I thought about titling this post as Youth Olympics. But I think the truth is that if I did, all of those of you who read this outside of Singapore would think it was some sort of school thing.
It isn't. No. This is the latest idea of Jacques Rogge, the IOC president. He felt that the 14-18 year olds needed their own version of the Olympics. Two years ago two cities were interested in bidding, and Singapore beat off the challenge of Moscow.
For me, the concept is slightly flawed in the first place if the aim is to show off the world's best sport talene. The sports fall into two categories, those where the peak is reached in the mid-twenties to early thirties (athletics, swimming, sailing etc) and those where the last 3 Olympics were won by people aged 12 and below (gymnastics). So, by having something for 14-18 year olds you either get sportsmen before or after their peak. That's beyond trying to squeeze another sporting event into a calendar that this year includes the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.
Nonetheless, Singapore put on an opening ceremony as extravagant as any (I daresay a little more extravagant than London's will be, and certainly a lot more slick and rehearsed). And so let the festival of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) start. Er no - not really. I mean that I've not been to any of the sports - but it is hardly the talk of the town. Frankly, it's more the WHY OG?
So, we don't get the great sport, we don't get the buzz. What do we get? Well - if I'm brutal, we get the nuisance. In South Africa they changed laws so that it became a criminal offence to wear anything with a logo bigger than an ant. So in other words - something that quite frankly ought to be no more than a civil offence rectifiable by damages. Over here, we have WhyOG lanes. In them, you have to give way to WhyOG vehicles. I've no idea what happens to you if you don't - but they do seem to be quite clear. (I hear London is doing something similar - who cares - none of you reading this drive in London).
Still - I will give the WhyOG a chance - probably by going and watching some sailing this weekend. I can do this from the beach, so the worst case scenario is a walk along the, er beach. I doubt that it will be as good as standing on the bank of the Cam during a Gale. I doubt that I will be able to hear the crack of splitting wood combined with the scream of anguish, and the flow of four letter words. Not that I suspect the children are too angelic - just too far away.
(Actually, I note that over here, swearing doesn't quite happen so much. And it tends to get a better reaction when you do swear)
Whilst I doubt that London's Olympics will be quite such an Own Goal as the Why OG have, I'm sure that they will be even more along the lines of... well Olympic lines, and laws.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Menu Tasting
So The Dodgess and I aren't exactly foodies. I remember once talking to a certain English cousin who, when I suggested that I'd splashed out and spent £60 for dinner she was staggered that I'd spent that for two of us - she had spent 50% more than that - per person.
Once in a while however, we do make an effort in terms of dinner. I remember meals in Salisbury, and a hotel in South Wales the day after we got engaged. Another couple in the same class was a Thai restaurant in Lincoln, and our engagement party in Boston - that food was fabulous. In the past month I've had two such meals. (Incidently, I daresay at some point I will fill a post with the opposite - the most awful meals ever).
The first was my birtday meal - at a hotel on the Waterfront in Singapore. All the more surprising perhaps, because it was a buffet. But not any ordinary buffet. I think I had food from just about every country between England and Japan. And most of it the best that I've tasted. I also had things that I would never normally dream of - my starter consisted of clams, scallops, lobster, crab and oyster... not a bad little platter. Then a series of taster courses prepared pretty much in front of our eyes. To end was a sponge cake that had I breathed a little harder would have taken off.
And this evening, the Dodgess and I had our wedding banquet - or at least the tasting session for it. I have to say that I'd have been delighted with probably 7 of the 8 courses. We started with the chinese version of a cold cut platter, and ended with mango mousse, by way of pork noodles, chicken, garoupa, shark fin soup, sea cucumber, and scallops. At the end the chef came and talked things through with us. Apparently he knows that sometimes the garoupa isn't great - it comes from farmed rather than fresh stock. A couple of little changes to the menu, and all is good, I hope.
But the really really remarkable thing about most of these nights is, although I know that the food was awesome, I can't really remember the food in detail. The truth is, even on the two nights I've just eulogised about, the food has only been a side attraction.
Once in a while however, we do make an effort in terms of dinner. I remember meals in Salisbury, and a hotel in South Wales the day after we got engaged. Another couple in the same class was a Thai restaurant in Lincoln, and our engagement party in Boston - that food was fabulous. In the past month I've had two such meals. (Incidently, I daresay at some point I will fill a post with the opposite - the most awful meals ever).
