Awfully painful massage but back to Pingguo alone to eat and watch footy

Woke up with a bigger pain in my back that made it hard to get out of bed (as if morning wasn't reason enough). I decided to walk it off by going to the bank to get some money (a lot of money) for Tan's teeth. On the way back I nearly collapsed when walking down a step, something that made an old man shout at me in a language I didn't understand or care to at that time. I got back in time for a bite to eat then I was taken to the local massage place to fix me.

As is quite normal, the massage place rang the masseur to come and ten minutes later he arrived (presumably he was just about to sit down for his lunch). I'm sure he isn't really a sadist, but the next hour was tortuous as he stretched me and applied an undue amount of pressure to not just the base of my spine where the pain resided, but even places like my bum. As if the fact that it was a man massaging me wasn't bad enough, he finished by pushing the base of my spine so hard tears nearly came from my eyes. I swore to myself he wouldn't break me and I just managed to hold out. It was only later I realised I was supposed to say when it hurt so they know when they've applied enough pressure... For some reason he asked for my name and number. I was now very worried as he had massaged my bum cheeks but this is China and I didn't want to lose face so I gave him my number and hope I will not get a call.

I got to the train station late, with a bruised back, and was unable to get a seat on the way back to Pingguo (leaving Leilei, Xixi and the wife in Nanning).
After a light snooze in the early evening I got a call from Uncle Yellow - saying I had to go out and drink beer with his police friends. Fine, I said, come round to my place - I'll just get ready. He was there a minute later saying they had been waiting for me for a long time. I reminded him that he had only called me two minutes ago and that I needed a shower. Even so, when I got on his motorbike he was almost chastising me telling me they had been waiting for ages. Life's like that sometimes here.

Actually I'd eaten some deep fried chicken that was rather cold on the inside on my way back from the train station in Pingguo. It chose the moment I arrived at Uncle Yellow's friend's house to take effect. After saying hello and managing a couple of beers with some men of varying rank I accepted the obvious that I would have to squat in some dirty shithouse and just hoped I would come out of it unscathed. It was with unfettered joy that when I went I spied a European style proper toilet for only my third time in Pingguo. Despite its dirtiness and loose seat (I reckoned it hadn't been used in years) and although my stomach was churning and painful, the 15 minutes I needed were of considerable relief. I emerged from the toilet a new man, and despite the queue outside I marched through to the dining table and munched my way through duck and pork, and drank a fair few beers with the lads.

I was taken home at about 10.30pm as the lads had been drinking since midday and were feeling tired, and what with working the next day etc... I wanted to watch the Hull v Man City match that started at midnight (sometimes it's great to not have the wife and kids around) so I wondered how to spend the next hour or so. Not for long. I know that in the UK I wouldn't have the sort of options I have here, so I walked over to a local hair dressers and went for a hair wash/face wash/massage. 50 minutes of pure decadence that I have no guilt about (especially for 2 quid). Much more remedial than the excruciating massage in Nanning.

Ok, the game wasn't great with a 2-2 draw, but the previous hour made up for it a bit. Good night's sleep till 9.30 the next morning.