thekua.com@rest – Page 26

Deep Cut at The Tricycle Theatre

April 7, 2009 Patrick UK Life

Last Monday I went along to one of the final screenings of Deep Cut on show at The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn. I’d never been up to Kilburn before, so had a bit of time to walk around the high street and grab a bite to eat. There seemed to be far too many kebab stores for my liking and didn’t really have that much time so ended up having dinner at Nando’s instead. The other places along the high street made me think how different the modern, bright and artful Tricycle Cinema and Theatre seemed slightly out of place. Anyway, on to the play.

Deep Cut focuses on the story behind a series of apparent “suicides” at the Deep Cut Barracks between 1995 and 2002. The play focuses particularly on perspective from the family and friends of Cheryl James, one of the officers who died during this period and the anguish, puzzlement and anger they went through seeking proper closure on Cheryl’s death. The play does a great job at presenting all the details behind their story, the unanswered questions, and the frustrations of a government system that failed to apply due diligence in what appears like a simple cover up.

We sat in the second row from the front, but since the theatre probably only fits a hundred and fifty, I’m pretty sure everyone else felt the same way that I did. The combination of the moving dialogue and the clever way that they pieced the story together really made me feel for the family, and particularly concerned with the way that the other parties involved failed to repeatedly apply due consideration over a series of events.

It’s a shame that this play doesn’t continue for a while more, although I’m glad that it did get a fair amount of press coverage from newspapers like The Guardian.

TheKua.com Rating: 9 out of 10

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

April 6, 2009 Patrick Movies, UK Life

As part of the Anime Season showing at the Curzon cinema, I went along to see the screening of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence a couple of weeks ago. The first Ghost in the Shell is a classic cul movie and although I don’t really remember what its story line was about, I do vaguely remember some of the characters.

As part of the festival, a lady told us a few points to focus on throughout the movie, and described some of the events and thinking that lead to the 2004 release of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Sure enough, many of the points she listed hit true to their mark. The movie is superbly visual, almost to the a point where it is cloying with its oversaturated colours and the soundtrack is unnervingly haunting, adding to the overall atmosphere of the movie.

The storyline follows the same robotic investigator from the first movie, although this time he is partnered with a new human investigator after the apparent demise of his first partner. Their investigations follow a set of related murder cases involving a specific type of robot model doing the murdering and then committing suicide afterwards, both apparently violating well known rules of robot law. I won’t go into any other detail because I think the movie does a much better job of uncovering the details behind the murders and their origin.

I’m glad to have seen this movie on the big screen. I can hardly imagine the sounds and rich pictures having as much impact on a much smaller TV, or in a home environment. I’m not sure the movie will be for everyone, particularly those not interested in watching anime movies but I still think it made a pretty good movie.

TheKua.com Rating: 7 out of 10

Kyoto

April 5, 2009 Patrick Travel

Kyoto seems like a bit of a distant memory now that a couple of weeks have passed. I’m going to try to summarise it in a short post listing some of the more memorable parts of our trip. The city isn’t as big as Osaka, or at least it seems a bit more of a suburban and touristy in comparison. The Lonely Planet provided some level of help, but there are frankly far too many temples and shrines that they say are the “most remarkable”. I think it’s better to pick the few that interest you and focus on spending a bit more time there rather than trying to hit all the different ones that they recommend. Here’s a list of a few different things we got up to:

Arashiyama – Monkey Park
Located high up in the mountains, Arashiyama is a lovely place that seems even more natural and remote than other parts of the city. We came up here to have a look at a bamboo grove that looked like it was out of a scene from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and to also visit the Monkey Park, even further up the mountain. The monkey park wasn’t free but gave you access to an environment where the monkeys roam in their own little habitat, with plenty of signs telling you not to show them any food. Good thing that too, because we saw them turn into aggressive demanding monsters when we saw people feeding them at the only hut where you can serve them food from behind steel bars.

