The Happiness Box

Today is ANZAC Day- the day when we commemorate all those who served and died for Australia in battle from World War I up until the present. It's 98 years today that the first ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers arrived on the beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915.

Today I read a book. Now, that's nothing unusual, but this book is special. It's called The Happiness Box.

The Happiness Box was written in 1942 by Sgt David Griffin, an Australian solider who was a Prisoner of War by the Japanese in Singapore. I first came across it last year when I was in Singapore and took the Changi World War Two tour.
Basically, in 1942, some of the POWs wanted to make Christmas gifts for the children who were interned in the prisons alongside them. Some of them made toys, but David Griffin, knowing he had no talent for making toys, decided to write a book for the children instead.

The Happiness Box tells the story of three friends- Martin the Monkey, Wobbley the Frog and Winston the Chi Chak (a Malayan lizard) who live together in a little house in the jungle.

A Chi Chak... pretty much a gekko

All the presents had to be checked by the Japanese. And when they saw that one of the characters was called Winston, they became suspicious that the book was actually a code for the Allies (you know, Winston... Winston Churchill. Get it?).
Some of the POWs managed to grab the book, and they hid it in an ammunition container and buried it somewhere in the grounds of the prison camp. After the war, they dug the book up and took it back to Australia, where it made its way to the State Library of NSW.

It's a sweet little book, but it's really amazing to read it and know what the author went through, why he was writing the book and the people he was writing the book for- children living imprisoned in a crowded and awful gaol.

It's only been available for public purchase since 1991. I assume you can buy it in Australia... I'd never seen it or heard of it (I don't think) until I went to Singapore, but our tour guide said it was a pretty big sale for tour groups and visitors.

The best example I can think of to sum up the essence of the book, is this quote. All you have to know is that Martin, Wobbley and Winston found a box in the jungle. Inside were 3 books, one for each of them.

Then Winston, who was very clever, said, "I will tell you what they mean. They mean that we three must go out into the world and teach our neighbours how to be clever, industrious and kind, so that they can all be as happy as we." 

I think that pretty much says it all.

Lest we forget.

Wicked in Singapore

So, I realised although I blogged about my Singapore trip, but I didn't really go into the details of the main purpose of that trip- Wicked! 

This was mostly because it deserved it's own entry, and I needed the time to compose such an entry. I have so many friends who would have loved to have gone with us to see the show, and who we would have loved to have been able to come, but it didn't work out. So, I wanted this special entry to essentially be able to help them to feel as though they were there with us.

The show of course, lacked neither it's magic or it's brilliance; but seeing it in a new country with a few new cast members brought something new to the show.
And there were a few changes.

Galinda's line about Elphaba in Dr Dillamond's class?
"Well, it seems the artichoke is steamed!"
It's now broccoli. Apparently no one in Singapore knew what an artichoke was.

The exchange with Nessa and Boq at the OzDust about the punch?
"What's in the punch?"
"Lemons, and melons and pears."
 "Oh my!" 
Gone. (I was sad. I like that line.)

The little bit between Galinda and Fiyero when Elphaba first enters the OzDust in the hat?
"Who in Oz's name is that?" 
"It's my roommate. Please don't stare." 
"How can you help it?"
Gone. (Also sad about that.)

But there were also some awesome parts that either were not there before, or I simply never noticed them, but I will now watch for them every single time I see the show.

First of all, Fiyero's reaction when he's listening to Galinda convince Boq to ask Nessa to the party. David Harris does this really, really well. I loved it. It's one of curiosity, incredulously (as in 'this is so not going to work') and then shock and awe throughout that entire scene.

The other second part, which is now my favourite ensemble moment of the show, is that scene in Dillamond's class, the first one. When Dillamond says "the question became, who can we blame?" and one of the ensemble members (Shane, we later discovered after poring over the program and tweeting the cast for answers), who is sitting next to Boq and behind Elphaba, he points to Elphaba in answer to that question.

And we giggled, every time. (Except for the last show we saw, when he didn't do it and we were devastated)

This was my first time seeing Suzie Mathers as Glinda, and she was awesome! I loved her, and she's already made her way onto my list of favourite Glindas! (The top 3 are now Megan Hilty, then Suzie and then Lucy Durack).

Jemma Rix, of course, was an amazing Elphaba as usual. OK, so yes, she's the only Elphaba I've seen live, but it still stands. (My top 3 Elphaba's are Jemma, then Eden Espinosa and then Idina Mezel).  She is the only Elphaba who can reduce me to tears (and make me stop breathing) just via YouTube. I refer you to the story I think I blogged where I started crying in the lobby just after hearing the end of her Defying Gravity (it was as awkward as it sounds).

David Harris... sigh. I've seen three different Fiyero's live, and he is by far the best. Apart from the facial expression thing I mentioned earlier, we also giggled at the beginning of Dancing Through Life when he was talking to Boq and he straightened his tie and then slapped his butt with the book before he threw it off stage (this was mostly funny due to a private joke no one will get unless they know my friend Julia, but still funny!) He's also such a nice guy! And gives awesome hugs (but I can say this about all the cast members I met).

Elisa Colla, I've also seen as Nessarose every time I've seen the show, and she's so good! Her Wicked Witch of the East is beautiful. And, after meeting her at Stage door and a few tweets, I'm standing by the official line that she is the sweetest person in the world.

James D. Smith was also wonderful as Boq, but again, I've seen him every time. But I definitely like him better than any Boq I've seen on YouTube. Again, he's such a nice guy!

As Bert Newton wasn't there, we had Glen Hogstrom (Dillamond) as the Wizard. He was great! I was really happy with his portrayal of the Wizard, and then on our last night, we had him as Dillamond, and he was just as great! I'm really happy I got to see him in both roles.