The first was my birtday meal - at a hotel on the Waterfront in Singapore. All the more surprising perhaps, because it was a buffet. But not any ordinary buffet. I think I had food from just about every country between England and Japan. And most of it the best that I've tasted. I also had things that I would never normally dream of - my starter consisted of clams, scallops, lobster, crab and oyster... not a bad little platter. Then a series of taster courses prepared pretty much in front of our eyes. To end was a sponge cake that had I breathed a little harder would have taken off.
And this evening, the Dodgess and I had our wedding banquet - or at least the tasting session for it. I have to say that I'd have been delighted with probably 7 of the 8 courses. We started with the chinese version of a cold cut platter, and ended with mango mousse, by way of pork noodles, chicken, garoupa, shark fin soup, sea cucumber, and scallops. At the end the chef came and talked things through with us. Apparently he knows that sometimes the garoupa isn't great - it comes from farmed rather than fresh stock. A couple of little changes to the menu, and all is good, I hope.
But the really really remarkable thing about most of these nights is, although I know that the food was awesome, I can't really remember the food in detail. The truth is, even on the two nights I've just eulogised about, the food has only been a side attraction.
Monday, August 9, 2010
National Day
In the past few days I've been asked quite often whether Britain had a National Day. And, somewhat awkwardly, I say not really. It's quite truthful - we don't really. I mean, we have Saint's Days for each country, which are sort of celebrated. And we have the Queen's official birthday celebrations - which has some form of national celebration in it. But none of them really make a proper Nation Day along the lines of Bastille Day, Independence Day, or Singapore's National Day.
Over here we are given the day off - always good. The main event is a military parade following by a show. This year, as a five year 1 off, they paraded their tanks and other military equipment as well.
The military parade is quite sweet - in addition to the Guards of Honour from the armed forces, the police, and even scouts and girl guides are involved, and culminates in a fly past of various planes and helicopters.
The show is probably best analogised to an opening ceremony at the Olympics - full of symbolism, this time for Singapore's flag. It is quite impressive - very colourful, very slick, all very impressive. I have a feeling that if we tried it in the UK, it would just look a bit twee.
25000 people get to watch the parade each year, and for those who didn't get tickets in the ballot, you can watch on tv. In fact, if you want to watch on tv, it's hard not watch it - it is shown in parallel on 4 different channels, with what I suspect is the same scripted commentary in each of the 4 main languages here.
Overall the whole thing is incredibly slick and impressive - they use the best Singapore has to offer - starting in sunshine (there are rumours that they seed the clouds) and then the sunsets to allow better colours and fireworks. It is located in the equivalent of the Mall - which also happens to be overlooked by Singapore's most impressive architecture.
Of course - this level of choreography does not happen without rehearsal. For the past 6 saturdays the road past work has been closed as it is the staging area. Apparently the rehearsals have even included the fireworks displays... Also - when I've not been struggling to get passed the road blocks at work, the fly past preparations have gone passed my flat. And not only have they been practicing for 6 weeks, but the whole country has hung flags. There must be tens of thousands that appear up to a month before. I can see about a dozen from my window.
As an outsider it would be very easy to sneer at this. Several would interpret the whole thing as propoganda. However, for someone whose country doesn't really have a complete National Day, it actually comes accross as a celebration of the country.
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Over here we are given the day off - always good. The main event is a military parade following by a show. This year, as a five year 1 off, they paraded their tanks and other military equipment as well.
The military parade is quite sweet - in addition to the Guards of Honour from the armed forces, the police, and even scouts and girl guides are involved, and culminates in a fly past of various planes and helicopters.
The show is probably best analogised to an opening ceremony at the Olympics - full of symbolism, this time for Singapore's flag. It is quite impressive - very colourful, very slick, all very impressive. I have a feeling that if we tried it in the UK, it would just look a bit twee.
25000 people get to watch the parade each year, and for those who didn't get tickets in the ballot, you can watch on tv. In fact, if you want to watch on tv, it's hard not watch it - it is shown in parallel on 4 different channels, with what I suspect is the same scripted commentary in each of the 4 main languages here.
