Tag Archives: Orlando

2017: A year of firsts

30 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by in Arts, Fitness, Food, Reflections, Visual Arts, Wellbeing, Yoga

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It’s that time of year again. A time to reflect on the past 12 months and make resolutions for the New Year. My year has been a whirlwind of new stuff: I’ve entered unknown territories, tried things for the first time, and discovered new exhibitions and conventions in London.

If there’s anything I’ve learnt from all this, it’s that trying new things opens your mind to other cultures, different ways of thinking, and can be a great source of inspiration. Doing new things that scare you, in particular, can challenge you to confront your fears. Often our fears are based on the unknown or misconceptions, but it can actually turn out to be really exciting if you just take the leap.

Here are some of my highlights…

New experiences

Learnt to swing on a flying trapeze

I never dreamed I’d be flying around on a trapeze this year. But one of my friends had tried it before and took me with her…so I just went for it. Here’s the post I wrote about the whole terrifying (yet amazing) ordeal at Gorilla Circus.

Face your fears with flying trapeze

Learnt to ride a horse

Here’s another thing I’d always been too scared to do. But on a trip to Loch Ness with my friends who’d ridden before, I thought I’d give it a go. I was in safe hands riding ‘Bilbo’ – one of Highland Riding Centre‘s most docile horses. After a quick lesson, we were off on a trek! And once I’d got the hang of it, it was actually quite relaxing riding around in the beautiful Scottish highlands.

Tried mermaid pose

I’ve reached the stage where I don’t need to master every pose to enjoy my yoga practice. Just the simple fact that I’m breathing in the moment, thinking of nothing else, is enough for me. Trying a new asana is just a by-product of turning up to the yoga studio. That’s how mermaid pose happened…

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Tried bubble waffles

Also known as egg waffles, this Hong Kong delicacy became one of the top food trends of 2017, with stores popping up all over London. I went for Hatch Waffles in Soho and had them with matcha ice cream, red beans and mochi – very filling but absolutely delicious.

Tried making sushi

I was lucky enough to win an Instagram giveaway for this Clearspring Luxury Japanese Sushi Kit, so I made sure it was put to good use…

New holidays

Liverpool

This was an eventful one. Our journey there was almost thwarted by Storm Doris – instead of a three-hour train journey, it took us an entire day. But that didn’t stop us from packing in The Beatles Story, Albert Dock, The Cavern Club and creative hub the Bluecoat. We even found matcha lattes at Leaf, snuggled up with cocktails in Cosy Club and danced the night away in Alma De Cuba – a Brazilian club inside an 18th-century church!

Budapest

A raving recommendation from a friend lead us to splash out on the world-famous Hotel Gellért with its Art Nouveaux style and extravagant spa. Think ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’. We spent a fair amount of time bathing in its delicious thermal pools, before soaking in the Széchenyi Baths across town. Out of the water, we also explored the Jewish Quarter, the ‘ruin bar’ Szimpla Kert, and took a boat up the Danube to the picturesque Margaret Island.

Scotland

Starting in Edinburgh, we ticked off tourist spots like the castle and Diagon House (Harry Potter shop), spent a day enjoying free comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe, and scaled Arthur’s Seat. A few of us then went on a road trip up to Loch Ness; we arrived at nightfall and woke up to a spectacular view of the loch itself. Here we went waterfall chasing, horse riding (see above) and Nessie spotting on the lake. On the last night we even made a camp fire, and I may have taken a dip in the water…

Ibiza

My friend and I popped our Ibiza cherries with a relaxing break in Cala Llonga. The average guest age at our hotel was about 40, but we thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet. The Palladium Hotel Cala Llonga is built into the cove itself, so has a stunning view of the sea at all times. But it wouldn’t be Ibiza without partying, so of course we went to see Kygo play at Ushuaia.