So, when Glen was the Wizard, Nathan Carter, (who I've only seen as Elphaba's father until now) was Dillamond, and he was the Wizard to Glen's Dillamond. He wasn't bad, but I really like him as the father! (And not just because the guy we had as the Father the first night had hair... which was weird for everyone).

Anne Woods was the third Morrible I've seen, and again, she wasn't bad, but I prefer Maggie Kirkpatrick's portrayal, but I did love Geraldine Turner. And again, she was lovely at the Stage Door, even if we only managed to talk to her one night of the four.

I finally got to meet Ryan Sheppard (Chistery) and Gretel Scarlett (Elphaba's mother) and both were extremely lovely.

I can't think of anything else to comment on... I miss Wicked....

Wicked in Singapore #2

Hi! So, sorry I haven't been blogging more regularly, but we've been having a lot of late nights on this trip!

So, on Friday (you know, the day I promised to blog about that night, haha. Oops) we went to Universal Studios. It was so much fun! I'm not really a ride person, but I love the details they put into each world of these places. It's the little touches that make it realistic.

I loved the New York world, but my favourite was probably the Far Far Away world. I love Shrek! But we got to meet the cast of Madagascar which was awesome (yes, I am a big kid, haha).

On Friday night we went to the Stage Door, mostly to try and catch all the cast members who leave so quickly!

And it was amazing. I'd met some cast members before, but it was my first time for a lot of them. And they're all so lovely! The highlight was David Harris (Fiyero) signing my program and spelling my name correctly although he's only ever seen it on twitter!

But there was a moment when we were killing time before going to the Stage door by buying WICKED merch (as you do), and we could hear the end of Jemma's 'Defying Gravity' from the lobby!!! And it was so beautiful, and so Jemma and I realised in that moment how much I missed the show and cast and YouTube does not do Jemma justice... and I cried. Yep, in the lobby. It was awkward.

 



On Saturday, we were so excited all day about seeing the show! I barely slept the night before! We went and did the Changi WWII tour that morning, which was really good.

We heard some really cool stories about Australian P.O.Ws from that time, and I'm hoping to use it when I teach WWII later this year.

And then... finally, after 8 months of withdrawal, missing the show and longing to see it again... WICKED! Front row centre!!

So amazing there are no words! I cried in the overture (again, awkward. I also cried again in Defying Gravity, but at least this time I was seeing it!) And then we bolted (and I do mean bolted. I had my shoes off and everything) to the Stage Door and met more cast members that we'd missed the night before.

I'd written some of the cast letters before we went, and given them out on Friday night. And both David and Elisa (Nessarose) thanked me and said they were sweet! They read them!!!!

Yesterday was a pretty light day. We went to the Titanic Exhibition, which was incredibly moving and sad. We also happened to go (OK, it was planned) exactly 100 years from the day the ship sunk. When you go in, you're given a boarding pass from an actual passenger. At the end, you discover your fate.

I was Eva Georgette Light, AKA Mrs Bertram Frank Dean. I was 33, from Devon England and travelling to Kansas with my husband, 1 year old son (Bertram V Dean) and 9 week old daughter (Elizabeth Gladys 'Millvina' Dean) in 3rd class. I spent the whole time hoping that at least my kids had survived the sinking.

The exhibit was amazing, you actually feel like you're on the ship! Which means you feel really underdressed. I got my photo taken on the replica of THE staircase (!!!!) and it was so moving.

And yes, I and my children survived the sinking. My husband did not.

Today we did the zoo and the night safari, both of which were amazing... until it started pouring down from nowhere. But it was still fun! We saw lions! (I love lions).

Tomorrow, we're planning to hit the museum before seeing Wicked again! (And stage door, of course). Front row again! Yay!



Singapore

Greetings from Singapore, everyone!

This is officially Day #1 of the trip, and I shall blog on that either tonight or tomorrow (depends on how tired I am by tonight!).

So, yesterday, I spent a total of 9 hours on a plane. We were flying out from Sydney to Brisbane at 8am. We wanted to be at the airport by 6am- we were awake at 2 (not by choice. I think I was so paranoid I'd sleep through the 4am alarm, I just woke up).

The flight to Brisbane went surprisingly fast, which filled us with false hope that the next 8 hour stretch to Singapore from Brisbane would also go fast. As I've said before, I love flying, hate airports (especially, it turns out, international airports. So much stress!)

The view from the plane- clouds look so cool from planes!

The highlight of our 3 hour layover in Brisbane was meeting our friend Bianca, who is as lovely in person as she is on twitter!



Bianca, Kelly and me.



So, how do you kill 8 hours on a plane? Very. Slowly.

Thank Oz they offered movies! I watched New Years Eve (I love that movie); then I watched the first episode of Tim Allen's new sitcom Last Man Standing (it's really funny, and completely different from Home Improvement!)  Then I watched How to lose a guy in 10 days which was edited for content (So, instead of playing "Bullshit" they play "Bullspit.") I watched some of Breaking Dawn part 1 out of sheer boredom, but only made it through half (which they also said was edited, but I'm sure they showed more than How to lose a guy in 10 days did, which was weird because BD is way worse).

We were flying with Etihad airlines, and they were really good! The service was lovely and the flight attendants had gorgeous uniforms.

Although before every movie started, they advertised something called Pocari Sweat. Apparently, it's some kind of drink to replenish the fluids your body uses whilst sitting. Call me crazy, but I'm not too keen on the idea of drinking anything with a bodily fluid mentioned in the title (does sweat count as a bodily fluid?)

So, we arrived at Singapore 6.30pm local time. And it's very warm, so we're very happy!

Keep you all posted!