Godzilla

Ever since I started work, I haven’t gone back to any of my student haunts save for Young Cheng and Kam Fung. On Monday, however, this changed. I wanted a place which wasn’t too expensive (on account of going out with CG whose spending capacity is somewhat constrained) and wasn’t too grubby to be completely date-unfriendly (on account of going out with CG). This pretty much ruled out all of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, so we ended up at Stockpot on Old Compton Street, a place I’d been to only once or twice at the most, and that was close to ten years ago.

To my delight, neither the décor nor the prices seem to have changed. It’s pretty much like a slightly cleaner and brighter English caff and the sets were still under £7. I had a serviceable minestrone soup and a massive serving of penne with salmon and avocado for £6.20. I also had a decent (small) glass of house red for £2.50. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be able to get a meal and alcohol for £10 (including service). Awesome. And CG seemed to enjoy it as well. He finished up his entire dish, much to my surprise. I mean, I was incredibly hungry, having gone for a run in the morning and hadn’t had anything substantial to eat throughout the day, but even I couldn’t finish my main.

And, after that, it was off to another budget-friendly place: Prince Charles Cinema for the screening of the original Godzilla in its undubbed glory. I have vague memories of a late-night viewing of Godzilla vs. Mothra with my family when I was a teenager, but, now that I’m considerably older, I’m able to appreciate the historical context in which the movie is set, and not just think, “Cool, monsters! Rawr!” (I loved playing Rampage when I was a kid.) The movie has definitely dated a bit, but Godzilla still looked incredibly realistic (in the sense that it moved like how I'd imagine a big lumbering reptile would move) and the effects are very good to watch. The acting was good as well. The fear and terror, especially on the part of Akihiko Hirata who played Dr. Serizawa, are well done. To those unfamiliar with Japanese culture and history, it may have seemed overwrought, but, as I said, I'm older now, and can understand why the characters behaved the way they did.

All in all, it was a really nice night. It made me feel younger, even if I was with someone who's very much younger than I am!