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Florida

Okay I may have been to Orlando a few times before, but this was the first time with my boyfriend. And so much has changed, it was almost a different place. What with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (truly magical!); the recently built water park, Volcano Bay (awesome); and the new Pandora area in Animal Kingdom (absolutely amazing). Another scary first was driving a hire car – an automatic – on the other side of the road. So weird.

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New conventions

Fare Healthy

The Truman Brewery on Brick Lane played host to this festival of all things food, fitness and wellbeing. I enjoyed a hilariously fun class from the Boys of Yoga, heard some inspiring talks from the pros and picked up plenty of healthy freebies and matcha goodies.

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First ever Comic Con

When I found out that my idol, director and podcaster Kevin Smith, was coming to the UK, I had to get tickets to the London Film and Comic Con. Not only did we get to see him do a live podcast with Scott Mosier, we actually got to meet him!

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First cosplay at Comic Con

Having enjoyed the first one so much, we returned dressed in cosplay. I was such a geek about it I planned my costume months in advance…and spent a pretty penny on all the paraphernalia. My favourite part of the day was all the kids waving at me – and the little girl who wanted to take a selfie with me made my day. Thanks again to the guy who turned my cosplay photo into fan art…

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New exhibitions

Orchid Festival

On my first ever visit to Kew Gardens, I went for the annual Orchid Festival. This year’s display took inspiration from India, with flowers arranged in the shape of peacocks, elephants and tigers. Oh my!

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Art of the Brick – DC Superheroes

Who knew you could make such beautiful comic book art out of Lego? From Aquaman in the bath (or you could say ‘in his element’) to Superman in flight, the exhibits were absolutely bricktacular.

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The Fan Museum

This Greenwich attraction was the venue for my friend’s birthday – and what a hidden gem it is. After admiring a range of ornate and imaginative fans, we had a spot of afternoon tea in the Orangery, with its beautifully painted murals.

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Adventures in Moominland

This experiential exhibition at Southbank Centre was made even more special by the fact that photography was prohibited. It now exists only in my mind. After literally stepping inside a Moomin story book, our enthusiastic and knowledgable guide took us on an immersive journey through Moominland, punctuated along the way with various original sketches and artefacts.

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Japanese House

As a lover of all things Japanese, I jumped at the chance to learn more about the culture at this Barbican exhibition. It was a satisfying combination of perfect diaramas, both miniature and life size. And, as someone who’s in the process of decluttering, I was totally inspired by the minimalism – a carefully placed plant or trinket can be all you need to decorate a space.

New Year’s Resolutions: blog more often and write shorter posts…

Namaste!

Yoga Panther x

Interview with Matt Lacey: The Gap Yah sensation

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in 'The Badger' articles, Comedy, Interviews

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After the widespread success of the ‘Gap Yah’ videos, Orlando is back with his new book ‘The Gap Yah Plannah’. For those of you who are unawahh of the YouTube sensation that is ‘Gap Yah’ (viewed over 4 million times), the video portrays a student called Orlando (played by Matt Lacey) telling his friend Tarquin about his experiences during his gap year in Tanzanahh, Perahh and Burmahh, all of which result in him vomiting, or “chundering”, everywahh.

Its creator, Matt Lacey, describes the video as: “A satire on the great number of people who seem to be leaving these shores to vomit all over the developing world.” (The Guardian). Matt, 25, studied Modern History at Oxford (his thesis was based on an obscure Irish moustache law), but unsurprisingly was always drawn to the stage. After uni, he formed the comedy group ‘The Unexpected Items’ who wrote the material for the sketch…

Where did you get the idea for the comedy sketch?

I kind of created the character as a composite of people I met at uni really. It actually started off as a silly voice I was using to take the piss out of a friend of mine, and after a while I started adding to what I overheard and eventually it became a real character that I could perform on stage.

Where did Orlando come from?

The character’s called Orlando, but the real Orlando was a friend of a friend I met at a party, and when he introduced himself, I couldn’t understand him with his lazy vowels. He was so posh I genuinely thought he was called Miranda.

