Sunday 31st January, 2016 1630
Yesterday was simply centred on the highlight of my days at the moment, the shopping trip, during which nothing remarkable happened to post. Although it must be said, the idea flitted through my mind today that someone with literary skills could in fact cobble together a decent book based simply on bus or train journeys. One does see a wealth of human interaction in the microcosm of life contained on public transport. If I understood Chinese I am sure I would have so much more to tell just from my travelling experiences here.
Anyway, despite going to bed again very late last night/this morning, I had set my alarm to blare out at 1030 and instead of rolling over and returning to slumber I actually got up. My bladder was quite insistent I did so.
The intention was to go to town at noon after checking emails and stuff but I got rather involved with a couple of things online and so that was deferred until one. You will all know from previous blogs that the weather forecasters here can be relied upon in about 5% of their reports. Today was almost one of them. They had forecast a light dusting of snow and sure enough, when I looked outside, that small “sting your face when you ride the bike” snow was present.
Naturally the question in my mind was “do I or don’t I?” After all, I hardly needed to go out, I have a week’s survival rations both liquid and solid and it is, after all, Sunday and the people would be out in droves.
I went.
The bus that arrived was brand spanking new, a hybrid but tightwads that they are, our local bus providers still gave us plain plastic seats, in fact there were remnants of the plastic delivery covers hanging from the seats it was that new.
En route the bus filled quickly. About half way to town two females boarded, one exhibiting all the signs of being heavy with child. With no seats available, they both came and stood close to my seat. Definitely an advantage of “giitin’ ole” is not having to give up your seat any more on public transport and as there were plenty of much younger passengers to do the honours I stayed put. With the girl’s belly in close proximity I had occasion to study it in a little more detail. A pregnant woman develops a stomach shaped more like mine, rounded and taut (yes mine is taut!) but this one wasn’t pregnant, she was simply obese because I could see the Michelin Man outline beneath her garments. I had to chuckle though when observing the scramble to offer her a seat, only for them to realise she was simply corpulent.
Anyway, by the time the bus got to RT Mart the small snow had gotten angry and had beefed itself up to a full-scale blizzard. What had started out as a leisurely supplies trip had now escalated into a race to shop and get back as soon as possible, the reason being that if it settled on campus I was stuffed for riding the bike back home (all uphill) and I didn’t fancy slipping and sliding everywhere as well as lugging two heavy bags.
Not one of my wisest decisions was going to the obvious bus stop, thinking that the weather would have deterred the locals from venturing forth. In many respects the Chinese are indomitable and invariably don’t let something as trivial as bad weather stop them from doing anything. When two 29s had passed I did what I should have in the first place and took my roundabout route.
By now I was becoming concerned because even in town (and in cities the temperature is always warmer) there were patches where the snow was settling and the vehicular traffic was merely turning it to slush. At the terminus I went to get off and the female driver indicated I should remain aboard. I thought it odd seeing as another 29 was up the road, presumably the next to depart. In fact it was but the grapevine has obviously been hard at it and the drivers all know my trick. They either admire my guile or consider me completely barmy, probably the latter. What she did though was save me the walk to get off her bus when she drove and parked up for her break and let be able to get on the other one. On the way back that bus got so crowded there were several occasions the driver had to stand on his seat and exhort people standing to move further to the back of the bus.
On arrival at school my fears had been realised. The campus roads were white. What to do? Being inherently lazy and infinitely preferring a seat and a ride to walking, I decided to give it a go on the bike - I could always abandon it if I needed to and if I came off at low speed perhaps I would escape without any broken bones. I made it.
What I had bought by way of food gave me the option of making mince and tatties or Bolognese but upon being greeted by mum and pup I felt guilty thinking of them being completely unable to forage for food. My menu can wait for another day, I am cooking a shepherds pie I froze a month ago and that cauliflower cheese with pasta? Yes that too but the canines will be having that once it is done. I never liked it anyway but I am sure they will be grateful. I might as well move them in here for goodness sake!
Not long after I got in and had just put the above in the oven on a low temperature to thaw, Anthony came a-calling. Having broken his foot playing that hideously dangerous game known as badminton, he was supported by a single crutch. I swiftly established that his visit was not bad news (whenever an assistant visits without an invite it is normally not good) and he had in fact just called to be neighbourly, even offering to drive me to Tongling if I want to go for pizza. I may well take up that offer.
I then asked about the TV thing the school wanted me to do, only to be told it had been cancelled. Because in usual fashion, the invitation had arrived at the eleventh hour and I hadn’t been available for two days, being in Wuhu at the time. It turns out the TV appearance was to appear in the spring festival show again. As if my ghastly performance last year doing Tai Chi wasn’t bad enough! Actually I am a little annoyed both at the lateness of the invite (I could with notice have altered my travel plans) and also that Anthony has no idea what they had in mind for me. If it was Tai Chi again then I couldn’t give a monkey’s nuts but if it was something I may have been good at, well………….
Oh, and the snow has well and truly settled, I just made it in time.
Friday, 29 January 2016
Friday 29th January, 2016 1800
Dropped a bit of a ricket by not going to bed until 0400. Well actually that was ok, if only I had got up when I awoke at nine. Despite Tigger’s best efforts to get me to leave my bed and let him out to get some food (he seems to forget there’s no sustenance in my bedroom when he cries to get in) I dozed on and off until well after eleven.
And so it came to pass that it was almost 1500 when I headed to town - fine on the outbound leg of course and although there was light rain again it wasn’t too bad. When we got there I went to Yumeic to buy a doughnut and possibly something else sweet for when the fancy took me. One look inside the shop, where the queue to pay encircled the place, was enough for me to say sod that for a game of soldiers. I still have chocolate digestives should I feel the urge.
Being Friday afternoon and by now I am guessing people are starting to buy in some of the things they will need for their new year celebratory meals (which, it has to be said, are gargantuan), that’s where I made a boo-boo. RT Mart was busy. However I was there and there was no real rush. All I bought were liquids and then on the spur I pushed the boat out and bought a prepacked frozen fillet steak (“super” it said on the box). Well for 44y it really had better be super. I could have bought raw beef from the butchery but the Chinese simply don’t do steaks as we know it, neither I suspect do they hang the meat any longer than it takes them to hack it into pieces. To be honest my eye is not good enough to be able to identify a piece of meat that would be tender either.
So I am hoping I spent my money wisely. I thought about having it with chips but instead now have a jacket spud on the go, to which I will add a fried egg, peas and fried onions. We never had steak often when I was young, my family couldn’t afford it but when we did my mother always burnt the fried onions to a cinder. The reason for which I have never asked her but what it did was see me continue to do likewise in my adult life. I actually prefer them as burnt offerings! It may sound crazy to some but until you have tried them you don’t know.
Of course with the supermarket being busy so were the buses. I knew I should have just crossed the road to take the bus to the terminus the wrong way but hope springs eternal and I went to the logical stop. On this occasion it was not rewarded so I had to lug my bags a fair distance and do my cheating thing. As new year approaches I will have to adjust my sleeping habits in order to get to the store really early unless I want to end up forking out for taxis back - that’s my usual trick after new year’s day when I want to go to town for a meal in the evening because I never know on which day they run a full service which doesn’t terminate at 1630.
Yesterday I boiled the pickled duck Alice in Wuhu had given me from her mother and so on my return I tried a morsel. Most odd and sad to say, not to my taste. It was however gratefully received by mum downstairs (don’t think the pup got a look in) and that spurred me to boil the pork leg bone for them both. Once that’s done I can concentrate on my own dinner. Sometimes I really miss having a big oven and four burners instead of a microwave sized oven and (luxury after the first flat with only one) two burners.
This blog has of late become purely about shopping and cooking I know but with little else happening it’s that or just fall silent.
I wish I could justify hopping on a train to go and visit Joan for a couple of nights. I find I really miss having her nearby but short of travelling on the 9 hour slow train (oh no) it would be a case of taking the fast 3hr one in 2nd class for 450y return or my preferred option, nearly 700y for 1st class. That I could handle but her hometown of Suzhou in north Anhui must be a lot bigger than I thought because all the decent hotels have exorbitant (for China) room rates. I would be looking at 1,000y for two nights and then of course there would be meals and other disbursements (bar bill!) to come on top. I have to take the sensible view that as unexciting as it is, a daily bus ride to town and home cooking is by far the best option for me.
Mind you, I don’t rule out another foray to Tongling purely for the purpose of getting a huge pizza to bring back! I could eat something else in the restaurant and then the pizza would provide three dinners.
I haven’t yet resorted to washing a lottery ticket in my trousers in an attempt to claim millions though……..
Dropped a bit of a ricket by not going to bed until 0400. Well actually that was ok, if only I had got up when I awoke at nine. Despite Tigger’s best efforts to get me to leave my bed and let him out to get some food (he seems to forget there’s no sustenance in my bedroom when he cries to get in) I dozed on and off until well after eleven.
And so it came to pass that it was almost 1500 when I headed to town - fine on the outbound leg of course and although there was light rain again it wasn’t too bad. When we got there I went to Yumeic to buy a doughnut and possibly something else sweet for when the fancy took me. One look inside the shop, where the queue to pay encircled the place, was enough for me to say sod that for a game of soldiers. I still have chocolate digestives should I feel the urge.
Being Friday afternoon and by now I am guessing people are starting to buy in some of the things they will need for their new year celebratory meals (which, it has to be said, are gargantuan), that’s where I made a boo-boo. RT Mart was busy. However I was there and there was no real rush. All I bought were liquids and then on the spur I pushed the boat out and bought a prepacked frozen fillet steak (“super” it said on the box). Well for 44y it really had better be super. I could have bought raw beef from the butchery but the Chinese simply don’t do steaks as we know it, neither I suspect do they hang the meat any longer than it takes them to hack it into pieces. To be honest my eye is not good enough to be able to identify a piece of meat that would be tender either.
So I am hoping I spent my money wisely. I thought about having it with chips but instead now have a jacket spud on the go, to which I will add a fried egg, peas and fried onions. We never had steak often when I was young, my family couldn’t afford it but when we did my mother always burnt the fried onions to a cinder. The reason for which I have never asked her but what it did was see me continue to do likewise in my adult life. I actually prefer them as burnt offerings! It may sound crazy to some but until you have tried them you don’t know.
Of course with the supermarket being busy so were the buses. I knew I should have just crossed the road to take the bus to the terminus the wrong way but hope springs eternal and I went to the logical stop. On this occasion it was not rewarded so I had to lug my bags a fair distance and do my cheating thing. As new year approaches I will have to adjust my sleeping habits in order to get to the store really early unless I want to end up forking out for taxis back - that’s my usual trick after new year’s day when I want to go to town for a meal in the evening because I never know on which day they run a full service which doesn’t terminate at 1630.
Yesterday I boiled the pickled duck Alice in Wuhu had given me from her mother and so on my return I tried a morsel. Most odd and sad to say, not to my taste. It was however gratefully received by mum downstairs (don’t think the pup got a look in) and that spurred me to boil the pork leg bone for them both. Once that’s done I can concentrate on my own dinner. Sometimes I really miss having a big oven and four burners instead of a microwave sized oven and (luxury after the first flat with only one) two burners.
This blog has of late become purely about shopping and cooking I know but with little else happening it’s that or just fall silent.
I wish I could justify hopping on a train to go and visit Joan for a couple of nights. I find I really miss having her nearby but short of travelling on the 9 hour slow train (oh no) it would be a case of taking the fast 3hr one in 2nd class for 450y return or my preferred option, nearly 700y for 1st class. That I could handle but her hometown of Suzhou in north Anhui must be a lot bigger than I thought because all the decent hotels have exorbitant (for China) room rates. I would be looking at 1,000y for two nights and then of course there would be meals and other disbursements (bar bill!) to come on top. I have to take the sensible view that as unexciting as it is, a daily bus ride to town and home cooking is by far the best option for me.
