TSO/Imaid
Before getting to the TSO or I Maid Cafe, on Friday I was at The Old Sod which is a bar/pub in Etobicoke. The time previous to this weekend, the waitress called it "Kinder Fridays", because of the large number of "young" people in the bar. They don't card at the door, and they all seemed underage to me. I don't have a point here other than to say how can something like this continue for so long? Or maybe I'm just that old :(
On Friday, after climbing at TCA, we decided to go to I Maid Cafe. If you haven't heard of it, it's a bbtea place/restaurant, except the waitresses are dressed in French Maid Costumes. I think this sort of thing (themed eateries) is common in Japan, but not so common in North America. The waitresses in costumes differentiate it from a normal place, but I don't think it's that special. At least the prices aren't inflated and apparently the food is decent, although I only had a bbtea. I guess I would go again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go, since it's so far. At least I don't go there every week, like some people ;)
Sunday, was the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall, as part of the TSO Soundcheck program. Kevin already blogged about it, but I'll comment on what I thought. I hadn't been there in years, so it was interesting seeing the building/architecture itself. The first piece, a newly composed piece by a prof at UBC was alright. Nothing spetacular, but not bad either. It was a little repetitive in a bolero type of way, but I also happen to like bolero, so it's not a bad thing. The composer sat directly behind me after the introduction, which was a little discomforting.
The 2nd piece, Beethoven's 4th piano concerto was really good. I enjoyed it a lot, because I think the most interesting pieces while attending symphonies (I haven't been to many though) are piano concertos. My seat was right in the front row by the extreme side where the pianist had her back to us, so I got to see the pianist perform in detail. The bad part about those seats is that we could only see the violins (feet at that) and no one else. One of the violinists got up in the middle of the performance to go cough in the back stage area, which I thought was peculiar. We ended up going upstairs at intermission, because some dude behind us was breathing extremely loudly.
The third piece, by Saint Saens, wasn't that great imo. First of all, I'm not a big fan of Saint Saens, because from the pieces I've heard, most of his stuff pretty bland and forgettable. The performance was an Organ Symphony, which I think is pretty unique in itself. But when the piece was performed, I would say that the organ had a (loud) cameo rather than had a symphony composed around it. I guess it's tough for an organ to be center stage like a piano is when presented as a piano concerto. This contrast was especially obvious when the Organ symphony was performed right after the piano concerto.
In conclusion, I think I would go again, partly because the price is good. Only $12 for a night of entertainment, so that's pretty decent!
On Friday, after climbing at TCA, we decided to go to I Maid Cafe. If you haven't heard of it, it's a bbtea place/restaurant, except the waitresses are dressed in French Maid Costumes. I think this sort of thing (themed eateries) is common in Japan, but not so common in North America. The waitresses in costumes differentiate it from a normal place, but I don't think it's that special. At least the prices aren't inflated and apparently the food is decent, although I only had a bbtea. I guess I would go again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go, since it's so far. At least I don't go there every week, like some people ;)
Sunday, was the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall, as part of the TSO Soundcheck program. Kevin already blogged about it, but I'll comment on what I thought. I hadn't been there in years, so it was interesting seeing the building/architecture itself. The first piece, a newly composed piece by a prof at UBC was alright. Nothing spetacular, but not bad either. It was a little repetitive in a bolero type of way, but I also happen to like bolero, so it's not a bad thing. The composer sat directly behind me after the introduction, which was a little discomforting.
The 2nd piece, Beethoven's 4th piano concerto was really good. I enjoyed it a lot, because I think the most interesting pieces while attending symphonies (I haven't been to many though) are piano concertos. My seat was right in the front row by the extreme side where the pianist had her back to us, so I got to see the pianist perform in detail. The bad part about those seats is that we could only see the violins (feet at that) and no one else. One of the violinists got up in the middle of the performance to go cough in the back stage area, which I thought was peculiar. We ended up going upstairs at intermission, because some dude behind us was breathing extremely loudly.
The third piece, by Saint Saens, wasn't that great imo. First of all, I'm not a big fan of Saint Saens, because from the pieces I've heard, most of his stuff pretty bland and forgettable. The performance was an Organ Symphony, which I think is pretty unique in itself. But when the piece was performed, I would say that the organ had a (loud) cameo rather than had a symphony composed around it. I guess it's tough for an organ to be center stage like a piano is when presented as a piano concerto. This contrast was especially obvious when the Organ symphony was performed right after the piano concerto.
In conclusion, I think I would go again, partly because the price is good. Only $12 for a night of entertainment, so that's pretty decent!
posted by Nelson at 11:28 PM
3 Comments:
Maid cafe what! I can't believe Toronto has a maid cafe. That's frickin' awesome. lol...having said that, I've never been to one here in Japan, but they've got a big rep. The Akihabara electronics district of Tokyo has lots of them, and there's always a lineup of otakus (manga/anime/computer nerds) outside, waiting to get in.
A new twist on the maid cafe is the "butler cafe": same deal, but the target audience is girls who go to be waited on by tuxedo-clad "butlers" who refer to the girls as お嬢様 (ojousama, "daughter of a higher class family").
If you ever visit Tokyo, we'll have to hit up a maid cafe.
Jeff
P.S. There's no WAY I believe your statement, "I don't go there every week". Dude, you're pure otaku. ;)
Haha, no really I don't! It's way too far, but some friends go there fairly often.
But overall, I don't think it's doing that well, because there weren't many customers in there on a saturday nite. Oh well, we'll see how long it lasts...
Man..I always miss trips to I Maid, but yeah every time I drive past it's always mostly empty.
Oh is that why the violinist left? I thought she broke a string or something.
Yeah, the organ's just another percussion instrument...I think Peter made us all believe it was an organ Concerto...
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