Pancake Day

It was Shrove Tuesday, also called Pancake Day in the UK. My British friend didn't tell me the meaning of the day, but taught me how to cook pancake. I followed it; sprinkling of granulated sugar and lemon juice on pancake. Just before Pancake Day, particular bottles of lemon juice were sold out at the supermarket. I was sure it must be popular recipe and actually a pancake with sugar and lemon juice tasted very nice:)

Coppelia

My friend has recommended that I watch ballet ever since I came to England and finally I found a show playing in the city centre. I found an advertisement in a newspaper and it said “introduction to ballet offer: bring a friend for free”. The word “free” caught my eye, but they also had some small text. I wasn’t sure whether I could get a free ticket or not, but it was worth asking at the ticket office. When I asked about the “introduction to ballet offer” the person told me “it’s buy one get one free”. Yes, that was what I expected to hear and this expression was much easier to recognize, sometimes discount information is described in a more complicated way on purpose. Anyway this time I got two tickets for one price without a problem. Coppelia is a French ballet but it was performed by Ellen Kent Russian Ballet in Manchester; what an international event!

I went to the Saturday matinee show where the majority of the audience was elderly people. The show had another promotion where children got free entry so there were lots of grand children. In general, grand parents spoil their grandchildren so some kids kept eating snacks with a crackling noise during the show but some kids seemed to be wishing to become a ballet dancer, they danced in the aisles during the break between acts: they were adorable!

The show was formed with three acts; the first two acts were performed by following the story: so their costume weren’t typical ballet costumes like when I watched “Swan Lake” on TV. They wore flexible but rather normal costumes and it helped me to understand that ballets were born from a part of Opera. The theatre I went to watch it at was also called “Opera house” so the stage looked a bit small for a ballet performance but it might be closer to the original idea. The story was performed using ballet dancing and orchestral music so it was simple and easy to follow, at least I didn’t feel any language barrier. The third act was exactly what I expected for a ballet performance: women wore tutus which I like and the cast were dancing in solos, pairs and groups. I’m new to watch ballet performances so I love this typical form of it.

This was a really good opportunity to watch something good at an affordable price. My friend told me if she bought the same ballet performance ticket in Japan it would cost approximately 50pounds per person; however I got my two tickets for 13pounds. I’ve already found the same promotion tickets for an Opera in March it costs a bit more than ballet but still it’s good value if I think about the price in Japan.

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day was on Saturday and I spent the day as usual; I went to the supermarket to do some grocery shopping and watched a DVD at home. I saw some Asian people selling roses on the road and it was the only difference I noticed all day. I didn’t plan anything special on Valentine’s Day, I borrowed “Memento” which wasn’t a good choice for a special day, still I enjoyed watching it with my husband. If my friend who loves romantic events knew this is what I did, she would kill me. She told me she made a reservation at a fancy restaurant for Valentine’s Day, perhaps it’s the typical fancy way to spend Valentine’s Day in England. I remember many restaurants were fully booked last year.

On the other hand, I didn’t forget Japanese custom; I sent chocolate to my father. Thanks to a wonderful idea from a chocolate factory in Japan, on Valentine’s Day “women send a chocolate to men”. In England, many shops started to sell fancy gifts for Valentine’s Day at the beginning of February, not only women but men buy chocolates, wine, flowers and perfume. It surprised me when I bought chocolate for my father, two other gentlemen bought wrapped chocolates. According to NHK radio news, the custom is gradually changing and now some boys send chocolates to girls and it’s called “reversed chocolate” 逆チョコ in Japan. Perhaps Japanese custom used to be reversed and now it may be becoming more normal.
I’m not good at shopping, especially presents for people take me a long time to choose and even then I can never find satisfactory ones. However I like purchasing chocolate so I miss the Valentine’s Day chocolates phenomenon in Japan.

manga

I bought my favorite manga in Manchester!

