One Enchanted Evening

I wasn't just sitting around yesterday evening thinking profound thoughts about live music as I watched old King Crimson concerts. No, I took myself and the missus off to some real live theatre, in the shape of a show entitled Love/Retreat presented by the students in our Year 6 Theatre Arts programme. And what a treat it turned out to be. I knew it was going to be entertaining just from my knowledge of the abilities of some of the cast (the others I just had not had a chance to see perform before) but it also turned out to be a genuinely thought-provoking piece with quite a range of mood and technique. They packed a lot into one hour ten minutes with not a dull moment to nod off in, more than can be said for a lot of professional theatre. It's a pity that it was a one-night-only occasion. I have the feeling that the cast would have been able to sharpen the show even more now they know where some of the big laughs are - and there were several very big moments.

After that we took ourselves off to the railway station for a bite to eat. This is not one of our usual haunts. I think the last time we were there was before I bought my first car in Singapore and we used to travel to Melaka by train. Anyway Noi suggested dropping off there on the way back, I think because she'd read something about the food and how good it was. It turned out to have been an excellent choice - a bit like stepping back into that part of Singapore of twenty to thirty years back that itself seemed to belong to an earlier period. Now there's little to be found of the shabby, run-down, easy-going charm we enjoyed last night. It was relief not to be in an air-conditioned food court. More than a relief - a form of enchantment. A bit of a magical evening, all told.