U.K - Stratford-upon-Avon (May 2014)

Stratford-upon-Avon was our first place for accommodation, and we stayed at the Penryn Guesthouse for three nights. From here, we not only visited the main places of attraction for Stratford-upon-Avon, but also drove to Moreton-in-Marsh (around half an hour drive).

Accomodation

Penryn Guest House

Penryn Guest House

We stayed here for three nights, and it cost us £218.70 (S$459.27) in total. It comes with free wifi too.

Our room at Penryn Guesthouse

The room was quite clean and spacious, and was one of the best rooms during our trip. 

Breakfast

The breakfast (included in the price) here was pretty impressive. Every night we would fill up a form, specifying what we would like for breakfast the next day and our preferred breakfast timing. 

Address: 126 Alcester Road, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 9DP, United Kingdom
Website: www.penrynguesthouse.co.uk

Attractions

Due to Stratford-upon-Avon being the birthplace of William Shakespeare, the attractions here were mainly focused around Shakespeare. We bought the Five-House Pass, which granted us entry to Anne Hathaway's Cottage & Gardens, Hall's Croft, Mary Arden's Farm, New Place & Nash's House, Shakespeare's Birthplace, and Shakespeare's Grave (as a bonus).

As reference, Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife, Mary Arden his mother, John Hall his son-in-law, and Thomas Nash the first husband of his granddaughter.

Mary Arden's Farm

My initial thought was that this should be more of an 'exhibition' of the farm. But I turned out to be wrong - pleasantly wrong, to be exact. Rather than just preserving the farm, they have occupied it and run it. People were doing the traditional farm chores around the farm. At the farmhouse kitchen, there were people cooking (over a fire too, without using gas or electricity). And there were other activities to entertainment guests, like archery and falconry displays.

The rickyard

Chickens and ducks roosting within the enclosure

The Dovecote

This was made of local limestone rubble, and has more than 650 nesting holes for pigeons. Just imagine the amount of bird droppings here if it was still occupied...

The dining area of Palmer's farmhouse

The farmhouse kitchen

Here's where they do their cooking. In the spirit of the Tudor times, they actually gather firewood and start the fire in the very traditional way. I asked one of the kitchen helpers whether they have cheated before, and she admitted that yes, they have done so before, but only very rarely. The last time they used gas or a lighter was because the firewood was too wet, and they couldn't start the fire despite trying for more than two hours.

Elly, at the Tudor farmyard

Elly was very well groomed. The stable hand explained that they groom her everyday, and we could see the great care and affection they had for Elly while grooming her.

This is definitely the hairiest pig I have ever seen.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage & Gardens

Anne Hathaway's Cottage is very picturesque - the beautiful gardens and grounds are splashed with greenery, shrubs and flowers.

The garden at Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Approached by a cat at the arboretum

This cat emerged from the bushes while I was standing in the middle of the arboretum. With eyes and footsteps filled with purpose, he strode towards me with no hesitation at all. Once he reached, he promptly flopped over for a belly rub - which I gladly obliged.

Actually, I felt as if I had been manipulated by the cat.

At the Woodland Walk

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

The Hathaway Bed

Beds were a luxury in the past, and Shakespeare actually has two. This was actually the 'second-best' bed, as during those times, the best bed was usually reserved for guests.

Shakespeare's courting chair

On this oak and walnut panel-back armchair, the initials "W A S" were carved and stands for "William and Anne Shakespeare". It was supposedly the chair which Shakespeare used while courting Anne Hathaway. However, it is widely accepted that this is probably untrue.


Shakespeare's Birthplace

The entrance was definitely misleading, as it looked so new and modern that I thought it was just an exhibition hall. But fortunately, everything went back to the Shakespearean era after we went in. This included the house he was born and grew up in, but it was actually more of an exhibition that included other things like pictures, timelines of his life, his family tree, and various stories.

  

 Wall-mounted metal discs depicting Shakespeare's works

There was a wall book outdoors, which showed cartoon illustrations and summaries of his works. Took some pictures of the more well-known ones below.

