More table tennis and haircut

If Xixi hadn't come into our room at 7.30am I might have slept even longer but even as it was I wasn't complaining because it was a normal time to wake up. She was still a bit sleepy and just wanted a cuddle which she got from both sides - I think it is only the second time she's slept at home since we arrived a week ago.

I left the ladies to themselves and went to the Old People's Leisure Centre to brush up my table tennis skills. I went upstairs and one of the better women asked me to play her. We played best-of-five and amazingly I won the first game though lost the match 3-1 which is a bit more than a moral victory to me. Then, when the others came upstairs it was like she switched gear to become a proper demon player and I realised I had been used as not much more than a fluffer. Still, that seems in some way like a promotion - an awareness of my improvement in my game. It was explained to me that there was a competition tomorrow so they were all practising hard so I went downstairs to where the mortals play and didn't have a break until I said I had to leave at 11am.

 A non-spectacular roam around the Old People's Leisure Centre

Tan and Xixi were out so I grabbed a shower and decided I should meet my friend Lu Hai whose house we stayed in when we first came to Pingguo in 2003. He spotted me a few dozen yards from his barber's place and gave me a big wave. We met and had a little Western hug and then got down to the business of washing and cutting my hair. In previous years he had cut my hair always using scissors as he'd said it was better than an electric razor, but this year he used the electric razor with a comb. I had noticed he had a small but noticeable shake in his arms last year and this year was no different. If it had been a one-off it could have been put down to the DTs but I really suspect something like the beginning of MS. Normally in China this is the sort of thing you would ask quite bluntly but my English heart didn't have the will. If it was true it would spell the end to his career as a barber within months if not years which was a sad thought. Still, he said he was going to Nanning next week to do a hairdressing course by Toni & Guy for 5000 kuai, so he must be fairly confident. I really hope he's ok though. I left saying I'd call him one evening for beers and certainly will, and he accepted 40 kuai for a 30 kuai haircut.

For the first time this year for lunch a bought a portion of bao zi from our local place as I had so many times last year while working. It was nice to see the woman again, who doesn't normally talk much but this time was asking about why I'd been away so long. Tan was in when I got back but left to eat a few minutes later so I had a sneaky G&L and a nice siesta again, or "wu shui" as they're called here.

In the evening, again for the first time this year, I had my evening meal at Waipo's house with the family. It was nice to not be in a restaurant though within a few minutes I felt some movements below my tummy and knew all was not 100%. Tan's phone would not pick up the Internet so I used that as an excuse for us both to go home where I had a comfortable evacuation without any of the stresses of previous years.

I couldn't sort out Tan's phone much to my geeky dismay and resolved to do so tomorrow. I did write an email in Chinese for a potential Chinese client and Tan corrected it so I felt I'd done something useful and by that time it was already getting on. Tan was tired and I was a little but decided to take advantage of the kids not being around by popping out. I gave Lu Wen a ring and he told me someone would pick me up to take me to the same boss's office as a couple of days ago but I said I'd make my own way. And somehow I found it within a few minutes.

I don't know what they do there other than drink beer, eat bbq, and play chess and cards, but they seem to have plenty of money. One of the blokes from the shop under our house was there, and a little the worse for wear. You can generally tell that when they start trying to talk English. It wasn't the vocabulary that was so dreadful so much as the pronunciation that mostly made no sense until they spelled out what they were trying to say. Anyway, a load of bbq was delivered just after I arrived, and shortly afterwards another crate of beer, followed not that long after by more bbq. I enjoyed it mostly as it was mainly an exercise in Chinese so I definitely benefitted. But I strongly opposed the offer of a lift home at 11.30 when I said I had to go, and walked off some of the excess so much that after a shower I was not demoted to a separate bedroom (although Tan was asleep at the time).