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London / Chinatown

October 23, 2013 by Jonathan Chow in London

And we're back! After some time away from the blog, here's a little of what's been going on.

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Somehow, despite traveling around the Holborn and Oxford areas often, we rarely find ourselves in the Soho district of London, which is a shame really. 

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Here there are many great little restaurants and some well known shops, like Supreme, for those who care about that sort of thing... 

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But tonight, we're more interested in seeing how this city's Chinatown compares with the others. 

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First though, some ice cream! Or gelato, technically I guess. For the most part, London seems to have lot of good things going for them, like coffee and tea. But one thing we miss about SF was the great selection of ice cream parlors (Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, Bi-Rite, Humphry, Mitchell's, Swensen's, I could go on and on). 

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I never saw such nice ice cream toppings available in such well packaged boxes like this! But for more than £20 ($32) for just ice cream toppings, I think there may be a reason for it. 

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Anyways, onto Chinatown! 

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Yeah, this Chinatown checks out, unlike LA's sad little block (their real CT is Monterey Park anyways).

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Duck anyone? 

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Kowloon reminded me of the Kowloon Tong Cafe in SF. Unfortunately, we have yet to come across any HK style cafes yet. 

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This isn't just any arcade. Apparently there's some degree of gambling allowed here in UK as we've seen betting centers and places like this one with slot machines inside. Heck, even some restaurants or pubs have them! It's like little pieces of Vegas scattered throughout the city. 

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Red & gold everywhere.

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As we got out from Chinatown, we started to wander around Soho for a little bit before heading home. Since we've been here, I've noticed theater (broadway style) is pretty popular compared to SF or LA. NY may be the top location for actors, but London couldn't be far off. 

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Oh yeah, as expected, Defenders EVERYWHERE, which is perfectly fine by me.

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As constricting as the city can feel at times, you can still find little neat places down the most random alleyways. This little restaurant was quietly bustling with activity while away from the activities packing the main streets. 

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And of course, we already know where all of the milk tea places are, including Chatime! In London! Who knew? 

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And right next door to this popular little place. Being from LA/SF, these places wouldn't normally grab my attention (other than the cool neon signs that is), but what did catch my attention was how many people, men and women, were going into the place. Must be one heck of a peep show!

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#azntouristlife

October 23, 2013 /Jonathan Chow
Chinatown, London
London
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