Romeo & Juliet wallbook 

The Merchant of Venice wallbook

Hamlet wallbook

King Lear wallbook

Macbeth wallbook

Hall's Croft

John Hall was the husband of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna. As a physician, he was very wealthy, as shown from his large house with its luxurious rooms and decorations.

Hall's Croft

Timber during those times was very expensive, and a house having more timber pillars can be seen as a symbol of wealth. Hall's Croft had many more pillars than the average person's pillars (just in the front though - the back had significantly fewer pillars because no one could see them).

One of the bedrooms in Hall's Croft

Hall's Croft Gardens

New Place & Nash's House

Nash's House was very well-preserved, and the ground floor has been furnished, as much as possible, as it should have been during Nash's times. Right beside the house lies the foundations of New Place, which was actually a house bought by Shakespeare. It was the second biggest place in Stratford at that time, an indication of Shakespeare's success as an established playwright.

We learnt from the guide that after Shakespeare had passed away for some time, Reverend Francis Gastrell bought over New Place. He was someone who had no love for Shakespeare and purchased the place as a normal property and not because of its links with Shakespeare. In time, he became sick of visitors and destroyed the mulberry tree in the garden - which was supposedly planted by Shakespeare himself. That incurred the wrath of the public. Gastrell also used his religious beliefs (as an excuse?) to avoid paying tax, and in the end, in a final act of spite, he demolished the place in 1759 and hastily left town.

A picture of how the place should have looked like in the past

The beautifully lush flower garden

The deeper part of the gardens

Shakespeare's Grave

Shakespeare's Grave was located at the Holy Trinity Church, and admission was free with our five-house pass.

The graves are on the bottom of the picture. From left to right, the graves of Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare, Thomas Nash, John Hall, and Susannah Shakespeare

The grave of the poet William Shakespeare

The epitaph was written by Shakespeare himself, and the words are:

Good frend for lesvs sake forbeare,

To digg the dvst encloased heare.

Bleste be  man  spares thes stones,

And cvrst be he  moves my bones.

A quick check showed that in modern English, the words could be translated to:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man who spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Dining

The Opposition Bistro

The Opposition Bistro

We expected much more from this place actually, due to its high ratings and good reviews on Tripadvisor. It turned out to be so-so, not bad but nowhere near what we had expected.

Duo of home-made chicken liver pate & coarse country terrine, £6.75 (S$14.18)

Both the liver pate and terrine were quite flavoursome, though the pate could be a bit smoother.

Lamb meatballs with grilled aubergine and mint yoghurt, £6.25 (S$13.13)

The presentation of this dish was quite intriguing - it looked like an island. Can you see it? The meatballs were quite fresh, and the mint yoghurt went rather well with it.

Pork fillet & slow roasted pork belly with creamed potato  savoy cabbage, £13.75 (S$28.88)

This was my main dish. This was still quite all right. The pork fillet was quite savoury, but it's a pity the pork belly skin wasn't crispy enough.

Penne pasta with roasted aubergine & mild chilli sauce with mozzarella, £9.75 (S$20.48)

Maybe it was due to it being a vegetarian dish... but we thought this was very unappetising. It was just so bland and boring. There just wasn't any incentive to eat the next bite, and we left it unfinished.

Address: 13 Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6EF, United Kingdom
Website: www.theoppo.co.uk

Il Moro

Came here for dinner. As we were early, we managed to get the pre-theatre set dinner, which was a bit cheaper than the normal set dinner. Prices below are for individual dishes ordered separately.

Salmon carpaccio, rocket, capers & lemon, £7 (S$14.70)

Nothing much to say about this, as it can be prepared rather easily (and is hard to screw up). It did taste quite good, though.

Pork Ripieno, Pecorino cheese, pancetta & rocket £15 (S$31.50)

This was pretty OK and was the best dish for the night. The pork was delicious, and the cheese and rocket served as good accompaniments.

Sardinian Fregola, Mediterranean shellfish, tomato & chilli sauce, £9 (S$18.90) for small portion

For a small portion, this was quite value-for-money. It was just average though - the sweet taste of fresh seafood was lacking, and the sauce didn't have that 'fresh' taste.

