London's umbrellas ain't cheap! Where to get cheap umbrellas in London

London's weather has been fickle of late. I was just commenting about the heat wave that hit London a week back and just a few days later grey clouds, which Londoners are more familiar with, dominate the skies with occasional light showers. That's when you leave your sunglasses at home and pack an umbrella in your briefcase.

One of the first thing that struck me when I arrived in London was how expensive London's umbrellas were. Borders and Boots are selling the foldable varieties for at least £5 - £8 whilst those with fancier designs are going for more than £20 at Selfridges.

I would have thought that for £8, it would have gotten me a sturdy umbrella but one that I got Borders failed on me during a rare heavy morning shower and it had to be when I was already running late for a meeting. The mechanism gave up on me and I had to force it open and holding it open with my bag under my arms and braved the torrential shower. Not a pretty sight.

Ridiculous as it might sound, but I was determined to stock up on affordable and durable umbrellas on my recent trip back home. Came back with a couple of NTUC umbrellas. For the uninitiated, NTUC is the 'conglomerate' in Singapore; they have a hand in every business, from insurance to groceries to plumbing services. The S$7.50 umbrella is still holding on well after three months. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

For those who are on the lookout for cheap umbrellas in London, you will be surprised that the cheapest umbrellas can be found along Oxford Street. They are currently selling for £2.99 each at any one of those tacky tourist shops liberally sprinkled along the street. These umbrellas do their job but don't expect too much from them.

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The Breakfast Club Angel Islington - is there anything more than just cheeky jokes?

Whenever I walk through the Camden Passage at Angel Islington during weekends, there is bound to be a queue outside The Breakfast Club. I am not only referring to one of those warm and sunny summer mornings that descended on London for the last two weeks - there will be a long queue snaking out from Breakfast Club regardless of weather. People will be there with their umbrellas when it is showering and in their woollen coats when it is snowing, rain or shine, The Breakfast Club is always packed.

While I am not terribly fond of queues, especially long ones, I am curious about whether it is really that good. So Wife and I decided to pop by for a dessert after dinner one evening, not exactly the best time of the day to visit a place with a name like The Breakfast Club. Perhaps.

When we walked in at 9pm during a weekday, there were only three souls in The Breakfast Club. Might as well, at least there was no need to contend with the morning crowd. We each ordered a dessert, I can't really recall exactly what but it was a brownie and an ice-cream of some kind. When dessert finally arrived, it was rather uninspiring. Fine, maybe we should really have gone there for breakfast.

However, what really surprised us was the lackluster service. The staff who took our orders looked like she rather be somewhere else. Given the uplifting messages and jokes displayed on the pop up board beside its entrance everyday, you would expect a more enthusiastic service. A quick check online for The Breakfast Club reviews showed that other customers have experienced disappointing services as well. In fact, one went so far to suggest that the long queues were due to its slow services.

With a slew of eateries and restaurants opening up in Camden Passage, these dissatisfied customers might just decide to give The Breakfast Club a miss.

Have you been to The Breakfast Club? How was your experience?

The Breakfast Club
31 Camden Passage
London N1 8EA
+44 (0) 20 7226 5454

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Avenue Q review (Gielgud Theatre) - Everyone is a little bit Racist!

Whenever I've got friends visiting London, they would invariably ask for my recommendation for West End plays. As most of them would stop by London for at most a week, and London is much more than just the West End, they could at best catch two or three plays.

Naturally, I would recommend that they go for productions that would never be shown back home for several reasons. Think plays or musicals, a couple of names would come up for folks back home - Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats and Cabaret - all of which are mega production with huge casts and elaborate props. Smaller West End or Broadway names are unlikely to be staged halfway round the globe.

Also, the context and the subject matter of the production matter too. Agatha Christie The Mousetrap has never been shown in Singapore even though it has been playing in London for a couple of decades. Though Agatha Christie's novels are rather popular back home, I don't think the general populace can stomach a dialogue packed drama set in an English mansion.

With all that in mind, if you have only time enough for just one or two West End plays, let Avenue Q be one of them.

On first glance, Avenue Q, which originates from Broadway, is a mere extension of the Sesame Street with the likes of Elmo and Cookie Monster, and the title Avenue Q paralleling that of Sesame Street. That's when the similarity stops. Avenue Q is definitely one of the most politically incorrect production ever.