Mind you, I don’t rule out another foray to Tongling purely for the purpose of getting a huge pizza to bring back! I could eat something else in the restaurant and then the pizza would provide three dinners.
I haven’t yet resorted to washing a lottery ticket in my trousers in an attempt to claim millions though……..
Thursday, 28 January 2016
Thursday 28th January, 2016 1600
Tuesday night despite there being no sign of temperatures dipping below zero in the small hours, nonetheless they shut off the water again. Naturally it wasn’t on in the morning so I simply had to sit and wait until I could get cleaned up. When noon arrived and still no joy I guessed it would be after lunch before service resumed.
It annoyed me because I could have gone to town and been back around that time had I been able to perform my ablutions, or indeed were I the type to happily don yesterday’s clobber and go out with my hair looking as if a cat had dragged me in. I have delayed a haircut due to the cold. So I sat and waited for the sound of the cistern filling yet again ( it is just the other side of the wall from where I sit now) and when two o’clock came I was getting mightily disgruntled. I went to take a leak and from habit pressed the flush button to check, knowing it was empty. Except it wasn’t! They must have turned it on initially at such a low pressure (yes, they can control that) that I couldn’t hear it trickling in.
By now I had the right hump because I also needed to wash the dishes and were I to go to town it would be dark by the time I returned. But go to town I did, once again stocking up on liquids for when I am trapped on campus. By then even where I park the bike was almost clear of snow and the temperature was such that although I needed gloves to ride the bike, I didn’t for the trip to town. Much better.
It was indeed dark by the time I got back, I toyed with the idea of eating downtown but dismissed it because I still had just over half of that pizza and at 137y I wasn’t going to waste any of it. That was my dinner last night and indeed is dinner again tonight - still three slices left! So yes it may have been expensive but it HAS fed me for three nights. Whilst in RT Mart when I went to check the imported goods section (it’s where I can buy McVities chocolate digestives, pasta, tuna etc) a girl spotted me and started shouting “Mama! Mama!”. without looking, I parodied her and was surprised when I turned around to see the girl had returned with Tina from the Tongling train trip. Never seen her before in my life and suddenly we bump into each other two days on the trot - talk about coincidence.
Last night thankfully they left the water on and so I could shower any time I fancied and I have once again been shopping. En route to south gate I went to the cashpoint to make a withdrawal. With payday being normally on the 12th and with new year falling on the 8th (with a week’s holiday for many employees) I fully expected my salary to be deposited late and had duly ensured I had enough money available to last a week or ten days beyond the 12th. It is not often these days that I have occasion to praise the administration here but to my welcome surprise we have already been paid next month’s wages. Very nice, thank you.
Today though we have gone from cold and white to not as cold, wet and grey. Dismal. With eleven days to go before I have absolutely no chance of getting to town other than biking (I’d rather not in these cold times) it is too early to start stocking up on vegetables for my meals. I have pizza, ready curry/rice, cottage pie etc in the freezer so it will never get desperate but of course I may want to cook different things. Quite what I am going to do about the cauliflower cheese and pasta still languishing at -15C I know not. It’s enough for four people and from memory wasn’t that good. It is however hogging a baking tray so I may end up eating some, making it far more palatable with Linghams and then giving the rest to Mum and the one pup that has remained with her. They are still squatting on the ground floor of this building. That reminds me, I have a huge pork bone with meat on it that I bought for Pepsi. I must defrost it, boil it and give it somewhere it will certainly be appreciated.
Tigger is getting on my nerves now. He appears to be taking it for granted that he can sleep with me every night whilst the other four make do with the top of the fridge. Because he’s black he can often dart into the bedroom undetected but the really annoying thing is the constant crying throughout the day because he is shut out. If I don’t want him in here at night (I don’t mind sometimes but his whiskers being poked up my hooter are annoying just as I am dropping off) then I have the ludicrous scenario wherein I take my last pee, position myself outside the bathroom, switch off the light and then as fast as I can, get in the bedroom and close the door. Gammy hip or not, that little swine is still as fast as hell and can leap off the fridge and be in my room faster than you can say Whiskas. It has to be said though, he is my most loyal cat.
Tuesday night despite there being no sign of temperatures dipping below zero in the small hours, nonetheless they shut off the water again. Naturally it wasn’t on in the morning so I simply had to sit and wait until I could get cleaned up. When noon arrived and still no joy I guessed it would be after lunch before service resumed.
It annoyed me because I could have gone to town and been back around that time had I been able to perform my ablutions, or indeed were I the type to happily don yesterday’s clobber and go out with my hair looking as if a cat had dragged me in. I have delayed a haircut due to the cold. So I sat and waited for the sound of the cistern filling yet again ( it is just the other side of the wall from where I sit now) and when two o’clock came I was getting mightily disgruntled. I went to take a leak and from habit pressed the flush button to check, knowing it was empty. Except it wasn’t! They must have turned it on initially at such a low pressure (yes, they can control that) that I couldn’t hear it trickling in.
By now I had the right hump because I also needed to wash the dishes and were I to go to town it would be dark by the time I returned. But go to town I did, once again stocking up on liquids for when I am trapped on campus. By then even where I park the bike was almost clear of snow and the temperature was such that although I needed gloves to ride the bike, I didn’t for the trip to town. Much better.
It was indeed dark by the time I got back, I toyed with the idea of eating downtown but dismissed it because I still had just over half of that pizza and at 137y I wasn’t going to waste any of it. That was my dinner last night and indeed is dinner again tonight - still three slices left! So yes it may have been expensive but it HAS fed me for three nights. Whilst in RT Mart when I went to check the imported goods section (it’s where I can buy McVities chocolate digestives, pasta, tuna etc) a girl spotted me and started shouting “Mama! Mama!”. without looking, I parodied her and was surprised when I turned around to see the girl had returned with Tina from the Tongling train trip. Never seen her before in my life and suddenly we bump into each other two days on the trot - talk about coincidence.
Last night thankfully they left the water on and so I could shower any time I fancied and I have once again been shopping. En route to south gate I went to the cashpoint to make a withdrawal. With payday being normally on the 12th and with new year falling on the 8th (with a week’s holiday for many employees) I fully expected my salary to be deposited late and had duly ensured I had enough money available to last a week or ten days beyond the 12th. It is not often these days that I have occasion to praise the administration here but to my welcome surprise we have already been paid next month’s wages. Very nice, thank you.
Today though we have gone from cold and white to not as cold, wet and grey. Dismal. With eleven days to go before I have absolutely no chance of getting to town other than biking (I’d rather not in these cold times) it is too early to start stocking up on vegetables for my meals. I have pizza, ready curry/rice, cottage pie etc in the freezer so it will never get desperate but of course I may want to cook different things. Quite what I am going to do about the cauliflower cheese and pasta still languishing at -15C I know not. It’s enough for four people and from memory wasn’t that good. It is however hogging a baking tray so I may end up eating some, making it far more palatable with Linghams and then giving the rest to Mum and the one pup that has remained with her. They are still squatting on the ground floor of this building. That reminds me, I have a huge pork bone with meat on it that I bought for Pepsi. I must defrost it, boil it and give it somewhere it will certainly be appreciated.
Tigger is getting on my nerves now. He appears to be taking it for granted that he can sleep with me every night whilst the other four make do with the top of the fridge. Because he’s black he can often dart into the bedroom undetected but the really annoying thing is the constant crying throughout the day because he is shut out. If I don’t want him in here at night (I don’t mind sometimes but his whiskers being poked up my hooter are annoying just as I am dropping off) then I have the ludicrous scenario wherein I take my last pee, position myself outside the bathroom, switch off the light and then as fast as I can, get in the bedroom and close the door. Gammy hip or not, that little swine is still as fast as hell and can leap off the fridge and be in my room faster than you can say Whiskas. It has to be said though, he is my most loyal cat.
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Tuesday 26th January, 2016 1925
I didn’t honestly think I would have anything interesting to write about today. I was wrong.
Still hoping to get to Tesco in Tongling in my ceaseless search for cheddar, I set my alarm for nine when the water was supposed to come back on. Of course, there was no water so I went back to bed with one ear open for the sound of the cistern refilling.
That happened at 1020 and so while the system was building up pressure I decided to refill the bucket I had used to flush the toilet previously. It didn’t even reach a quarter full before the trickle stopped. I started to think the Tongling Cheddar Chase was doomed.
So I sat and waited, someone who detests not having at least one shower a day. At one I sent a text to Anthony asking if he any more info than me, no just wait. Well unless I wanted to heat a pan of water on the hob and mix it in a bucket, then sit and wash using a mug then I had no option - although it was definitely on the cards and wouldn’t be the first time.
Then to rub salt in the wound my internet disappeared. I tried all the usual tricks, rebooting the router, the laptop, connecting to Andrei’s to no avail. As I was checking the server for our building downstairs (the lights were all flashing merrily away) a Chinese couple came downstairs in their pyjamas. Unbeknown to me they were off to hand wash their car in this weather! Anyway, when I asked they told me they never had a connection either so at least I knew it wasn’t just me. Shortly afterwards Anthony, who lives in the next building, informed me his internet was fine. I needed that!
I thought sod it, I’m going to Tongling to buy some cheering cheese and just maybe the internet will be fixed when I get back. If not, I had enough stuff on iPlayer to see me through the evening.
At the station I achieved a first. Despite an irate old man at the adjacent teller point creating the Dickens of a row, I managed to buy a rail ticket unaided. Not quite what I asked for (I got 2nd instead of 1st class) but as it’s only a 20 minute trip it mattered little. I then got shouted at and thrown out of the station toilets when I tried to spend a penny because the woman was cleaning the floor. Somewhat miffed, I lit a cigar and stood puffing away until the lady realised I had no idea there were other toilets at the opposite end of the concourse. Well I mean, who studies train station waiting rooms?
On the platform once we had been let through to wait for the train I stood in the advertised place for car 5 (the fast trains only stop for two or three minutes) and a woman with a young daughter started to speak to me in poor but understandable English. Where was I going, what was I doing etc. We were both going to Tongling shopping, maybe we could shop together she suggested. Hmmm. I need Tesco. No problem she said, how will you get there? Number 2 or 21 bus, I replied, Amy had been very helpful when I asked her. Car 4 stopped where car 5 was supposed to.
Sod’s law had it that we sat in the same row so numbers and email addresses were exchanged, photographs taken etc and then the offer of a lift to the town centre with the friend she was going to meet. Very kind but I really didn’t want to be tied to a schedule, especially as she seemed rather keen on accompanying me back to Chizhou. Had she not been married to a chap who owns a company in Shanghai and who is returning in two days then I may have felt more ambitious but I didn’t want to be rushed.
I accepted the lift and her friend actually very kindly dropped me at the entrance to Tesco. I told them I was going to Pizza Hut afterwards and if I would be finished by six then I would let her know. Tesco, that very haven of Britishness in China. No! It was even worse than Chizhou! Any variety of processed burger slices you like but no proper cheese whatsoever! God it was galling. There was no sign of anything remotely western so that I could justify my visit by buying either so I left empty handed.
I couldn’t find Pizza Hut but stumbled across a Papa John’s and went there instead. I ordered the biggest pizza they did with a view to a doggy bag for tomorrow’s dinner and sat down to wait. This was at four ten. Tina (the train lady) sent a message to say she had to leave at five! I had no return ticket and no idea how long my pizza would take so I told her I would make my own way back. She is persistent, I will give her that! No need for a ticket, her friend would drive us back.
By now I was beginning to think she, the friend or both were completely bonkers. She had come all that way to spend an hour with a friend? And now he was prepared to drive us all to Chizhou and go back?
It turns out he also lives in Chizhou but has a business in Tongling so it was not out of his way. He has a home here and also had a business meeting scheduled, hence the early departure. My pizza had arrived and I knew I wouldn’t eat even half of it (nearly though!) and also that I could get back to where they had dropped me off in time for five so I agreed. As they were saving me bus and train fares I bought two expensive hand made cakes (14y each) for mum and daughter as a means of saying thanks and duly waited at the rendezvous point. They in the meantime had located Pizza Hut and ordered a takeaway to eat on the ride back so they were fifteen minutes late! They may as well have come with me.
