Over the weekend

Bear with me, this is a long one:

Friday was a fun/long/slightly hectic work day. I went on my first shoot, and had to get up around 6:30 to make my trains to get from Chiswick (West London) to Croydon (South East London) by 8:30.

We're doing a hidden camera show about finding the best deals on electronics and appliances, and the presenter goes into shops and tries to haggle the best deal. It almost felt like a heist, because we had a stakeout at a pub with all our equipment, including three camera bags with little pinhole lenses, and everytime we went in to do a deal we called it a 'sting.' The one thing that was hectic was that we had trouble finding enough shops that would give us permission to shoot video, because even though we're doing it covertly we still need permission from each place and person to use the video, and after the 'sting' a real cameraman goes in and talks to the employees and takes shots of the store. I almost feel like I'm saying too much because of the covert nature of the show, but it's not like I'm working for the CIA or MI5 (or am I?).

The shoot ended around 6, with most things going alright and a few not so good, but it was pretty fun nonetheless. I was so wiped out that I called it an early night, but that also meant I could do more the next day.

Saturday morning I went to the reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. As you can see from the pic, they really tried to recreate what the theatre would have looked like in the 17th century, down to the materials used and how things were constructed. I wish I could see an actual production there to really experience it, but the tour guide was really knowledgeable about the place and a drama class happened to use the stage when we were there.

From there I went to All-Hallows-by-the-Tower, a church dating back to the 600s but suffered major damage during the Blitz. I was pretty much the only tourist in there at the time, and so after I asked the priest where I could go, he gave me about a 1 hour personalized tour complete with history of the church and the city of London. It was pretty cool and nice of him, but it was a little awkward as well and he kept on trying to quiz me about certain aspects of London history or a 'what does this look like to you' kind of questions.

From there I went to Sir John Soane's museum, and it was probably the first time I've had to wait in line (or queue, as they call it) for more than 5 minutes for anything in London so far. That says a lot about the quality of places I've been to, most of them free to the public. I'm sure that if I went to Madame Tussaud's to see the wax figures, that'd be a different story, both in that there are long lines and is terribly expensive.

Sir John Soane's museum is basically taking the British Museum, which holds a lot of artefacts from Ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, which holds plaster casts of sculptures and artefacts from Elizabethan and Victorian times, and putting them both into this one crazy guy's house. Sir John Soane was a 19th century architect who designed the Bank of England among other things, and apparently he had enough money to go around buying Egyptian sarcophaguses (sarcophagi?), famous paintings and sculptures and put them all in his house for display. A few things were roped off for refurbishment, which seems to be a recurring theme in this city.

I also went to the world famous (?) Harrod's department store, just to see what the fuss was about, and after looking at £10,000 watches I got pissed off about materialism/capitalism and had to leave the store for my own peace of mind. Outside the shop were some protestors handing out flyers to boycott the store because they use animal furs. I'd boycott them just because I don't have the money to buy anything worthwhile in there.

That night I went to a former coworker's party, and spent much of the night on the rooftop terrace freezing my arse off to enjoy the view of the city and chat it up with some guys from the newspaper. A few beers and one slightly spontaneous acoustic guitar jam session later, I was back on the bus home to hear that the Badgers had won the national championship! It was a little difficult to express my excitment while not wanting to disturb anyone on the bus.

The next day I went to the Old Spitalfields Market in East London. I must say it was probably the most original of any of the markets I've been to, though again most items are pandered to women. I did splurge and buy two Rock 'n' Roll T-shirts, though I still had money left on my gift card so I didn't feel too bad about spending money.

The East End has traditionally the cheapest housing in London, and it's where lots of immigrants come first. While this brings a lot of cosmopolitanism to London and vibrancy to the markets, they also have problems with crime and poverty in this area.

From the market I went to the Whitechapel Art Gallery, though most of it was blocked off for refurbishment (again, a recurring theme). The one place that was open was a big white room with some photographs and a few TV sets playing a loop of a video that recreated a panel of people who were interviewed for a 1970s Playboy article. Kinda weird.

From there I tried to make my way to another art gallery in the area, only to find that it was closed for refurbishment. Frustrated, I made my way home before receiving a free dinner that night.

My friend Jenny came to visit from Madrid with her dad, and we went to a wonderful Lebanese restaurant. We ordered a huge meat sampler platter and the food just kept on coming, down to a huge fruit plate and desserts like Baklava with some mint tea at the end. We were so full that Jenny and her dad were able to put the fruit in a small bag to take back to their hotel for the next day.