The unsuspecting audience, thinking that Avenue Q is a family show (read my lips, Avenue Q is no Lion King), will be horrified by the opening number, "Everyone is a little bit racist!". In the catchy tune, the puppets, skilfully manipulated, dance and sing about how there's a little racist burrowed deep in everyone. At that point in time, the parents could either join in the fun or cowered in their seats for what might come next while the teenagers shriek with delight.

Someone I know was so embarrassed when her child walked out of the theatre skipping, singing out loud and declaring to the world that "Everyone is a little bit racist!".

If you think the fun ends there, you are dead wrong. The puppet masters (shall we call them that?) belted out number after number that include "If you were Gay", "The Internet is for Porn", "I'm not wearing underwear today" and "It sucks to be me". Well, you get the idea.

Other than these outrageously hilarious songs, there were some interestingly lame joke fillers in between scenes. The one that is stuck in my mind referred to how a group of knights were protecting the princess and how each of them fell until there was only one left and thus "One Knight Stand". Hmm…

All in all, Avenue Q, which is now performed in Gielgud Theatre after moving from Noel Coward Theatre on 1st June 2009, should be taken in good fun. For those of us who grew up watching Sesame Street and the Electric Company, Avenue Q is certainly a good trip down the memory lane. In a perverse way, that is.

Avenue Q

Gielgud Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue
London, W1D 6AR

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Play me I'm yours - Streetpianos

A number of pianos (30 to be exact) have been popping up mysteriously all over London. In parks, train stations, markets and other public places, these pianos all stood silently propped against a wall, all missing the player. Is that another Banksy's statement? The graffitti artist, more at home with spray cans, is not exactly known for his musical talents.

On closer look, each of these pianos has got a message taped across them.

"Play Me, I'm Yours"

That was exactly what a boy did at Leadenhall Market when I walked pass it the other day. He was merrily running his fingers through the keyboard entertaining the customers at the nearby restaurants. To my untrained ear, he sounded pretty good. Judging at the appreciative glances from the passerbys, customers and restaurants' service staff, I wasn't the only person who thought so.



I walked past it today again. There was no one playing the piano this time round and the instrument seemed to blend inconspicuously under the ornate ceiling of Leadenhall Market.

"Play Me, I'm Yours" beckoned the piano to anyone who walked past it.

Have you seen any other Streetpianos? Email a photo of it to singaporeaninlondon@yahoo.com and have it featured below!

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London Museum comedy gigs by laughterinoddplaces - an odd place indeed

Ever been to a museum?
Duh, of course, you scoff.
Yeah? And when was that?
Erm, well, let me see… (twiddling your fingers).. There was this time I was in a museum with my parents and I was so bored and had to be pacified with an ice-cream.

Fact 1: museums aren't exactly the most exciting of places. Fact 2: London is filled with thousands of museums, big and small. So by inference, London is… oh well.

The London Museum at London Wall was brought to life by LaughterinOddPlaces yesterday with comedy gigs held throughout the museum within the confines of its exhibits. Household names like Richard Herring, Simon Munnery, Milton Jones, Hugh Huges, Gavin Osborn and many other names that I have absolutely never heard before put up a 30 min repertoire each in front of a motley crowd that include students who didn't have anything better to do during their summer holidays, bored looking housewives and househusbands who would rather watch anyone (or anything) other than their kids, hot and bothered office workers who returned from a torturous day at work, Roman mannequins, a couple of cavemen skulls, coins, bones and, well, stuff.



Some of the jokes were really lame I would say…

"Anyone of you from up North?" Milton Jones asked
"Yeah! From Glasgow!"
"Oh yeah? I've been up North once… went as far as Cambridge…"

"My Grandfather called me selfish, and I went on to be a fishmonger."

Hugh Huges pranced around the tiny space that he has been allocated and somehow got the idea that the audience would love to hear about how he and his buddy were playing with his buddy's poop (yep, you saw that right). I slipped quiet away not long thereafter. Overhead a lady who followed me saying to her friend, "He's funny but he's wieerrrd."

The show of the day, in my humble opinion, has to be Gavin Osborn's. With just a guitar and an unpolished singing voice, he wowed the audience who even shed a tear or two with his lyrics. Loved his "Sainsbury lady", which was inspired by a guy who gave him 'the look' at a local Sainsbury. Also, his 'I'm over 30' song, which for some bizarre reason, happened to struck a cord with me. Found out later that he has quite a following in MySpace and decided that I'll go get his CD after listening to a track or two.

I should really go try my hand at this. Who knows? I may be the next Lily Allen. Wait, that didn't come out right.

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