, but I got my watch there two years ago and they have a lot of delicious food stands, too. One shop you should definitely visit is Blitz, you just haave to turn right into Hanbury Street. It's a vintage shop with a coffee shop within. I almost got myself green Doc Martens, but because they were too big I went for black leather converse - for 5 pound! They were on sale, don't expect everything to be that cheap, but it's worth a try.

Lumiere London is a small events over the course of a weekend that features several light shows all over the Central city. Starting at 6:30pm you can walk around from one point to the other - fight your way through the mass more likely - and see big floating fishes at Regent Street, a light garden illuminating Leichester Square, light-stickman making a show out of robbing a store and many more. It's not as wonderful as we all were led to expect by the posters, but it's worth a shot. Definitely avoid the most famous places like Leichester Square and Picadilly Circus of you can't handle too many people, but other than that you just have to be patient.

New Years Eve

This is going to be a really short entry because honestly, there isn't much different from what I am used to at New Years Eve. I went into Central London with an au pair friend of mine and went home when it was over.

First of all, remember to BUY TICKETS!
Very important if you want to go into Central London and have a good view of the fireworks around London Eye. This started last year apparently and is meant to regulate the number of people to prevent riots, hysteria and people camping outside to get a good spot. It's not expensive, only 10 pound, and the money goes to UNICEF, so you are even doing something good!

The City Centre is divided into different zones, each of them has a limited number of tickets. Because we didn't know that early enough we didn't get into the zones that were sold first, but we got tickets for the pink area - which means Waterloo Bridge.
It was really well organized, it didn't get long to get inside, there was a quick bag check (to sort out glas bottles and private firecracker) and then we were finished. Only three hours to wait....
Honestly, it was ok. Sure it was cold, but we moved a bit, there was music to dance to and the Nero at the end of the street was open to provide is with hot drinks and food as the food stands were way too expensive. Also, you had a lot of space, so don't worry about getting a good spot.

The countdown was projected onto a large building and the shouting started in the last ten seconds. The firework itself was amazing, different shapes and colours, some of which looked like they were exploding in slow motion. The smoke went with the wind so you had a more or less good view of the spectacle and the London Eye all the time.

After that we went to the nearest tub station (Charing Cross was closed so we went to Embarkment) which took some time obviously but nobody was too drunk or pushed. Also, we went into a direction that wasn't very crowded, others were less lucky. A nice bonus was that all public transport was free between midnight and 6am.

And that was it. Like I mentioned, nothing too interesting. I'm sure you can find a cool, edgy party somewhere and have a crazy night, but we just wanted to see the firework and get back into our beds.

Harry Potter Studio Tour!

What do you associate with England? The Queen, sure. The Beatles and One Direction maybe. The origin of the punk scene and afternoon tea. Charles Dickens and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Oh, and Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter euphoria started in 1997 and is still going strong. Books, additional books, movies, wands, clothes, action figures, whatever you want can be bought somewhere. But sometimes, you have to leave your house to get to an important milestone in the life of a wizard or witch... I mean fan!

One of those places is for sure the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden near Watford. Just a train ride away from London (best via Euston) you can get on the Harry Potter studio tour bus that drops you off right in front of the doors of a rather ugly yellowish building. But be careful, you need to buy your ticket in advance online!
I've already been there in 2013 and didn't plan on going again simply because it costs 33 pounds and I didn't think there would be anything new. But another au pair invited the rest of our group as part of a group organized by her agency. In the end, we were four people going.

I'm not going into too much into details about the tour/exhibition. The Great Hall was the same except for a few Christmas trees and that the food displayed was different. They had the in Britain usual Christmas crackers for each house, plum pudding with inpressive fire effects and of course the clothes from the different houses as well as some professors in the front. As a bigger fan of the books than the movies I again was very happy about the house point hourglasses in the back counting the house points.

The rest of the tour is a mix of costumes, probs and explanations. They show you how the floating candles work, the different wigs for the characters and tricks to make hallways look way longer than they are. Every once in a while a mini TV and the wall shows short film sequences of the main actors, but mostly Daniel Radcliffe, and other important persons like the producers talking about their experience on set and behind the scenes. At one point hree interactive marauder maps show you behind pictures of different rooms and how they were re-used. They also show you examples to explain the difference between visual and special effects.

Throughout the tour you can visit the Hogwarts Main Gate from part 6, the Gryffindor common room, the Boys dormitory, Dumbledores office, the potion classroom, the dining room of Malfoy Manor, the Burrow and Hagrids hut. There are also small sections of the Ministry Hall, Umbridges office, Borgin & Burkes and the Yull Ball. Everywhere in between there are small sections for things like armor, books, signs, skulls, Lupins suitcase and Crouch Jr. box where he keeps Mad Eye alive.

The last part of this half of the tour is an interactive one. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to sit on a broomstick, this is your chance! You get a maybe 40 seconds movie playing and an employee telling you what you have to do and how to move. It's really comfortable and you even have a Hogwarts cloak on which makes really good pictures (even though they are really expensive - take your parents with you!).

This was the main tour you could say. Two years ago you went straight outside after that, but by now they added another feature: King's Cross plattform 9 3/4 with the Hogwarts Express!
And you can actually walk through it. With compartments dedicated to the different school years you feel like you are actually on your way to another year of dangerous potions and Quidditch matches. There are also three parts where you can take photos that look like you are halfway through the wall. Right next to it is a sweets shop with Harry Potter themed candy.

After a quick lunch in the cafeteria we went outside. There are only 4 things: The Night bus, the creaky wood bridge that collapses in the last movie and the houses of the Dursleys and the Potters. This time even with soup fake snow coming out of the sky!

Back inside you get a look into the mask department. There you have everything from goblins, the Fenrir, to animatronics like Lupin's werwolf, Hagrid's head and Buckbeak. And like always, the staff is more than happy to answer questions.

Through the next door you walk straight into Diagon Alley. With Gringotts on one end and multiple stores left and right until you come to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I can't even discribe it, you actually have to see it yourself. You just feel like you are actually there to buy your wand or broom or just to get a few extra books.

Sadly, this was the last actual set. After this are only two more rooms with architecture sketches and small modells of different rooms and buildings like the Burrow or the Great Hall.
Talking about which, One last thing is there. And it's gigantic. And now, even covered in snow! A complete modell of Hogwarts that was actually used for flying and establishing shots. You can see small details like the telescope on the Astronomy tower, every little window and door (some even with light), trees and stones and connections you weren't aware of until now.

It is amazing. Now matter what, if you are a Harry Potter fan you are entitled to go and see this piece of art. It took us 6 hours to go through everything (Partly due to me taking too many pictures...) and I swear to god, you feel inspired and out of the world once you come out again. Maybe even with presents and souvenirs thanks to the fan shop in the end. Go and treat yourself with a bit of magic.