Wednesday 12^th August, 2020 Crowne Plaza Chongqing 1730

Catastrophe this morning. Ran out of jing jo. Thought I had at least ¼ litre tucked away in some underpants but no. So after breakfast (yes, went down this time) we went shopping. God it's hot. And humid too.

Found a Carrefour where Madam promptly stocked up on Sichuan hotpot stock mixes which weighed in at 10lbs and she sensibly paid to have them couriered to Shanghai to save lugging them. Can't see Tesco doing that! I got my necessaries and some socks and by the time we got back to the hotel I was parched – time to claim the two free welcome beers!

I was sitting alone drinking them when a middle-aged woman came in for her lunch. She was western and looked familiar and she even greeted me. We got chatting and I diplomatically asked her if it began with an A or an N, which she thought was a great way not to insult either Ockers or Kiwis. Don't know about you but I find them hard to differentiate. She's from Auckland, Sharon Fraser if you are ever here. She's also the first GM I have seen since Hilton Steve was around and as I have long said, if the boss might appear around the corner at any moment the staff are on their toes – terrific for the customer. She didn't think she had encountered Steve and was intrigued, so Steve, she said she was going to do her research! Guess your line of work is incestuous.

Anyway, Fanny went to the pool, bought an “ugly” swimming costume (I haven't seen it but she'd look good in a hessian sack) and her plan to go for late lunch at an Italian basically went by the board. Well we were supposed to go at three and that would have been dinner for me, then she was (and is) going sightseeing and having a viciously spicy hotpot later. Knowing she had her heart set on a hotpot (and knowing there was no way I was going and still keeping my bowels intact) I bade her farewell and said I would eat snacks again tonight for my dinner and if I needed more I'd get a Big Mac up the road. Not exactly gourmet dining but I did say Chongqing was hers and Nanning is mine.

Now I want to take her to Yangmei. I looked at the weather in Nanning today so I'm not sure she will be keen to take a bus ride and a cow taxi! 34ºC - not too bad eh? Until that is you look at the “feels like” comment – 47ºC!!!!! We shall see.

Maybe I crammed too much into this holiday but by God it is absolutely racing by, just when I want it to last forever.