Maximillian & Us

I bought a fish eye lense for my Lumix when we were in Hong Kong. Been trying out a few shots at home … I like the effect, so quirky.

I bought discounted tickets to see ‘The Sleeping Beauty” ballet in the Royal Opera House yesterday night, courtesy of BAT corporate membership. It only costs £48 to get orchestra stall seats which normally costs about £110. I managed to convinced Dav to come along as we have never seen a professional ballet performance. Plus Dav promised to try everything once.

Some background to this ballet (thanks to the ROH website):

One of the most lavish theatrical events of all time, the original St Petersburg staging of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890 was a spectacular illustration of the Russian Imperial style at its zenith. Today it remains the cornerstone of The Royal Ballet’s repertory. Ever since 1939, when Ninette de Valois first had the ballet staged in London for her young Vic-Wells company, it has become the emblem of British classical style. It wasThe Sleeping Beauty that was to reopen Covent Garden in February 1946, when the Company moved from Islington to the West End. It was also the debut performance for the Company’s very first tour to America. The opening night at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on 9 October 1949 was such a resounding triumph that both Time and Newsweek put Margot Fonteyn on their front covers.

The current staging, by Director Monica Mason in conjunction with Christopher Newton for the Company’s 75th Anniversary in 2006, pays homage to that famous 1946 production. With its huge cast, fairytale settings and glorious Tchaikovsky scoreThe Sleeping Beauty remains the very essence of classical grandeur.

The performance took 3 hours (yes, that long) but with 2, 20 minutes intervals. The ballerina costumes were so sparkly and pretty! On the other hand, man in tights is not a pleasant sight (esp for Dav, LoL). The tights they wore were sooo tight that it looks like they are not wearing anything! You can see their well sculptured leg and bum …. hahahahaha if you’re wondering how I saw that, we were seated 3 rows from the stage. So we had none obstructed view seats.

I would love to see Swan Lake or Nutcracker next… most likely will have to see it with my friends.

As the weather got better on Sunday, we decided to check out some photography exhibition in East London as it is the Photomonth this October and November. I got to know about this festival through my teacher. I was told that this festival takes place every year.

We visited 2 galleries:

1. Whitechapel Gallery – A beautiful newly renovated space, just beside Algate East Tube Station. All the exhibition is free to visitor (plus point!). We really like this gallery. We saw their main exhibition, Sophie Calle: Talking to Strangers. She’s a french artist, famous for her photographic and film installations.
2. NO:ID Gallery – We saw an exhibition of 3D photographic portraits. Amazing work by Jayne Taylor. We were really impressed with her work.

If you have some free time, I would really recommend these 2 galleries.

We’ve been back for one week now. I know there hasn’t been much update about the trip. I’ve been taken ill and Dav is just busy catching up with his PS3 games.

Anyhow, I have managed to complete 2 items (of course there will be more to come). Firstly, I have put together a listing of things we brought with us as a reference to anyone who is planning to do the same thing as a guide. Secondly, I have provided a brief overview of our journey starting from London to Moscow.

You can read them by clicking on the link below. The posts are also available under the “Trans-Siberian Trip” link on the top left hand corner of the blog.

• What We Pack – The Essentials
• Leg 1 – London to Moscow

Enjoy reading!

p/s: We will not be uploading any pictures in Facebook or on our blog. This is because we are uploading them to Dav’s Flickr account. We are still in the process of uploading all the pictures, but some of them are already in there. We will let you know once all the pictures from the trip is in there. Thanks for being patience!

Yes, I have completed the beginner’s photography class. In fact, the last class was held on the week we left for our trip.

Anyhow, the teacher conducted a competition among the students and organised an award ceremony. I was quite shocked to find one of my photograph got 1st prize for the ‘Best People’ category.

This is the award winning photograph – Dav, the thinker.

And I got a prize for it. This is what the teacher gave me.

A photo frame with a nice photograph in it. Happy!