Back to work and mangosteens

Back to work. Got up but slept in as I knew I'd be up late. I was quite good and had no breakfast and only fruit for lunch. The fruit was something I'd picked up from Ling Ming's clothes shop earlier in the week that I think his mum had sent up from the Vietnamese border. I'd never before seen such a fruit - a dark purple hardish outer shell that you pierce with your nail and score around so you can pull it apart to reveal fleshy white pips inside that are really sweet. The name is Shan Zhu, which translates to "mountain bamboo", but boringly someone has decided to call them mangosteen. Well they were deliciousteen.

Apparently they're called "mangosteens" - very nice though

After Waipo's for tea I worked till 11pm, but didn't really need to work much later as had no meetings and I'd started well before Europe anyway. I rang Lu Hai at 10pm to ask if he was about to go for a little bbq, which he was, and called Li Kun for good measure. Haiwei's phone was off, which normally means he is asleep.

As soon as I got to the bbq place some drunk bloke started talking to me. Apparently I knew him and had cai ma'd with him before with Haiwei. He sat at my table and then Lu Hai and Li Kun and his wife and daughter turned up. I don't know if these people knew each other before, but they certainly talked like they did. Lu Hai gave me a present of 12 little bottles of what looked like medicine alcohol, but I was actually quite relieved to find they were apple vinegar. Here it is a kind of health drink.

Kids and Eva enjoying a bit of bbq late at night

Haiwei then called and popped round and we ended performing the usual ritual of cai ma and gan beis, which was quite therapeutic after a day's working.