Sohoho and a Bottle of Rum

I just have to make three things clear before we begin.

Thing one: Susan Boyle is not appropriate pub music. I don't care how fantastic her voice is, she makes people cry into their pints and that's never a good thing.

Thing two: X Factor might be a fabulous show and all, but you're at a club. Why must we all stop and watch the TVs strategically positioned around the bar for that purpose? Dance, brother, dance!

Thing three: Chicken feet are edible. Yeah, I know, I hadn't considered the little talons an edible part of the bird either, but they are. Wonders never cease.

A group of us went on a tour of Soho-meets pub crawl on Saturday to great success, encompassing all of the above factors. Actually, the Susan Boyle and X Factor were more entertaining anecdotes than successes, but that's a bit beside the point.

This, for the uninitiated, is Soho:

Actually, that could really be anywhere. Ever notice how pictures of streets at night always looks the same? I swear, one of electricity's greatest uses is to make big, otherwise-lackluster buildings look fantastic at night. Anyway. 

We wandered around Soho for a bit, sampling some of the local bar scene before we got hungry. One of our number suggested dim sum in nearby Chinatown, so we toddled off that direction. Immediately upon opening the menu (Chicken feet? Duck tongue? Cow intestine?) at least half of our group fled, leaving the remaining eight or so to enjoy a scrumptious feast of traditional Chinese delicacies. Don't ask me what they were, for the most part. We left all the ordering up to the man who spoke Chinese and knew the dishes, mostly to great success.

After Dim Sum, the pub crawl continued. Something interesting about British bars: it's totally acceptable to fill up a darkened club before 8pm. Granted, the lines out the door didn't start until around 9, but there was definitely a respectable number there when we started our adventure. 

Susan Boyle made an appearance. So did X Factor. So did Abba, Lady Gaga, and the general popular American music repertoire. Cheap drinks all around at one bar, really expensive drinks for some at another, and a plethora of entertaining people-watching all around. This may have been our first foray into Soho, but I strongly suspect it won't be our last.