Ooops...I Won't Do It Again

So, I went in search of dinner tonight. I got off at a metro stop that I've gotten off at lots of times now. I thought I knew where I was headed: maybe a slice of pizza or a sandwich and a beer and then go take some pictures of the cool spray painted doors in "El Born" district.

Actually, I got off at the metro stop that I've gotten off at lots of times now and ended up in a completely different area, "The Triangle". Don't know what that means. I did several circles (not to be confused with triangles), and as my blood sugar sank further, I settled on a Chinese restaurant. The last time I had great Chinese food was in Italy; let's try Spanish Chinese food. La Xina it was.

As has been the case with every other eatery (tapas, restaurante, bar, etc) that I've stopped at thus far, it's a seat your self situation. I cruised into La Xina, and I sat myself. Then I waited. I waited some more. And I waited. Finally, (I'm not a good waiter) I flagged the busser down and asked for a glass of wine and a menu. It was a fill in the blank with a pencil kind of menu. so I did. Then I waited. I waited some more. And I waited. Finally, (I'm getting to be a better waiter) I flagged down the head waitress (you can tell because she is wearing a mini skirt sort of deal over her black pants and no other wait staff person is). I told her I wanted to order. She looked perplexed. Then she asked if I was waiting for two other people, "a party of three"? Momentarily, I was flattered (no, of course I wasn't dining alone). I told her no that I was "sola mia" (great...now I'm pretending to speak Italian); but she understood, and asked if I had a reservation. I said no. She looked more perplexed, and then she consuled with the busser and the waiter. They agreed (I could tell from the explicit body language) that the table I'd sat myself at had been reserved for a party of three (hence the two other placemats that were in my way).

The waiter came. He asked me how I was and politely removed the extraneous plate settings. People have also been stopping me on the street asking me for directions. One should never ask me for directions, in my native country or anywhere else for that matter, but I guess my swagger suggests otherwise. So, moral of the story: when in doubt...order another glass of wine (and pretend like you know what you're doing).

The Chinese food was outstanding. I wanted to laugh at the whole faux paux, but instead of being insane and indecorous, I settled on the latter soley. I really wanted to take a picture of the super cool restaurant and the at least 20 foot long paper dragon hanging overhead, but instead of being a jackass and a pretend VIP, I settled on the former solely.

I did order another glass of wine, and I do wear my sunglasses at night...just don't ask me how to get somewhere.