The friend dropped us all off at a place I know, very close to the German restaurant but from where I would have the devil’s own job to get to a number 29 bus. Oh no, Tina would drive me to college! She is a very rare breed in China, when asked her job she told me “housewife”. Normally both work but obviously hubby is doing very well for himself so she doesn’t need to take a job and they certainly live in an expensive gated complex with security guards so they have some poppy. I waited outside in order to have a smoke while I waited.
Despite my protestations that just dropping me at an appropriate bus stop would be quite sufficient kindness, she insisted on driving me all the way to school. There is an ulterior motive of course because she wants to improve her English and would also love me to teach the little one. On an informal basis that could work out and she has also threatened to cook a special dinner and invite me to her home. I will go.
Back at home I found the water still on, in fact with temperatures set to remain above freezing they have no good reason to cut it again and better still, after a bit of jiggery-pokery as you can see I now have internet again.
No mad dashes chasing downhill after rolling cheeses for me tomorrow, a trip to RT Mart for wine will do and perhaps a far more relaxing day.
I didn’t honestly think I would have anything interesting to write about today. I was wrong.
Still hoping to get to Tesco in Tongling in my ceaseless search for cheddar, I set my alarm for nine when the water was supposed to come back on. Of course, there was no water so I went back to bed with one ear open for the sound of the cistern refilling.
That happened at 1020 and so while the system was building up pressure I decided to refill the bucket I had used to flush the toilet previously. It didn’t even reach a quarter full before the trickle stopped. I started to think the Tongling Cheddar Chase was doomed.
So I sat and waited, someone who detests not having at least one shower a day. At one I sent a text to Anthony asking if he any more info than me, no just wait. Well unless I wanted to heat a pan of water on the hob and mix it in a bucket, then sit and wash using a mug then I had no option - although it was definitely on the cards and wouldn’t be the first time.
Then to rub salt in the wound my internet disappeared. I tried all the usual tricks, rebooting the router, the laptop, connecting to Andrei’s to no avail. As I was checking the server for our building downstairs (the lights were all flashing merrily away) a Chinese couple came downstairs in their pyjamas. Unbeknown to me they were off to hand wash their car in this weather! Anyway, when I asked they told me they never had a connection either so at least I knew it wasn’t just me. Shortly afterwards Anthony, who lives in the next building, informed me his internet was fine. I needed that!
I thought sod it, I’m going to Tongling to buy some cheering cheese and just maybe the internet will be fixed when I get back. If not, I had enough stuff on iPlayer to see me through the evening.
At the station I achieved a first. Despite an irate old man at the adjacent teller point creating the Dickens of a row, I managed to buy a rail ticket unaided. Not quite what I asked for (I got 2nd instead of 1st class) but as it’s only a 20 minute trip it mattered little. I then got shouted at and thrown out of the station toilets when I tried to spend a penny because the woman was cleaning the floor. Somewhat miffed, I lit a cigar and stood puffing away until the lady realised I had no idea there were other toilets at the opposite end of the concourse. Well I mean, who studies train station waiting rooms?
On the platform once we had been let through to wait for the train I stood in the advertised place for car 5 (the fast trains only stop for two or three minutes) and a woman with a young daughter started to speak to me in poor but understandable English. Where was I going, what was I doing etc. We were both going to Tongling shopping, maybe we could shop together she suggested. Hmmm. I need Tesco. No problem she said, how will you get there? Number 2 or 21 bus, I replied, Amy had been very helpful when I asked her. Car 4 stopped where car 5 was supposed to.
Sod’s law had it that we sat in the same row so numbers and email addresses were exchanged, photographs taken etc and then the offer of a lift to the town centre with the friend she was going to meet. Very kind but I really didn’t want to be tied to a schedule, especially as she seemed rather keen on accompanying me back to Chizhou. Had she not been married to a chap who owns a company in Shanghai and who is returning in two days then I may have felt more ambitious but I didn’t want to be rushed.
I accepted the lift and her friend actually very kindly dropped me at the entrance to Tesco. I told them I was going to Pizza Hut afterwards and if I would be finished by six then I would let her know. Tesco, that very haven of Britishness in China. No! It was even worse than Chizhou! Any variety of processed burger slices you like but no proper cheese whatsoever! God it was galling. There was no sign of anything remotely western so that I could justify my visit by buying either so I left empty handed.
I couldn’t find Pizza Hut but stumbled across a Papa John’s and went there instead. I ordered the biggest pizza they did with a view to a doggy bag for tomorrow’s dinner and sat down to wait. This was at four ten. Tina (the train lady) sent a message to say she had to leave at five! I had no return ticket and no idea how long my pizza would take so I told her I would make my own way back. She is persistent, I will give her that! No need for a ticket, her friend would drive us back.
By now I was beginning to think she, the friend or both were completely bonkers. She had come all that way to spend an hour with a friend? And now he was prepared to drive us all to Chizhou and go back?
It turns out he also lives in Chizhou but has a business in Tongling so it was not out of his way. He has a home here and also had a business meeting scheduled, hence the early departure. My pizza had arrived and I knew I wouldn’t eat even half of it (nearly though!) and also that I could get back to where they had dropped me off in time for five so I agreed. As they were saving me bus and train fares I bought two expensive hand made cakes (14y each) for mum and daughter as a means of saying thanks and duly waited at the rendezvous point. They in the meantime had located Pizza Hut and ordered a takeaway to eat on the ride back so they were fifteen minutes late! They may as well have come with me.
The friend dropped us all off at a place I know, very close to the German restaurant but from where I would have the devil’s own job to get to a number 29 bus. Oh no, Tina would drive me to college! She is a very rare breed in China, when asked her job she told me “housewife”. Normally both work but obviously hubby is doing very well for himself so she doesn’t need to take a job and they certainly live in an expensive gated complex with security guards so they have some poppy. I waited outside in order to have a smoke while I waited.
Despite my protestations that just dropping me at an appropriate bus stop would be quite sufficient kindness, she insisted on driving me all the way to school. There is an ulterior motive of course because she wants to improve her English and would also love me to teach the little one. On an informal basis that could work out and she has also threatened to cook a special dinner and invite me to her home. I will go.
Back at home I found the water still on, in fact with temperatures set to remain above freezing they have no good reason to cut it again and better still, after a bit of jiggery-pokery as you can see I now have internet again.
No mad dashes chasing downhill after rolling cheeses for me tomorrow, a trip to RT Mart for wine will do and perhaps a far more relaxing day.
Monday, 25 January 2016
Monday 25th January, 2016 2040
It appears I spoke too soon about my boring life.
Last night before bed I checked train times to and from Tongling (got to have cheddar!) and in readiness placed my passport on top of my cigars. I was going shopping today. I set my alarm for nine when the water was scheduled to be turned back on.
At nine this morning (of course) there was no water so I returned to bed to catnap until I heard the toilet cistern filling up when it was. It never did and so at half past ten I decided I may as well get up. I went to the loo (and I had wondered why the cats had been acting up so much because they still had food, lack of which is what normally causes tantrums) and realised it was quite quiet. The old heater I filched from Kevin’s room is quite squeaky and was ominously silent. Investigating, I found I had no electricity. Checked the breakers then put on my bathrobe and went out into the snow in slippers to check my main breaker.
Power cut. Just brilliant.
I have said many times that I detest leaving the house without showering first so I waited a while and hoped it would return along with the water in time for me to make the trip. By midday all thoughts of Tongling had evaporated. One, two and then three o’clock passed and still I was sat in the cold, unwashed and doing Telegraph cryptic cosswords . I could have done what I did the first winter for a week when the water heater packed in and heated some of my stored water on the hob but this time the flat was an ice cube, at least then I had electricity. No thanks.
I eventually sent a text to Anthony asking if he knew when power and water would be restored. After some time, and it turns out he is back on campus (doubtless regretting it today!), he replied saying they hoped to restore power later but the water would be switched back on tomorrow. That means we wil have had no water for 42 hours IF it comes on at nine.
Mentally I was gearing up to checking into an hotel tonight, no way was I sitting in the freezing cold darkness all night but in the interim I decided to go to town (unkempt and unclean) and have dinner. I could of course have cooked by candlelight with gas but I didn’t fancy that.
I don’t know why but I went to a barbecue restaurant. I never eat anywhere near what it costs me and even four beers don’t come close to justifying 59y but at least it was relatively warm.
Anthony informed me during my dinner that we had electricity again and I thought great, by the time I get back we should have internet again - the main server often takes forty minutes to reboot after a blackout.
And then I left.
It was cold when I arrived but by now it was dark. And by God was it cold. I doubt it was lower than -5 but it cut through my gloves and my down jacket - and I never put long johns on. I know old people feel the cold more than youths but this was unbelievable. I recall Kevin relating my predecessor’s remarks on the cold here, which were that he had never known cold like it in his life. He was an Alaskan, born and bred! I must concur.
The only time I have been colder was a winter in Inchon, South Korea, when I was nineteen. Our ship had been in warm climes for three years so none of us had any cold weather gear. I had every stitch of clothing I could fit on me and still ten minutes outside was the most I could stand.
I read the news earlier and they are reporting record lows all over South China with people freezing to death in Taiwan. I think if I do plump for that shopping trip tomorrow I will wear long johns!
The bonus was of course that once I got home it was warm. Whilst the a/c never came on, the cat heaters and the balcony one did and although it was hardly toasty it was greeted with a sigh of relief from me. The (very slow) ride from the gate to home had solidified my ears and brought my core temperature down at least a degree.
Right now I can’t complain though.
It appears I spoke too soon about my boring life.
Last night before bed I checked train times to and from Tongling (got to have cheddar!) and in readiness placed my passport on top of my cigars. I was going shopping today. I set my alarm for nine when the water was scheduled to be turned back on.
At nine this morning (of course) there was no water so I returned to bed to catnap until I heard the toilet cistern filling up when it was. It never did and so at half past ten I decided I may as well get up. I went to the loo (and I had wondered why the cats had been acting up so much because they still had food, lack of which is what normally causes tantrums) and realised it was quite quiet. The old heater I filched from Kevin’s room is quite squeaky and was ominously silent. Investigating, I found I had no electricity. Checked the breakers then put on my bathrobe and went out into the snow in slippers to check my main breaker.
Power cut. Just brilliant.
I have said many times that I detest leaving the house without showering first so I waited a while and hoped it would return along with the water in time for me to make the trip. By midday all thoughts of Tongling had evaporated. One, two and then three o’clock passed and still I was sat in the cold, unwashed and doing Telegraph cryptic cosswords . I could have done what I did the first winter for a week when the water heater packed in and heated some of my stored water on the hob but this time the flat was an ice cube, at least then I had electricity. No thanks.
I eventually sent a text to Anthony asking if he knew when power and water would be restored. After some time, and it turns out he is back on campus (doubtless regretting it today!), he replied saying they hoped to restore power later but the water would be switched back on tomorrow. That means we wil have had no water for 42 hours IF it comes on at nine.
Mentally I was gearing up to checking into an hotel tonight, no way was I sitting in the freezing cold darkness all night but in the interim I decided to go to town (unkempt and unclean) and have dinner. I could of course have cooked by candlelight with gas but I didn’t fancy that.
I don’t know why but I went to a barbecue restaurant. I never eat anywhere near what it costs me and even four beers don’t come close to justifying 59y but at least it was relatively warm.
Anthony informed me during my dinner that we had electricity again and I thought great, by the time I get back we should have internet again - the main server often takes forty minutes to reboot after a blackout.
And then I left.
It was cold when I arrived but by now it was dark. And by God was it cold. I doubt it was lower than -5 but it cut through my gloves and my down jacket - and I never put long johns on. I know old people feel the cold more than youths but this was unbelievable. I recall Kevin relating my predecessor’s remarks on the cold here, which were that he had never known cold like it in his life. He was an Alaskan, born and bred! I must concur.
