January's cultural highlights

12th Jan - Barbershopera II
I won two tickets to the Barbershopera II. We went to watch the musical comedy, with the very least expectations. To our surprise, it was really good; very original, delightful and certainly entertaining.

17th Jan - A guided tour at the National Gallery
This event was organized by the All Souls church and we've managed to register for two places. F, a very knowledgable tour guide, gave us an impressive and detailed explanation on each of the Christians and Secular paintings. It was really interesting at least for me, as I believe that should I have just gone alone without a guide, I would never have appreciated the paintings like I did on that day.

22nd Jan - Cirque de Soleil- "Varikei" at Royal Albert Hall
My company has extra tickets for this event. K and I wanted the tickets, and somehow, throughout the discussions, the PA to the CEO left the tickets to me. It was a nice treat for us. I have heard about the event, but not until I have researched and watched the trailer online, did I really know what it was all about. It was a modern version of a circus. When I was a kid, my mum used to bring us to an outdoor circus. I would say it was in a medium tent with some clowns, acrobats, animals performing some acts. Now, " Varikei", the 21st century circus is held in a pretigious place i.e the Royal Albert Hall made it a very classy event.

The performers were in colourful costumes and the exotic 'Georgian' music never failed to impress me. The acrobats were very flexible which actually proved their genuine talent. However, some of the performances were a bit overwhelming, for instance the stunt at the end of the performance which made our heart beat faster than we anticipated. Or perhaps we are getting older. ;)) Either way, overall it was a good performance and exposure. I would say that perhaps it is a once in a lifetime kinda experience in one's checklist, if you know what I mean.

23rd Jan - John Madejski Fine Rooms Gallery Tour
We felt really privilege to be able to join this tour. The tour guide was very informative as he is a very seasoned and experienced Royal Academy of Arts academician, who actually took some time out to give us a good 1.5 hours tour. We were given a brief explanation about the Burlington House coutyard, Royal Academy of Arts and its influential academicians. The highlights of the tour in my opinion is actually the John Medejski Fine Rooms and the paintings in the rooms per se. The rooms are not usually open for the public, but only for guided tours which are held once a day. Hence, we felt fortunate to be able to join this tour.

The original sculpture by Michaelangelo of the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and Baby Jesus capped the tour memorably. The unfinished sculpture left me leaving the venue with thoughts and desire to learn more. As recommended by the tour guide himself, it would be really interesting to go for the same tour but run by another tour guide, just to have another perspective of looking at the same things. I earnestly second that.