Jane Austen, fashion, and okonomiyaki

our finished Okonomiyaki, originally uploaded by supafly.

I started my last full Friday in London by watching a movie about Jane Austen (called Becoming Jane) at the Prince Charles Cinema. It was an interesting movie that expanded on historical accounts of a romance that Jane Austen had. If you're familiar with her books, you will see moments in the movie that could have inspired her novels. It is interesting to wonder why both Jane and her older sister ended up never getting married and what circumstances led to that. (On my way to the movie theatre, I passed an tent in Leicester square set up for poker playing by the World Poker Tournament. I didn't stop to play, but I got a bag of free goodies.)

After the movie, I headed to the Victoria and Albert museum where I walked around their wonderful fashion exhibit. My favorite was a muslin dress from 1819 that had interesting details on the skirt that I think would still look modern today. The gallery was filled with young students taking photographs and making sketches of designs that inspired them. (Apparently, Zac Posen went to fashion school in London and was himself inspired by some of the fashion on display at the V&A. Now his own work is on display here.) There was also a wonderful Chihuly piece hanging in the museum entrance as well as several red lip sofas, which are a part of the special exhibit on Surrealism.

The museum is open late on Fridays, but I decided to go in search of this pub that was recommended in a blog for its sticky toffee pudding. I should've known better since the Abingdon is located in the ritzy Kensington/Chelsea neighborhood. The sticky toffee pudding there was £6.50! I decided I wasn't willing to spend $13 on a dessert, but I did enjoy my walk around the beautiful neighborhood. I found a Waitrose (Seema says its like the Whole Foods of London) where I instead got a sticky toffee pudding to microwave at home for less than £3. (It was delicious, but so sweet that I've had my fill of sticky toffee pudding for awhile.)

I met Marshall for dinner and we walked to Abeno for Okonimyaki only to find out that you need reservations there and they were all booked up so we walked on to their other restaurant Abeno Too where it's first come, first served. It was a lot of fun sitting at the counter (on big boxes that also served as storage for all of your stuff while you ate) and watching them cook your food, but it was also really really hot. By the time we left, we were drenched in sweat and the coolness of the evening was a welcome relief.

A Day of Art

more book destroying, originally uploaded by supafly.

Friday started out as a day of art. I first went to the "Gorilla in the Roses" event at the Camberwell Library. David and Davina, a pair of artists, led us in an afternoon of destroying books by ripping them up, typing, stenciling, and sewing on them, and making collages. They were inspired by Joe Orton who, in 1967, inserted a picture of a gorilla into a book about roses at the Islington Public Library. The act of destroying books is entirely against my nature, and it was difficulty to begin. After reading a bit of Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery, I reminded myself there were many more copies of that out there and started ripping out favorite lines. I spent most of my time destroying a London guide book which was fitting and also easier because it was out of date. It was a small group, but we enjoyed ourselves and the artists shares their experience with another event they had done for the Camberwell Arts Festival yesterday where they shared stories with people using the laundromat across the street and asked them to share a story about experiences at the Tumble Wash in return.

After working on my book for a few hours, I left to go to another art event going on across the street, Sweet Obscenities. At Seymour Brothers bakery, Lucille powers was collecting people's swear words on a large sheet of paper and was also piping them onto cupcakes. What a great idea - to take insults that you had experienced and eat it up!

Next, I took the bus downtown and went to see Black Snake Moan at the Prince Charles Cinema. The PCC is just off of Leicester Square, where there are several expensive movie houses, and it is a bargain in comparison. I paid £3.50 and thoroughly enjoyed the intensity between Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson.

Afterwards, I walked around Leicester Square, where they were previewing theatre performances by invitation only for West End Live, which started the next day and was open to the public. Then I walked down Regents street and got some bath bombs at Lush. When Marshall got off of work, I met him at the Apple store (which is bigger than the one in Chicago, there's a glass elevator that reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the middle). We walked down to Brewer street in the rain and had falafel sandwiches at Maoz. Afterwards ,we got on a crowded #12 bus and headed home.

