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!