The only time I have been colder was a winter in Inchon, South Korea, when I was nineteen. Our ship had been in warm climes for three years so none of us had any cold weather gear. I had every stitch of clothing I could fit on me and still ten minutes outside was the most I could stand.
I read the news earlier and they are reporting record lows all over South China with people freezing to death in Taiwan. I think if I do plump for that shopping trip tomorrow I will wear long johns!
The bonus was of course that once I got home it was warm. Whilst the a/c never came on, the cat heaters and the balcony one did and although it was hardly toasty it was greeted with a sigh of relief from me. The (very slow) ride from the gate to home had solidified my ears and brought my core temperature down at least a degree.
Right now I can’t complain though.
Sunday, 24 January 2016
Sunday 24th January, 2016 1520
Firstly, although my readers are scattered across the globe and don’t know my family, I would like to send a message to my Mother which I am sure one of my siblings will ensure she gets.
I am glad that after a month she has finally been released on parole from somewhere she is now a frequent flyer - the hospital, Wexham Park in Slough. The most God-awful, depressing and dilapidated place anyone could be sent (apart from Slough itself) when they are ill. Having spent three weeks here in the local hospital I would say the only thing Wexham does better is that they actually provide some sort of food to the patients and probably TV and internet for a fee. If Chizhou hospital offered the aforementioned even for a price, it would win hands down in every respect. My mum even had all her belongings “misplaced” and the staff apparently were not very interested. Do we blame them or Cameron with his cuts?
The bad news is my sister has now reprogrammed Mum’s phone so she can call me again. And I’m only half joking! Not that I don’t enjoy the occasional hour and a half chat but I swear she has secret CCTV installed watching me because she phones at the most inopportune times!
The chicken and chips last night was lovely once I realised the breast I had cooked still had skin on it and removed same. Had I realised before I would have ensured it was brown and crispy. One potato made far too many chips and Good Samaritan that I am, I slung my leftovers just outside our entrance, to be immediately gobbled up by the pups. Quite what they made of the Linghams chilli sauce I know not.
Well today my fears never materialised. The melt had evaporated and whilst there is still snow on the less travelled avenues, apart from the odd patch that never gets the sun (my parking space in particular) it was clear to go but proceed with caution when approaching shiny patches.
So I went shopping yet again. Well, it’s that or get cabin fever!
For a Sunday the buses were very sparsely populated, my precaution of taking an extra 2y in case I needed to cheat being entirely unnecessary. Those that WERE on the buses were mostly geriatrics and some of them simply aren’t normal. Many were taking produce to town to sell and so were humping heavy sacks of vegetables and fruit but they weren’t wearing gloves! The internet tells me it is -5 at present and certainly when I rode the bike it stung my face. How they do it is beyond me.
As for the shop, the only food I bought was a single, solitary potato. The rest was liquid, plus I caved in and bought a ten-pack of loo rolls. The latter will probably last me almost until the end of next term. It’s funny but in the old flat I used to buy the cheaper, very wide kitchen roll type that had no inner tube and used them very quickly. Since moving here and Kevin installing an enclosed roll holder I have bought the more expensive “proper” rolls everyone out there is used to and they last for ages. A bit like shop’s own brand and Fairy Liquid I suppose……
Yesterday the water remained on until 1800 and so when I returned just after three I thought I would wash last night’s dishes. There was next to no pressure and I realised I was getting the last of the supplies from the roof. I could have boiled the kettle but got just enough to do the job. I shall not make the same mistake tomorrow. The buckets in the bathroom are only good for toilet flushes because the cats keep sticking litter wood chips in the water, it is at a time like this that I am heartily glad I bought so many cooking pots!
As for the forecast, the -17 has completely disappeared now with the lowest night time temperature being tomorrow at -7 with daytimes after that above freezing. So much for the apocalypse eh? Maybe Beijing worked their magic and sent it to the east coast of the US! Hopefully it means we will only have to “endure” another day or two of water rationing. It’s amazing how much we rely on our water supply - you can’t do an awful lot without it. You don’t want to get your hands dirty because you need water to cook, you have to time the laundry just right etc. It reminds me of being at sea when the reverse osmosis water purification plant (the rainmaker) sometimes packed in. Carrying only 100 tonnes of fresh water and using about 25 tonnes a day it had to be rationed but that meant it was on for half an hour in the morning and again in the evening before dinner. Toilets were turned off and 45 gallon drums were put on each deck and filled with seawater so you could fill your bucket for a flush! And if you wanted your clothes washed you stuck them on a line and tossed them over the stern - if you left them too long being dragged behind at 15 knots all you retrieved were ribbons. Ah, the good old days!
So at the moment my life revolves around a three hour round trip to the supermarket. I haven’t even stopped for lunch in town since coming back from Wuhu. I am however seriously considering a train to Tongling (20 mins now on the fast train) and a visit to Tesco for some cheddar. Knowing my luck (as evidenced in Nanjing and Wuhu) they probably wouldn’t have any either.
Firstly, although my readers are scattered across the globe and don’t know my family, I would like to send a message to my Mother which I am sure one of my siblings will ensure she gets.
I am glad that after a month she has finally been released on parole from somewhere she is now a frequent flyer - the hospital, Wexham Park in Slough. The most God-awful, depressing and dilapidated place anyone could be sent (apart from Slough itself) when they are ill. Having spent three weeks here in the local hospital I would say the only thing Wexham does better is that they actually provide some sort of food to the patients and probably TV and internet for a fee. If Chizhou hospital offered the aforementioned even for a price, it would win hands down in every respect. My mum even had all her belongings “misplaced” and the staff apparently were not very interested. Do we blame them or Cameron with his cuts?
The bad news is my sister has now reprogrammed Mum’s phone so she can call me again. And I’m only half joking! Not that I don’t enjoy the occasional hour and a half chat but I swear she has secret CCTV installed watching me because she phones at the most inopportune times!
The chicken and chips last night was lovely once I realised the breast I had cooked still had skin on it and removed same. Had I realised before I would have ensured it was brown and crispy. One potato made far too many chips and Good Samaritan that I am, I slung my leftovers just outside our entrance, to be immediately gobbled up by the pups. Quite what they made of the Linghams chilli sauce I know not.
Well today my fears never materialised. The melt had evaporated and whilst there is still snow on the less travelled avenues, apart from the odd patch that never gets the sun (my parking space in particular) it was clear to go but proceed with caution when approaching shiny patches.
So I went shopping yet again. Well, it’s that or get cabin fever!
For a Sunday the buses were very sparsely populated, my precaution of taking an extra 2y in case I needed to cheat being entirely unnecessary. Those that WERE on the buses were mostly geriatrics and some of them simply aren’t normal. Many were taking produce to town to sell and so were humping heavy sacks of vegetables and fruit but they weren’t wearing gloves! The internet tells me it is -5 at present and certainly when I rode the bike it stung my face. How they do it is beyond me.
As for the shop, the only food I bought was a single, solitary potato. The rest was liquid, plus I caved in and bought a ten-pack of loo rolls. The latter will probably last me almost until the end of next term. It’s funny but in the old flat I used to buy the cheaper, very wide kitchen roll type that had no inner tube and used them very quickly. Since moving here and Kevin installing an enclosed roll holder I have bought the more expensive “proper” rolls everyone out there is used to and they last for ages. A bit like shop’s own brand and Fairy Liquid I suppose……
Yesterday the water remained on until 1800 and so when I returned just after three I thought I would wash last night’s dishes. There was next to no pressure and I realised I was getting the last of the supplies from the roof. I could have boiled the kettle but got just enough to do the job. I shall not make the same mistake tomorrow. The buckets in the bathroom are only good for toilet flushes because the cats keep sticking litter wood chips in the water, it is at a time like this that I am heartily glad I bought so many cooking pots!
As for the forecast, the -17 has completely disappeared now with the lowest night time temperature being tomorrow at -7 with daytimes after that above freezing. So much for the apocalypse eh? Maybe Beijing worked their magic and sent it to the east coast of the US! Hopefully it means we will only have to “endure” another day or two of water rationing. It’s amazing how much we rely on our water supply - you can’t do an awful lot without it. You don’t want to get your hands dirty because you need water to cook, you have to time the laundry just right etc. It reminds me of being at sea when the reverse osmosis water purification plant (the rainmaker) sometimes packed in. Carrying only 100 tonnes of fresh water and using about 25 tonnes a day it had to be rationed but that meant it was on for half an hour in the morning and again in the evening before dinner. Toilets were turned off and 45 gallon drums were put on each deck and filled with seawater so you could fill your bucket for a flush! And if you wanted your clothes washed you stuck them on a line and tossed them over the stern - if you left them too long being dragged behind at 15 knots all you retrieved were ribbons. Ah, the good old days!
So at the moment my life revolves around a three hour round trip to the supermarket. I haven’t even stopped for lunch in town since coming back from Wuhu. I am however seriously considering a train to Tongling (20 mins now on the fast train) and a visit to Tesco for some cheddar. Knowing my luck (as evidenced in Nanjing and Wuhu) they probably wouldn’t have any either.
Saturday, 23 January 2016
Saturday 23rd January, 2016 1600
I must admit that last night when the snow continued to fall. settled on the roads up to the point where it was difficult to tell where the kerbs were and the mercury dropped that perhaps I might have to eat my words about the unnecessary alarm being spread. It was a given that there was no way I could get to town today without walking to the bus, that was obvious.
Anthony sent me a message last night (he’s not on campus although will be in a couple of days or so) to tell me the water would come on between 0900 and 1500 today. Great, the website - or at least Google translate - stated clearly that would only happen in the teaching area. No argument with that, it’s empty. Once again nobody thinks to tell the Laowei and although I did have a suspicion, Andrei and Juliette will have been taken unawares unless they copy and paste every site entry into a translation application, highly doubtful. Good job I never had the trots or things could have gotten unpleasant. I have two buckets full for loo duty and three large pots for cooking or hand washing. Oh and the kettle is full in case I want a mug of Bovril and of course my morning cuppa.
When I got up this morning I looked out and saw clear tyre marks on the roads. Still plenty of white on the vegetation (still is now) but it meant a town trip was on. Mindful of the fact that the forecast said tomorrow night and Monday it would be -17C, even though I didn’t need to, I went to town - our entrapment could simply be delayed. The hardest part was extricating the bike from our building. The area I park it is on the north side so it doesn’t get any heat so there is frozen snow there even now. After that all I had to contend with was the biting cold from the wind generated by riding.
Having had a bacon and emmental baguette last night and finding it rather insipid, I had a change of heart on the macaroni cheese I was going to make tonight, I don’t think it would be good.. Maybe the edam I bought would be marginally better but still…….
So mentally on the bus I changed the forthcoming menus. It is chicken and chips tonight with fish and chips at a later stage. The problem is I don’t know if I can cook the breaded fish in the oven or whether it needs to be fried! I reckon to be safe I will have to fry it.
I was lucky with the bus back, it being Saturday, and although I had to let two depart without me as there were no seats it was third time lucky. The Chinese seem to know the times of the buses and turn up at the right moment although quite how baffles me because the timetable on the stops only shows numbers for the first and last buses of the day. The rest is a load of cyrillics which I assume inform of the stops the various buses service. Me? I just know they come roughly every ten minutes except when I am in a hurry.
The water is still on (or it was when I started this because I did the dishes) and I just checked the forecast for the umpteenth time. Guess what? Suddenly the -17 has been downgraded to -7C for a couple of nights, after which it nudges above freezing again. My scepticism may yet be rewarded. All that concerns me now is that the snowmelt may not entirely evaporate and overnight may turn to ice. I was narrowly missed by an avalanche which cascaded off the roof of the south entrance when I left this morning!
I discovered about 5kg of Pedigree dog biscuits that Pepsi never got to eat and so last night put them downstairs for Mum and kids. So far the repayment has been puddles of pee on the stairs and landings. Thanks Mum, can’t you teach your kids to go outside?
