UK Thai food festival Battersea park?

[sayjann]

arrived in London with plenty of time to do a little shopping before making my way to Battersea Park to meet up with friends.

hopped on the Tube to Tottenham Court Road and made a quick visit to the Virgin Megastore.

but what a job i had fighting my way through all the Japanese tourists.....they were everywhere.

what the fuck was the attraction of a Sunday afternoon?.

was looking for CD's of a certain Female Japanese singer but found nothing.

asked them to do a check of their database and again nothing,they had no idea who she was....fuck.

but not a problem as Fiery Jack had kindly looked for her stuff in Japan and provided me with a link in English to a Website to order her stuff and it looks like i will go down that road.

but i did pick up a DVD of Battle Royale(2 Disc,special edition)and i was looking forward to watching it.

also picked up a CD of Thai Music and some other DVD's on offer,so i had already spent much money before getting to the Thai Festival.

 

20 Minutes later i was getting off the Tube at Sloane Square and asked the way to the Park.

was told it was around 20 Minutes walk and i decided to get a Black Cab.

traffic was terrible and 15 Minutes later and after paying a fee of around 400 B (i will put prices in B so that you can easily workout) i was standing outside the Park and BOY was it busy,the queue to get in was huge and i stood in line for around 20 Minutes before having my hand stamped and paying 70 B for entrance.

why was there one gate open to let the crowd in?,i just didn't understand with the crowd being what it was why they let the crowd build up.

looked for the Singha Beer tent and luckily enough it was close to the entrance and i looked for Spirit_Of_Town_Hall and he was nowhere to be seen.

was i late? or had he not arrived yet?,i did not know and decided to have a Beer and wait for a while.

paid 140 B for a small can of Singha and savoured my first taste of a Thai Beer of almost 2 Years....pure bliss.

when the Thai Girl served me i thanked her in Thai and i got that lovely smile all the Girls seem to have and she thanked me back and gave me a little Wai,it was so nice to have the chance to use my little knowledge of Thai and to have it understood.

a good start i thought.

 

drunk the Beer and no sign of SOTH so i decided to wander and have a look around.

passed many tents selling phone card deals,advertising various Thai Airlines and TAT.

reached the end and i found the Chang Beer tent and decided it was time for another Beer and another 140 B was handed over.

i was now passing the food vendors and i saw many dishes i recognised and the smells were fantastic,but the prices were outrageous.

400 B for a bowl of simple noodles and 250 B for 2 small satays of Beef,so i decided to pass on the food for a while.

maybe a cheap charlie but in my eyes they were taking the piss by charging so much,but TIL(This Is London).

then found something which i was enthralled with,a group of Thai people playing Thai music and i stood there for a long time watching and listening.

 

they were called 'Members Of The Thai Music Circle In The UK' and were all London based and played Classical Thai music.

the ages varied greatly from Girls of around 6-7 to Men in their 60's and they played instruments which i did not recognise.

my eyes were drawn to the front of the Band where i saw 3 Young Girls playing what looked a litle like Xylophones.

the Girls were young but very competent in their playing but something disturbed me.

they were dressed in fantastic Thai costumes and looked very vibrant and colourful but the make-up was not to my liking.

the youngest one was probably around 6 and she had very garish red lipstick and green eye-shadow and i thought that it didn't look right on such a young child.

 

i eventually left and watched a display of Thai dancing before returning to the Singha tent and to my delight i found SOTH and Romaning2004.

the handshakes were shared between us and the Beers bought.

Romaning2004 was on crutches due to a broken foot sustained in Australia a little while ago.

the talk turned to our good friend Carew66 and we toasted his good health and a speedy recovery.

we chatted as i had not seen the pair of them for a few Months and a good time was had and our thoughts turned to Bangkokbutcher.

he was due to turn up with his Wife and we were all looking forward to meeting her at last.

