Monday 7th July, 2014                 1540

We found the crab restaurant. Annoyingly it was yet another hotpot restaurant and to be honest I went off them three years ago. Even more irksome was the fact that (especially with only chopsticks to assist) it was a great deal of effort to get a minimal amount of meat, plus ingesting pieces of shell was a near certainty. To make matters worse yesterday when I got up I had an upset stomach which could only have been occasioned by what I ate there as it was all I had had all day.

Various visits to the little boys room ensued and I suffered cramps the entire time. When the time came to leave for the meeting with Jeff I seriously felt like cancelling in case I got caught out with not a western toilet in sight. Not only that but I didn’t feel at all hungry despite having eaten the crab sparsely and it being my sole sustenance in the past 48 hours. On the number seven bus I sipped from a bottle of jing jo (medicine wine, so called because it smells like medicine) and in fairness it did settle my belly somewhat.

Exiting the bus near a China Construction bank as I was down to 60y in my wallet, we then hailed a taxi to take us to the restaurant. Kevin had looked on Google maps, which as it happened placed the restaurant nowhere near its actual location. The taxi driver could only take us to the general vicinity too, for unbeknown to me the restaurant is completely new and situated in a new development, rather than as I had thought, being a refurbished one. It ended with us phoning Jeff and him coming a short distance to pick us up in his car.

The place itself is very nicely appointed and it appears Jeff funded it, he told me the cost of fitting it out was over a million yuan. I believe him. As you enter on the ground floor you are greeted with a vast array of cling film covered platters containing fish, tofu, vegetables, prawns etc and I was asked which I would like. I had been greeted like visiting royalty by all the staff at the entrance, who had obviously been informed a foreigner was coming, who was also a friend of both the financier and the boss (the divorced lady). Respectfully I got Yvonne to explain that I had a gastric problem and would probably eat very little, although having spotted the Indian chef and ascertaining that he does indeed do curries, that was what I would like. In view of the delicate nature of my innards I asked for the least spicy one, which turned out to be completely devoid of any “kick”. they were all chicken ones and quite unlike any I have ever had before. You get a whole chicken intact! The chapattis, whilst being nice, were also quite unlike any I have ever seen, they were crispy and cut into squares but nonetheless tasty.

The chicken was very tender it has to be said, although the logistics of not only separating a leg from the carcase but transferring it to your plate without dropping it with only chopsticks is challenging to say the least. There were just the four of us at the table - Jeff, Yvonne, me and a male friend of Jeff who couldn’t stay long, just enough to eat and then go and attend to business. The boss came to sit and gambay with me and I found out she didn’t have an English name so I gave her one - Donna. After some time there was some excited chattering among the locals and Yvonne told me Kevin was coming.

Actually he wasn’t. He sent me a text saying he had found the place using his satnav whilst searching in vain for an open car wash, had come in for a business card and was leaving, having already eaten his dinner which Vivi had cooked for him at home. By text I persuaded him to come upstairs and show his face, partly because it meant we could get a lift back. Gut problems aside, it was a nice evening.

We had planned to go as a foursome tonight to the prawn hotpot place as I have a voucher for a free hotpot but instead I suggested we could go back there tonight and we could invite Jeff (he always seems to pay so we will return the compliment) and Donna in between her doing the PR with the customers. So that’s where we are heading in ninety minutes and this time I will take my camera. I still don’t feel 100% but hopefully I can eat more this time and we will order a spicier curry as well.

I have just returned from the outside supermarket and sweet pork place, having taken Pepsi and Yvonne for some fresh (and very warm) air but now she is taking a nap. Tomorrow sees the horde of girls moving in so I have decided to cook a chilli for them all, which will entail a shopping trip in the morning. Ollivier read my last blog and sent a message to offer the use of an inflatable mattress plus electric pump with which to inflate it. I suspect it will be most welcome.

Yvonne leaves on Wednesday and I have offered to take her and her suitcase to the station as I can then continue to town to shop and have some lunch, probably yet another McDonald’s!