Mascarpone & coffee tiramisu, £6 (S$12.60)

I found this to be a bit too dry and dull.

Address: 33 Greenhill Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6LE, United Kingdom
Website: www.ilmoro.co.uk

Loxleys Restaurant & Wine Bar

This was even higher rated on Tripadvisor. But it was a bigger let-down compared to The Opposition Bistro. I wouldn't say that the food sucked - but it definitely did not make an impression. At least we got the pre-theatre set dinner, so we did pay a little less. Again, the prices quoted below were for individual orders.

"Loxley's" Buffalo Wings, £7.25 (S$15.23) for four wings

There were three levels of spiciness for this - Spicy BBQ, Extra Hot, and Asian. Of course I took the Asian. What else would it be? And naturally, it wasn't spicy at all. Pfft. The chicken was also a bit dry, so... I found the dish to be a bit disagreeable overall.

Cream of broccoli, £4.95 (S$10.40)

This was thin and insipid. Enough said.

Oven-baked Lasagne Al Forno, £10.50 (S$22.05)

This was glazed with a layer of parmesan cheese, and came with some focaccia garlic bread. For lasagne, I thought it was too light and not rich enough. Maybe that's why it's under the 'Light Meals' section of the menu...

Salmon fishcakes, £11.95 (S$25.10)

The fishcakes came with pickled fennel, wild rocket, capers, and drizzled with lime vinaigrette. The salmon didn't taste as though they were freshly mashed to make the fishcakes, so once again, this was another unsatisfying dish.

Address: 3 Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6EF, United Kingdom
Website: www.loxleysrestaurant.co.uk

U.K - Oxford (May 2014)

Oxford was our first stop after we landed at London (Gatwick Airport). Collected our rental car from Hertz, and after the initial unease in driving a manual car after so long, we cruised off (albeit a bit jerkily) to Oxford. 

It was a rather brief stopover at Oxford - just for lunch, a walk along their main streets, and a tour around the colleges before going to Stratford-upon-Avon.

Streets of Oxford

Streets of Oxford

Attractions

Footprints Tours

We originally wanted to go for the Footprints Tours, but didn't manage to make it. The bicycle here was the meeting point for the tour at specific hours of the day. So we settled for Oxford Walking Tours instead, which cost us £10 (S$21.00) each. The tour was focused on the various colleges of Oxford University.

Courtyard of Exeter College

A bust of J.R.R Tolkien

Chapel of Exeter College

On the way to Brasenose College

Dining hall of Brasenose College

At the chapel in Hertford College - William Tyndale

Courtyard of Balliol College

Dining hall of Balliol College

U.K (May 2014)

15 days.
1,500 km of driving.
10 different places.
13 types of cuisines.

This basically summed up my trip to the U.K. We flew by Emirates, which cost S$1,141 per pax due to a promotion. And in U.K, we visited the following places in this order:

• Oxford
• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Moreton-in-Marsh
• Warwick
• Blackpool
• Windermere
• Carlisle
• York
• Bicester
• London

This was our first self-drive trip, and it was definitely a great new experience - the feeling of being free, travelling in comfort, enjoying watching the grass and sky. I was practically intoxicated with euphoria. The ease of driving there certainly helped, and the drivers there tend to give way, instead of how it is in Singapore.

We rented a car from Hertz, and since we wanted to save a bit on costs, I chose the cheapest car available. It turned out to be a Vauxhall Corsa, 1.2 litres, on manual transmission, and costs us around 300 pounds for 10 days. I was a bit apprehensive about driving a manual vehicle - it had been 12 years since I last drove one, after all - but the cheapest car on automatic transmission was twice the price, at 600 pounds. So I went for the Vauxhall Corsa. It was a bit lacking in power, but for the cost savings, we were more than happy with it. It was really just nice for the two of us, as the boot (which was quite small) and the back seats were totally occupied by our luggage.

