Yesterday, I stormed out of a restaurant without paying. It was very exciting, I might do it again.


The new terminal at the airport has been open for a while but for the first month they were just ticking over by running 50 flights per day to make sure everything was OK- (I don’t know why, it’s not like there’s ever a problem when a new terminal opens is it?)

It was only yesterday that the full flock of airlines arrived, trebling the traffic at Terminal 2, and making my lunch arrive with the speed of the internet in 1996.

I should explain, my choices for lunch are thus:

  • Canteen at work- fish bones covered in a greasy dust, dishwater soup, cold vegetables. (It was fun for the first 13 months)
  • Packet of Jaffa Cakes and a swig of tea (again)
  • Walk to the new terminal in the blazing sunshine and enjoy one of the many great restaurants

So that’s how I came to be in an airport restaurant with incompetent staff used to serving 3 passengers per day, now facing ２００ hungry customers.

They brought one dish after 20 minutes after we ordered, and one more after half an hour. But after 45 minutes (and multiple complaints) of sitting around watching everyone else get their orders, the drinks, the rice, the meat etc. still hadn’t yet arrived so I stood up, ranted for a bit in broken Chinese, and walked out.

Obviously I can never go back to the airport again, and it’s fish dust for lunch today, but damn it felt good at the time.


My remaining lunch option