Overall the whole thing is incredibly slick and impressive - they use the best Singapore has to offer - starting in sunshine (there are rumours that they seed the clouds) and then the sunsets to allow better colours and fireworks. It is located in the equivalent of the Mall - which also happens to be overlooked by Singapore's most impressive architecture.
Of course - this level of choreography does not happen without rehearsal. For the past 6 saturdays the road past work has been closed as it is the staging area. Apparently the rehearsals have even included the fireworks displays... Also - when I've not been struggling to get passed the road blocks at work, the fly past preparations have gone passed my flat. And not only have they been practicing for 6 weeks, but the whole country has hung flags. There must be tens of thousands that appear up to a month before. I can see about a dozen from my window.
As an outsider it would be very easy to sneer at this. Several would interpret the whole thing as propoganda. However, for someone whose country doesn't really have a complete National Day, it actually comes accross as a celebration of the country.
The largest Singaporean flag in the world - carried to town along East Coast Park.
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The helicopter guard of honour gathering, also above East Coast Park
Saturday, July 24, 2010
A couple of weeks
So the Dodgess went out to the UK for about 10 days. The main point of her trip was to formally become a Dr. As loyal readers will know, it has been quite a long slog to get to this point, but I'm very proud of what she achieved. This morning, as she returned from a brief spell in hospital, I picked up a couple of copies of her thesis - definitely measured in either height or weight!
You may have noticed a little mention of a brief spell in hospital. Whilst still broadly jet lagged, a van went into the back of a taxi containing the Dodgess. The first I knew was she was worried about some glass in her hair. That evening she had a stiff neck, and when her arm felt a little numb the next day she thought that she better go to hospital.
A brief x-ray suggested all was fine - perhaps some whiplash. She left. Then later on a doctor called and said that she should go back - it appeared there was a very small chip to one of the bones in the neck. So she went back, and they decided to keep her in hospital.
The Dodgess and I are becoming quite expert in hospitals. Between us we have well over a dozen nights in various hospitals over the past 18 months, not to mention the various day trips that have come as a result . Anyway - they wanted to make sure the Dodgess didn't get worse before giving her an MRI...
Thankfully, the MRI showed no harm to her neck - it didn't even appear chipped. They believe that the diagnosis from a miscreant mark on the x-ray in an inopportune position. There were some slightly swollen lymph glands - so, should an ear nose and throat specialist say so - we may yet get to add another hospital to our growing list if the specialist finds it interesting.
So - it's been a distinctly strange couple of weeks. As for a return to normality - I'm sure that won't take all that long!! It's good to have Dr Dodgess back, both from the UK, and from TTS.
You may have noticed a little mention of a brief spell in hospital. Whilst still broadly jet lagged, a van went into the back of a taxi containing the Dodgess. The first I knew was she was worried about some glass in her hair. That evening she had a stiff neck, and when her arm felt a little numb the next day she thought that she better go to hospital.
A brief x-ray suggested all was fine - perhaps some whiplash. She left. Then later on a doctor called and said that she should go back - it appeared there was a very small chip to one of the bones in the neck. So she went back, and they decided to keep her in hospital.
The Dodgess and I are becoming quite expert in hospitals. Between us we have well over a dozen nights in various hospitals over the past 18 months, not to mention the various day trips that have come as a result . Anyway - they wanted to make sure the Dodgess didn't get worse before giving her an MRI...
Thankfully, the MRI showed no harm to her neck - it didn't even appear chipped. They believe that the diagnosis from a miscreant mark on the x-ray in an inopportune position. There were some slightly swollen lymph glands - so, should an ear nose and throat specialist say so - we may yet get to add another hospital to our growing list if the specialist finds it interesting.
So - it's been a distinctly strange couple of weeks. As for a return to normality - I'm sure that won't take all that long!! It's good to have Dr Dodgess back, both from the UK, and from TTS.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Indonesia
In the UK the concept of a company trip is somewhat foreign. The closest they come to anything like that would be a trip to the cinema. Over here it seems commonplace enough for travel agencies to advertise for it, and, having worked 6 months without a day off I decided to go on my company's trip. This was to Solo and Jogjakarta in Indonesia.