 

as i stood there i was people watching and drooling over many attractive Thai Women walking around,this was what i wanted to see.

but i had thoughts and i may be doing a disservice to some of the Women there.

i saw many couples walking around,older Falangs with young Thai Girls and my mind straight away went to the scenario of Tourists to Thailand meeting a BG and bringing them home.

the Girls were dressed in a manner which if i was in Patong i would know they were a BG and many had outlandish Tattoo's which i saw becoming a big thing among the BG's on my trips.

i may be totally wrong about my assumptions but i'm sure some of the Girls had fallen on their feet and met a good Falang.

but some of the Girls were very attractive and the 3 of us nudging each other and pointing out an attractive Girl.

FUCK i thought,where is the S/T tent?,surely there must be one?.

SOTH laughed at my thought and said no way and would cost me an arm and a leg if there was one.

 

suddenly BangkokButcher was there and i was astounded by his choice of Wife.....

i was relieved when he told us his Wife had to stay home and Babysit and he had bought a friend along,his friend was a White Scotish Male.

more Beers were bought and drunk and we all had a good time chatting and laughing.

we all got the free Singha Beer bottle openers in various colours they were giving away and that made us happy as they were a souvenir of the Day.

finally the 5 of us decided to have a walk around but i have a memory of us getting no further then the Chang Beer tent and stopping for more Beers.

i remember SOTH chatting to a couple of Thai Girls who i think were students(i'm sure he will put me right on this matter).

 

we walked amongst the stalls and took in the Thai stuff on sale,but i was disappointed.

many of the stalls were operated by Falang people and i thought that it would have been better if the stalls had been manned by Thai people.

i decided to buy a double CD of the Thai group i had watched earlier and it cost me around 1100 B which i thought was outrageous.

also bought my Mum a windchime and a wooden carving of a Frog,both of which she collects.

suddenly the main Music stage was open to a Thai singer warming up and we all thought the Bass was way too high and didn't sound that good at all.

 

memory gets a bit hazy here and i'm think SOTH said it was time to go and he took his leave(but i may be wrong as i was very pissed by now).

but i know BangkokButcher,Romaning2004 and myself decided to leave the Festival and on the advice of Romaning2004 a London Bus was caught.

no idea where from or what it cost but BangkokButcher was out of it and soon asleep in his seat.

a few Photos were taken of him in his drunken state and he can purchase them off me for a fee before i post them on the Board.......

 

the 3 of us got off the bus and i had no idea where i was but must have been close to where Romaning2004 lived as he left BangkokButcher and myself.

Mr.BB and i decided to go for a Beer in the new Pub which the London Contingent has taken as it's own,but we hadn't a clue where we were and nothing looked familiar.

i made the suggestion of a Beer in the first Pub we found and hey presto we turned a corner and there was a Pub with tables outside.

we sat down and the Beers were ordered and things certainly went downhill from here.

 

Mr.BB was soon asleep again and i tried to wake him but had no joy really.

he woke up for a brief period before falling back asleep and i began to worry as i had to leave soon to get my train home.

it was still quite early but i had to get home as i had a job interview in around 12 Hours and i wanted to get a bit of sleep and prepare myself.

i felt really bad about leaving him in that state but i had to go,so i asked the Pub staff to keep an eye on him and with misgivings i took my leave.

(been in touch with him since and he did get home safely and waking up suddenly and dashing for his Train......thank god for that).

no memory of getting to Waterloo and getting my Train but i know i must have stopped for a burger as i later found the half eaten remains in my bag.

 

fell asleep on the Train but managed to wake up in time to get off at my stop.

taxi home and had to phone my Mum in Florida and let her know i had found a copy of Battle Royale,as she was on a mission to buy me a copy.

good end to the Day,as i was talking to her i looked through my bag and i found a can of Singha and i decided to end the Day on a high by drinking it......bliss.

a good Day was enjoyed and thanks to my friends who made the journey worthwhile.....