Happy (Chinese) New Year!

Like about a billion other people, we headed into Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year, welcoming the Year of the Rat. Apparently, rat is the new chicken in Bangkok; but we won’t get into that.

Pat had organised for a group of ten of us to eat a Dim Sum lunch at midday, but unfortunately a few of us (yes, me included) got out of Leicester Square tube station on the wrong side of the road, and due to all the celebrations, it took us over half an hour to get from there to the restaurant (which by normal standards shouldn’t be more than about three minutes!). Still, I had expected with all those hungry stomaches, we would have to wait a while for a table anyway, but much to my surprise, it was ready for us as soon as we arrived! (Much kudos for Pat et al for making it to the restaurant on time and holding our spot.)

Lunch was your usual type of Dim Sum affair – Pat and his sister Grace did a great job of ordering a huge variety of delicious dishes for us all to feast on. And, like always, the price at the end was surprisingly cheap – only about £14 each, service included!

Chaos still reigned supreme when we got outside, but genious Bender was clever enough to lead us through the crowd holding our A-Z high up in the air, which made him easy enough to spot and follow.

When we finally broke out of Chinatown I was very pleased to be out of the crowds, but if I’m being honest then I’d have to admit that overall, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I had thought it would be. The only “problematic” citizen I encountered was a daft (and rather well dressed for the occasion) woman who, after I was jostled into her, indignantly remarked to me; “Well, just push me why don’t you?!”. Errr… sure lady… whatever!