The year of the pig

Up early and off to Waterloo to meet Rachael, Kevin, Lauryn and Kaitlyn, today was the Chinese New Year celebrations in London, we were early so we wandered around watching people getting preparations underway while the streets were empty, then we went into patisserie Valerie on Shaftesbury Avenue for a snack, the streets were filling up outside, Max came and met us there and finished off Kaitlyn’s pancakes.
Then it was outside to join the crowds and watch the parade, lots of colourful costumes and dragons and floats et cetera.
Then off to a very nice restaurant for dim sum where we met Sally as well, delicious food and a lovely bottle of wine, then Kevin and Max took Kaitlyn back to Richmond to watch the rugby and the four of us girls went down to Trafalgar Square to watch some of the acts which included a very ornately dressed Chinese drag queen singing, an opera singer and a lady playing accordion as well as a fabulous dance troupe all dressed in red with pig’s tails.
Then we hopped in a cab and went to Selfridge’s where we brought the make up section and Rachael bought some face cream.
We said goodbye to Sally, Lauryn wanted to stay in town for a bit so Rachael and I got a cab back to Richmond where we flaked out on the sofa for a bit and watched the rugby.
Max and I went back home where Gulliver and Erin had been watching movies, he wasn’t really well enough to come out with us as he is at the tail end of a cold and cough, when Janette came to pick Erin up, she had kindly been to Costco and bought us lots of toilet rolls, orange juices for Gulliver’s lunchbox and a massive thing of soy sauce as well as some delicious cakes.
Max Gulliver and I decided to watch Shanghai Noon, it’s been a lovely day.