What is it all about, looks? Looks will determine everything. You want people to judge you by your character, what you feel inside, people don’t care. What they care about is your look. If you have good look, you are going to have a good life but if you look bad, you better work on it.
The uglier you are, the smarter you better be. For every 10 pounds that you are overweight you better pick up a book or you better get two books and get a computer wire at it. I was at the nick game. When I look at the seat, the higher the seat got the ugly the people got. I don’t need ticket. I just look at faces. Ohh you gotta go up top!
Ohh..That is just a lame joke that came across my mind when I placed a booking on “ERA Intersection of Time” stage performance. I did not go all the way up, I choose the middle seat instead because I am neither ugly nor pretty.
What exactly is this? This is the Shanghai version of Cookin’ Nanta – Korean Best No. 1 Performance and MISO – Original Korean Musical. I would like to call it a circus because it was held in Shanghai Circus World, but really, this is a combination of modern + traditional musical show with some extreme and impressive live actions.
I spent about 30 minutes to get there (included some “lost” time) and when I reached, the place was already congested with people. It is quite easy to locate as the venue is approximately 5 min walk from the subway station and you will not miss the big giant porcupine building.
Ohh, it is not as simple as you go there and get the ticket. You need to pre-book your ticket and collect it a day before the showing time. I can tell you it is a hassle considering the ticket collection counter is not at the same place. I made it, which shows that how determine I am to watch this show.
I have experienced real time circus, musical show, stage comedy, extreme games etc. Believe it or not if I tell you, this is the combination of all that. All the stage performers are multi talented that for sure will keep you occupied for about 1.5 hours.
At first I thought this is just another stage performance but when I was there, I know I made a right choice. IT started slowly with soft music and some acrobatic acts, then gradually shift to musical, comedy, some impressive hanging stunts and last but not least the SPACE SCOOTERS (8 motorcycles in the big giant steel globe)
Many might ask me what exactly happen in there.. but hey, sorry, I cannot tell you more details than that. You have to go and try it yourself. The performance shows nothing is impossible and I am quite amaze with all the stunts that they put up.
Imagine 5 girls fit in small vase.. that is just a slice of fascinating things happen in there. Ohh if you want to know more, maybe you can ask Mr. Tom Cruise because he watched this show before too!
All I can say is.. WOW … I can still recalled the thrilling moment even after the shows end. The seat cost me about RMB 380 (~RM 190) and honestly, it is worth watching because for a second, I felt my heart was stop pumping.
ERA Intersection of Time
Shanghai Circus World
HOTLINE: +86 21 6652 5468
Ticket Price: USD 16, 34, 51, 68, 102
Yesterday I had a dream, a dream of visiting Japan (one of my dream country – that why it only appears in my dream) and drinking Miso soup. Today I asked my best buddy “W” what is Miso actually?
The answer I get is a type of traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kojikin. Typically Miso is made with soybeans.
That is probably according to Japanese dictionary but in Korea, Miso is referring to something else. Not food of course (that is the saddest part) but every cloud has a silver lining.
Miso, or Beautiful Smile is an original Korean musical, a series of stage performances in the spirit of tradition, globality and art. Fuyoh… even from the description, I bet you can “feel” that it is going to be super duper awesome show.
Heard about Romeo and Juliet? Never heard of it? OMG. It is ShakeSPEARe (“goyang lembing” in Malay) famous and tragically romantic story. If you don’t know anything about this, I think you should start looking for monastery and your next career move will be a monk.
Maybe Chunhyang and Mongryong are not as famous as Romeo and Juliet but this is a Korean version of an epic love story. You don’t need to looks elsewhere for these two characters as you can catch them in Changdong Theater, 10 min walk from Deoksugung Dauhanmun Palace
Guess where is my seat? Oh yea.. I am sitting in the middle of VIP. For once I feel like VIP because I am surrounded by VIP. Now I understand what people said, “If you shit together with others, you will automatically become smelly”.
The analogy might sound a little yucky but it is “meaningful”. It might be as meaningful as the Miso Musical. The performance that incorporate all the traditional music, romantic play, dancing, conspiracy, fighting, mixing of touching moments and many more!
As you know, I will not suggest you to read the synopsis or tell you the whole storyline to break the suspense. However, in this performance, I can guarantee that you will amaze even after you read the review.
