As ever, yet again my trip started in the worst possible way.
I had set my alarm for 0800 this morning but as I so often do, I woke hours before, having dreamt I had overslept my alarm. As it was still dark I didn’t need to get up to check but me being me, as much as I tried I couldn’t drop off to sleep again.
At about 0740 I could hear Mulan trying in vain to turn the bathroom light on and glanced at the a/c unit. The lack of a pilot light told me the university had had a power cut in the night, caused no doubt by yet another storm.
Bloody marvellous. I can’t function in the morning unless I have had a shower. I certainly didn’t want to travel dirty either. Shortly after, Mulan came to my bedroom to say goodbye, she has now gone to Hong Kong until Wednesday. She also informed me we had no power. I asked her if she had checked the breakers outside (in case it was only our flat) and she said she had. She left and I sent a text to Joan to ask if her dormitory had electricity. It didn’t, but five minutes later they did, so I fully expected to have my service restored soon after that. It wasn’t. I waited and waited in vain and eventually had to resign myself to travelling unwashed. I packed an extra set of clothes and swore the moment I got to the hotel I would shower.
Anna is looking after my place while I am away and of course she wanted hot water by nine. By an extraordinary coincidence Joan just happened to be travelling to Wuhu today and by an even stranger coincidence was not only booked on the same train but also the return one as well. She came to help with my luggage and on finding there was no power, promptly went down and reset the breaker for my place. I could have had a shower an hour before but by then it was too late. I wanted to murder Mulan and sent her a message. Her reply was that when she checked (when the whole school was out) all the breakers were in line so she switched mine to another position which meant when the power returned I was the only mug without it. I was not pleased.
Dirty, we boarded the bus for the station. Faced with what to me at the moment is a veritable hike and uphill at that, I got Joan to get a taxi to take us from across the road from the train station to the station entrance. Yes it cost me 5y for 150 yards but for me it was money well spent. I then had a couple of pieces of luck which almost cancelled out the electricity farce - the escalator was working for starters and then Joan at my request asked security if I could be let through the locked doors before the herd as I was a cripple. He was very kind and I just managed to take my seat before the masses arrived.
The trip itself was most uncomfortable, I couldn’t get my leg in a good position but at least I could limp off occasionally for a smoke en route. The hotel room is fine but there are some deficiencies. One is the lack of a bath (not that I want to take one) and the other is that the minibar is an empty fridge. Not that I want to use the minibar either and in fact will store my own beer in it but if they advertise something then it should be as depicted. On the plus side we have a lovely view from the 24th floor of the Yangtse just a few yards away which is somewhat marred by the constant rain.
I was going to go to Pizza Hut for dinner tonight but my pelvis is complaining so it’s a quiet night in, free drinks for two hours in the executive lounge and then Joan will meet me for a buffet dinner in the hotel’s east/west restaurant. I am praying they can do a passable English breakfast because the menu only mentions chicken sausages (what???) and sad though it may seem, a proper breakfast is one of the highlights of my stays at Hilton hotels. I will let you know.
For now, the free drinks start in fifteen minutes and I don’t pay a premium for any other reason than to be able to get a G&T or ten so I shall take advantage of that very soon. And I remembered to bring my HP sauce…………
Sunday 5th 1200
I went downstairs to ask where the executive lounge was located last night. Despite the lift saying it was on the 25th floor, it is in Open restaurant on the ground floor. Apparently, two years after the hotel was built, they still haven’t sorted the lounge. It’s also where breakfast is served.
As I neared Open I could hear music. I wasn’t expecting that and indeed had taken a book to read whilst sat alone but I quickly became a fan of the Phillipino couple (Janet and William) who were performing. It was my kind of music and suddenly all the bad things that had happened that day melted away.
Joan had gone to visit her friend Catherine who she hadn’t seen for eighteen months and so I sent her a message urging her to get back for eight o’clock for the music. I also limped deeper into the restaurant to see what eastern/western fare was on offer. Actually it was ALL Chinese and not only that they said it was 280y per head to dine! I have since learnt that for residents it is 180y but even that is far too expensive. I might have paid if it was western food but the whole point of coming here was in order not to eat Chinese. By the time Joan and Catherine got here I had no appetite, Joan had eaten lunch at Wuhu station and said she didn’t mind skipping dinner so we did.
Breakfast this morning didn’t win any medals either. There were no grilled mushrooms or tomatoes as advertised, the “toast” was rock hard something, the sausages were chicken (yuk) and the bacon had been in the bain marie for hours. A pot of English tea didn’t seem available and the best thing about it was the freshly cooked eggs to order. Tomorrow the cornflakes will get a hammering, that’s for sure!
It’s somewhat of a blessing in disguise with the weather being a complete washout. There is no way Joan would go to Fangte in the rain and I overdid the leg so much yesterday I am not even going to make it to Auchen supermarket. I think Joan was quite pleased when I suggested she go after breakfast to “play” with her friend and not come back until six this evening, when Janet and William will entertain us for two hours. Then at eight, come hell or high water, we are taking a taxi to Pizza Hut.
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