So on a Saturday morning I turned up a Changi airport for Indonesia. The student who was sat next to me on the plane (not a colleague) boasted that Solo's airport had just been re-built and was 'fabulous'. I think that says more about the old airport that the new - the terminal was smaller than some of the houses I've been in, and the method of dealing with foriegners is not exemplary - it took an hour to process an A319. Mind you - the attitude is a touch refreshing - if you don't have the cash to pay for the visa on arrival, they simply let you in to Indonesia to extract the money from a hole in the wall, and then take you back.
We were whisked straight off to have a look at a Royal palace. I've been to several such buildings in Europe, and expected to be carted around a few show rooms far behind a set of ropes. Here, they don't have ropes - you want to sit at the King's dining table, then go ahead. There was a private wing - but otherwise everything was open.
Indonesia has been comparatively untouched by western attitudes. The family saloon is a moped, every evening impromptu stalls appear to serve food cooked on the sidewalks. The countryside is filled with people working in paddy fields. At times, being driven around was like being in a museum, at other times, I was more than aware that had I been abandoned there, I would have had absolutely no chance of survival. I don't think that I could have even ordered a Big Mac!
The highlight of the trip was probably a trip to the Borobudur Temple - the largest Bhuddist temple in the world, although it was spectacularly busy. Somewhat less busy, but also good was the Water Temple in Yogya.
Anyway - I came back with some good memories, a chest infection, and quite a few photos - here are the pick of them:
The entrance to the water temple
So on a Saturday morning I turned up a Changi airport for Indonesia. The student who was sat next to me on the plane (not a colleague) boasted that Solo's airport had just been re-built and was 'fabulous'. I think that says more about the old airport that the new - the terminal was smaller than some of the houses I've been in, and the method of dealing with foriegners is not exemplary - it took an hour to process an A319. Mind you - the attitude is a touch refreshing - if you don't have the cash to pay for the visa on arrival, they simply let you in to Indonesia to extract the money from a hole in the wall, and then take you back.
We were whisked straight off to have a look at a Royal palace. I've been to several such buildings in Europe, and expected to be carted around a few show rooms far behind a set of ropes. Here, they don't have ropes - you want to sit at the King's dining table, then go ahead. There was a private wing - but otherwise everything was open.
Indonesia has been comparatively untouched by western attitudes. The family saloon is a moped, every evening impromptu stalls appear to serve food cooked on the sidewalks. The countryside is filled with people working in paddy fields. At times, being driven around was like being in a museum, at other times, I was more than aware that had I been abandoned there, I would have had absolutely no chance of survival. I don't think that I could have even ordered a Big Mac!
The highlight of the trip was probably a trip to the Borobudur Temple - the largest Bhuddist temple in the world, although it was spectacularly busy. Somewhat less busy, but also good was the Water Temple in Yogya.
Anyway - I came back with some good memories, a chest infection, and quite a few photos - here are the pick of them:
The mountains of Central Java
Where royalty have their tea when in Solo
A series of hill-side shops - most sell corn
The Borobudur Temple
Somehow the tmple can be quite bleak and imposing
The entrance to the water temple Two swimming pools within the temple
Another country where "I'm too long"
Bikes are everywhere in Indo
Being somewhat arty-farty with soft focus
And again
The typical family saloon.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Six Months
So this time six months ago I had just about reached the Dodgess' house. When I arrived it was about as large a weather difference as you can get. I left the UK and it was completely white. I arrived into bright sunshine and a temperature in excess of 30C.
When I arrived I had my suitcase and my cello, and that is it. So, I had a reasonably clean slate to start with when building my life over here. There are some obvious differences between life here and in the UK. Firstly I am rarely cold. Occasionally the air con is a little too cold. Although I have a horrible feeling that I have become soft. Very soft. June was somewhat grey, and, dare I say it, cool. I felt a chill one rainy evening on the way home, but when I reached back the temp displayed on the weather gadget reported it was 25C...
Work is perhaps surprisingly similar in many ways - the design codes, the thought processes etc. Throughout the six months I have only really worked on 1 project - design of an MRT viaduct. This is different from the UK, where I would only work on a project for a week at a time. The work has been enormously varied. I have a slightly flexible role, and have worked on fire, vibration, and cost studies, as well as more hard core structural engineering report such as constructability and structural design.
