Friday 3rd February, 2017                 0200

Haha! By the time I actually moved myself to go in search of dinner it was all but dark. Too late for me to consider a two hour round trip to the city centre so I decided I would go and see if the restaurant on Google maps listed as being a spring roll place was open now. Don’t ask me why, I simply have a hankering for spring rolls and not something I have encountered more than a handful of times in the past six and a half years and even then not quite up to the large, oily, full of shrimps and bean sprouts ones I adore from decent Chinese takeaways in the UK.

Failing that, I had notions of taking the bus to KFC to see if they have the chicken curry thing after six. Spotting lights where the spring roll place allegedly is, I made my way towards the illuminations, only to discover it was a bakery. I will check again when everything is open again but somehow I think the information may be dated.

Instead of heading back to the BRT station, I decided to take a look inside the bakery. Please don’t get me wrong, the bakeries here have marvellous looking produce to match any in the world but that’s as far as it goes. The stuff usually tastes awful. I saw large croissants and so bought two for later. Before paying I spotted in the freezer what appeared to be frozen mini baguettes (advertised as French bread) and so bought one. The intention was to abandon going elsewhere for dinner, defrost the baguette and have it with cheese and pickle. Ok, not exactly gourmet fare but to be honest it would have been a treat I haven’t had since leaving Chizhou.

All ideas of eating out now banished, I came straight back home and allowed the baguette to defrost. Sometimes I amaze even myself with my idiocy. The words “Love Gift” on the plastic sleeve really ought to have given me a clue but to be honest I never noticed until it was too late. When I opened the wrapping I thought it odd to find it was already sliced in two lengthways and on separating the two halves, already “filled”. It didn’t look like butter, so I broke a piece off one end and tasted it.

Aaaaggghhh!

I have no idea what it was but it was sickly sweet. Destination: rubbish bag.

Now it became a case of sod it, at least you have two croissants and some fruit, stay home! And that’s precisely what happened. I should perhaps have put butter on the croissants but I must say they weren’t bad and at least now I know where I can get more should I wish.

On the walk back I noticed a couple more temporary evening stalls had opened just outside the entrances to our campus and the adjoining Lanzhou Normal University. Some have been open throughout the festive period flogging boxes, the contents I can only assume being milk. Not of interest to me but astonishingly the Chinese have a huge appetite for milk - even though the first cow I saw in six years was in Zhangye when we went to the coloured mountains. Funnily enough that was also where I saw my first sheep and horse in China. I think Alice said her parents kept cows when she was young and she used to ride them. However one chap was selling nothing but sewing kits, safety pins and the like. If he had stocked buttons I may have bought something. For I have a pair of trousers short of one but no such luck.

Suzy is now on holiday in Beijing prior to jetting off to Cyprus and when I asked her when her flight was she said they still hadn’t been told. Given that the entire class will be going en masse this month, I thought this remarkably Chinese. Surely to God SOMEONE must know the arrangements??

Mind you, I also have no idea (well I do and I won’t like it) whether I will get my course books, my timetable (and Janet told me when I came that she arranged mine) or even how many classes, whether they want to study abroad or how many students in each class - mind you if Janet hasn‘t been told what classes I will have then of course she can’t draw up a schedule.

Many aspects here are ten times better than Chizhou but also many are not dissimilar.

I have no idea what I shall do in the morning. I wouldn’t mind taking a trip for my dinner in town but then I could instead go shopping again before the weekend. I forgot to buy aluminium takeaway trays last time. I have started using them to batch cook and I quite fancy macaroni cheese but my baking dishes cater for four to six people and to be honest it doesn’t reheat that well, far better it gets frozen wet and then properly cooked another time. And if anyone thinks I have any intention of going through the rigmarole of cooking what one might think is an easy dish just for one portion, think again!

Oh! Nearly forgot! A few nights ago when I wandered abroad and ended up having a fried chicken dinner (not KFC) on my return through Peili Square I came across a man in his thirties sitting on a bench with his dog by his side. I have seen plenty of “Teddy Dogs” and a few retrievers in China but never before a British bulldog. My brother has a leonberger (Neo) and a bulldog (Bentley) in his pub and Bentley is a young but very portly chap. Well this one (never felt to see what sex) was even fatter. I suspect the owner was only sitting to give the dog a rest as I doubt it can walk far but what a lovely temperament it had. I think the owner was quite surprised at my asking to pet the mutt, I doubt that happens often, given the Chinese innate fear of dogs. I hope I see him again.