Fushimi-Inari-Taisha
We tried getting here by bus (the easiest way to get around most of Kyoto) and ended up on a large hike to get there. It wasn’t very well signed although we found out that JR has a train stop almost directly in front of this amazing site. Located in the hills around Kyoto, this area is best known for the winding pathways up the mountain lined with brightly coloured Torii, making for an eerie but photographic setting particularly at sundown. At significant points, they also have large statues of foxes, considered messengers of the gods. It’s hard to describe what it’s like walking through all the paths, but it’s definitely worth it for something completely different.

Kyoto Tower
We didn’t go up Kyoto Tower because we had already been up quite a few tall buildings on our trip, but it’s definitely a nice site at night time when the it all lights up and almost looks like a UFO pierced by a rather larget toothpick.

Ryōan-ji
One of the many shrines in Kyoto, this one was under going maintenance although the biggest attraction is the rock garden used to help people meditate and reflect.

Osaka

March 31, 2009 Patrick Travel

Our stay in Osaka seems a bit like a whirlwind visit thinking about it now, though we did manage to cram in quite a bit. It helped that we bough the Osaka Unlimited Pass, available only to tourists and giving free access to many of the sights around Osaka including the following:

WTC Cosmo Tower Observation Deck
A large tower with a huge vantage point over the entire area giving you a good idea about what Osaka looks like from a bird’s eye view.

The Floating Garden Observatory
Another large tower, this time located in the northern part of Osaka. This one is stylish and comfortable on the inside and is definitely a great place to stay for twilight, only to see the city light up at night.

Osaka Maritime Museum
A museum that showcases Osaka’s important role as a harbour town and the role it’s played on society.

Osaka Castle
One of the most important castles that helped unify Japan a long time ago. It’s surrounded by lush gardens and is worth walking around even if you don’t go into the castle itself.

Nara

March 30, 2009 Patrick Travel

Nara is another place we visited, just a short train ride away from Osaka. It’s very popular with visitors since its has some large sprawling parkland, home to free roaming deer. The sheer amount of greenery provides such a contrast to the densely populated cities that surround it. Like many of the popular destinations we visited, Nara also had plenty of temples, the biggest being the massive Todaiji Temple, home to Japan’s largest statue of Buddha.

Lots of Japanese temples have little wooden blocks that you can buy. I think they are either used for telling your fortune, or sometimes you get to write on them as a wish and then hang them for someone to hopefully grant at some stage. I was amazed to see just how many people bought, and the swarm of them hanging, and blowing in the wind.

We spent the day walking around the park, taking in all the sights, and if you’re really interested in the history and the different temples, I’m sure it’d be easy to spend quite a few days. Expect to pay to enter some of the temples but there are plenty of areas you get a good idea about their pristine environment.

The final thing I’d warn people about are the deer that roam around free. Considered as sacred animals, apparently seen as messengers from the gods, they roam free following people around in the hope for food. Fortunately all their antlers have been ground down to little stumps, but that doesn’t really stop them from following you.

You can even buy deer biscuits for ¥150 although the deer are smart enough to recognise when you start carrying them. Don’t bother holding the stack of them in the open, otherwise expect a constant barrage (literally!) from all angles as they try to take it from your hand. I couldn’t help but laugh at the number of tourists who ended up running, or throwing their stack of biscuits in an attempt to stop them headbutting them.

Japanese Food

March 29, 2009 Patrick Food, Travel

John asked me to post a review about some sushi in Japan and thought I’d try to cover a little bit more. Admittedly we ate loads of different things, and I’m pleased that the rest of the family were also happy to try lots of different things.

Sushi
I only had sushi for two (or three?) meals. We ended up at a sushi kaiten (train) place so we got a big variety, although I think most other sushi places were the make-as-you-order variety. The latter also means that you end up ordering lots of small pieces, and the price adds up very quickly. Many places also serve the recognisable onigiri sushi (triangle sushi rice wrapped with seaweed and filled with something) such as the first hotel where a large variety of it was served for breakfast.

