London Day 5 – Goldhawk Road, Shephard’s Bush Market, Phantom of the Opera

10/16/2015

Dad went to Bletchley Park today while we went off fabric shopping at Goldhawk and Shephard’s Bush. Originally, all of us were going to go to Bletchley today but we found out that roundtrip train tickets cost a whopping $52/person. Mom has no interest in going anyway, and since Angel and I had already gone twice last year, we thought to save some money. We bought the train tickets online last night for Dad, which was a pretty easy process. Go to nationalrail.co.uk where all the different train companies’ fares are consolidated, pick the route you want to go on, and it’ll send you to that company’s website to buy that route. When you get to the train station (in this case, London Euston is the only one that goes to Bletchley), go to the self-service ticket machine with your credit card and confirmation number. It’ll print out your tickets and receipt, and voila, you’re good to go. We waited with Dad for the platform number to be displayed, but for some reason, the screen displayed every single train’s platform number except for Dad’s. Finally, with six minutes to go, it finally showed up, and there was a mad dash of everyone waiting by the screen toward the platform.

Angel, Mom and I went to the Tottenham Court Rd Primark after because it opens at 8am. There was virtually nobody in the store! Note to self: shop at Primark in the early morning. Indeed, the manager and the employees were going around the store, discussing how to best display products. They ran down the numbers from yesterday’s sales (sales for blouses increased 11%).

Angel and I both remember that there were a lot of doner durum places around Goldhawk and Shephard’s Bush. So we deliberately went with an empty stomach so we could fill up on a year’s worth of doner—can’t get it that good in the US!

But we couldn’t seem to find them today. We were hungry, so finally decided to pop into one on Goldhawk. Mom and Angel really liked the lamb because the cut was thick and juicy. The chicken was pretty good, but not the best I’ve ever had.

Chicken doner

Lamb doner

Across from Shephard’s Bush Market was another doner durum place called Fisherman’s Hut. 

Since I wasn’t full yet, I wanted to try their chicken schwarma. Mom and Angel shared another lamb doner. Oh my god, the chicken schwarma was soooo good! It was fatty, juicy, tender, the creamy garlic sauce so amazing I could down a vat full of it. And it was cheaper than the other store! Mom and Angel didn’t like the lamb as much because they sliced it too thinly, so it ended up tasting dry. 

Lamb doner

This chicken doner is amazzzzzing!!!

Right around the corner from Shephard’s Bush Market is London Westfield shopping mall. It’s gigantic. Makes Valley Fair look like a kiddie mall in comparison. A lot of the stores on the second floor have their own second floor! There’s a huge Marks & Spencer’s as well as a big Waitrose. Dude, even the food court looked good! They had delicious-looking chicken tikka masala on display. But we were so full, all we could do was salivate in front of the display. The reason we wanted to come here was to ask a few questions at the International Currency Exchange. They process VAT refunds at these ICE locations, so you can get cash on the spot (for a 2.70 fee) or a refund to your credit card (no fee) instead of waiting in line at Heathrow airport to get the refund processed. The Heathrow line is a nightmare, or so I hear. Plus, you won’t get your refund on the spot at the airport; plan to wait a good month or so before the refund is processed through.

Funny...there's a Taiwan exhibit in the mall!

The mall has two ICE locations. The one on the 1^st floor (2^nd floor, as we call it in the States) does not process VAT refunds. Only the one on the ground floor, outside the mall and right across the Shephard’s Bush Market tube station does.

ICE processes Global Blue VAT refunds, and Primark uses Global Blue, so we’re good to go there. Unfortunately, you still need to get the customs stamp at the airport. If you don’t get the all-important stamp, they’ll charge your credit card for the amount ICE refunded you plus a processing fee. We’d been hoping to avoid the customs desk at the airport because they say they want to see the items you bought, to prove you are in fact leaving the country with the goods. Who in their right mind would pack all the stuff they bought in their carry-on??? That’s what the check-in luggage is for! Angel bought around 20 pairs of shoes alone—how are you gonna pack all that into the carry-on, just so the customs official can take a look at it? Last year in Edinburgh, online forums were saying that customs don’t check. There’s an unattended box (looks like a mailbox) where you drop in your form and receipts. The officials will then go through the forms and stamp them all, so you never see them. Which means you don’t have to pack all the stuff you bought into your carry-on because no one’s checking.

London, though, is 50-50 with online forums. Some get checked, some don’t. And apparently you have to plan for a ½ hour wait in line. Argh.

This is a dish we've never heard of...funny name though!

As always, Angel scored pretty good deals on the fabrics, though she was conscious to restrain herself this time. Only 7?!

We met Dad in front of Her Majesty’s Theatre for Phantom of the Opera. The last time we saw it live was 2012, and the last time I saw the tv version was almost a year ago. Because it’s been so long, right when the music started, I got goosebumps. So good! I really liked the stage redesign. It’s just small stuff but adds to the mystique of Phantom.

Angel: Raoul looked appropriately like a dunce.

I didn’t like the fact that Raoul was brown haired and not blonde. Wtf. Raoul is blond!!! Angel said the 2012 Raoul was too handsome and it detracted from his performance as the idiot fiancé.

Christine sang very well but had no facial expression. They rearranged the music a bit, so that threw me off when I was waiting for certain notes. I guess I’ve seen the 25^th anniversary too many times. :T

Phantom was very expressive with his hands. He was feeble and hunched when he was vulnerable, straight and confident when he was feeling powerful. I cried during his solo, when he realizes that Christine loves Raoul and is heartbroken.

This is the only show we’ve seen on this trip where the audience is double-digit Asian. Most shows we go to are all white people. We think because Phantom’s so famous, that’s why the Asians show up. I forgot how tiny the theatre is—you’d think with the amount of money Andrew Lloyd Webber is making, he could remodel or change to a bigger venue! We were in row K which was pretty good; you can see all the facial expressions clearly. However, if you’re short (like us), there’s not much of a slope to the theatre so you’re outta luck if you get a tall person in front of you. Thankfully, the family in front of us were Asian too so our view was clear.