{"id":10781,"date":"2015-01-03T09:43:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T14:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/babakaps.net\/?p=10781"},"modified":"2015-01-19T03:29:01","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T08:29:01","slug":"jan-3-15-the-phantom-of-the-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/?p=10781","title":{"rendered":"JAN 3, 15 .. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA .."},"content":{"rendered":"

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I first saw the Andrew Lloyd\u00a0Webber musical stage play THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA over twenty (20) years ago in the summer of 1994 at the Geary Theater on Geary Blvd in San Francisco California attending an afternoon matinee. It was an absolute spur-of-the-moment thing with me. I was walking past the Geary Theater and just turned left and purchased a ticket and in I went. To some extent it was a life-changing event. I became absolutely intrigued with the show and with its music and all of the symbolism that THE PHANTOM represents. I have attended somewhere in the vicinity of twenty four (24) showings of THE PHANTOM in San Francisco .. New York City .. Toronto Ontario Canada .. London England .. and now in Hong Kong China.<\/p>\n

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Couples have\u00a0SPECIAL THINGS\u00a0<\/span>that they share between them. \u00a0Events .. trips .. songs .. books .. movies .. special restaurants and meals together .. sporting events .. I could go on and on with the memories couples share.<\/p>\n

ONE SPECIAL THING PATTI AND I SHARE IS .. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We two have enjoyed THE PHANTOM together in San Francisco .. New York City .. Toronto Ontario Canada .. and London England. Patti has also enjoyed THE PHANTOM in Anchorage Alaska.<\/p>\n

So in a very real sense .. these few photos are for Patti. I called Patti from the theater before the curtain was raised .. during the opening minutes of the play .. during the intermission .. during the opening minutes of the second part of the play .. and following the ending so Patti could bask-with-me hearing the waves and waves of applause raining down upon the cast as they took their curtain call(s).<\/p>\n

To get to the venue .. The Asia World Exposition Center .. \u00a0I had to take the green-line train from Kowloon to .. and then past .. The Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island to Asia World. It was a thirty minute train ride. I am living in Sheung Wan (SHEN WAN) on the blue line at the bottom of the below MTR route map.<\/p>\n

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Below is a map showing you exactly where Asia World Expo is located. Use the (+) button to zoom-in and the (-) button to zoom out. I am living in Sheung Wan (the right balloon) and Asia World Expo is located where the left balloon is on Lantau Island.<\/p>\n\n

Waiting for the train at the Kowloon Airport Express Station.<\/p>\n

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On the train and now enroute to Asia World.<\/p>\n

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And I was met with a lot of PHANTOM action.<\/p>\n

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THE PHANTOM LOGO was everywhere!<\/p>\n

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LORD YES!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>.. THANKS TO ‘ZILLA .. I took some just-in-case I got hungry .. or just-in-case I experienced a dangerous blood-sugar-level crash and needed medical assistance to survive the crash .. or JUST BECAUSE\u00a0<\/span><\/span>.. I might want a little something-to-tide-me-over .. health\u00a0FOOD!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I took three health food bars with me. I ate one en-route from Sheung Wan to Central (see the above MTR map). I ate the second one on the train to Asia World Expo. I ate the third one while relaxing during the mid-show intermission.\u00a0HOLD\u00a0<\/span>this data in your mind knowing that I had now exhausted my medical emergency food supply.<\/p>\n

I had heard quite a bit of negative press from the ex-Patriot community here in Hong Kong about the Asia World Expo Center being a barn as compared to specialty stage-play theaters.<\/p>\n

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It does resemble a sporting stadium doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

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I snapped the below photos during the 20-minute intermission between the opening and closing scenes of the play.<\/p>\n

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Please make note of the two brightly illuminated PHANTOM OF THE OPERA marquees in the above and below two photos. One to the left and one to the right of the stage which is located in the center of the two photos behind the red curtain.<\/p>\n

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These two illuminated signs are actually two very large television screens that were showing close-up scenes of the actors from two different angles as the play was being performed!<\/span> I mean you could REALLY SEE\u00a0<\/span>the action-on-stage.<\/p>\n

I had a really great seat and the least expensive of all the seats in the venue at 295 HK Dollars \/ $38.31 US Dollars each.<\/p>\n

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The blaze-green jacket is my jacket in my seat. I mean I had\u00a0LEG ROOM!\u00a0<\/span>I had a wide aisle in front of me and beside me too.<\/p>\n

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Some of the negative press that I heard prior to visiting Asia World Expo was correct in that the venue was not a warm and cozy and intimate venue such as you will find at some theatrical venues. I expected the SOUND\u00a0<\/span>system to be good and it was indeed VERY GOOD!<\/span><\/p>\n

Bottom line is this :\u00a0I REALLY ENJOYED THE SHOW\u00a0<\/span>so much that I have ticket-in-hand to return to see THE PHANTOM again on Tuesday the 13th of January at 8PM.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ATTENTION SECURITY CONTROL CENTER !<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a man here in a blaze-yellow jacket experiencing a\u00a0MEDICAL CRISIS\u00a0<\/span>.. he says that he has eaten all of his emergency medical food and that he may be having a blood-sugar-level-drop CRISIS.<\/p>\n

10-4 ON THAT SECURITY CONTROL CENTER !<\/span><\/p>\n

I will follow your instructions to the letter. Over And Out .<\/p>\n

SIR! OVER HERE SIR! EAT THIS SIR! MEDICAL THINKS IT WILL ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR MEDICAL BLOOD-SUGAR-DROP-CRISIS SIR!<\/p>\n

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Hit-Me-Again Dealer!<\/p>\n

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LORD GOD YOU HONG KONG FOLKS SURE KNOW YOUR MEDICINE!<\/span><\/p>\n

I may just owe you my very life. I thought I was a goner .. I thought that I was down-and-out.<\/p>\n

SMILES .. Cap<\/span><\/p>\n

Those are the largest Hot Dogs that I have ever in my entire life seen! The best $17.66 U.S. Dollars I have ever spent! They may’ve saved my life! IF I continue to have the fun I am having I may just VAPORIZE!<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first saw the Andrew Lloyd\u00a0Webber musical stage play THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA over twenty (20) years ago in the summer of 1994 at the Geary Theater on Geary… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot-dogs","category-phantom-of-the-opera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10781"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11062,"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10781\/revisions\/11062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/babakaps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}