Ivan and Jen do Europe

Ivan met up with his friend Tom on the morning of May 18, 2010.  I got to sleep in a bit.  

I met Ivan at the Stratford train station.  Lil Dave stayed in Stratford to study for an upcoming Math test.  We went to Central London.  Ivan got the tickets for the musical Sweet Charity that we’d be seeing later.

We went to Satsuma for dinner.  Ivan had the chicken soba noodles while I had the king prawn & fish cake soba noodles.  It was a very tasty meal.

Ivan and I went to the musical Sweet Charity.  The lead Tamzin Outhwaite was sick so there was a stand-in.  The stand-in was excellent.  She didn’t mess up once.  The story is about a girl who a bit of a push-over and always falls for the wrong men.  It’s a really great musical.  The acting and the dancing was top notch.

Ivan, Lil Dave and I had Nando’s for lunch in Stratford on May 17, 2010. Ivan and I each had a peri peri chicken breast pita with pineapple.  We shared a nice red pepper dip.  I didn’t eat too much since I was still feeling sick.  Lil Dave had a banana sandwich with mild peri peri sauce.

We took a train to South Bank.  We would be going on a speed boat tour with London RIB Voyages. 

The lady gave Ivan and me jackets and life vests.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have monkey-sized jackets.  Lil Dave did put on a life vest though.  He doesn’t like water very much. 

Our group consisted of 8 people and 1 monkey.  I put on some goggles so my eyeglasses wouldn’t get wet.  The tour guide was a blonde lady.  She told us that we’d be going really fast on the River Thames.  Then, later on she would talk about the history of the river.

The speed boat went super fast.  Lil Dave had to hold to me otherwise he might have flown away.  The river was a little choppy today.  So, sometimes the boat jumped a little.  It was really fun going so fast.  The guide even played James Bond music while we were zooming along on the river.

We learned lots of interesting stuff about the River Thames.  It wasn’t good being a pirate.  If you got caught, they chained you in the river and you had to endure three tides.  Of course, if you were a privateer – you could do the same as a pirate, but you’d have to give some of your earnings to the Queen.  I also heard that River Thames is the cleanest river in Europe.  We all had a great time on our speed boat tour.

We went to Primark on Oxford Street.  Considering it’s a Monday, I thought Primark wouldn’t be as busy.  I was wrong.  It was still busy just not AS busy. It was still a mile long wait for the Ladies Changing Room.  Why is it that there’s always a long line for changing rooms and bathrooms if you’re a woman?  It’s just annoying.  They really need to make more changing rooms and bathroom stalls for women.  We returned a few things and I bought a couple things.

We went to Boots next.  I was coughing so I needed some chesty cough medicine.

That night, we had dinner at Koya.  It’s a new Udon restaurant.  You can get cold Udon noodles with hot broth or hot Udon noodles with hot broth.  Ivan got the hot Udon noodles with mackarel in a hot broth. 

I got hot Udon noodles with chicken and vegetables.  I thought it was good.  I had to add soy sauce and chili powder though.  I think the chili powder cleared my sinuses a little.  Lil Dave had Udon noodles with bananas.  He thought it tasted a bit odd.  I don’t think bananas are good in a soup.  Ivan thought the Udon noodle soup was just okay.  He prefers Udon noodles in a stir fry.

We stopped at Slug and Lettuce.  Ivan and I each had a glass of red wine.  Lil Dave got a banana juice.

Ivan, Lil Dave and I went to Leicester Square Theatre for The Magic Underground show.  It was presented by Christian Lee and Jerry Sadowitz.  Jerry Sadowtiz is a really awesome magician according to Ivan.  But, he’s very rude and weird.  Ivan thinks everybody in the audience was hoping he would show up.  The show was located in the very small basement.  There was probably about 25 people in the audience.

The first half of the show was good.  There was magic and also some comedy.  The magicians used people in the audience to help them out with their magic tricks.

There was an interval.  At the first half, they said Jerry might actually show up in the second half. 

The second half got worse.  Most of the magic wasn’t as good.  One funny part was when Wes Zaharuk pulled me out of the audience.  Wes put me behind him and I was playing his arms while he hid his behind his back.  I pulled gum out of his pocket.  I had to put the gum in his mouth.  I thought that since my arms are short and I’m very short that I wasn’t getting it anywhere near his mouth.  Ivan told me later that I was sticking the gum in his eye. I knew it didn’t feel right!  Then, he put the chewed gum (yes, his saliva and all!) and put it in my hand.  Gross!  The next part, I had to peel a banana.  Not an easy feat without seeing it.  Then, I had to feed it to him.  Ivan told me later that I was getting the banana right in his eye.  The banana broke off and fell to the ground.  The audience seemed to love it.  I went back to my seat.  The magician asked if I wanted to keep the banana as a souvenir.  I said yes and gave the remainder of the banana to Lil Dave.  He was such a happy monkey.

There was a young guy named Oliver who went on.  He did a trick word for word (even the same joke) as the magician Bill Malone.  It’s the Sam the Bellhop trick created by Bill.  He messed up twice doing the trick but he did finish it all the way through.  Next, he did a coin trick.  Well, he attempted to do it.  Then, he said No that won’t work.  I think because of the angle.  Then, Oliver just gave up and sat back down.  Pretty sad really.  He was so nervous.

The show was okay.  Jerry Sadowitz didn’t show up which I didn’t think he would.  Ivan could do better magic tricks than most of those magicians.  It’s sad to think that London doesn’t have better magicians.