Mama Mia

The weekend between Christmas and New Year made up most of my party needs. I meet my friend from Scotland who actually went to the same high school as me! She used to live and teach in South Korea but left literally as soon as I got here (not deliberately I assure you, just unfortunate timing) She then went travelling and now teaches in Hong Kong. I was supposed to go to Hong Kong during Chuseok but due to a typhoon warning for Hong Kong at that exact time and not realising how hard it would be to get to the airport etc.in the craziness of the holidays I didn’t go. So it was great to eventually see her!

First of all I went to the place we were staying to meet a couple of Kerry’s friends and was so glad I had people to actually arrive to the theatre with. I’m pretty good at directions but it is always nicer to have people to journey with.  We got to the theatre JUST in time with a few minutes to go, so a mixture of alcohol, being completely rushed and only having my mobile phone as a camera is the pathetic excuse for the blurriness and poor quality of the pictures that follow….

So we went to the Blue Square Theatre in Itaewon for the touring production of Mama Mia from the U.K.  and what a laugh it was! I haven’t been to the theatre since I have been in Seoul which is terrible because I studied theatre at university and I go to the theatre quite often at home. (Turns out one of the guys on my course actually part of the production crew!)

Set List

Program

 Going to the theatre is one of those things where you don’t go for ages and then when you go you think, ‘Why haven’t I been for so long!!!!!’.  I absolutely love musicals; my favourite has to be The Phantom of the Opera.

Anyway the Blue Square Theatre was really good and I will definitely be going back. I am all for amateur dramatics and all the fun and talent involved but personally I will always favour a professional and traditional kind of theatrical production. The terrifying height of our seats reminded me of the steep drop in the King’s Theatre Edinburgh though, I love how walking to your seat makes you imagine yourself falling over the tiny balcony wall about a million foot onto the stage below but once seated my brain stops imagining my theatre related death.

This is the web address for the theatre if you fancy attending a show sometime…

The Blue Square Theater Itaewon

Some of the performers have been in from soaps and things shown  in the U.K. which are pretty popular and the jokes were really funny too although I think a lot of them weren’t tailored for the Koreans as me and my pals were all cackling like witches and the rest of the audience was pretty much silent.  Also knowing all the words to all the songs made it pretty hard not to sing along so we did and screamed at the line ‘When I called you last night from Glasgow’ - Whoop whoop, mon the Scotland!

So the end of the show came, the bows were finished and we were obviously gagging for an encore… And they DID NOT disappoint. Cue Abba’s greatest hits blasting through the theatre, the cast out in their sparkly 80’s spandex, overzealous dancers and the main characters belting out such historic lyrics as ‘You're a teaser, you turn 'em on, Leave them burning and then you're gone. Looking out for another, anyone will do, You're in the mood for a dance, And when you get the chance...’ A- MAZ –IN!!

During this everyone and I’m talking everyone was out of their seats dancing and when the final curtain call finally came people were clapping, screaming and wolf whistling (me). It defo set us up for a night out on the sexy streets of Hongdae.

Then we headed to one of the main streets trying to find the rest of the group who didn’t come to see the musical, got lost, found them after like half an hour at a small back street bar that is a western style bar. First thing you do as a girl is go to the bathroom, as I entered the cubicle thought I had double vision. There were two toilet pans, TWO in the same cubicle. I dunno if this was a stroke of genius or not. I mean how many times have you seen or heard two or more girls crammed into a cubicle on a night out? (I really need to do a post on the unique bathrooms I have encountered in South Korea so far. Seriously, there are no words for some of the sights I’ve seen or the etiquette involved when using said bathrooms.)

I do wish I remembered the name of the place though as the food was absolutely amazing!! I have been missing food from home so much and this really was good, not like some of the interpretations of ‘western food’ I’ve encountered over here -BOKE. I was starving so order macaroni cheese (which I never eat back home) and French fries. It was bloody tremendous! Then after this, some vodka and some shots we headed out to find a place to party.

Sorry about being so vague about names of places that we stopped at, I’m sure I will go back at some point and find out.

Next we went to a nightclub called Gogo’s 2! It’s a small basement establishment. Once in it was a dark hole blasting cheesy American chart music. The perfect place to boogie the night away! I love that all Korean clubs have lockers as well as a cloakroom, it’s so handy. And that’s where we boogied away the rest of the night. Drinking, taking pictures and most important getting sweaty and burning calories on the dance floor. It’s defo not a good night out unless I’ve spent the majority of it dancing like a cross between Beyonce and …Umm, Miley Cyrus at the MTV awards, haha!

I love this picture so much but had to block out my face as I literally look melted, lol

I think at the end of the night the boys went to a lovely establishment called ‘Sexy bar’ whilst the girls went home to rest their weary heads after eating the spiciest kebab street food thing ever. Never again, I don’t like street food anyway and this grim snack just confirmed it even more.

Next day we all woke up early and bleary eyed with my companions making their way to Pohang and me to Icheon. My journey was considerable shorter thank goodness as I can stand being in transit, I get so sick. I had such a good weekend with a lovely bunch of really good friends. I really hope to meet a group of cracking people like them when I move to Seoul in about 5 weeks, so excited!!!

So January has been a bit rubbish, I've been feeling a bit sick for a few months but didn't think much of it until a few weeks ago I got really ill. I hate going to the doctor so the other day my Korean friend dragged me there and I'm so glad she did. Turns out I have sinusitis, laryngitis, bronchitis, a fever and an ear infection. So hopefully it'll clear up now i have medicine. I am living on sweets and cans of Hot 6ix (Korean Red Bull) To try and give me enough energy to get through the next few  days until vacation time for the Lunar New Year - yey!! Xx