Ping! The Best New Arrival in London

Posted by Gigi on Jul 28, 2010 in Groupon News | 0 comments

London streets see a lot of strange sights. Last year there were pianos in parks. Earlier this summer there were elephants parading around town. And soon there will be … ping pong.

Guess What's Coming to London ...

That’s right. This Saturday, 100 ping pong tables will be springing up all over the city in shopping centres, parks, landmarks and other public spaces. They’ll be in place for almost a month, so there should be plenty of chances for you to get your ping on for free.

Grab a partner, step right up, borrow a bat from the side of the table and away you go. What a great opportunity to show off your skills to a gathering crowd of strangers who will ooh and aah as you hit the ball back and forth with expert precision.

You can even make a day of it by gathering some mates (or that special someone), hitting one of the ping pong tables for some serious play, then heading off for a meal at Ping Pong Dim Sum followed by a trip back to someone’s flat to watch Ping Pong, an excellent Japanese film about the highs and lows of competitive playing.

If, like me, you haven’t got the foggiest idea about how to hold the bat (is it really called a bat? I always thought it was a paddle) let alone how to get the ball to go where you want, you can take part in one of several master classes on 5th August to brush up on your technique.

One of Last Year's Public Pianos in Carnaby Street

Of course, you could just skip the embarrassment and join in a non-sporty event like the Literary Ping Pong Quiz at the British Library, the Late Night Ping Quiz at the Natural History Museum or a visit to the Ping Pong Parlour on Marshall Street to enjoy various activities including ping pong bingo.

For more athletic types, there will be multi-table challenge events and even a city-wide league tournament. So you might want to book a pre-match massage to get yourself limbered up to ensure you’re at your best.

And for the more sports-challenged among us, it’s probably a good idea to schedule a massage for the day after your first go on the table, as no doubt you will be aching from the overexertion.

Either way, you can make good use of today’s deal at Rich’s Wellbeing and Beauty Centre, which is conveniently located in Tottenham Court Road, not far from the ping pong tables in Soho Square and St Anne’s Church Gardens.

The deal includes an hour-long massage at a hugely discounted rate, and they’ll even throw in a mini-facial to get your skin glowing for those public appearances when you take the ping pong world by storm.

So book your deal now, and then start planning your ping pong tactics.