I’ve been London for about a year now, and I hadn’t yet had a chance to see anything more than the outside of Shakespeares Globe Theatre. Mostly because the shows they put on are expensive, and fill up ridiculously fast. Call me a snob, but I wasn’t interested in being a groundling (the people who stand in the courtyard for a fiver, rather than sit on a bench for the duration of the play). So, when my friend Liz suggested we go, I jumped at the chance! Also, true to my snobbery, I hired a cushion and a red fleece blanket for £4 and was glad of the comfort when it started raining, and the groundling’s got all wet.

I saw Troilus and Cressida. Except, that it had a twist. The Globe Theatre was doing 37 shows of Shakespeare’s works in 37 different languages by 37 international theatre companies. Woah buddy. I saw Troilus and Cressida in Maori, so it was actually “A Toroihi Raaua Ko Kaahira”. And colour me ridiculously proud to see Maori perform on the stage of Shakespeares Globe. Ti hei mauriora!

I think that’s important to note that I don’t speak Maori. I understood about of quarter of what was being said, but that was clearly more than a fair chunk of the crowd. A Toroihi Raaua Ko Kaahira was both a bit dramatic, but also had it’s hilarious moments. There were a few jokes that I got, and you could tell who else spoke Maori because they cracked up at the same time I did (one joke in particular was after Toroihi and Kaahira had consummated their marriage, and he was all proud, and Kaahira was slightly mocking. I heard the words ‘tane’ and ‘kauri’ and it wasn’t hard to put the rest of it together. I thought it was funny, anyway).

Still, they had scene summaries up so you knew what was going on, but mostly they weren’t necessary. The acting was phenomenal, and even if you didn’t understand the words, it wasn’t hard to see the body language. It was pretty easy follow, especially because we looked up the synopsis on wiki before the show started. It was also pretty amusing to see some familiar (aka, Shortland Street) faces. I have to say, up close on stage suited them much better than anything I’ve ever seen on Shortland Street.

The best bit, though? The best bit was how the whole crowd came together to show their pride at our Maori actors being brilliant. I was surrounded by kiwi accents, and all of them, all of them were expressing pride and amazement at the close of the show. There was a closing haka by the actors, and unsurprisingly there were two haka responses from the crowd. Haka’s are amazing. They are loud, and intimidating, and an immense show of respect, really. I got a little bit teary eyed and felt a little bit homesick. Mostly pride, though. Pride that people from my heritage, with all the sterotypes and colonisation history are here, in the heart of England, on one of the most historical and amazing stages, rocking their culture like nobodies business.

It. Was. Amazing.

So yeah, Number 89 Done!

Note: Our tickets, with their amazing seats (mid gallery, part way around to the left of the stage) was £25 + booking fee. Pretty sweet, aye? The Maori shows are all done, but they’re doing other languages right up until the 9th of June, 2012. If you’re in London, check it out. Seriously, affordable and amazing theatre shows in this amazing building – you won’t find better!

We were in Italy, and the snow was distinctly average. So we took a half day, took the Gondola over to Sestriere, and spent an hour with the dogs learning to sled. Number 96 on The List.

It was ridiculous, and it was hard. There was lots more running than I thought there’d be. And steering the sled? So much more difficult than it looks. There’s a lot of balancing on one ski, and yanking the sled to where you want it to go, hoping that as the dogs pull forward your sled goes where you want it. Otherwise it all goes wrong and you’ll end up on your face. True story.

But other than that, I really enjoyed it. The dogs worked hard, and were lovely – all the ones we got were quite affectionate and happy to be petted and hang out. Once we got going, and I figured out how to best to stand on the sled it was pretty brilliant. It felt pretty amazing to be out there, having the dogs pull you along.

Honestly, it was great day, and this was definitely one of the more fun things on The List that I’ve done so far. I had a huge grin on my face the whole afternoon after – loads of fun! If you get the opportunity to give it a go, do it.

Note: We did it with Luca from Centro sleddog Sestriere. €60 per person per hour, organised through our Neilson rep. Super easy, super amazing. If you’re in Sestriere, they are to the right of the Gondola as you come out. Look for the teepee.

I wasn’t aware that there were *two* nutcrackers, but there were. We saw Matthew Bourne’s one, rather than the original. It was . . . well, fairly interesting. Different from what I expected (lots of bright, modern costumes, and fairly modern music (oh hey rock’n’roll…) – not at all the traditional ballet I had in my head). Some of it was amusing (there were some quite funny moments, two little cherubs in pj’s that give the lead a pretty dress, girls that a dressed like flamingo marshmallows, the salsa dancing allsorts characters etc etc), some of it was really not (I may have fallen asleep a little in the second Act).

In saying that, I was horribly ill, it was cold + miserable and the theatre was full of young small loud wriggling children (I should have expected this at the matinee, really). I’m pretty sure we all napped towards the end.

Not quite as life changing as I thought it would be, but I couldn’t have known that before I saw it. So yes. I went, and the ballet was (mostly) lovely.

Number 95 – Done!

So, it’s no surprise that I have thing for Invader. I’ve mentioned here a few times (like here). Generally, I have thing for street art, and I’ve loved invader well before I left NZ, before Exit through the Gift Shop came out, before I’d ever seen one of his pieces in the flesh. He’d never visited NZ before, so I’d never had the chance.

I made a point to put it on The List. I knew I was coming to London, and I knew that Invader had hit London many times. I wanted to see them!

I did. I convinced friends to look for them when we were wandering around. I easily saw 10. Since then I’ve seen many. I even occasionally spot new ones. There today when it was definitely not there yesterday. One of the great things about going out of my way to spot Invader pieces is that I’ve come to appreciate some of London’s amazing street art. Like Vhils,Stik and Roa. And they are amazing.

Made me really appreciate London’s thriving street art scene, you know?

That number 10, well, it was a pretty amazing moment. I was on a date with a Jimmy when I spotted it on Wardour St. I may have squealed, had a little squee moment, had a bit of a dance, followed quickly by a mad panic when I realised that I didn’t have either a phone or a camera. A guy sitting on the wall right next to it offered to take a photo with his very shit, very old school nokia phone. It was dark, and raining, and we all laughed a little bit at the quality. But still, I had my moment. The 10th Invader piece I’d seen, in person.

So yes. Number 114 on The List, done.

I roasted my chicken on New Years eve. I told my flatmate Duke that when we moved in that roasting a chicken was on The List and that I was going to do it! This year! Yeah!

That was in March. Cut to New Years Eve and I still hadn’t roasted a chicken. Fail. So, on the last day of 2011 I went to the supermarket, got a bunch of things that Jamie Oliver told me I’d need and got to work. It was mostly the easiest meal I’ve ever made.

Things I wasn’t so down with:
* Rubbing down the chicken. I think it was uncomfortable for both of us.
* Stuffing the cavity with herbs, and then discovering that the cavity was too small for the lemon I was meant to get in there. Awkward.
* I went on a limb and added onion + celery to the trivet. I should have known better (not a fan of either).
* Trying to figure out how to carve it. Thank goodness for you tube.
* Trying to figure out how to make gravy, and not having it thicken. The internet not so helpful here.
* The waiting. The waaaaaaaaaiting!

Things that were awesome:
* I didn’t give anyone food poisoning, yay!
* Putting something in oven + just leaving it is a pretty easy way to cook!
* The eating. The glorious glorious eating that came after, and lasted a good four days (I may have over estimated how much food two people can eat).
* Taking a mini container down to the fireworks for Duke. It made for good snacking!

So yes. Number 7. Roast a Chicken. Done!