Monday, December 8, 2008

Holiday Train!




Zeke was feeling a little better this weekend, so we decided to return to the scene of the crime and try to have dinner (once again) at Su Hong. I was hoping they'd forget about last week's debacle, but as they escorted us to the back of the restaurant, near the tables of weird people and old men dining alone, I got the distinct feeling that we were being punished.

I was actually OK with it. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time, right? Some of the wait staff came back to our table to secretly say hi, and give us apologetic looks. I appreciated it. I figure three or four more visits, and we'll be promoted to the front dining room once again.

Anyway, the best part of the evening was that on the way home we accidentally wound up seeing the annual Holiday Train. Yeah! Zeke loves the Holiday Train, but I had totally forgotten about it this year. Fortunately, when we were riding our regular train home, I saw a brochure for the Holiday Train on the seat in front of me. I snatched it up. Figured we had missed our opportunity, but checked the schedule anyway:

MOUNTAIN VIEW: 7:20 PM

Amazing luck. Our train was due to pull into MV at 7:15--we'd get there right before the Holiday Train!

When we pulled into the Mountain View station, the crowd for the Holiday Train was already there--20 to 30 people deep the full length of the platform, held back by protective railings. They went nuts when we got off. Cheering and clapping madly. I'm not sure if they thought we were the Holiday Train or if they were just bored and looking for something to do. Either way it was fun. Zeke and I got to feel like rock stars for a minute.

And sure enough, the real Holiday Train rolled in five minutes later. It's really just a regular train with lights all over it--and a platform car where Salvation Army singers sing while Santa waves at the kids. Zeke loved it though. While the rest of the kids surged toward the middle to hear the singers and catch a glimpse of Santa, Zeke dragged me to the front, where the engine is, so he could pay homage to the real star of the show--the driver. Turned out we weren't the only ones hanging out staring at him like groupies. A small pack of old men was up there too, chatting him up and asking him about the train. It was cute--Zeke and the old guys basking in the glow of train driver glory, and clearly thrilled by every minute of it.

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