Zen Bar and Chinese, Swindon

After a rare visit to the gym, I left the Oasis on a short run to loosen up a bit, grab some treats at our local Italian deli and head home to plan out the rest of the day.  However, passing through Gorse Hill there were hordes of football fans streaming past and I got caught in the vortex of a group sweeping into the Zen Bar which I had previously thought of as a Chinese restaurant.  Indeed, there is seating in the back third of the place but for a prefabricated and somewhat industrial building it has a distinctly pub-like feel to it in the front section.

I got a Carling and struck up a conversation with a guy in STFC colours; he seemed the most obvious choice–loud, drinking a strong cider, eyes not quite focused or even pointing in the same direction at once…a deranged British Buddy Hackett look-alike.  We banged on about the new manager, Paolo di Canio, and how the team seems to be playing exceedingly well with the exception of not scoring (a problem possibly solved after the shitcanning of Clarke following di Canio’s public punch-up with him).  I’m still more excited by the Swindon Wildcats hockey side, but felt happy that Town finally won another match (and against top-of-the-tables Rotherham, to boot).