I must admit that last night when the snow continued to fall. settled on the roads up to the point where it was difficult to tell where the kerbs were and the mercury dropped that perhaps I might have to eat my words about the unnecessary alarm being spread. It was a given that there was no way I could get to town today without walking to the bus, that was obvious.
Anthony sent me a message last night (he’s not on campus although will be in a couple of days or so) to tell me the water would come on between 0900 and 1500 today. Great, the website - or at least Google translate - stated clearly that would only happen in the teaching area. No argument with that, it’s empty. Once again nobody thinks to tell the Laowei and although I did have a suspicion, Andrei and Juliette will have been taken unawares unless they copy and paste every site entry into a translation application, highly doubtful. Good job I never had the trots or things could have gotten unpleasant. I have two buckets full for loo duty and three large pots for cooking or hand washing. Oh and the kettle is full in case I want a mug of Bovril and of course my morning cuppa.
When I got up this morning I looked out and saw clear tyre marks on the roads. Still plenty of white on the vegetation (still is now) but it meant a town trip was on. Mindful of the fact that the forecast said tomorrow night and Monday it would be -17C, even though I didn’t need to, I went to town - our entrapment could simply be delayed. The hardest part was extricating the bike from our building. The area I park it is on the north side so it doesn’t get any heat so there is frozen snow there even now. After that all I had to contend with was the biting cold from the wind generated by riding.
Having had a bacon and emmental baguette last night and finding it rather insipid, I had a change of heart on the macaroni cheese I was going to make tonight, I don’t think it would be good.. Maybe the edam I bought would be marginally better but still…….
So mentally on the bus I changed the forthcoming menus. It is chicken and chips tonight with fish and chips at a later stage. The problem is I don’t know if I can cook the breaded fish in the oven or whether it needs to be fried! I reckon to be safe I will have to fry it.
I was lucky with the bus back, it being Saturday, and although I had to let two depart without me as there were no seats it was third time lucky. The Chinese seem to know the times of the buses and turn up at the right moment although quite how baffles me because the timetable on the stops only shows numbers for the first and last buses of the day. The rest is a load of cyrillics which I assume inform of the stops the various buses service. Me? I just know they come roughly every ten minutes except when I am in a hurry.
The water is still on (or it was when I started this because I did the dishes) and I just checked the forecast for the umpteenth time. Guess what? Suddenly the -17 has been downgraded to -7C for a couple of nights, after which it nudges above freezing again. My scepticism may yet be rewarded. All that concerns me now is that the snowmelt may not entirely evaporate and overnight may turn to ice. I was narrowly missed by an avalanche which cascaded off the roof of the south entrance when I left this morning!
I discovered about 5kg of Pedigree dog biscuits that Pepsi never got to eat and so last night put them downstairs for Mum and kids. So far the repayment has been puddles of pee on the stairs and landings. Thanks Mum, can’t you teach your kids to go outside?
Friday, 22 January 2016
Friday 22nd January, 2016 1145
While I was sleeping more white stuff descended and hasn’t stopped as yet. Where cars have been it looks ok to take the bike. I will investigate after my shower and if safe, I may well take a trip to town. I don’t fancy a walk because my footwear will end up soaking.
Late last night Helen texted me to say that Saturday is cancelled. I had been wondering. The Education Bureau has decreed that children are prohibited from attending school until the 25th, effectively meaning they are now finished for this term. I wish I hadn’t bought the prizes yesterday now!
As I am sure many reading this do, I review hotels I have stayed in and restaurants I have eaten at on Trip Advisor. This is not in order to look good and you can’t sell the virtual “badges” they award you, but particularly for me here in China, it is a useful tool for me to use when selecting a place. I ignore the Chinese reviews because they expect different things from the establishments, so western opinions are of infinitely more value to me.
I endeavour to be as fair and balanced as possible and where a review is going to be less than complimentary I do my best to highlight anything good as well. The Orange hotel in Nanjing would have fared a lot better had their housekeeping been up to scratch but that failing earnt them a poor report from me. There are however drawbacks in reviewing places in a foreign country, especially when you are probably the only foreigner to have stayed somewhere in weeks even if your monicker isn‘t your full or real name.
My phone rang this morning. A girl with very limited English started speaking and asked me if I could speak Chinese. I said no and that if she was trying to sell me something perhaps she would like to terminate the call and try another number. Oh, this is the Orange hotel and you………….she struggled, so I helpfully completed the sentence with “wrote a poor review?”. Yes, she said.
Here we go, I thought.
To my surprise, instead of being berated, she then thanked me for my suggestions and said they were very helpful! Maybe after all they will put a bomb under housekeeping’s backside.
This place seems more of a ghost town than it did last spring festival for some reason. Not as bad as my first two years when apart from the guards I had the place entirely to myself. That said, the new flats weren’t built and there were far less teachers living on site. Richard is as far as I know staying in Changsha with his girlfriend for the duration (he left more than a fortnight ago) but Andrei and Juliette are staying here. They did say to me that they may go somewhere for a few days later but I occasionally hear noises from above so they are battened down against the blizzard. Their moped (the one purchased from Richard) hasn’t moved for some time (yesterday it was piled high with snow) so my guess is they decided it has been too cold of late to ride to town for the 0630 Tai Chi classes they have been participating in!
I really think I will give a trip to town a crack in a while. My concern is that while I am away some serious snow will fall, thus preventing me riding back. Lugging shopping uphill is not something I relish.
1600
Barring a couple of slippery patches on the way to and from south gate where I had to deploy the stabilisers (my legs), my trip to town was successful. I bought some things I had forgotten yesterday (new shower soap dish seeing as the cats hid the old one, for one) and the doings for macaroni cheese. Also a baguette which was delightfully crunchy yet soft inside which will do for my dinner tonight filled with bacon and cheese. Well not cheese really, it will be emmental. Leaving aside the weather, taking the bus is bliss now there are always seats but it rather irks me that during the best period to bus it the price is double. Ok it’s only 2y or 20p dearer but it all mounts up. At least I am saving because I don’t need to cheat……….
Kevin has tried to taunt me from Hong Kong by emailing a photo of his full English whilst confessing he is hotel-bound due to heavy rain and anyway he can’t walk far as he took brand new shoes this trip and they are killing him. How the other half live……..
Let us see what havoc the weather will wreak for tomorrow. The forecast is for cloud and sun but no snow. The Chinese love a good panic and I suspect the suspension of all schools is one such (Vivi has time off because of it and she intends to use it by staying in bed throughout) because far from being the horror story predicted it has instead been a slushy squib. If I can ride my bike up and down gradients then seriously, little is amiss.
While I was sleeping more white stuff descended and hasn’t stopped as yet. Where cars have been it looks ok to take the bike. I will investigate after my shower and if safe, I may well take a trip to town. I don’t fancy a walk because my footwear will end up soaking.
Late last night Helen texted me to say that Saturday is cancelled. I had been wondering. The Education Bureau has decreed that children are prohibited from attending school until the 25th, effectively meaning they are now finished for this term. I wish I hadn’t bought the prizes yesterday now!
As I am sure many reading this do, I review hotels I have stayed in and restaurants I have eaten at on Trip Advisor. This is not in order to look good and you can’t sell the virtual “badges” they award you, but particularly for me here in China, it is a useful tool for me to use when selecting a place. I ignore the Chinese reviews because they expect different things from the establishments, so western opinions are of infinitely more value to me.
I endeavour to be as fair and balanced as possible and where a review is going to be less than complimentary I do my best to highlight anything good as well. The Orange hotel in Nanjing would have fared a lot better had their housekeeping been up to scratch but that failing earnt them a poor report from me. There are however drawbacks in reviewing places in a foreign country, especially when you are probably the only foreigner to have stayed somewhere in weeks even if your monicker isn‘t your full or real name.
My phone rang this morning. A girl with very limited English started speaking and asked me if I could speak Chinese. I said no and that if she was trying to sell me something perhaps she would like to terminate the call and try another number. Oh, this is the Orange hotel and you………….she struggled, so I helpfully completed the sentence with “wrote a poor review?”. Yes, she said.
Here we go, I thought.
To my surprise, instead of being berated, she then thanked me for my suggestions and said they were very helpful! Maybe after all they will put a bomb under housekeeping’s backside.
This place seems more of a ghost town than it did last spring festival for some reason. Not as bad as my first two years when apart from the guards I had the place entirely to myself. That said, the new flats weren’t built and there were far less teachers living on site. Richard is as far as I know staying in Changsha with his girlfriend for the duration (he left more than a fortnight ago) but Andrei and Juliette are staying here. They did say to me that they may go somewhere for a few days later but I occasionally hear noises from above so they are battened down against the blizzard. Their moped (the one purchased from Richard) hasn’t moved for some time (yesterday it was piled high with snow) so my guess is they decided it has been too cold of late to ride to town for the 0630 Tai Chi classes they have been participating in!
I really think I will give a trip to town a crack in a while. My concern is that while I am away some serious snow will fall, thus preventing me riding back. Lugging shopping uphill is not something I relish.
1600
Barring a couple of slippery patches on the way to and from south gate where I had to deploy the stabilisers (my legs), my trip to town was successful. I bought some things I had forgotten yesterday (new shower soap dish seeing as the cats hid the old one, for one) and the doings for macaroni cheese. Also a baguette which was delightfully crunchy yet soft inside which will do for my dinner tonight filled with bacon and cheese. Well not cheese really, it will be emmental. Leaving aside the weather, taking the bus is bliss now there are always seats but it rather irks me that during the best period to bus it the price is double. Ok it’s only 2y or 20p dearer but it all mounts up. At least I am saving because I don’t need to cheat……….
Kevin has tried to taunt me from Hong Kong by emailing a photo of his full English whilst confessing he is hotel-bound due to heavy rain and anyway he can’t walk far as he took brand new shoes this trip and they are killing him. How the other half live……..
Let us see what havoc the weather will wreak for tomorrow. The forecast is for cloud and sun but no snow. The Chinese love a good panic and I suspect the suspension of all schools is one such (Vivi has time off because of it and she intends to use it by staying in bed throughout) because far from being the horror story predicted it has instead been a slushy squib. If I can ride my bike up and down gradients then seriously, little is amiss.
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Thursday 21st January, 2016 1400
I looked out of my window with trepidation this morning and was greeted by a vista of white. Thankfully though the roads themselves seemed to be more slush than anything else. I also received a text sent earlier by Kevin at 0948 to say he was hopeful seeing as he was actually in the departure lounge.
I then visited the school website (a hit and miss affair because sometimes it opens for me, other times not.) It’s something to do with the VPN but without using it Chrome won’t translate for me. I was successful and spotted a snowstorm warning for the next four days and temperatures more normally seen in Harbin.
They advised people to leave a tap trickling at home to stop pipes freezing, they are going to cut the water to the teaching areas for twenty hours a day and we have been told to look after our balcony taps. Well mine is connected to the washing machine but it won’t freeze. Unlike the Chinese who think it’s completely normal to sit in your home with long johns and a down jacket on with your feet in a warming box, my a/c is on and some must surely transfer through the sliding windows. Not only that, I am leaving a 1Kw bar heater on throughout in there anyway.
I have moved the new little blow heater out of the spare bedroom now it’s unoccupied and put it in the cattery. That also is on all the time and keeps them relatively comfortable. Aside from my first winter here I have been pretty lucky in that the winters have been mild in comparison, so I reckon we are due a bit of the cold stuff.
After I finished showering I was dismayed to observe it had started snowing again but I simply had to get to town just in case the dire warnings on the website turn out not to be exaggerated. I did ride slowly to south gate and took a bus. The snow at present consists of very small flakes, the sort that if you are riding a bike sting your eyes when they hit, and it was still snowing in town. I wasn’t looking forward to shopping - or rather completing it - because in the end I spent 376y.