Our rental car at Lake District

Returning the car at London

And the different cuisines we tried there were British, American, Indian, Turkish, Italian, Szechuan, Brazillian, Cantonese, Thai, Greek, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The weather was also quite comfortable, ranging from about 8 to 18 degrees Celsius.

Here are the blog links to each place we visited in the U.K.

Oxford

Stratford-upon-Avon

Moreton-in-Marsh

Warwick

Blackpool

Windermere

Carlisle

York

Bicester

London

Honey-mustard salad dressing

Ingredients:

1 cup of mayonnaise
0.5 cup of honey
0.25 cup of finely chopped white onions
0.25 cup of white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of fine parsley
Salt
Black pepper


Instructions:

1) Just one step - blend everything until it is smooth.

Chaliapin Steak

Chaliapin Steaks (Serves 2)

I first read about this from the manga Shokugeki no Soma, and seeing that it was made from cheap ingredients (the main character used discounted beef steaks from the supermarket and won against his opponent, who used grade A5 beef), I decided to give it a try. I searched for a full recipe online though (instead of following the manga) and modified it slightly.

Why is it called Chaliapin? Well, in 1932, the Russian opera singer, Feodor Ivanich Chaliapin, was touring Japan when he suffered a toothache. He requested for a tender steak, and this dish was created for him. Thereafter, it became known as the Chaliapin Steak.

Ingredients:

2 sirloin steaks
1 whole white onion, chopped into fine bits
1 clove of garlic, chopped into fine bits
2 tablespoons of butter
35ml of mirin
35ml of soya sauce
0.5 teaspoon of white vinegar
Parsley
Sea salt
Black pepper


Instructions:

1) Use the back of the knife to dig some net lines on the steak.

2) Pound the steak to stretch and tenderise it.

3) Season both sides of the steak with some sea salt and black pepper.

4) Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet under low heat, then add the onion and garlic. Fry it for around 4 to 5 minutes until it turns slightly brown.

5) Add the mirin and soya sauce and cook for another half a minute, then add the vinegar. After a while, transfer the mixture to a separate bowl.

6) Melt 1 tablespoon of butter under medium heat, then fry the steaks. Fry it for 1 min 45 seconds on each side (for medium rare), then remove.

7) Add the onion mixture back and fry it with the steak's juices for just a while.

8) Top the steaks with the onion mixture, add the parsley on top, and serve.

The steaks turned out really delicious! After taking a closer look at the manga, I realised that some steps were different, namely:

1) They left the raw chopped onion on the steak first before seasoning it with salt and pepper

2) They fried the steak first, then used the juices to fry the onion

Will try their version again soon and see if it's better!

D-I-Y lah

I had lunch with a friend recently, and she mentioned that just several days ago, she was taking a taxi with her two kids. The taxi driver appeared to be rather odd and eccentric - his driving was a bit unsteady, he didn't seem to have his eyes on the road most of the time, and he kept on having his head bowed down, as if he was doing something at his waist level (she suspected that he was peeing into a bottle, but also clarified that there was no pee smell in the taxi).

My friend said she was terrified. Not just for herself, but for her kids. So I asked if she tried talking to the taxi driver to capture his attention. 

"No I didn't! I refuse to speak to him, he is such a weirdo!" she cried.  

"Then what did you do?" I asked.

"I prayed."

Somewhere at the back of my mind, I felt like telling her off. When you are able to try something to alleviate the situation, why not do it yourself? Don't just pray and push everything to your God!

If I were God, I would definitely be damn pissed and wish that humans would just stop pushing every little trivial thing to me.

Lugansky Plays Rachmaninov (22 Mar 2014)

Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall
Conductor: Jean-Claude Casedesus
Pianist: Nikolai Lugansky

Programme:

Dmitri Shostakovich - Festive Overture, Op.96
Sergei Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18
Maurice Ravel - Pavane for a Dead Princess
Claude Debussy - La Mer

A performance on Rachmaninov's famous Piano Concertos tends to draw quite a lot of attention, and today the concert hall was rather packed (for a classical music concert). The further seats on the higher floors were also quite filled, and even the seats behind the stage had to be opened up.

