A delightful lunch at The Hand & Flowers, Marlow-on-Thames

"I have got to eat before my friend's wedding." So it was my mission to track down somewhere nice to eat before the wedding in Marlow. Upon a friend's recommendation, my fellow wedding guests and I got a table at The Hand & Flowers.

Although it looked like an ordinary pub on the outside, when you stepped in it felt more than your olde worlde public house. The tables have side plates, napkins and cutlery laid out. My glass of house merlot (I was gasping for a drink) was smooth and flavourful. The carte was a lot more exciting than the typical pub lunch menu.

I ordered the home cured sardines on chopped capers (see picture above), onions and shallots on a toasted slice of bread. The slow cooked Oxford beef (Oxfordshire being a short distance away) came with bone marrow bread pudding (yum). All very tasty. My friend's parfait of foie gras looked velvety, though his wife's red snapper soup was apparently a bit too salty. We had no time to do pudding (shame) and had coffee instead - they came with freshly baked shortbread and delightful chocolate coated toffee. All was quaffed down in no time.

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Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Opera

Michael Levine's set design for Dialogues des Carmélites was minimalist. Actually, was there any set design? I suppose the director Robert Carsen was clever at introducing formation of human figures in many different ways to suggest the context of the opera. It kind of worked. Blanche, sung by Sally Matthews, was pretty good. Though I did find the whole work quite tedious - I think the intimate nature of the dialogues needed a small and intimate performing space i.e. not the Royal Opera House. The ending was worth waiting for. Dramatic. Poignant.

Xuan Spa, Park Hyatt Saigon

After a long day on my feet travelling from frantic Bangkok to Saigon, I very much looked forward to a relaxing massage before going to bed. The Xuan Spa was a very pleasant surprise. The staff was very friendly and the atmosphere of the spa was tranquil - a world away from the screaming mopeds on the streets outside. The therapy room was big, with an en suite shower and lovely foot bath. The massage was good - classical Swedish - and at a leisurely pace. Subsequently I had a very good night's sleep.

Strauss Four Last Songs and Sibelius 5 - Singapore Symphony

The evening concert started with the overture of Lohengrin. Jukka-Pekka Saraste took a poised temple and the strings of Singapore Symphony rose to the ocassion to provide that mythical sound. This probbaly was intedned to set the mood for the Four Last Songs - I guessed. Evelina Dobračeva was the star soprano. Frühling got off to a sure, if a little safe start. The best was probably Beim Schlafengehen, sung with great stillness. September and Im Abendrot felt unblanaced - Dobračeva's subtle words were somehow lost among the swell of orchestral sound. This was followed by Morgen - probbaly the best song of the evening, perhaps the very light orchestration helped. Jukka-Pekka Saraste and SSO were on surer footing with Sibelius 5. The first movement was brisk with lightness and details. The second and last movements felt cohesive, leading to the well known tune in the finale. If only there were more people in the concert hall to enjoy the music.

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