Mary Poppins again

I went to watch the Mary Poppins musical in Manchester once again, I admit that I’m now addicted to it. The first time I went to watch it was in December but I bought the tickets in August so I could get the best seats, I enjoyed a comfortable good view, beautiful sound effects and a nice audience. On the other hand, this time my friend and I went to the ticket office five days before the show so only the cheapest seats were remaining; a salesperson told us “these seats are steep and space for legs is limited”, however we didn’t care about the seats and we bought them.
At the Palace Theatre they sell pamphlets, music CDs and souvenirs like T-shirts, key chains and umbrellas. I was looking for a music CD; since I watched the show in December I’ve searched for the music CD on the Internet, however I only found the “original London cast” one. Mary Poppins in Manchester is a different main cast from the original London one and I wanted to buy the one I enjoyed watching. At the theatre, I asked the salesperson “Is this the music CD with the Manchester cast?” He said “yes, it’s the Manchester one”, however the package didn’t look different from the “original London cast” that I checked on the Internet so I asked to make sure, “not the London, but the Manchester cast?” he said “yes, it’s the Manchester cast not London” so I bought it before the performance.
Our seats were in the last row of the theatre, steep and limited spaces were no problem for us but I saw many pupils around us and perhaps these are seats for kids. Anyway the view was nice and high: it was interesting to watch the same show from the two different angles. Some of the school children sang songs with the cast during the show so the atmosphere was different from the last time.
My friend also enjoyed watching the show and she bought a T-shirt with “practically perfect” written on the front as a souvenir, actually it was for kids but she could wear it without any problems.
After the performance we went to a coffee shop for a chat and then I noticed that my music CD has “LONDON CAST” written on the cover. Oh dear... I asked about it twice! I should have checked it whilst at the theatre three times, was it my fault? Whenever I’m in a panic my friend is calm and she asks me one by one; “Do you have the same music CD?”, “No, I don’t but I wanted to buy the Manchester one not the London one” and I asked, “Do you think I can get a refund for this?”, then she said “if you’d like it refunding we should go back to the theatre now, not tomorrow or any latter day. I’m coming with you because I know it’s hard to ask alone.” I really appreciated her kindness and we went back to the theatre, there were many people around for the evening performance already and of course we didn’t have tickets for it, however the souvenir shop was in the theatre. I showed my matinee ticket to a person who checked tickets and said “this isn’t a ticket for this show, but I came for the matinee and bought a music CD. I wanted to buy the Manchester cast version and I asked the person inside and he said this is Manchester cast, but this has “London cast” written on package so I’d like to return it, can I enter here and go to the souvenir shop?”, he said, “OK then you can explain the same thing at the shop.”, “Thank you very much”, I said, “this is my friend can she come with me?”, he said, “of course”. Great! I like this flexibility in England.
There were long queues for the shop and we couldn’t find the person from whom I bought the music CD. We chose the shortest queue and explained in the same way again to the salesperson then she said, “I can’t refund it for you, please ask our manager.” She pointed to someone else and said “please ask the person at the corner”. So I went to the corner and explained again she said, “I can do nothing for you, you need to speak to our manager” and she pointed a gentleman in the shop. I’d already explained the same situation three times in English with effort. I was always wondering why people didn’t help me, it’s clear that I’m a non-English native speaker. If I was in Japan and someone was in trouble and explained the situation with effort, I would help to complete his or her wish. I was a bit irritated and said, “I’ve already explained three times and that lady told me to explain this to you so I came here and now you say I need to explain it to another person!” However her answer was the same, “I understand, but I can do nothing for you, only the manager can refund this for you.” My friend interrupted us “OK, now you’ve already practiced three times and now you can explain it perfectly” and pulled my arm to take me to the person who should be last. He asked me “May I help you?” So I started, “Yes, please...” and repeated the same explanation one last time then he refunded me. Finally we made it!
I said, “I’m so sorry about this trouble” to my friend and she said “don’t even mention it.” We had another problem this time, many people came into the theatre but none of them went out, how could we get out from here? We found the same person who let us in and said “thank you” then he let us out.

Revolutionary Road

The film, “Revolutionary Road” started screening on 30th January in England but in Japan it opened on 24th January with Japanese subtitles. It was amazing that they prepared the Japanese subtitles so fast.

I found some differences watching films at cinemas in Japan compared with England. Firstly there’s no “advanced tickets”（前売り券）here; I can buy tickets in advance but the price is the same. In Japan, if I bought tickets before the opening day, I would get a discounted ticket. This system also helps with predicting the popularity of the movies and a big sale of “advanced tickets” is announced on newspapers. Secondly when I go to the cinema I notice that they don’t sell any pamphlets of the films or items like sticker posters and mobile phone charms as souvenirs. I usually buy a pamphlet because it contains photos of the film, an introduction to the cast & crew and the synopsis, so it’s very helpful to understand the film better. In England I can’t expect Japanese subtitles so I really miss having a Japanese movie pamphlet.

I went to watch Revolutionary Road on the opening day; my friend and I checked the time table and selected the 3:50pm showing. Another interesting system in England is that the tickets prices are different for other cinemas and show times. In Japan, some cinemas have special discounts for early birds or special dates like “cinema day” and “lady’s day”. “Cinema day” is usually the 1st day of the month and “lady’s day” is on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Except for these special discounts, tickets prices are fixed so if my schedule is flexible, I go to a cinema on special discounted days in Japan. However here, I check available cinemas and choose the cheapest one. Nowadays the cinema isn’t so popular in Japan and it’s the same here; I’ve never experienced “every seat taken”. I wasn’t sure about the opening day so I was a little bit worried that it might be full. My friend and I went to the theatre 20 minutes before the show but there was nobody waiting. We couldn’t even get into the screen and a guy in front of the cinema said “it’s too early for the show. It starts from 3:50pm.” We knew the time! Do I expect too much because I’m Japanese? However my Italian friend also said “Even in Italy, we can get into the screen 30 minutes before the show time.” Anyway we said “we’ll be back.” and left. In Japan, it opens earlier so that the show starts on time, here people don’t rush but they somehow still start the show on time.
I have not talked about the film’s story, but I was really impressed by Kate Winslet’s acting and my friend and I both felt that it was the best decision for us that we didn’t come to watch this movie with our husbands.