One noticeable thing about the sushi is that all of the toppings are super fresh. You can get that here in London, though it can be really expensive. Fresh fish and toppings are super critical to the Japanese and I nothing ever seemed to smell the slightest bit fishy (a huge indicator it’s off). It’s hard for me to conclude whether or not it was better, after all I’ve had some good sushi in London as well (Yo Sushi doesn’t count).

Takoyaki
Octopus balls are the quintessential Osaka prefecture delicacy. It’s almost like fast food with so many little stalls set up to serve the gooey balls covered in a salty brown sauce and topped off with seaweed and bonito flakes. I think it’s an interesting process to watch them make it, pouring a batter on to a black iron cast pan that looks very much like a Poffertjes pan and then quickly turning each individual ball with an elongated toothpick as it sets and seeding it with a touch of octopus in the middle.

I enjoyed trying it but I can’t say that I would have lots more of it. I think I was expecting something a bit more on the lines of a fishball, yet turned out a bit too gooey for my tastes.

Okonomiyaki
I love okonomiyaki, yet another regional speciality. I love it so much, I’ve even made it a few times at home (it’s not really that hard!) It’s hard to describe and frankly the common description of a savoury pancake doesn’t really do it that much justice. It’s fascinating to watch the chefs make it on the griddle (although they also have a number of places you can do it yourself), expertly forming it into a round shape, and cooking it well through before drizzling Japanese mayonnaise in fine drizzles and okonomiyaki sauce before topping with the seaweed and bonito flakes again.

Unagi (Eel) Don (Rice bowl)
Anyone who’s gone out to eat sushi with me will know of my long standing obsession for the unagi nigiri. Succulent eel meat, grilled and then glazed with a nice sauce makes for such a tasty treat that I don’t think I ever resisted an opportunity to have the larger version whilst in Japan, the Unagi-Don.

Unagi is a speciality and considered a bit more of a luxury dish, therefore it tends to be a bit pricier than other typical Japanese dishes. Compared to the costs of it here in England though, it’s relatively better value.

Other dishes
Of course we had a huge amount of lots of other different Japanese dishes (ramen, udon, katsudon, bento), but the ones above were definitely the highlights of the trip.

Kobe

March 27, 2009 Patrick Travel

On our way back from Himeji, we stopped at Kobe. It’s one of the seaside port towns along the coast of Japan. My ignorance about the area and the well known Kobe Beef made me think of green pastures and lots of grazing land. Of course, I was totally blown away by how wrong I was about it (or at least the coastal part), since the port side was very well developed and particularly spectacular at night.

We didn’t go up the Kobe tower as we had a nice enough view along the coastal stretch though there is plenty there to keep everyone entertained. It would have been interesting to see Kobe in the day. According to this tourism website, apparently there’s plenty more to see than just the Harbourland, Meriken Park that we saw, still it was plenty for us to walk around in a single night.

Himeji Castle

March 24, 2009 Patrick Travel

The Himeji Castle is one of the must visit sites when staying in Osaka. It’s best to get the JR West Rail pass for the Kansai area (available to visitors at least) as the JR train from Osaka will cost ¥1450 one way, so considering the pass is ¥2000 you already save a significant amount. Although Himeji Castle doesn’t cover the entire town like it used to when it was first built, it still magnificently sits atop its hill with enough of it preserved to give you an idea about what it might look like.

Volunteers run an English tour that starts at 10am so it’s worthwhile getting there early. Keeping in mind that it was a volunteer-run tour, it runs for about an hour and gives you the fantastic insight into all the little bits of the castle that are easy to miss simply walking around. As you can tell from the picture below, Himeji Castle is also popular amongst the Japanese as a classic place for a wedding photo.

Set aside at least a few hours to walk around the grounds as it is big enough to interest most people. There’s plenty of space to enjoy the grounds as well on a nice day and a great view from the top of the castle.