Ok, in there were 4 bottles of wine, 4 big cans of Guinness, a litre and a half of jing jo plus food, the makings for enchiladas and a micromeal. Oh, and they have new cheese - Edam and Gouda - no bloody cheddar! I didn’t dare buy any more simply because of the weight. Oh and I also bought four prizes for Saturday’s testing of kids for Helen, just little journal books but good quality. Of course if the doomsayers are correct I may not get there at all. Alcohol apart, I think I can last a week or more in the event I am snowed in.
Back at south gate carrying the bags to the bike I half expected my right shoulder to dislocate and my left to suffer metal fatigue. I got back though and am nice and warm although this flat has never been tested at minus seventeen before. To date I have never needed the aircon on in the bedroom when I go to bed, that may change!
I looked out of my window with trepidation this morning and was greeted by a vista of white. Thankfully though the roads themselves seemed to be more slush than anything else. I also received a text sent earlier by Kevin at 0948 to say he was hopeful seeing as he was actually in the departure lounge.
I then visited the school website (a hit and miss affair because sometimes it opens for me, other times not.) It’s something to do with the VPN but without using it Chrome won’t translate for me. I was successful and spotted a snowstorm warning for the next four days and temperatures more normally seen in Harbin.
They advised people to leave a tap trickling at home to stop pipes freezing, they are going to cut the water to the teaching areas for twenty hours a day and we have been told to look after our balcony taps. Well mine is connected to the washing machine but it won’t freeze. Unlike the Chinese who think it’s completely normal to sit in your home with long johns and a down jacket on with your feet in a warming box, my a/c is on and some must surely transfer through the sliding windows. Not only that, I am leaving a 1Kw bar heater on throughout in there anyway.
I have moved the new little blow heater out of the spare bedroom now it’s unoccupied and put it in the cattery. That also is on all the time and keeps them relatively comfortable. Aside from my first winter here I have been pretty lucky in that the winters have been mild in comparison, so I reckon we are due a bit of the cold stuff.
After I finished showering I was dismayed to observe it had started snowing again but I simply had to get to town just in case the dire warnings on the website turn out not to be exaggerated. I did ride slowly to south gate and took a bus. The snow at present consists of very small flakes, the sort that if you are riding a bike sting your eyes when they hit, and it was still snowing in town. I wasn’t looking forward to shopping - or rather completing it - because in the end I spent 376y.
Ok, in there were 4 bottles of wine, 4 big cans of Guinness, a litre and a half of jing jo plus food, the makings for enchiladas and a micromeal. Oh, and they have new cheese - Edam and Gouda - no bloody cheddar! I didn’t dare buy any more simply because of the weight. Oh and I also bought four prizes for Saturday’s testing of kids for Helen, just little journal books but good quality. Of course if the doomsayers are correct I may not get there at all. Alcohol apart, I think I can last a week or more in the event I am snowed in.
Back at south gate carrying the bags to the bike I half expected my right shoulder to dislocate and my left to suffer metal fatigue. I got back though and am nice and warm although this flat has never been tested at minus seventeen before. To date I have never needed the aircon on in the bedroom when I go to bed, that may change!
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Wednesday 20th January, 2016 1500
Well that’s the adventures over for now.
When I woke up this morning I was so weary I decided to eschew breakfast and just bask in the lovely soft bed. Until that was, I turned my phone on and a message arrived from Alice.
She was worried that a 59 year old man who has travelled the world extensively would be completely unable to catch his train from Wuhu to Chizhou. She would come to the hotel to help me and while she was at it, she would partake of the breakfast Anna wasn’t there to have. Anna of course has emulated Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man, gone home to die with her family and is still very much alive…….
Shit. Now I had to get up!
So I did, Alice came and we went for breakfast. Well, I had two yoghurts and a croissant but Alice had a Chinglish breakfast. It was my fault for not taking her down early enough so that more items were on offer - the later you are the more things they run out of and if you really want them you have to ask. I would have asked for Alice but she seemed happy with boiled rather than fried eggs although she wasn’t too keen on the dumplings for some reason. I should have asked why.
Afterwards we sat in the room, me reading the news websites and Alice laughing out loud at some funny Chinese programme on TV. Each time she laughed she glanced across at me, which was pointless as I had no idea what was going on on-screen. Then it was time to leave. The hotel organised a taxi and Christ it was windy and freezing when we went outside! Alice went off to take a bus home whilst I took refuge in the station and smoked an illicit cigar in the toilets before the train boarded.
Standing on the platform waiting for the train was enough to chill your very bones but there wasn’t long to wait and the carriages are gloriously heated. I also noted people with standing only tickets having to vacate the seats they had squatted in when people with tickets got on and later I saw a first. A guard came around checking tickets and those who didn’t have a first class entitlement were ordered out of the carriage. Normally people snaffle empty seats and nothing is said, however I am not being snobbish (at least I don’t think I am!) when I say that when I pay a lot extra for first class travel I don’t expect the scruffs to be loitering in the aisle by my seat or indeed paying a sixth of what I did and still getting the same seat.
As for here, it is also cold and snow is forecast for tonight. I can do without it settling as tomorrow I really have to go to town for emergency wine, beer, jing jo and food rations. Kevin is also worrying because he is now here in the Dong Rong hotel, his flight home is in the morning and he is concerned about driving to the airport.
Maybe it won’t materialise.
Well that’s the adventures over for now.
When I woke up this morning I was so weary I decided to eschew breakfast and just bask in the lovely soft bed. Until that was, I turned my phone on and a message arrived from Alice.
She was worried that a 59 year old man who has travelled the world extensively would be completely unable to catch his train from Wuhu to Chizhou. She would come to the hotel to help me and while she was at it, she would partake of the breakfast Anna wasn’t there to have. Anna of course has emulated Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man, gone home to die with her family and is still very much alive…….
Shit. Now I had to get up!
So I did, Alice came and we went for breakfast. Well, I had two yoghurts and a croissant but Alice had a Chinglish breakfast. It was my fault for not taking her down early enough so that more items were on offer - the later you are the more things they run out of and if you really want them you have to ask. I would have asked for Alice but she seemed happy with boiled rather than fried eggs although she wasn’t too keen on the dumplings for some reason. I should have asked why.
Afterwards we sat in the room, me reading the news websites and Alice laughing out loud at some funny Chinese programme on TV. Each time she laughed she glanced across at me, which was pointless as I had no idea what was going on on-screen. Then it was time to leave. The hotel organised a taxi and Christ it was windy and freezing when we went outside! Alice went off to take a bus home whilst I took refuge in the station and smoked an illicit cigar in the toilets before the train boarded.
Standing on the platform waiting for the train was enough to chill your very bones but there wasn’t long to wait and the carriages are gloriously heated. I also noted people with standing only tickets having to vacate the seats they had squatted in when people with tickets got on and later I saw a first. A guard came around checking tickets and those who didn’t have a first class entitlement were ordered out of the carriage. Normally people snaffle empty seats and nothing is said, however I am not being snobbish (at least I don’t think I am!) when I say that when I pay a lot extra for first class travel I don’t expect the scruffs to be loitering in the aisle by my seat or indeed paying a sixth of what I did and still getting the same seat.
As for here, it is also cold and snow is forecast for tonight. I can do without it settling as tomorrow I really have to go to town for emergency wine, beer, jing jo and food rations. Kevin is also worrying because he is now here in the Dong Rong hotel, his flight home is in the morning and he is concerned about driving to the airport.
Maybe it won’t materialise.
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
Tuesday 19th January, 2016 1400
After posting the last entry things took a downward turn. Anna started being sick after she took a shower when we were in the room. I put it down to overindulgence of the snacks or red wine, for she took the bathroom bin to the side of the bed and turned in. I was tired myself and so did likewise soon after.
As much as I didn’t want to get up for breakfast I felt compelled, knowing instructions had supposedly been left for the chef for my breakfast. I rose and showered, made us both a cup of Twinings and then Anna went in the bathroom, emerging only when her tea was stone cold. Then she informed me it felt as if something was lodged in her throat, nothing she had complained of last night. If true, I have no idea what it is because the fried fish snacks were akin to fish fingers and were boneless.
She said she didn’t feel like breakfast. By now I did, so I left her in the room and went down. Only chicken sausages on display and no French toast after all that the night before. I did however ask regarding pork bangers, they had them and the cook fried some for me along with my eggs. I am henceforth never going to order eggs sunny side up in China. Aside from the lady in the Hefei Hilton who amazingly cooks fried eggs with chopsticks, the cooks here seem to think I like my eggs with the top half consisting of snot. I wonder if they can do them “over-easy”? And tomorrow I will ask for French toast.
Whilst waiting for my breakfast to be cooked I put a slice of bread into the toaster, a conveyor belt affair that in theory spits out golden slices at the bottom eventually. When I collected my plate and added tomato and mushrooms, I went to get my toast. Nothing there. Assuming someone had pinched it, I put another slice in and turned up the heat. I stayed there to ensure it never fell into enemy hands and was rewarded with the perfect slice.
Back at the table I was eating away watching a Chinese woman making some for herself whilst smoke spiralled upwards from the machine. I alerted a waitress to the “fire” which I think was caused by my first piece of bread falling off the belt at the back and was now being incinerated. Sated, I grabbed a couple of yoghurts to take to Anna in the room because it is highly unusual for her not to eat. In my absence she had decided she needed to go to hospital, so with Alice on her way I said they could go together while I grabbed an hour’s sleep. They left, I laid down and minutes later they returned. Anna had forgotten her ID. She also became rather melodramatic and informed me that she wanted to go to Hefei today instead of tomorrow because she didn’t want to die far away from her hometown and she wanted to die in front of her family. My comment that she could just as easily die in Chizhou and if she felt that way she could never ever leave Hefei again to guarantee this had no effect.
They left for the hospital and have only just arrived after two hours so God knows where it is. She’ll be back, if only to collect her luggage. Hopefully by then she will have changed her mind. #
2330
Well this is bizarre.
I met with Alice and Anna in town eventually where we had dinner in Pizza Hut. Certainly the food is crap but it is at least western and in fact due to the fact they never had the bases for a mega pizza we were given two smaller ones for the same price, meaning Alice got a whole one to take home for her family and Anna got part of one to take on the train home.
Yes, Anna has taken a powder. She wasted over five hours today of her and Alice’s time going to the hospital only to be diagnosed with stuff all besides being nervous. Her throat blockage was probably caused by her sticking her fingers or the toothbrush down it last night but she has vowed to get a second opinion in Hefei tomorrow. Perhaps they will commit her to a mental institution if they have any sense. She was sufficiently well though to come and partake of the free drinks and snacks in the executive lounge before buggering off and leaving me alone.
Alice stayed for a bit though and I swear had it not been for her overbearing parents she would have stayed the night (there is a free breakfast going begging tomorrow morning) but she did stay for a bit of the Philippino cabaret. Not the same couple from last year as it turned out but equally as good and I had a great evening of 60s, 70s and 80s music.
So as I type I am alone in my executive room. I don’t have any disturbances or anyone else to worry about having a shower in the morning. My only concern is getting myself cleaned up and having breakfast before leaving to catch my train.
Certainly having female company is desirable at times but really this marriage thing where you are stuck with someone or even having a girlfriend is beyond me. The truth is I would love to have Joan or Joanna with me because they would argue with me but still stay and not leave over a non-existent terminal illness, Anna will never be invited anywhere again as much as I hold her dear in my heart.
I know as long as I live I will never understand women but the Chinese flavour are particularly unfathomable.
After posting the last entry things took a downward turn. Anna started being sick after she took a shower when we were in the room. I put it down to overindulgence of the snacks or red wine, for she took the bathroom bin to the side of the bed and turned in. I was tired myself and so did likewise soon after.
As much as I didn’t want to get up for breakfast I felt compelled, knowing instructions had supposedly been left for the chef for my breakfast. I rose and showered, made us both a cup of Twinings and then Anna went in the bathroom, emerging only when her tea was stone cold. Then she informed me it felt as if something was lodged in her throat, nothing she had complained of last night. If true, I have no idea what it is because the fried fish snacks were akin to fish fingers and were boneless.
