oh dear. has it been that looong?

SO.

for those of you who actually and still read this...

want to get into edinburgh stuff (there's SO MUCH TO GET INTO!!) but need to relate this anecdote from last day in amsterdam first...

was in laundromat doing well, laundry, then in walks this american couple, with their son, who looks in his early twenties. now it's a self automated place, with signs in english all over the place. the three walk in, and the woman just immediately starts asking in a loud voice, in that loud slow way people have when they're tlaking to people whom they think don't understand their language,' does anyone speak english here?' cos she wanted help with the machines. instructions are in english, did i mention? all over the place. so i seriosuly thought they were illiterate or something, so i helped them, but it was clear they just couldn't be bothered to read and figure things out themselves (it wasn't hard. really. signs are in english). helped them out, but sigh. anyway. just had to share. cos it was just so... incredulous. i mean - the signs were in english.

amsterdam, nice enough, but BLOODY EXPENSIVE. quite happy though to have spent my last three meals there eating at the burger bar, which has some pretty good burgers. i rec the wagyu medium rare. excellent stuff. and uhm, shamefully enough, more than tulips, but tied with anne frank for my lasting impression of the city.

anyway. edinburgh. it's one week in, and i've watched 30 shows so far. a few really good, a few really bad, and as with everything else, most are in the middle. i know it's just gonna snowball (last count, if i catch everything i've bought tickets for, it'll be 93 shows plus some, for my threee weeks here) but i just can't go recount the shows now. what's stood out though are the improvised comedy stuff, which is really quite brilliant. can't see anyone quite doing this back home, but lots of them are actually uni students - so ... it SHOULD be possible, right? audience are mostly up for it, and i've been quite shocked/horrified at how easy it is to get a laugh out of them, and i'm no grinch. (i think)

so, shows later, then.

one week in, and i've erm, not seen any of the sights here at all, am watching 3-5 shows a day, and in between, am cycling from venue to venue, or planning my schedules/cycling routes, and reading the english papers (which, after amsterdam and berlin, are a bloody godsend). city's slightly cheaper than amsterdam on the whole, and i'm staying at a pretty cool hostel. which is super (i mean SUPER) well equipped. it's got laptops for rent, for free, international calls can be made for free, chill out room, bar, free wifi, clean showers and toilets, the whole shebang. so i've decided to stay here the whole three weeks. roommates are bloody messy and filthy, really, but generally friendly enough, though still not sure how lax to be about my personal belongings. i mean, they are, but that's no reason for me to let my guard down, right?

happy national day, btw. ran into some singaporean theatre people yesterday - loretta chen and cynthia macquarrie smth, who are doing a show here for the fringe with some others from canada. seemed the thing to do, so caught the show today. it wasn't very good. sigh. which makes me think, that more practitioners back home should really just raise the cash and come do their stuff here, even schools. get some exposure, audience feedback and just for the damn experience.

ok. hungry. if anyone's got anything to rec by way of scottish cuisine, would appreciate it. am subsisting on pies, fish and chips, shwarmas, and m&s sandwiches, which don't *really* make for satisfying meals, actually. off to eat my steak and ale pie.

feels like i'm missing out sharing lots of other stuff here, but ah well. dinner call.s