London Still Rocks!

Last Monday,  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) was off to another spooky thing -  It Walks Around the House at Night  has an actor playing the ghost that inhabits a remote manor house, scaring visitors.. only to discover that he's not the only one there! Mwah-hah-haa.. Showing at  Southwark Playhouse  ( SP ).  My sometime dinner companion suggested we eat afterwards, it being over early - as I suggested, we could try the   Mercato , although it was closed   last time   we tried to do that, despite the website saying it'd be open much later! So I left later - has been a feature all this week, and is very handy for organising myself! Arrived right after our organiser, and managed to give her a jump scare as we approached the box office. :-) We got a table in the bar, and the others arrived in due course. The Barbie doll on the bar is now wearing a paper boat as a hat.. I fully meant to get a picture, but was a bit rushed, trying to navigate...

So, last night saw me with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Cockfosters , at the Southwark Playhouse  (SP) (Borough). I booked this on the Pay as you Go subscription - which I recently renewed: and I have to urge you, if you want the same, to hurry and take one out, because they're not accepting any new applications after the end of the year! Provides a discount and never expires - well worth it. Well, I headed off early to grab something to eat in Mercato Metropolitano  (MM) - but lordy, what's happened to the place?! I know it's some months since I was last there - but every place I used to like to eat has disappeared! The katsu places, the pasta place - even the good burger place, which I tended to avoid because they didn't provide cutlery. At least the wine bar is still going.. I finally plumped for an Indian street food stall , and ordered butter chicken. Unusually for here, he didn't give me a beeper, just said it'd be 5-7 minutes. Hmm.. well, I got m...

Ah, the end of the blog backlog is nigh.. So! After the film list coming in late - and me spending an inordinate amount of time on it, in case I wanted to use it as a reference for this week's films - I didn't use it at all! despite spending the entire weekend actually going to films. With Movie Roadhouse London , who picked rather well for me. Last night, the choice was the British Documentary Film Festival , at the Close-Up Cinema  - tickets with Eventbrite . Now, the last time I was there was for last year's American Horror Film Festival .. this year's was on Friday , but of course I was otherwise occupied. And last time I was here, I ate in Cinnamon - booked there again this time, and remembered to bring a bottle, as they don't have wine in-house. ..Except, when I got there, it was closed. Now, I remember this from before, and that they have joined with an adjoining restaurant - I just couldn't remember which! Well, wouldn't you know it, I picked the w...

These two days are with  Meetup . This evening, back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  - this time, at  Southwark Playhouse , for  The Frogs . Based on a play by  Aristophanes , this version actually has music and lyrics by  Stephen Sondheim . Got a free ticket on my  PAYG  subscription. Funnily enough, also starting tonight in the other theatre there was  Who Is Claude Cahun?  starring  Amelia Armande , who was at the  storytelling .. and promoting it.. Planned to eat beforehand, as usual, in Mercato Metropolitano - which I could walk to. Except.. firstly, I left it a little late (ooh, surprise!) and secondly, it was too damn hot to walk for half an hour. So I was on the bus - and just in time for it, again. Made it to the Mercato in good time - the Wine Bar, I see, has changed their menu of wines by the glass! Gone is the Albarino - I had Sauvignon Blanc instead. Had to go to the back to order it, where I found all the sta...

Tonight, back with   Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) - this time, at  Southwark Playhouse , for  Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll , the true story of a  rockstar  who was told he had a limited time to live, only to defy the predictions. Well, for here, Mercato Metropolitano is always my go-to for food. I was delighted to discover it's under half an hour's walk from me! Never checked before. So, off I set, in brilliant sunshine (although still not that warm). A lovely evening for a walk, you might say - except that, with the sun in my eyes most of the way, I could neither see where I was going, nor see my phone, to see where I was headed! Google Maps did lead me through a fascinating warren of backstreets though. Arriving at last, I was dubious about what to eat; I'm a massive fan of katsu, but didn't much like the katsu rice bowls I'd been getting here - more rice and veg than chicken, and a miniscule amount of sauce. So I was delighted to find anot...

Tonight, back with  Up in the Cheap Seats  (UITCS) for  Son of a Bitch  at  Southwark Playhouse . As usual, I availed of their excellent-value  Pay As You Go  offer, £75 for five productions, no time limit.. I was coming from the office, bag on my back. I'd had a lot of exercise today with that bag, the bus stopping short and leaving me with a 15-minute walk. And lo, I had the same walk in the evening, the same bus not predicted to stop nearby for another half hour! And as usual, I was in something of a rush - I'd stayed on a bit later than intended, having a lot to do, and I did want to grab something to eat beforehand. Well, I didn't do too badly - made it to Mercato Metropolitano for 6.15 - where, handily, the bag check didn't extend to my laptop bag - located a katsu stand and got a glass of albarino from the wine bar. The katsu sauce was lovely - what little there was of it - and the chicken coating gorgeously crispy - what little there was of i...

Wow, have I been busy..  Safely back from Romania on Sunday, and after a much-needed lie-in, I had booked with  Cultureseekers  for the  Charlie Chaplin Guided Walk . Finishing at  The Jolly Gardeners Pub . But you know - subsequently,  Over 40 Living the Life  advertised a trip to the  Immigrant Comedy Show  at the  Camden Comedy Club . And I was likely to have a better time with them than with Cultureseekers - which I hadn't yet paid for.. so I booked for that instead. Could technically have gone to both, but I couldn't be a***d. And this gave me a chance to try out the food at the  Blues Kitchen Camden , which is right across the  road .. Ah, the buses, the buses.. I had to change buses, and one not only had to change drivers (I am so often privy to that long-drawn-out ceremony), but stopped "to even out the gaps in the service". TWICE!! No surprise that I was a bit late to the Blues Kitchen. Now, this is one of those busin...