Saturday 5th July, 2014                        1400

Yesterday saw the last of the students take their final exam of the academic year, our department being the tail-end Charlies whilst other students had already departed on their holidays. A couple of days ago I saw Ellen and Fallrain who are coming to stay throughout the holiday. They explained that two of their classmates had jobs but still couldn’t find anywhere to stay. Now for the month of July (from Tuesday) I will have FOUR girls staying. I explained that I only have two camp beds but that didn’t bother them in the slightest, they said they will all sleep on the floor.

Yvonne had decided to go to town with her classmate Ping (good English name that one!) and so arranged to meet up with me at six at McDonald’s. The plan had been to go to the Korean barbecue restaurant which suddenly closed last year but has now re-opened. As it had rained solidly all day the only sensible option was the bus and I anticipated a flood of students with suitcases fleeing the campus. I was pleasantly surprised to arrive at the south gate and get a seat, in fact although the bus was full when we left all bar one unfortunate were seated.

This of course meant that I was half an hour early for the rendezvous. Not wanting to sit in McDonald’s twiddling my thumbs, I decided to find somewhere nearby to sit and have a cold one out of the rain - which is still with us today and is becoming quite tedious.

I crossed to the opposite corner from McDs and was about to walk down the street when I spied, under a couple of portable canvas shelters outside a place, some bright red things in a huge pile. I never even knew there was a restaurant there so went to investigate. The red things were what pass for lobsters here and which I generally avoid because they are so small by the time you get a tiny morsel of flesh out of them you are hungry again before extracting the next one. However, the second pile had bigger specimens.

Sitting having a bottle, I was most happy to see oysters and scallops being taken past and mentally earmarked the place for a future visit. To my surprise in walked Jeff the businessman! He was waiting for various female members of his extended family to arrive there for dinner. So while both of us were waiting for our “dates” he invited me again to dinner tomorrow night. Yvonne is included as well and he also told me the restaurant has an Indian chef who makes chapattis. I am now rather hoping she also produces curries because there is nowhere here you can get one.

Anyway Yvonne arrived, was introduced and we walked down to the Korean barbecue place, she having declined my suggestion to eat where we met up. Except the Korean barbecue, although still advertising as being Korean, is now a bloody hotpot restaurant - of which there are dozens and dozens and I am bored with them.

Highly miffed, I gave Yvonne the choice of the Sichuan restaurant or a crab restaurant Kevin found. She opted for Sichuan last night and (hopefully) crab tonight. I stuck to a couple of tried and tested dishes while she ordered some chicken dish with peanuts, garlic and other finely chopped vegetables. It was an odd combination of sweet and hot/spicy but once I got used to the fiery taste I found myself rather liking it. I think it was probably better than the male bullfrog dish I suspect she was tempted to order.

When we came back we went to collect her suitcase from her dormitory so she could move in here. A little later she told me she was leaving on Wednesday. What? She had said Tuesday! So now, instead of having “just” four girls in my spare room I will have five on Tuesday. I hope my bathroom drains don’t clog up with all their moulting hair. Talk about a full house!

So that’s it for now, the rain has eased off a bit and I need to go and get some fresh liquid provisions as I am almost out. Then it will be expedition time to go and find the crab place.