What about that famous phrase?

Well I first overheard ‘I need to take a tactical chunder’, which means if you’re drinking too much and you need to lessen the load, you make yourself sick, which is quite a bizarre concept. But this one time I was in a queue for Zodiac on Cowley road in Oxford and there was this gaggle of teenagers and I just heard, ‘Oh em gee, Tarquin’s just vommed! Tarquin’s just chundered EVERYWHERE!’ as he was getting sick into someone’s front garden.

What did you study at Oxford?

Modern History. I did my thesis on a 14th century Irish law about moustaches.

Were you a lash hero at university?  

Was I ever? I don’t think they used that terminology then, but I liked to drink.

You must get recognised a lot since everyone our age has seen the videos.

The first time I got recognised was quite weird, it was at Elephant and Castle shopping centre in London, which is quite an unexpected place for that to happen, the guy just came up to me and said, ‘Saw you on the internet’ and walked off.  

As an English language student at Sussex I have to say you have the most inventive use of the language. How does it feel to have created and immortalised words such as ‘vomcano’ and ‘lashmina’ which are being used by students all over the country?

Yeah it’s nice to have added to the vernacular…Shakespeare made up words, why can’t I?! They seem to pop up in a lot of place, there was even an article in the telegraph the other day talking about the occupied people calling them ‘Lefties on their gap yah’!

What can we expect from your new book ‘The Gap Yah Plannah?’

Well, what can’t you expect?! I can’t think of anything. Hopefully you’ll find it funny, but it’s also quite varied, so it’s not all written from the point of view of Orlando. A lot of it is written in that Lonely Planet style. (Yeah check out this! Fuck off Lonely Planet you’re not my friend) It’s all illustrated by me as well…and it’s shiny.

I’ve read some excerpts of it and the way it’s written I can just imagine you saying it.

I did quite literally say it; when I was writing it I would read it back to myself in the voice just to make sure it all flowed.

Do you think anyone will be able to read it and find it funny, even if they’re not planning a gap yah?

Well no one can afford to go on a gap yah this year what with the student fee rise…but this is the next best thing! It’s cheaper than paying £25,000 or however much a gap year costs.

What do you think of Made in Chelsea?

I’ve watched it a few times, it’s a bizarre programme, I don’t really understand it if I’m honest. I don’t understand how they make it, as it’s kind of semi real, but not. They seem to be having a lovely time don’t they? But never go down to the river Thames if you’re partner asks you to, ‘cause you’re going to get dumped.

Have you actually been on a gap yah?

Yes I had to take a gap yah. Most of it I spent in Ireland working in a Chinese restaurant run by Romanians. That was life experience! But I also did a more cliché trip to Tanzania or ‘Tanzanaah’.

So you went to Oxford and you’ve been on a gap yah, aren’t you just a ‘rah’ in denial?

Am I a rah? I don’t know…I’m pretty middle class, I’ve never worn a pashmina! And I only bought that Jack Wills gilet for Orlando…but previous to that I would not be seen wearing Jack Wills.

What’s next for you?

Well I’m talking to people about possible vehicles with the character for TV, but I’m keen to do more live shows with my sketch group called ‘The unexpected items’, and we’re going to put some more of our sketches up on our youtube channel – one of them is actually a satire on Made in Chelsea. And of course promoting the book, I’m not quite as good as the meerkat yet!

Orlando’s Lexicon:

  • Gap Yah – When posh kids spend a year travelling the world using daddy’s credit card.
  • Tactical chunder – If you’re drinking too much and need to lessen the load, you literally make yourself sick.
  • Vomcano – When you chunder volcanic proportions.
  • Lash Hero – Someone who can consume copious amounts of alcohol and still maintain a high level of banter.
  • Lashmina – The metaphorical pashmina one wears when out on the lash.

The Gap Yah Plannah by Orlando is published by 4th Estate, find it at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Gap-Yah-Plannah-Orlando/dp/0007432062