I have been working towards my chartership. I'm likely to sit the exams in September in Hong Kong. This has involved me trooping into work on Saturday mornings in order to complete the reports and presentation - when I try to do this at home, I completely fail. I still have quite a bit of preparation to do for the exam so I guess I'll be going back on several more Saturdays.
I also do more music over here. I am involved with The Philharmonic Orchestra which seems to do concerts every couple of months. I almost certainly do more music over here than in the UK - something for which the Dodgess certainly deserves the credit - the range of her contacts is quite staggering!
Meanwhile the Dodgess has been busy establishing herself a niche within the music world here. Perhaps most notable is a link up between Raffles Academy where she teaches, and Birmingham University. She has also completed her PhD, and is currently on an A380 on her way to the UK to collect the certificate.
And all the while we've been arranging our wedding and receptions. I've heard a few nightmares from friends about arranging weddings, but ours seems ok I think. I mean, I have no real frame of reference - I've not organised any before. But it is nice to be able to choose what we want for our day.
So that's the past 6 months. What of the next 6? Well, in these coming months I get married, have a honeymoon and wedding reception in the UK. I also chartership exams to sit, the project I'm working on at the moment finishes the design and moves into the tender stage. All in all, I think that it's safe to say 2010 will have been a distinctly busy year.
When I arrived I had my suitcase and my cello, and that is it. So, I had a reasonably clean slate to start with when building my life over here. There are some obvious differences between life here and in the UK. Firstly I am rarely cold. Occasionally the air con is a little too cold. Although I have a horrible feeling that I have become soft. Very soft. June was somewhat grey, and, dare I say it, cool. I felt a chill one rainy evening on the way home, but when I reached back the temp displayed on the weather gadget reported it was 25C...
Work is perhaps surprisingly similar in many ways - the design codes, the thought processes etc. Throughout the six months I have only really worked on 1 project - design of an MRT viaduct. This is different from the UK, where I would only work on a project for a week at a time. The work has been enormously varied. I have a slightly flexible role, and have worked on fire, vibration, and cost studies, as well as more hard core structural engineering report such as constructability and structural design.
I have been working towards my chartership. I'm likely to sit the exams in September in Hong Kong. This has involved me trooping into work on Saturday mornings in order to complete the reports and presentation - when I try to do this at home, I completely fail. I still have quite a bit of preparation to do for the exam so I guess I'll be going back on several more Saturdays.
I also do more music over here. I am involved with The Philharmonic Orchestra which seems to do concerts every couple of months. I almost certainly do more music over here than in the UK - something for which the Dodgess certainly deserves the credit - the range of her contacts is quite staggering!
Meanwhile the Dodgess has been busy establishing herself a niche within the music world here. Perhaps most notable is a link up between Raffles Academy where she teaches, and Birmingham University. She has also completed her PhD, and is currently on an A380 on her way to the UK to collect the certificate.
And all the while we've been arranging our wedding and receptions. I've heard a few nightmares from friends about arranging weddings, but ours seems ok I think. I mean, I have no real frame of reference - I've not organised any before. But it is nice to be able to choose what we want for our day.
So that's the past 6 months. What of the next 6? Well, in these coming months I get married, have a honeymoon and wedding reception in the UK. I also chartership exams to sit, the project I'm working on at the moment finishes the design and moves into the tender stage. All in all, I think that it's safe to say 2010 will have been a distinctly busy year.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Concerts Round Up
One of the changes I approve of over here is that going to concerts has become an event again. In the UK, this was hardly the case; if I was free, had been generally around Birmningham, and the Dodgess could get me a free ticket I'd go.
Over here this isn't possible. For a start, concerts sell out. About half of the concerts we've been to have been sell outs, particularly those at the Esplanade with reasonably high profile players. Several of the amateur concerts have also had fantastic audiences.
The result is we plan our concerts. We bought our tickets for Yo Yo Ma about three months before the concert. Sadly, it was his Silk Road Ensemble. The one piece that really feature Yo Yo Ma on the cello was fabulous, but his comrades don't have the same attraction, by a long way!
Another concert that we looked forwards to immensely was Joshua Bell as both soloist and director of St Martins (no longer) in the Fields. The most memorable was his leading of Beethoven 7, which was taut and far more unified than any conducted version I've heard. The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was also good (something it simply wasn't last time I heard it in Symphony Hall).