She said she didn’t feel like breakfast. By now I did, so I left her in the room and went down. Only chicken sausages on display and no French toast after all that the night before. I did however ask regarding pork bangers, they had them and the cook fried some for me along with my eggs. I am henceforth never going to order eggs sunny side up in China. Aside from the lady in the Hefei Hilton who amazingly cooks fried eggs with chopsticks, the cooks here seem to think I like my eggs with the top half consisting of snot. I wonder if they can do them “over-easy”? And tomorrow I will ask for French toast.
Whilst waiting for my breakfast to be cooked I put a slice of bread into the toaster, a conveyor belt affair that in theory spits out golden slices at the bottom eventually. When I collected my plate and added tomato and mushrooms, I went to get my toast. Nothing there. Assuming someone had pinched it, I put another slice in and turned up the heat. I stayed there to ensure it never fell into enemy hands and was rewarded with the perfect slice.
Back at the table I was eating away watching a Chinese woman making some for herself whilst smoke spiralled upwards from the machine. I alerted a waitress to the “fire” which I think was caused by my first piece of bread falling off the belt at the back and was now being incinerated. Sated, I grabbed a couple of yoghurts to take to Anna in the room because it is highly unusual for her not to eat. In my absence she had decided she needed to go to hospital, so with Alice on her way I said they could go together while I grabbed an hour’s sleep. They left, I laid down and minutes later they returned. Anna had forgotten her ID. She also became rather melodramatic and informed me that she wanted to go to Hefei today instead of tomorrow because she didn’t want to die far away from her hometown and she wanted to die in front of her family. My comment that she could just as easily die in Chizhou and if she felt that way she could never ever leave Hefei again to guarantee this had no effect.
They left for the hospital and have only just arrived after two hours so God knows where it is. She’ll be back, if only to collect her luggage. Hopefully by then she will have changed her mind. #
2330
Well this is bizarre.
I met with Alice and Anna in town eventually where we had dinner in Pizza Hut. Certainly the food is crap but it is at least western and in fact due to the fact they never had the bases for a mega pizza we were given two smaller ones for the same price, meaning Alice got a whole one to take home for her family and Anna got part of one to take on the train home.
Yes, Anna has taken a powder. She wasted over five hours today of her and Alice’s time going to the hospital only to be diagnosed with stuff all besides being nervous. Her throat blockage was probably caused by her sticking her fingers or the toothbrush down it last night but she has vowed to get a second opinion in Hefei tomorrow. Perhaps they will commit her to a mental institution if they have any sense. She was sufficiently well though to come and partake of the free drinks and snacks in the executive lounge before buggering off and leaving me alone.
Alice stayed for a bit though and I swear had it not been for her overbearing parents she would have stayed the night (there is a free breakfast going begging tomorrow morning) but she did stay for a bit of the Philippino cabaret. Not the same couple from last year as it turned out but equally as good and I had a great evening of 60s, 70s and 80s music.
So as I type I am alone in my executive room. I don’t have any disturbances or anyone else to worry about having a shower in the morning. My only concern is getting myself cleaned up and having breakfast before leaving to catch my train.
Certainly having female company is desirable at times but really this marriage thing where you are stuck with someone or even having a girlfriend is beyond me. The truth is I would love to have Joan or Joanna with me because they would argue with me but still stay and not leave over a non-existent terminal illness, Anna will never be invited anywhere again as much as I hold her dear in my heart.
I know as long as I live I will never understand women but the Chinese flavour are particularly unfathomable.
Monday, 18 January 2016
Monday 18th January, 2016 2016
I woke up regretting my decision to depart so soon for Wuhu but I didn’t want to disappoint my ex student, nor did I want to delay her return home longer than I already had.
Despite being knackered last night I just didn’t feel tired later on, so in the end I got seven hours in bed which were painfully not enough. The train to Wuhu is now, thanks to the new bullet jobs, only 50 minutes so unless you are Chinese (they nod off in seconds on the top of a razor blade) then there is no opportunity for a kip en route.
We arrived too early to check in (although I think we probably could have) so took a bus so Alice could have some lunch. Anna had eaten and I don’t normally have breakfast unless it is English, sadly the place never did beer but I have to say had I been hungry there were some Chinese dishes that may have tempted me.
Afterwards we checked in and yes, we have a Yangtse river view but I must be a Jonah because the weather (although not raining as last time) means reduced visibility. Being a Doubletree the room is of course terrific and after taking advantage of the executive lounge for free drinks and snacks in the afternoon I packed the girls off so Alice could show Anna some of her hometown - I wanted a nap. I was also disappointed at not remembering the executive lounge only offers soft drinks in the afternoon!
I managed to close my eyes for an hour and of course had to be up for six when the free booze and food was available. I don’t normally bother with the snacks, preferring to recoup the extra cost of the executive room via a bottle of gin or whatever but tonight I suggested to Anna that we shall go Chinese. They seem to pay extra for executive so the whole family can eat included in the price. Not my style but tonight it was. Hardly gourmet but to be fair, I filled up and enjoyed it.
As a foreigner I am used to special attention and bugger me did I get it here so far. Sue on the desk (whose hometown is Chizhou as it happens) came and asked if there was anything I would like the chef to cook for breakfast. Good job I want to get up for breakfast - in fact that’s why I came to this hotel! - so I simply asked if the sausages could be pork instead of beef or chicken and perhaps some French toast. They have no maple syrup, I could have brought my own but I am sure they have honey and anyway I brought my own HP sauce.
So we ate in the executive lounge. Chicken mostly but with spuds and fried fish which may as well have been advertised as fish fingers. Oh how I wish I could buy fish fingers here! Along of course with pork pies and every other thing I can’t.
Anyway, aside from chatting to a Chinese woman with two very European kids (son and daughter) who is married to a German national, later we got chatting to two students who have an executive SUITE! They have a card which gives them an enormous discount, one I have no chance of getting. We have tentatively agreed to meet in the free lounge tomorrow.
I drank gin and tonic and to be fair, they never had gin on display and so I asked. Sue disappeared and came back with a tumbler half full of gin. Lovely. Well with two hours of complimentary (in reality charged for) drinks, then they must expect people like me to take advantage.
I did. To be fair to myself I only had three drinks in two hours. Admittedly they were large tumblers and the gin provided in the first tumbler was presumably what they thought would be enough for a normal person to consume in the time allotted. There was no demur when I asked for a refill but when I requested another at 1945 the boss of the lounge couldn’t resist blurting out “ANOTHER one???” Considering the two they had given me constituted about half a bottle I can perhaps understand her incredulity but then she has no idea what sailors and ex sailors are like, far less me. Yes please. I booked executive not for the free snacks but for the drinks and I am better at drinking than eating. She saw the funny side as she said “well you seem all right” to which I said she had no idea. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I would drink a bottle of wine later when I was typing this blog entry - ok I have two glasses left in order to finish the bottle but I will be asleep by midnight. In fact it will probably be me waking Anna in the morning rather than the other way round. Seriously, pay extra for free drinks and then be shy rather than profligate? I pay the money, drink as much as I can (a lot) and even get up in time for breakfast.
Before that Anna and I (legs permitting) will see some of Wuhu with Alice. The plan is to go to Pizza Hut (only western restaurant I can find online for Wuhu) for an early dinner at about four, get back for six for the free drinks and then we all go down to the main restaurant (where until recently the executive lounge was and complimentary drinks were served but now they have finished building the lounge on the 25th floor) for the cabaret.
Regular readers may recall last year’s Qing Ming when I cast aside my crutches and travelled to this very same hotel and it pissed with rain the entire time? You may also recall the Philippino couple who sang here? Unless the hotel staff are bullshitting me, the duo are still here although this being me, tonight had to be their night off. Tomorrow we will go after the free drinks finish - I really hope it is them. I can remember the girl’s name (Janet) but unless I check back in my blog I can’t for the life of me recall his!
I woke up regretting my decision to depart so soon for Wuhu but I didn’t want to disappoint my ex student, nor did I want to delay her return home longer than I already had.
Despite being knackered last night I just didn’t feel tired later on, so in the end I got seven hours in bed which were painfully not enough. The train to Wuhu is now, thanks to the new bullet jobs, only 50 minutes so unless you are Chinese (they nod off in seconds on the top of a razor blade) then there is no opportunity for a kip en route.
We arrived too early to check in (although I think we probably could have) so took a bus so Alice could have some lunch. Anna had eaten and I don’t normally have breakfast unless it is English, sadly the place never did beer but I have to say had I been hungry there were some Chinese dishes that may have tempted me.
Afterwards we checked in and yes, we have a Yangtse river view but I must be a Jonah because the weather (although not raining as last time) means reduced visibility. Being a Doubletree the room is of course terrific and after taking advantage of the executive lounge for free drinks and snacks in the afternoon I packed the girls off so Alice could show Anna some of her hometown - I wanted a nap. I was also disappointed at not remembering the executive lounge only offers soft drinks in the afternoon!
I managed to close my eyes for an hour and of course had to be up for six when the free booze and food was available. I don’t normally bother with the snacks, preferring to recoup the extra cost of the executive room via a bottle of gin or whatever but tonight I suggested to Anna that we shall go Chinese. They seem to pay extra for executive so the whole family can eat included in the price. Not my style but tonight it was. Hardly gourmet but to be fair, I filled up and enjoyed it.
As a foreigner I am used to special attention and bugger me did I get it here so far. Sue on the desk (whose hometown is Chizhou as it happens) came and asked if there was anything I would like the chef to cook for breakfast. Good job I want to get up for breakfast - in fact that’s why I came to this hotel! - so I simply asked if the sausages could be pork instead of beef or chicken and perhaps some French toast. They have no maple syrup, I could have brought my own but I am sure they have honey and anyway I brought my own HP sauce.
So we ate in the executive lounge. Chicken mostly but with spuds and fried fish which may as well have been advertised as fish fingers. Oh how I wish I could buy fish fingers here! Along of course with pork pies and every other thing I can’t.
Anyway, aside from chatting to a Chinese woman with two very European kids (son and daughter) who is married to a German national, later we got chatting to two students who have an executive SUITE! They have a card which gives them an enormous discount, one I have no chance of getting. We have tentatively agreed to meet in the free lounge tomorrow.
I drank gin and tonic and to be fair, they never had gin on display and so I asked. Sue disappeared and came back with a tumbler half full of gin. Lovely. Well with two hours of complimentary (in reality charged for) drinks, then they must expect people like me to take advantage.
I did. To be fair to myself I only had three drinks in two hours. Admittedly they were large tumblers and the gin provided in the first tumbler was presumably what they thought would be enough for a normal person to consume in the time allotted. There was no demur when I asked for a refill but when I requested another at 1945 the boss of the lounge couldn’t resist blurting out “ANOTHER one???” Considering the two they had given me constituted about half a bottle I can perhaps understand her incredulity but then she has no idea what sailors and ex sailors are like, far less me. Yes please. I booked executive not for the free snacks but for the drinks and I am better at drinking than eating. She saw the funny side as she said “well you seem all right” to which I said she had no idea. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I would drink a bottle of wine later when I was typing this blog entry - ok I have two glasses left in order to finish the bottle but I will be asleep by midnight. In fact it will probably be me waking Anna in the morning rather than the other way round. Seriously, pay extra for free drinks and then be shy rather than profligate? I pay the money, drink as much as I can (a lot) and even get up in time for breakfast.
Before that Anna and I (legs permitting) will see some of Wuhu with Alice. The plan is to go to Pizza Hut (only western restaurant I can find online for Wuhu) for an early dinner at about four, get back for six for the free drinks and then we all go down to the main restaurant (where until recently the executive lounge was and complimentary drinks were served but now they have finished building the lounge on the 25th floor) for the cabaret.