Owl and the Sparrow

I just came from my third movie at the Asian American Showcase - "The Owl and the Sparrow." It was a wonderful story set in Saigon, and centers around a 10-year old girl named Thuy. It is very different from the only other Vietnamese movies I've seen - "Scent of the Green Papaya," "Vertical Ray of the Sun" and "Cyclo." Of course, those were all made by Anh Hung Tran, a Vietnamese director. Tonight's movie was directed by Stephane Gaugere, who was born in Saigon but grew up in Orange County. Gaugere's movie showed a grittier, less picturesque side of Vietnam. The beauty in the film was found within the people in the story. Thuy runs away from home and finds more kindness, generosity, and affection while living on the streets of Saigon then she ever did when she lived with her uncle. The plot may not be realistic. (How often do complete strangers take in street urchins?) However, I was moved by the strength and courage that Thuy exhibits. She is able to break away from her unhappy life, listen to the advice that is given to her, see the goodness in others, and ultimately find people who care about her and believe in her. Isn't that what we all want?

You offend me, you offend my family

Q&A after the movie, originally uploaded by supafly.

I went to the opening night of the 12th Annual Asian American Showcase yesterday. It was, as always, full of delicious free food (this time, sushi, lumpia, and brownies from Mulan), great art, music, and movies. There was also some celebrity sightings. Namely, Sung Kang and Roger Fan, actors from Better Luck Tomorrow. Justin Lin, the movie's director was there too. His new movie, "Finishing the Game," premiered after the reception. (I scored a free ticket from one of Sharon's friends - woohoo! )
The movie was really entertaining. It's about what the process might have been like when they were casting to find a body double to finish Bruce Lee's last movie, "The Game of Death." The description doesn't do it justice though. It's set in the 70's so there's lots of great outfits and hair. The actors in it just kept me laughing - there's some great appearances by M.C. Hammer and Dustin Nguyen (from 21 Jump Street!) I enjoyed Sung Kang's performance - it was really different from his other roles as a brooding gangster type. (Marshall says Korean men just look like gangsters. Ha! ) Instead, he was funny, goofy, and sweet. I'm bummed I never got to see "Motel." This was another movie he was in where he played a "real" character rather than just an Asian stereotype. I was also really impressed with how clever and intelligent Roger Fan was during the Q&A. I could see him as the next Jim Carrey or Steve Martin.
If you want to check it out, "Finishing the Game" is playing again Wednesday night at the Siskel Film Center. Roger Fan is also in another movie, "The Trouble with Romance," playing next Saturday. Sung Kang is in the closing night movie, "Undoing," on Thursday, April 12th. Support Asian American Films, go see one of the movies playing at the Film Center in the next couple of weeks!

The Namesake

I went to see "The Namesake" last night. I'm a huge fan of Jhumpa Lahiri's writing and had read the book so I started crying before it even became sad because I knew what was coming and I kept on crying for most of the movie. There is tragedy, but it is also hopeful. Being a child of immigrants, I know how difficult it is to understand parents that seem so different from the world you grow up in. As their child, you don't usually think about what they must have gone through moving to a new country and being far away from everything that is familiar to them. That struggle often happens when you are too young to remember, or before you were born. In my case, I was still in the Philippines with my grandparents when my parents moved to New York City to intern at hospitals there. I felt a visceral connection to the story Jhumpa Lahiri tells, which is why I was really sobbing as I watched. The same thing happened when I first went to see "The Joy Luck Club." I couldn't help crying because I saw a part of my own experience on screen and it touched me. Thank you Jhumpa Lahiri for writing such a beautiful story and thank you Mira Nair for putting it on screen!

The Host

I went to see the Korean movie "The Host" this weekend at the Landmark in Evanston. It's set in Seoul, on the banks of the Han River, and the main character works for his dad at a snack stand by the river. It is the all time top-grossing film in Korea and it was a scary movie that also made me laugh. How often does that happen? Some people have also called it a Korean Little Miss Sunshine. Hmmm...maybe if Little Miss Sunshine included a formaldehyde-mutated monster. It does have a terrific dysfunctional family. I most enjoyed the sister (pictured) who is a champion archer that moves at a snail's pace through life. I'd recommend going to this movie with a cup of spicy ramen or some tasty dried grilled squid because watching them eat in the movie made me miss all the cheap, delicious food in Seoul. If you want more info check out the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, where it got a 94% rating.