Of course we don't only go to see star names. Another concert was one that we went to earlier this week. The Dodgess' piano teacher held a concert for her students, and those of her sisters, who also teach piano. My cello teacher used to hold these concerts in her living room, we would all sit on the floor, cello cases in bedrooms, until 1 year where she held it in a friendly church. Well, these piano teaching sisters, by reputation hugely prolific do something rather more flash, hiring our the Recital Hall at the Esplanade for the evening.
And there, playing on a Steinway grand, a dozen young girls (only 1 boy, and he didn't even get to play on his own), dressed up in ball gowns (not the boy) played their pieces entirely from memory. It was all hugely impressive, the production, the dresses, the poise, the technique, the memory (one entirely noticeable lapse, but Andrea Bocelli had that in his concert, so the young girl is in the best and richest of company). In fact, the one thing that didn't shine was the music. One piece stood out; a duet by Poulenc (only to be played by the closest of friends) and really caught my attention. That and, strangely for me, a Mozart that shimmered beautifully. The contrast with the NYP concert I moonlighted in couldn't have been larger.
As for what next, well, I'm tempted to go and see Mischa Maisky the week after I'm married - that's over three months away. If we were in the country, we would probably have booked for the Berlin Philharmonic - it would be a tight call, they are hardly giving tickets away, starting at about £50, and rapidly into 3 figures - even so, it will sell out. We're also working out ways to watch or listen to the Proms - and think we have one, though whether we will get up at 2am to listen live I doubt.
Still, we're enjoying concerts here more I think. It's not that we didn't see great music in the UK; we did (notably Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Brahms, and an awesom Tchaik V). However, the anticipation really does add to the experience. It's why we enjoyed the Proms we went to, and, I'm sure, part of the reason we enjoyed Joshua Bell so much.
Over here this isn't possible. For a start, concerts sell out. About half of the concerts we've been to have been sell outs, particularly those at the Esplanade with reasonably high profile players. Several of the amateur concerts have also had fantastic audiences.
The result is we plan our concerts. We bought our tickets for Yo Yo Ma about three months before the concert. Sadly, it was his Silk Road Ensemble. The one piece that really feature Yo Yo Ma on the cello was fabulous, but his comrades don't have the same attraction, by a long way!
Another concert that we looked forwards to immensely was Joshua Bell as both soloist and director of St Martins (no longer) in the Fields. The most memorable was his leading of Beethoven 7, which was taut and far more unified than any conducted version I've heard. The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was also good (something it simply wasn't last time I heard it in Symphony Hall).
Of course we don't only go to see star names. Another concert was one that we went to earlier this week. The Dodgess' piano teacher held a concert for her students, and those of her sisters, who also teach piano. My cello teacher used to hold these concerts in her living room, we would all sit on the floor, cello cases in bedrooms, until 1 year where she held it in a friendly church. Well, these piano teaching sisters, by reputation hugely prolific do something rather more flash, hiring our the Recital Hall at the Esplanade for the evening.
And there, playing on a Steinway grand, a dozen young girls (only 1 boy, and he didn't even get to play on his own), dressed up in ball gowns (not the boy) played their pieces entirely from memory. It was all hugely impressive, the production, the dresses, the poise, the technique, the memory (one entirely noticeable lapse, but Andrea Bocelli had that in his concert, so the young girl is in the best and richest of company). In fact, the one thing that didn't shine was the music. One piece stood out; a duet by Poulenc (only to be played by the closest of friends) and really caught my attention. That and, strangely for me, a Mozart that shimmered beautifully. The contrast with the NYP concert I moonlighted in couldn't have been larger.
As for what next, well, I'm tempted to go and see Mischa Maisky the week after I'm married - that's over three months away. If we were in the country, we would probably have booked for the Berlin Philharmonic - it would be a tight call, they are hardly giving tickets away, starting at about £50, and rapidly into 3 figures - even so, it will sell out. We're also working out ways to watch or listen to the Proms - and think we have one, though whether we will get up at 2am to listen live I doubt.
Still, we're enjoying concerts here more I think. It's not that we didn't see great music in the UK; we did (notably Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Brahms, and an awesom Tchaik V). However, the anticipation really does add to the experience. It's why we enjoyed the Proms we went to, and, I'm sure, part of the reason we enjoyed Joshua Bell so much.
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