On Thursday 20 February 2025 32 members, guests (former club member Brian Pidd and his wife Julie) and partners joined Chairman Dom to celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year of the Snake at TOPS Chinese Restaurant on Falsgrave Road.
Several members and partners had availed themselves of the invitation to start the evening across the road at the Tap and Spile to enjoy a pre-dinner drink including one partner who was so anxious not to leave her drink half finished that she brought the glass with her!
Chairman Dom had clearly come straight from work although when he subsequently revealed that he had just spent 10 hours driving a fare to Oxford and back he was probably entitled to be cut some slack regarding his sartorial appearance.
The meal started with the obligatory prawn crackers while orders for main courses and any dietary requirements were taken.
As everyone tucked into their mixed starters the hubbub died down and what had previously sounded like a manic plumber spasmodically hitting a water pipe with a monkey wrench was revealed to be a sound track of Chinese music playing over the restaurant’s sound system.
The starters were followed by a main course of one’s own choice which some shared with their partners accompanied by individual bowls of fried rice. It was noticed that no one asked for their cutlery to be replaced with chop sticks no doubt fearful of being called out as poseurs.
While most settled for beer or soft drinks to accompany their meals member John P tried to impress his partner by ordering a bottle of Chateau Falsgrave which when it arrived sported a label with a picture of a wombat and bore the name “Peculiar Mr Pat”. Perusal of the label on the back of the bottle (do bottles have backs? – editor) revealed that Mr Pat was the name given to an orphaned wombat who had had to be saved from being bullied by other wombats and was found a home at the Ballarat Wildlife Park where he was transported about by wheelbarrow because of his enormous size but who had a 50,000 on line following and a dating app!
At the end of the meal Chairman Dom gave a brief speech in which he succeeded in making both our Catering Officer and Treasurer look somewhat anxious when he announced that next year the January and February meetings would be combined to save money before delivering his punch line that the meeting would be known as the Chinese Burns Night!
With partners present there were no reports from the various officers and having welcomed the guests and partners the Chairman closed the meeting with the usual toast to RTBI.
Chinese Burns Night Reporter
You must be logged in to post a comment.