Regular readers may recall last year’s Qing Ming when I cast aside my crutches and travelled to this very same hotel and it pissed with rain the entire time? You may also recall the Philippino couple who sang here? Unless the hotel staff are bullshitting me, the duo are still here although this being me, tonight had to be their night off. Tomorrow we will go after the free drinks finish - I really hope it is them. I can remember the girl’s name (Janet) but unless I check back in my blog I can’t for the life of me recall his!
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Sunday 17th January, 2016 1900
So Friday we went to Xuanwu lake. Joan has GPS on her phone and as it happens that has been the cause of many a quarrel during the past few days. She can’t read a map and I don’t know how to work her phone.
Anyway, she looked up the Metro as to where we had to go and we bought our tickets but she told me we had to go to Nanjing station. That didn’t ring any bells and I was certain the station Joanna took us to was a small one. Once we got to what used to be Nanjing’s main station I knew for sure it wasn’t where we wanted to be and when we asked a policeman and he told us to take a bus so many stops, I knew we were in trouble. We never took a bus the last time.
We found the lake, the north gate. We wanted the south gate and it’s a big lake. Where everything happens is of course the south gate and is also where the big walled entrance is. I have no idea how my legs held up (admittedly I stopped and sat down frequently) but eventually we made it. Because it was cold it wasn’t as vibrant as in summer, although there was some sort of a running race taking place on the pathways. During one of my rests, whilst we sat on a bench a jogger passed by with music playing in his lugholes and with perfect timing, when his arse was level with me, he let out an earsplitting fart. Charming.
After killing my legs we took the subway I remembered from my previous visit, having opted to eat at Seleccion Espanol for something different. Again the GPS caused a rift because I walked one way, Joan assumed I knew where I was headed (I didn’t) and we ended up having to retrace our steps.
We did however find the restaurant, small as it is. Upstairs was fully booked by a large party so we were relegated to the downstairs bar area which is cosy enough and to start with we were the only ones down there. Joan tasted her first ever sangria and I took advantage of the BOGOF on the house red - we were also given a complimentary shot at the death. foodwise we plumped for the Iberian platter of cured hams and sausages, a little salad and olives plus limitless melba toasts and dried Spanish cheese. When the platter came out I worried it wouldn’t be enough because it didn’t look much but it was surprisingly filling and very, very nice. One of the owners (a young Spanish girl whose boyfriend does the cooking out back) did most of our serving but her employee, a young Zambian woman, poured a more generous glass of red for me for my free one! An enjoyable evening and we even managed to take a bus from there to Confucius temple, which was where I wanted to show Joan all the boats lit up. Sadly the vibrant outdoor market I remembered was virtually non-existent but it was well worth a look.
Yesterday I let Joan choose the attraction to visit. She opted for Yu Hua Tai gardens. We stopped for a breakfast of baozi dumplings and then I needed a cashpoint. Then insanity gripped me. We could have taken a bus to our destination but I said I would have a go at walking. The buses are 2y regardless of the number of stops and it certainly seems as if the underground is 2y for at least six stations so quite why I took leave of my senses is beyond me.
With aching legs and soles that felt like rare rump steaks, we finally got to within striking distance of where we wanted to be. Then the GPS did its worst and we walked for ages parallel to the road we wanted and there was a railway track in between. To walk, we had to go back again and then climb huge stairs to cross the tracks. I was all in. I wished I had taken a bus because in desperation I hailed a taxi.
No way could I walk around those gardens by then, so on spying some electric buses I got Joan to ask how much for a tour. Twenty yuan each but we had to wait for more people to fill the bus. Joan went off exploring while I waited, ready to send a text once more customers arrived. In the cold they never materialised and you may have guessed, I ended up paying 150y for the bus to ourselves. Joan was quite happy to spend an hour and a half traipsing around while I waited but I would have seen nothing and anyway there was nowhere to sit. It wasn’t worth the money but at least we can say we saw the gardens.
Then it was bus time. Do or die to get some cheddar at WalMart. I ended up buying some biscuits, two tins of peas and a jar of pickled gherkins. Cheese? No better than RT Mart here - all they had was emmental! We were later told we could have bought any cheese we wanted near the Olympic centre but of course we never knew that.
Then it was time for dinner and after all that walking I was famished. I had harboured thoughts of returning to Jimmy’s for our last night but changed my mind. Instead we went to Finnegan’s Wake, the nationality of which is glaringly obvious. I wanted a Guinness. In fact I had three to Joan’s two cocktails. She had fish and chips, I had an all day breakfast and couldn’t believe how much I managed to put down.
When we returned to the hotel the first taxi refused to take us and the second took us to the wrong end of the street (which is one way), meaning I had to walk yet again only this time carrying a carrier bag of shopping. I was not happy. Matters became worse when I wandered off to see if I could buy some jing jo and Joan went the other way to do likewise but without telling me. I failed to find any and when I got back to the hotel she was nowhere to be seen. Assuming she was annoyed with me I thought perhaps she would be waiting by the lift but she wasn’t. Ok, maybe she had asked for another key from reception and was waiting in the room. No. as I got into the room I had a text but before I could answer it she rang. Where was I? In the room. That made her a little irate and then she sent me a text to say she couldn’t use the lift without a key. I responded by telling her to get reception to send her up, which she did.
Not the best of endings to a rather busy day and a hitherto extremely pleasant evening in the bar!
And so we bade farewell to a hotel which would be well advised to employ someone to oversee housekeeping who actually knows what should be done. We trundled with our cases for Joan to have baozi again (she likes the soup inside them and they aren’t bad - cheap too) then I had a hot dog sausage roll and coffee in the bakery. And then it was a parting of the ways as she took a train one way and I took one the other. She arrived home minutes ago.
I thought I might nap for an hour on the train (first class seats recline) but Anna plagued me with messages. She thought she had let a cat escape (Zorro was on top of the wardrobe) and half the electrics had blown. All I needed. Everything I suggested failed so it had to wait until I got home, whereupon the problem became apparent. Mum’s pups have been living downstairs and I think they dragged my extension out from shelter so it got rained on, filled with water and blew the breaker.
All is normal now except I can’t access the internet through my wifi and I am damned if I know why not. I am currently connected via Andrei and Juliette’s. And of course in the morning I am going to Wuhu with Anna and Alice. No way will I be leaving the hotel tomorrow but if my legs recover sufficiently I may join them sightseeing the day after.
So Friday we went to Xuanwu lake. Joan has GPS on her phone and as it happens that has been the cause of many a quarrel during the past few days. She can’t read a map and I don’t know how to work her phone.
Anyway, she looked up the Metro as to where we had to go and we bought our tickets but she told me we had to go to Nanjing station. That didn’t ring any bells and I was certain the station Joanna took us to was a small one. Once we got to what used to be Nanjing’s main station I knew for sure it wasn’t where we wanted to be and when we asked a policeman and he told us to take a bus so many stops, I knew we were in trouble. We never took a bus the last time.
We found the lake, the north gate. We wanted the south gate and it’s a big lake. Where everything happens is of course the south gate and is also where the big walled entrance is. I have no idea how my legs held up (admittedly I stopped and sat down frequently) but eventually we made it. Because it was cold it wasn’t as vibrant as in summer, although there was some sort of a running race taking place on the pathways. During one of my rests, whilst we sat on a bench a jogger passed by with music playing in his lugholes and with perfect timing, when his arse was level with me, he let out an earsplitting fart. Charming.
After killing my legs we took the subway I remembered from my previous visit, having opted to eat at Seleccion Espanol for something different. Again the GPS caused a rift because I walked one way, Joan assumed I knew where I was headed (I didn’t) and we ended up having to retrace our steps.
We did however find the restaurant, small as it is. Upstairs was fully booked by a large party so we were relegated to the downstairs bar area which is cosy enough and to start with we were the only ones down there. Joan tasted her first ever sangria and I took advantage of the BOGOF on the house red - we were also given a complimentary shot at the death. foodwise we plumped for the Iberian platter of cured hams and sausages, a little salad and olives plus limitless melba toasts and dried Spanish cheese. When the platter came out I worried it wouldn’t be enough because it didn’t look much but it was surprisingly filling and very, very nice. One of the owners (a young Spanish girl whose boyfriend does the cooking out back) did most of our serving but her employee, a young Zambian woman, poured a more generous glass of red for me for my free one! An enjoyable evening and we even managed to take a bus from there to Confucius temple, which was where I wanted to show Joan all the boats lit up. Sadly the vibrant outdoor market I remembered was virtually non-existent but it was well worth a look.
Yesterday I let Joan choose the attraction to visit. She opted for Yu Hua Tai gardens. We stopped for a breakfast of baozi dumplings and then I needed a cashpoint. Then insanity gripped me. We could have taken a bus to our destination but I said I would have a go at walking. The buses are 2y regardless of the number of stops and it certainly seems as if the underground is 2y for at least six stations so quite why I took leave of my senses is beyond me.
With aching legs and soles that felt like rare rump steaks, we finally got to within striking distance of where we wanted to be. Then the GPS did its worst and we walked for ages parallel to the road we wanted and there was a railway track in between. To walk, we had to go back again and then climb huge stairs to cross the tracks. I was all in. I wished I had taken a bus because in desperation I hailed a taxi.
No way could I walk around those gardens by then, so on spying some electric buses I got Joan to ask how much for a tour. Twenty yuan each but we had to wait for more people to fill the bus. Joan went off exploring while I waited, ready to send a text once more customers arrived. In the cold they never materialised and you may have guessed, I ended up paying 150y for the bus to ourselves. Joan was quite happy to spend an hour and a half traipsing around while I waited but I would have seen nothing and anyway there was nowhere to sit. It wasn’t worth the money but at least we can say we saw the gardens.
Then it was bus time. Do or die to get some cheddar at WalMart. I ended up buying some biscuits, two tins of peas and a jar of pickled gherkins. Cheese? No better than RT Mart here - all they had was emmental! We were later told we could have bought any cheese we wanted near the Olympic centre but of course we never knew that.
Then it was time for dinner and after all that walking I was famished. I had harboured thoughts of returning to Jimmy’s for our last night but changed my mind. Instead we went to Finnegan’s Wake, the nationality of which is glaringly obvious. I wanted a Guinness. In fact I had three to Joan’s two cocktails. She had fish and chips, I had an all day breakfast and couldn’t believe how much I managed to put down.
When we returned to the hotel the first taxi refused to take us and the second took us to the wrong end of the street (which is one way), meaning I had to walk yet again only this time carrying a carrier bag of shopping. I was not happy. Matters became worse when I wandered off to see if I could buy some jing jo and Joan went the other way to do likewise but without telling me. I failed to find any and when I got back to the hotel she was nowhere to be seen. Assuming she was annoyed with me I thought perhaps she would be waiting by the lift but she wasn’t. Ok, maybe she had asked for another key from reception and was waiting in the room. No. as I got into the room I had a text but before I could answer it she rang. Where was I? In the room. That made her a little irate and then she sent me a text to say she couldn’t use the lift without a key. I responded by telling her to get reception to send her up, which she did.
Not the best of endings to a rather busy day and a hitherto extremely pleasant evening in the bar!
And so we bade farewell to a hotel which would be well advised to employ someone to oversee housekeeping who actually knows what should be done. We trundled with our cases for Joan to have baozi again (she likes the soup inside them and they aren’t bad - cheap too) then I had a hot dog sausage roll and coffee in the bakery. And then it was a parting of the ways as she took a train one way and I took one the other. She arrived home minutes ago.
I thought I might nap for an hour on the train (first class seats recline) but Anna plagued me with messages. She thought she had let a cat escape (Zorro was on top of the wardrobe) and half the electrics had blown. All I needed. Everything I suggested failed so it had to wait until I got home, whereupon the problem became apparent. Mum’s pups have been living downstairs and I think they dragged my extension out from shelter so it got rained on, filled with water and blew the breaker.
All is normal now except I can’t access the internet through my wifi and I am damned if I know why not. I am currently connected via Andrei and Juliette’s. And of course in the morning I am going to Wuhu with Anna and Alice. No way will I be leaving the hotel tomorrow but if my legs recover sufficiently I may join them sightseeing the day after.
