Time with My Cousin from Manchester - Act II

Yesterday, Saturday, Sarah took Rabia to the local open-air market to go shopping in the afternoon. They both got back around 17:00, and then we all had a snack.

As it was quite late, we all decided not to go to Bluewater - the leading shopping and leisure destination in Europe with over 330 stores and more in Kent, UK. Instead Sarah and Rabia decided they wanted to go out for dinner (as the weather has been BLOODY AMAZING all weekend with temps in the upper 60’s to mid 70’s). So, Rabia, Sarah, Sana, and me around 19:00 went to the Oriental Pearl, a Chinese restaurant, and b/c it was only 0.4 miles away from home we just walked to it.

Once we got a bit closer, Sarah realized the restaurant had one quite high step into the entrance on to an outdoor patio area w/ tables and seating. Right then, hmm… Damn buildings… Sarah then went inside and got the manager, and he came outside and said why don’t we just get some waiters and lift my wheelchair up the step w/ me in it. I was like “no way, it’s too heavy and it has 2 car batteries in it!” (Plus, the waiters there looked like they didn’t weigh very much and looked light as a feather.) Manager went back inside and came back w/ a large wide piece of wood. Next, he placed the wood on the step of the outdoor patio, and w/ trouble and Sarah’s help I drove up the shite wood ramp, as it started to crack. After I got on to outdoor patio area, the manager then tried to put the wood on the many stairs into the restaurant, but the wood was too short and the steps too steep. Again, not going to have them lift me (and if they did, I couldn’t fit through the doors of the restaurant b/c they were too narrow). Sarah (finding the new activists self within her) really tried to make the manager feel guilty by telling him that I’m a customer too, and does he plans to put a ramp into the restaurant; he just said would too expensive and it would be too difficult. Sarah said firmly no it wouldn’t be very expensive, and would not be difficult if they got a structural engineer: the manager just smirked sarcastically. Anyway, we just decided to eat outside in the outdoor patio area.

Rabia ordered a sizzling beef dish, Sarah ordered a Thai noodle dish, Sana ordered a sweet and sour chicken dish, I ordered a chicken on skewers with peanut sauce dish, and we all ordered lots of rice. By the time our food arrived and we started eating it had gotten a bit windy, but the 4 of us were having a really nice time. We got quite good services though with 3 people serving and checking on us including the manager, and the manager kept asking us if we were cold or not, even though we kept saying we were fine. What did he want us to leave? Even if we were cold, it’s not like he had blankets or a portable fire pit or something for us to stay warm. I just thought it was funny.

After we ate the 3 lovely ladies I was with wanted some desserts (I didn’t really want anything), so Rabia ordered a cheesecake, Sana ordered an ice-cream dish, and Sarah ordered Irish Coffee (as the menu didn’t mention any liquor in it); we decided to share the desserts. Well then, the 2 desserts came first that we all started sharing, and Sarah’s Irish Coffee came a few minutes later. She added a profuse amount of sugar to try to make the colour look a bit more pleasant (didn’t really help), and took a sip. Suddenly, Sarah spat it out *MISSING ME BY AN INCH MIGHT I ADD*, and we started laughing and were like WTF! She was like “SHITE, I THINK THIS HAS ALCOHOL IN IT… IT BURNED ON THE WAY DOWN!” ;-) Sarah then asked one of us to test it, and I without hesitation volunteered, as I’ve have had alcohol many a time (but those are stories for another time, another day). So, I took a deep breath and drank half the glass ];-) ! Just kidding, I just drank a sip, and told Sarah that yes it did have alcohol and that it tasted like Brandy. Next, Sarah took her glass in a quick motion and tossed all of her Irish Coffee into some flowers next to our table on the outdoor patio area. I was SO funny. Plus, Rabia kept getting ice-cream of her forehead and couldn’t figure out how she got it there, and after that Sana would not stop laughing all the way home. Once we had our food, we decided to leave (since we’d had enough excitement for one night), and the manager came back and put the crap makeshift wood ramp on the step on outdoor patio area. I reversed down the ramp in my wheelchair quickly as possible, and while I did it cracked loudly, but luckily I was almost off the ramp. We then said thanks, and started walking home.

On the way home, we stopped at Blockbuster to get a movie for later. Once we got to Blockbuster they had a step too, but thankfully they actually had proper portable ramp, which an employee kindly set up. We chose a movie as quickly as we could, and asked the employee to set up the ramp so I could leave. He did so, and as I was driving down the ramp Sarah calmly utters, “You better be careful, he’s quite drunk again tonight.” The employee somewhat surprised looked up in shock. He looked at Sarah and then at me; I smile at him, he then started laughing, and we burst out laughing. OMG… THAT WOULD BE A HILARIOUS SIGHT – ME DRUNK – THAT WOULD BE “MONTY PYTHON” AND “LITTLE BRITAIN” WORTHY! All the us subsequently just legged it back home, hurrying b/c we didn’t want my other cousin’s, Amir Khan, 12th pro boxing fight on TV, and Sarah needed to wee like hell (must’ve been the sip of Irish Coffee, HA HA HA).

Anyway, we made it just in time for the fight, and for Sarah to have a piddle, of course. Amir was great; he won, again, via a third round knockout. That makes it 12/12 wins for him. Also, it aired on HBO simultaneously from the UK for America. Did anyone see it? Tell me what you thought. And I think HBO is planning to air more of Amir later this year.

Finally, about 23:59 once the kids were asleep, Mum, Rabia, Sarah, and me watched “Little Miss Sunshine” that we got from Blockbuster earlier, which was directed by the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, and starred Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette. It’s basically “a dramatic comedy film about a dysfunctional family's road trip to a child beauty pageant.” It’s not what you expect, and I REALLY enjoyed! And it was extremely well directed and filmed, and I think it’s one of my favourite movies. I highly recommend it. ***FOUR 1/2 STARS.***


Stay tuned for Act III, the final act…