All performers are well trained and talented but I particularly like the lead female actress. She is the one that shows to all that the facial expression and body language do carry a weight of 80% in communication.
Luckily, I have a chance to snap a group photo of the Miso performers at the very end of 80 minutes show.
Traditional Korean Arts Stage, MISO
Changdong Theater, Seoul
Date & Time: Open Run from 1600 – 2000 hours (Close on Monday)
Min. Age: 5 years old
Duration: 80 minutes
Prices: R seat 50 000 Won, S seat 40 000 Won, A seat 30 000 Won
TEL: +82 – 2 – 751 – 1500 (0900 – 1800 hours)
“Everyone Can Cooks”, that is what Ratatouille said. Oh yea.. I strongly agree with that but what Ratatouille forgets to add is “but NOT All Are Good Cook”. How do you define good cook then?
Good cooking skills? Good recipe? Good food? If you say that are the only determining factors, I would say your eyes will be wide open when you see Cookin’ NANTA! BUT BUT.. what’s that?
Cookin’ Nanta is Korean Best No. 1 Performance. What does that means? It is a non verbal performance that integrates Korea’s traditional rhythm, Samulnori, with comedy and drama in the kitchen.
There are 8 teams in total that will be performing on various days in a week. Knowing that I am in favour of RED (Chinese “ONG” color), they specifically selected RED Team to perform just for me. Er.. I am just slightly over exaggerating.
There is nothing special about the stage setup and it appears to be rather simple. No fancy lighting, no fancy backdrop but the crowd was packed full. Not knowing that this is the famous play, I was quite lucky to get the last minute VIP ticket which cost me about 60,000 won.
Actually, I was quite early there to queue for the ticket but somehow many placed their online reservation few months ahead before me. Was it that good?
I asked the same question before and my answer is spectacularly marvellous show! I always think that language will be a barrier when comes to stage performance but Nanta successfully proves me wrong!
Like usual, I will not kill the suspense by telling you everything but to summarize, this is the only performance that blend music, play, skills, comedy and fun all together perfectly. I must admit that the actress is super hot and the fellow actors are super sexy! Wink wink.
They will cook, make music out of kitchen utensil, silly jokes, competition among spectators, crowd involvements in their play, and more importantly their amazing personalities. Ok, nuff said.
Cookin’ Nanta is performing almost every day from Monday to Friday at 17:00 hours (first slot) and 20:00 hours (second slot). If there are holiday, there will be extra slots at 14:00 hours. Also, they have performed across worldwide since long time ago!
If you still have no clue what is this about, it is not my failure in explaining but it is your failure in processing my words.. hehe.. if you are interested and only if you are really interested, visit www.nanta.co.kr for more information.
Insomnia? No money for medical consultation? IF you want to sleep soundly without paying a penny, I have a perfect solution for you. Medical research shows that soothing instrumental lullaby music helps babies to sleep.
If it works for babies, I bet it works for adults too. I am not a medical expert but orchestra might help. Listening to Mozart makes you smarter (although I never listen to it) but listening to Open Air Orchestra might put you to sleep.
Right in front of The Plaza Hotel is the Seoul City Hall. Recently, there was a musical festival where I got an opportunity to witness an Open Air Orchestra. The open field was used as the venue and was prep with gigantic screen, enormous sound system and classily decorated stage.
At about 7pm, the freebies booth started to distribute 2 bottles of water, program for the night and a floor mat to each person. The good thing is, you don’t need to pay or pre-register for your spot.
Although mom keep reminding me that “nothing is free in this world, I am back to defer now. Last time, I remembered I used to pay a big sum just to reserve a seat in orchestra hall but now, I get seat + freebies + drinking water with no paper note involved.
Please don’t expect a sound proof hall or sofa seat as you are expected to rest on green green grass. If you get pin drop silence as an effect in orchestra hall, over here, you get honk and tyre stretching as the background sound effect.
As you can see, there are many people are enjoying themselves and seriously, I noted few people lying on the grass and catch up with some sleep. SO, it does proves that music can be a cure for insomnia.
If you don’t have a binocular or big zoom lens camera, stop worrying about it as there is a big screen magnifying the stage. If you are lucky, you might be on national tv too. I can tell you that this will never happen if you are seated in a closed hall.
OF course if you have curfew, there is a big clock that will keep reminding you when it is the time for you to leave. IF you are asleep, please don’t rely on this clock as it is not an alarm clock!