Saturday 19th August, 2017                                         2030

Well, company or nay, it was a good night last night. Apple (I had forgotten her name) had complained on Thursday that we had no requests for her so last night I rectified that. Alice had gone to the party and ultimately never came back until 2230 but what the hell, if I am paying (or in this case using Hhonors points) then I may as well get my money’s worth of unlimited food and beer?

I was delighted to find sweet and sour pork and so refuelled with that, followed by a couple of slices of cheesecake that had never seen cheese in its life - God, what I would give to have Mum make me her “special” one for me again!

However, I did take a list of requests for the duet, after all I didn’t want to disappoint them two nights on the trot. I had a list of 15 songs (ok, took me a couple of hours to compile) and they knew precisely two of them! I did cajole them into trying to perform Hands Up by Ottawan, which they did. That and Brother Louie were the first two songs I danced to with Asya in St Petersburg all those years ago. Music moves me when it recalls times and events. They weren’t too good on the first outing of Hands Up but agreed they ought to include it in future - great for getting the Grannies off their seats!

Sadly the  end of the music also heralded my last night of sleep in Wuhu and Alice returned with the news that rather than see me off this morning, she had to leave early. She had lied to her parents to get away for the night by saying she was staying with a Chinese girlfriend.

It meant that not only did she leave early this morning but also woke me and unbelievably wasn’t hungry for breakfast. I suspect she was being given some when she went to her folks. No matter, I was grateful for her company and ultimately, the shopping she did for me without which I would have struggled. That includes more diclofenac although I am not sure it is what I need, funny feeling I may need to pay to see a doctor at some point.

I on the other hand, although not hungry, knew I needed to eat before the journey to Hefei. Frankfurters had been replaced by beef sausages at the breakfast buffet. I don’t know about anyone else but beef, chicken sausages and frankfurters really have no business putting in an appearance at a breakfast buffet. Of course, as a four-time guest I could easily have asked for a couple of pork bangers to be cooked along with my eggs because there was no bacon either, just warm plastic ham. I didn’t. I was quite happy to content myself with one awful sausage, a slice of ham, my eggs, mushrooms, tomato and loads of hash browns all washed down with Liptons tea. And anyway by the time I went down I needed to hurry things along!

With more money than anticipated returned from my deposit at the hotel (betwixt us we had but 4 breakfasts instead of the forecast 6), I asked for a taxi to the train station. Alice had failed spectacularly to obtain any cash for me last night at possibly 6 cash points ( I know, never give your PIN to others but I trust her!) I was now worrying about money in Hefei. Actually, when I figured everything out, I still had enough cash to see me home if I simply used my debit card to pay for the hotel so it wasn’t a major problem.

The taxi dropped me off at the station a full hour before my train and I went to the ticket office. Queues of course, there are perennial lines of people waiting whenever you go and I have no idea why because Chinese ID cards allow you to simply use a dispensing machine whilst foreigners are condemned to queueing at the tellers. Ok so I have to wait a bit.

A bit??? The fat slug at my counter was so slow she was almost stopped in the water! Forty-seven minutes later I just squeaked in to get a ticket for my train before they cut off selling them and then had to break sweat to get to the gate two minutes before they opened it to give us exactly 5 minutes to board before the train left - and no, the gate is nowhere near the train, you cross a bridge, negotiate stairs (thankfully on this occasion escalators) and then I was aboard. ETA 1438 so in the hotel by 1600 - right?

Do you know what I hate about travelling? The travelling. If only they could invent a booth where you simply input your destination and you were teleported! Sure, it was a slow train - 2 hours between Wuhu and Hefei and we even arrived early - but then I needed a taxi. Just like Wuhu train station ticket office, I waited an hour in the “snake” and then had to demand security heft my case into the boot (two young lads had helped me with it on the train). So a 2 hour train trip had taken 4 hours - an hour to get the ticket, 2 hrs actually on the move and then more than an hour to go the final mile. Travelling????

I  miss a lot of things about Chizhou and always will but one thing I will not is the rain. Hefei had it tonight in spades. When we got to the hotel I asked the driver if he would get my case out of the boot and he was extremely reluctant to do so, indicating with his hands that just perhaps, seeing as he had managed to find a spot where I could get out without immediately having my ankles engulfed in the new river that used to be a street, I should ask the bellboys to do it. I can’t say I blame him and I did in fact tip him, not something I often do in China. I must find the bellboy who took a shower for me tomorrow and remunerate him. I got soaked just getting under cover.

I had my welcome drink on check-in, went to the room and then the executive lounge. Sadly Vivian is busy so I have a solitary time here rattling around in my executive room. I thought I would go and have a couple of large whatevers in the exec lounge before heading to the buffet dinner.

Never got that far. I ended up chatting to the girl in the executive lounge. A few Chinese came and went after a few minutes and I wondered why they pay the extra if they aren’t even having a pint of wallop or a scotch but I found myself on the opposite side of her reception desk with vodka and tonic and an ashtray when it is non-smoking! According to her name tag her monicker is “Trainee” but as I can’t call her that I now know it is Vera. Studying economics in university here but not bad English.

I have a date for tomorrow night at the desk with her, smoking in a no smoking lounge and I will surely be there. Given that the only food they class as snacks are biscuits (wait until they ask for me to complete their online survey!) I will definitely be using the buffet tomorrow.

But for tonight, after doing serious damage to their vodka and emptying the Remy Martin bottle, I lost interest in food, instead now planning on waking up early and having a damned good breakfast in the morning. And a kip in the afternoon. Ok so this will be a solitary stay but the whole idea was to rest and recuperate before Lanzhou. That’s impossible with someone like Alice who wakes before dawn and no matter how she tried once my “pickledness” had worn off (about 2 hours) I am a very light sleeper.