Quite a full turnout tonight

I haven't heard Shostakovich's Festive Overture before. According to the concert booklet, Shostakovich was approached to write this overture just two days before the 37th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. 

'With the concert just two days away, Vasily Nebolsin, a conductor with the Bolshoi Theatre, paid a visit to Shostakovich's apartment:

"Dmitri Dmitriyevich," he said, "we are in a tight spot. We've got nothing to open the concert with."

"All right," replied Shostakovich, "I'll write the overture in no time at all."

"Then," according to a friend who was at Shostakovich's apartment at the time, "he started composing. The speed with which he wrote was truly astounding. He was able to talk, make jokes and compose simultaneously, like the legendary Mozart. He laughed and chuckled, and in the meanwhile work was underway and the music was being written down." As each page was completed, a courier rushed it to the Bolshoi, and the performance went ahead, as scheduled, on 6th November 1954 to great acclaim.'

Such a genius! The short time frame at which he finished the piece was already astonishing, but the fact that he could do so while not being totally focused was truly awe-inspiring as well. The piece was filled with energy, and its festive theme makes it a perfect piece for a celebration. The SSO performed this piece with unusual precision and coordination - something which I don't see very often, especially from their woodwind section. 

The highlight of the show, Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, was performed by Nikolai Lugansky, a Russian pianist who, according to Wikipedia, had managed to learn a Beethoven piano sonata completely by ear and perform it from memory before he had even started to learn the piano. He was only five years old that time.

Lugansky is obviously someone who likes to express his music more visibly. His body movements and hand gestures were larger than the other pianists I have seen, especially during passages that involved lots of powerful chords. The first eight mournful chords were delivered well enough to draw in the audience immediately, though from the fourth chord onwards there was a drastic change in body language that startled me slightly. His playing was free but still within control, according respect to the conductor to allow his guidance. There was one part where he surged out of control though - during the climax of the first movement which involved both hands playing the same chords, he slowed down considerably, apparently to give more emphasis to this passage. But the orchestra and conductor were obviously taken aback by this, and were initially ahead of Lugansky significantly. It took them around four to five seconds - which seemed a lifetime - before they adjusted to his new tempo. 

The second and third movements were delivered quite well, and Lugansky ended the concerto on a triumphant note which brought thunderous applause from the audience. The response was so positive that he gave two encores; the first I do not know, but the second was Chopin's Etude No.8 in F major Op.10, a fast piece which involved non-stop arpeggios from the right hand running up and down the piano, while the left hand delivered the main melody firmly. I was very impressed with this piece; Lugansky played with outstanding precision and neatness, with perfect control over the tempo and expressions as well.  

The Straits Times app

Being a daily user of the Straits Times app, I am extremely peeved by how lousy the app is. For one thing, it crashes frequently - I would estimate around 3 times a week? But what really drives me nuts is its advertisements.

I have no issues with advertisements - as long as it doesn't hinder the reading experience. The app, however, seems to utilise the age-old "IN-YOUR-FACE" method of displaying ads. As you browse through the articles by swiping, a full-page ad will appear, and you will need to swipe it away. By itself, it is still not too irritating, but Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) obviously doesn't want to leave it at that. Some ads cannot be swiped away - you would need to tap the X button (which is not always located at the top right). Some ads need to be swiped in order for the user to interact with it - so instead of shoving it away, you end up being engaged involuntarily with the ad. And to top it up, swiping away the ads sometimes swipes away one or two pages of the newspaper too, such that you end up skipping one page of articles, sometimes unknowingly.

Recently, pages in the articles also become blank. When you go to the second page of the article, nothing appears, and you would need to close the article and open it again to try again. Which of course doesn't work all the time. There was once I tried around six times before the text in the second page appeared. 

But I finally found a simple way to solve all the advertising issues. Just two magical words - Airplane Mode. Once this is engaged, all ads disappear - and so do all the technical issues related to the ads! So what I do now is to access the app for it to download the articles, then I turn on airplane mode. My reading experience has since improved exponentially.