No, this time I don’t mean the dimsum (and there are many other dimsum eateries I’d suggest you try before Ping Pong). Ping Pong refers to table tennis, and the 100s of tables that have popped up all over the place thanks to Ping! London. Much like when Play Me, I’m Yours comes to town, or the elephants everyone has been playing with over the last couple of months, I get super excited about these events.

They make London smile. They make Londoners talk to each other. They make a normal day more interesting. There’s only 100 tables, but there’s little events going on at each one, and they’re pretty easy to find (very easy, if you check out the map on Time Out’s website), but I reckon that’s cheating. But if you’re itching to find one, Soho Square is a good starting point.

The tables are free, although you might have to wait your turn if you want a go. I’m off to find a bat and ball, anyone want a game? You’ve got until August 22nd to find a table, otherwise they’ll all disappear like magic.

Flickr image from gemb1‘s photostream.

It’s finally here! Barclays Cycle Hire has hit London, and now you can whoosh around London on two wheels, instead of braving the underground in rush hour. Alas, I haven’t tried the service yet, I’m frankly certain that I’d get distracted and squished by London traffic, but I’m curious about how people are finding it.

Thought so far seems to be that a) it’s mighty expensive and b) Barclays could probably do with toning down the branding a bit.

So how much is it? Well, first you need a membership key which is £3. Then you need to pay for access (no, I don’t know the difference between the two either). That’s £1 a day, £5 for a week or £45 for a year. So far so good.

And the cycles themselves? Free for half an hour! Yay! And actually, when you think about this, you can whizz across most of central London in half an hour. Then £1 for an hour, £4 for 90 minutes, £6 for two hours (getting pricey now), and up to a whopping £50 for a full day.

What?! Fifty quid?! Blimey. Yes, on paper that sounds pricey. But I don’t think anyone would cycle for a whole day. The point is to get around London quickly and easily. And if it’s so much cheaper to make two journeys, then why not do that? Are you going to be cycling for a whole 24 hours? Of course not. Pop the bike back while you’re shopping, or in the pub, and you’ll save yourself pennies. Lots of them. I think that’s why the price for long a journey is so high – they’re meant to be available for everyone. You’re also told that if you need a bike for longer than a couple of hours, you might save money looking elsewhere. Impressive, despite my original balking at the cost.

But how easy is it to find a bike rack to pop your bike back when you’re done? A half hour journey is going to get pricey if you can find somewhere to leave your bike. But take a look at the map. You’re going to be spoilt for choice. Yep, points to Barclays. They’ve thought about this. It also looks like they’re realistic about the bad stuff – faulty bikes, theft and the like – although I’m curious about how this will pan out.

Despite being terrified of getting squished by a double decker bus (I’m easily distracted, and I sometimes get my left and right mixed up), I’m so excited by this cycling scheme and I think it’s been done really well. The only difficulty I see is perhaps a bike being available when the scheme really takes of. I’m also not sure that everyone will be willing to carry a helmet with them throughout the day, which does bring up a question of safety.

I’d love to see a phone application to go with this, so you could find another dock if the one nearest to you was empty, and I wonder if after a while they’ll introduce a plan for the Oyster card. I think the venture is going to be excellent for Londoners, despite the costs looking initially off-putting. It might even inspire me to get on a bike.

Flickr image from James Cridland‘s photostream.

Hurrah! A season of the genius of Willy Russell is bringing a Liverpudlian twang to the otherwise highbrow Trafalgar Studios.

Both Shirley Valentine (starring Meera Syal) and Educating Rita ( Starring Laura Dos Santos and Tim Pigott-Smith) are playing until October with tickets ranging from £15 – £39.50 each.

Far from intelligentsia and literati, theatre goers here can enjoy the stories of two everyday women seeking to make a difference in their constrictive lives.

Here’s the rundown on Educating Rita for those who don’t know it:

”Much to the dismay of her husband Denny, Rita, a young, brash hairdresser, has recently discovered a passion for English literature and enrols with the Open University. Her fresh, unschooled reaction to the classics challenges the attitudes of the University and her lecturer Frank who begins to question his own understanding of his work and himself”

I went in to the theatre with no prior knowledge of the production ( or the movie) and was instantly embraced by the simple set and intimate nature of the seating. Watching just 2 characters on stage for over 2 hours could be a daunting prospect, but both Tim Pigott-Smith and Laura Dos Santos were engaging and kept the pace moving with impeccable comic timing.

As the characters develop we see Frank deflate in stature and conviction in himself – directly proportionate to Rita’s growing self-confidence and thirst for knowledge. The more she gets, the more she wants, and slowly blossoms into the classic young student, sure of her worldly ideas and importance. Initially hilarious in parts, the complex role-reversal of these co-dependant characters brings a sadness to the last few acts, pity for Frank weighing heavily against pride in Rita.

Much has been said of the fresh new talent of Dos Santos and so far, I completely agree. Initial nerves smoothed out to reveal a funny, non-affected actress to watch for the future. I challenge anyone to see Educating Rita and not enjoy it, or at the very least, not be touched by the self-development of a dried-up sceptical poet and a brash, illiterate hairdresser.