Thai Festival

Continuing the theme of events and neighbours, the Sonning Crew headed for Chichester. In the park, by the Festival Theatre, was a Thai Festival. Sounded promising!

We paid the exorbitant £3 entry fee and made our way into the arena that had been set aside. It was surrounded by stalls and food concessions.

At one end was a stage, at the opposite end was a funfair for the children. We had all been fairly enthusiastic as we approached, but on entry, a degree of reality kicked-in. The four hour car-parking ticket might have been overkill.

We started our circuit, looking at the stalls. Thai groceries, hats, dream catchers (? not sure what that has to do with Thailand), shorts, kimonos, Singha beer, and even stir fried ice cream.

This last item was intriguing. We had to try this. So it was that the Silver Vixen had a stir fried creme brûlée.

Actually it's not fried. It is smeared, like a thick layer of paint, on an intensely cold pan. When it goes hard it is scraped off the surface and the shards are served in a paper tub. The Silver Vixen seemed to enjoy it, but a taster proved too sweet for the Gorse Fox.

The stage saw the arrival of a compere or host. He proved to be sartorially offensive, un-funny, and intellectually challenged. He did, however, introduce some Thai dancers and some singers. We moved on.

The food concessions were beckoning. As we walked along the row we discussed the pros and cons of the various dishes. Eventually we all (well all of us that were going to eat) selected different dishes from different stalls. Absolutely delicious - but then, the Gorse Fox knew that it would be.

Once fed, we had a last look around and, though it was filling up nicely, decided it was time to head home.