Sunday 3rd February, 2013 2145
What a fabulous weekend.
Sadly it didn’t get off to the best start though. I made lasagne on Friday night, dished it up and asked Qing if she liked it. She never said a word, simply gave me a huge grin that said it all. Late afternoon and for no apparent reason my neck had become very painful as if I had slept badly the night before - of course that couldn’t be the cause because I was simply sitting at my desk when it started.
By the time she arrived the pain was intense enough for me to take some painkillers. With an early start beckoning we called it a day at eleven after watching Attenborough’s Africa and Dads Army (she likes both but can’t understand what they say in the latter), but not before I popped some more pills. All was well until 0300 when the pain returned severely enough to waken me. This was all I needed. Knowing I would never get to sleep again unless I took yet more analgaesic, I got up and took some, in the process rousing her. Bless her, she did her best to give me a massage and pummel the muscles but nothing worked and I ended up back in bed trying and failing to drop off until 0630. There was no way I was crying off the trip at this late stage.
I was exhausted, in agony and felt nauseous. But we went. E-bike to the station, park up, paid 78y each for one way tickets (you can’t buy returns in China) and waited fifteen minutes for departure. She managed to sleep a little en route but try as I might I couldn’t. I truly felt awful. After three hours we approached Hefei bus station so I prepared to get off only to be met with a quizzical look from Qing. We should go to the next station (north, that one was south) as her friend told her we should do that. I never knew there were two. Ascertaining she was certain I stayed, helped by the fact that last time the cab cost in excess of 50y to the hotel whereas allegedly from the other station it would be 8y.
It took nearly half an hour to get to the final stop (Hefei is a big city of about 5 million) and en route I checked she knew what to tell the taxi driver when we got in one. Yes of course. She told me. Sheraton. Oh my God, we are going to the Hilton! With visions of an exorbitant cab ride now swimming in my brain, I simply said ok, you made a mistake, it doesn’t matter. She got quite upset. I showed her the card and she insisted it was the Sheraton. There then followed a lecture on the fact there are two famous hotel groups called Sheraton and Hilton. It emerged that in Chinese you say Sheraton for Hilton. What do you say for Sheraton? Sheraton! Except apparently they are said slightly differently and even now when she tried to show me the difference on the way home, for the life of me they both sound the same.
Anyway, she was right. It was 9y in the cab and we went straight in to be met by my old friend Steve and shown immediately into Sens buffet for Saturday lunch. Manna from heaven - proper French stick and all manner of goodies on offer. Qing is typically Chinese because she dived straight into the puddings and had them first before getting “proper” food! Knowing that Steve wouldn’t let us pay for a thing in the hotel I told him we would take him out on Saturday night and pay our way. He wouldn’t hear of it and insisted we stay and dine that night in-house. A deal was struck whereby he comes here in April for a weekend and Kevin and I (poor old Kevin will have to split the bills with me!) will fete him with the best we can offer here.
After lunch we went up to his suite and I am sure Qing was as impressed as I was the first time, so much so that she decided to stay there, shower and nap while we went back down to smoke huge cigars and chew the fat. Just as were about to go up to get her for dinner she appeared downstairs. Cue going up to the executive lounge on the 24th floor for pre-dinner drinks. This place is only available for people in executive suites and it boasts a large free snack buffet and free drinks and at night gives a terrific view of the city. An hour later it was back down to the 1st floor to eat in the Chinese restaurant. Some of the photos were taken upstairs, the rest in there.
The food was a mix of mainstream Chinese and Cantonese cuisine so on being asked what I wanted I said I knew what I wanted but wouldn’t dare think of asking for it - abalone and mushrooms at 1288y (£130) a serving! Instead I went for sweet and sour pork (can’t get it here) and left the rest to our host. Far too much was ordered but the mixed duck and pork pieces melted in the mouth and I tried a first - sautéed goose liver on fried bread. Sadly my verdict on that was just ok. After dinner it was up to the suite to watch Skyfall on DVD, after which I was given a bag full of DVDs to bring back with me. By now I was whacked so we all called it a day but having not smoked for two hours I whipped down to the bottom to smoke a last cigar before turning in. Our bed would comfortably sleep four without anyone touching each other and Qing was already fast asleep about a mile away on the other side. We both slept like logs.
This morning we woke at eight, Steve had already left to go on a 45km cycle ride with the expat bike group so I showered and we went shopping. First port of call was Carrefour to see if they had any western goodies. A five minute walk has now been turned into a half marathon with the closure of the main road (for 2 years!) while they tunnel under it to instal an underground railway. All the businesses nearby are suffering - they closed it the day before I arrived last time - and many have gone bust because the government neither considered them nor offered compensation. Carrefour was a complete waste of time for me although she bought some stuff, they had nothing in there I can’t buy in Lottemart here. Back to Wal-mart where I knew I could at least buy Italian herbs. And I did, along with two bottles of Thai sweet chilli sauce and a decent bottle of plonk for Steve as a thank you.
We got back at noon as arranged and were taken to the highlight of the weekend, the Happy Panda, for lunch. Sunday lunch there almost reduces me to tears for not having the appetite I had years ago. It is extreme torture when there is so much I love and can’t try it all. Oysters, sweet and sour prawns, seafood lasagne, curry, sushi and much, much more. I stuffed as much as I dared down and needless to say I had no intention of eating tonight. As they did the last time, the staff treated me like a king and this time Qing like a queen, I am certain we had extra special treatment because our host is the guv’nor, and if I make it to the UK in the summer I will ensure I fly out on a Monday from Hefei so I can stay there for the weekend before I go!
Sadly it was time to take our leave. Up in the suite, Steve gave Qing two huge presentation boxes of Chinese green tea, good hotel slippers and insisted she take all the toiletries. What did I get? An exquisite Chinese ashtray which I said I daren’t use but would like to give my Mum. I made a mistake yesterday when he showed us our room and pointed everything out, including the bathrobes. I happened to say that I really wanted one and would be ordering one on Amazon to bring back after I went to England. He never said a word at the time, but I am now the proud owner of an exclusive Hilton bathrobe!
The concierge called a taxi and we were off with 6 bags more than we arrived with. And then the penny dropped. Back in August when I came with Kiki you may recall that the bus left, drove for about forty minutes and ended up back at what I assumed at the time was the same station? I am now convinced that the hotel staff sent me to the north station that time without my knowing and I can’t remember how much the cab cost on that occasion. At least now I know how to save money, if not time.
Anyway, Qing took the same bus and got off 40 minutes before Chizhou so she could go home to Mum. I asked her to tell the driver that instead of trying to dump me in the middle of nowhere if he was taking the bus home that I needed to go to the station. I thought the chap looked a little familiar and indeed he told her that he had intended to take the bus home but as soon as he saw me he knew he would have to go to the depot - he was the same driver as last time!
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