vancouver + chinatown + night time = bad idea

shirley and i went up to vancouver on saturday for the day. we arrived just before lunch and enjoyed some dim sum (for my sake rather than hers) and then did a pit stop at dragon ball (a MUST - even if you're so full the button on your pants are threatening to snap). then we spend the afternoon at capilano suspension bridge to enjoy the new award winning treetops adventure experience. it was pretty neat to be walking around the capilano forest from tree to tree on these mini suspension bridges. we got in on a 10% "rain day" discount (even though there were just a few clouds in the sky and the sun was warm and the air just breezy - hey, can't complain) so i guess it was a good day to go. afterwards, we met up with helen - our cousin - who teaches in vancouver. she took us to a restaurant just outside chinatown (wild rice) at around 8pm. we were waiting outside on the sidewalk for the next table. it was going to be about a 40 minute wait. we declined the offer to wait at the bar. looking left and then looking right, there were many stragglers on the street. no worries. i've walked through TO at night before. it's cool. one of them comes towards us and sort of bumps into the lamp post we were standing near. he asked us for a smoke. sorry, we don't smoke. we expect him to walk away but he just stands there. after an awkward moment, i notice he's reaching out to shirley's bag. i think she notices too cus she moves away. his arm drops back down. then he tries to make conversation. it gets a little weird. there's a suggestion that maybe we ought to go in and sit at the bar afterall - it's ...cold outside.... so we head back into the restaurant and for a moment, i think that that's that. but i turn around and i notice that the guy has come in behind us and when the hostess asks us if we're all here, he answers 'yep!' we tell the hostess that he's not part of our party - even though he's trying to say there are six of us (we were actually a party of five). as we're standing there waiting for the waitress to come seat us, the man continues to try to touch shirley on the shoulder, on her back, and then he also tries to touch helen. we're not really sure what his intentions are so one of helen's friends steps in and asks that he please step away. we make it to the bar and have our seats while the waitress apologies to us and tells us that he's been around there before. the drama is over and we're back to our safe normal worlds.

how do you handle such an incident? was the man just looking for company? perhaps that's not the best way to approach it but could there have been a way to help him out?

anyhow that's the last time i go walking around chinatown in vancouver at night.