This is a pretty belated New Year’s post even by my standards!
How did your 31st Dec go? Mine was a bit of a change from New Year celebrations of old.
I saw in the big 19 near the Triangle in Norbiton at the home of a mate from Squash. I joined him and his wife for a home cooked meal – he had made his signature dish, Paella – having always been a bit sceptical about home cooking I was really surprised when it turned out to be….really good!
The beers were also freely flowing – he had been given a box of ales as a present, and we were doing a bit of sampling, all in the spirit of research of course.
The next part of the evening was a first for me – I had never been to a ticketed pub event in Norbiton before, and it was held in a hostelry that I knew very well – it was the Kingston Radio Station Local.
I was feeling a bit wasted on arrival at the pub. The beers I had earlier were starting to take their toll. It had to be said things were looking lively – whilst not totally packed, the DJ had quite a bit of footfall on the makeshift dance floor.
I didn’t really join in the dance floor shenanigans, being painfully aware of my two left feet and complete lack of rhythm. My mate’s wife was a very keen dancer, and she proved her ability beyond doubt by putting in some pretty impressive looking moves!
The bar staff had really made an effort – they were all dressed in white which was the theme of the evening – donning a white shirt was my sop to this.
Some of the ladies behind the bar looked stunning, and I was fortunate to swap kisses with a very attractive barmaid as we exchanged New Year’s greetings for those legendary midnight bells.
At around half past midnight I was seriously starting to flag as I nursed my second pint of Young’s, and my companions were feeling the same way. We headed back to my mates home, and we had a few glasses of this to toast in 2019:
Medicinal!
I left their place at around half one clutching my plastic container of surplus Paella. I made my way past the Triangle down Clarence Avenue, looking for the mighty 213 bus, a service which I had been informed was running all night over New Year.
I had made it all the way to the end of Clarence Avenue and had just crossed over the road in Coombe Lane when a New Malden bound 213 bus turned up – the driver confirmed that the fare was free!
I got back to the family home by about 2 pm, and feeling in need of a bit of a night cap, I rounded off the evenings events with a few more whiskies whilst watching a bit of late night TV.
I hope you all have a very happy and healthy 2019!
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