Chinese New Year

I meant to talk about this one last night, but my brain gave out on me while I was still writing the post about Saturday. What can I say? It was a busy and exhausting weekend.

It's my lunch break here at work and I'm having my usual sandwich from Tesco, packet of prawn cocktail crisps and can of pepsi. It's a funny little eating habit I've fallen into. Sandwiches and chips seems to be an overwhelmingly English thing. If you order a sandwich at a pub or cafe, you'll probably get a handful of chips on the side.

So, yesterday was Sunday and the celebration for Chinese New Year. Kristen and I caught the tube to Tottenham Court Road and headed into Soho. I have to bring up my crazy coincidence of the month now, as walking through Soho, we ducked down a side street and ended up on Greek St. It's not anything special on its own, it's just an unimportant street. However, this morning on the train I was reading Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Saville's Crime in which the protagonist wanders down that very street. What are the chances?

It's got to the point that I don't think I can walk through Soho now without going to Hummingbird bakery to get one of their amazing red velvet cupcakes or whoopie pie. I'm actually in love with that place.



We headed down into the hustle and bustle of Shaftesbury, where the streets were crammed with people. To just be negative for a moment, there wasn't really enough going on to warrant the huge crush of people down those streets. I would have like it be more of a parade or street stalls. To me it seemed everything centred on Trafalgar Square, where a stage had been set up on the monument. The various acts were incredible; we must have stood there for 2 hours watching dancers, a Peking opera singer, an expert er-houist and more performing all for free.





We finally left there in search of food and made the snap decision to head on the tube over to Manor House where our favourite restaurant in London is: Anteplilar. Kristen had the lamb chops and I had a kind of kofte with pilaf rice and pistachio nuts on top. Every time we go there, they throw down complimentary side salads and breads and the place is always packed with Turkish people, even at 4pm.

This city is becoming more and more comfortable to us, but in saying that, it has lost none of its excitement or charm.

aLord Arthur Saville's Crime