Pressure and Beef

Up at 7am after under four hours' sleep! I felt a little groggy and my back was hurting so I had a little breakfast and took some medicine. No-one else was stirring so I had a coffee and even though I didn't feel like it I put on some white socks and went to the old people's leisure centre to wash away last night's sins. I never regret doing this. You really sweat it out even when playing rather leisurely, which is not often.

I really needed to fart, but no-one would let me off the table. After I lost once, someone else would come and challenge me, and as much as I enjoyed it the gas was building up inside me. Even though most of the people here are my senior by some 20 years they don't seem to pass wind noticeably. Then some new bloke I hadn't met before brought me upstairs to the room with a single table where the pros normally go. As I was walking up with him I couldn't really let one rip so I manfully kept it in.

We were doing a bit of smashing practice and I was trying not to break my back when one of the women walked past and he bade her come in and play me. Damn, I thought with just him in the room I could flatulate and at least only one person would know. But somehow, maybe concentrating on being decent I was not thinking how much I would lose by, and ended up beating her 3-2 in games. It was better for my confidence than for my lower intestine.

Then I lost 3-1 to the bloke, who's name is Zhang Liangwen, and who told me he'd call me to go and play at a new place with 12 tables. I was happy and said ok, but happier to be able to leave the place as it was already 10.30 and I had three hours of sweat outside me and a fart the pressure of a sodastream canister in me. But as I left, one of the other elders in the place was leaving, and accompanied me to the foot of our building, and then stood chatting to me for a couple of minutes while I made the excuse of having to wake up the kids before leaving him to go home. But home means getting in the lift for 14 floors. I dreaded the chance of meeting one of our neighbours at the 14th floor waiting for the lift so held in my gas for another 35 seconds and as I rose I could feel the pressure of the higher altitude exacerbate the feeling in my lower region. Tan may have still been asleep but the noise I made on the toilet probably roused her from her slumbers.

Showered, and back to normal in a decompressed state I took the kids out for breakfast. As it was 11am the normal dou jiang place was out of stock of much of their morning produce so we walked about a bit until we came to the jiao zi place I have frequently frequented in the last few years since we've had our house. Both of them ate a portion of bao zi once we brought them back home, and I had some jiao zi.

Unfortunately the air conditioning unit in the master bedroom is leaking water, so we went to the place where we bought it from four years ago where Tan's aunt works. One of the blokes there told me to open it and clean it first, and if that didn't work to call him. Once home I did remove the air filter from the front and Tan cleaned it, but within minutes it was leaking again. I didn't call him though because I was getting tired and needed sleep.

It was now gone midday and Leilei wanted to play with A Da so I gave A Ni a ring and we organised that A Da would come around in a bit. I was a bit worried as A Da is now 14 and already last year had broken his voice, whereas Leilei is still a boy, and I didn't think they'd have much in common. A Da turned up a bit later with an ipad in hand though and within minutes they were sorting out some online game. After my early start I was really flagging now so a bit later I took them and Xixi to A Wu's office to continue playing, while I went back to get some kip.

I had started counting in German and got to no more than about 15 when I got a phone call from A Da to say that Xixi wanted to come home. I more than expected that and asked him to take her back so I didn't have to put on clothes. Unexpectedly Xixi turned up five minutes later with A Dong, A Xia's husband. Unfortunately I had just had another episode of flatulence and not worried about filling the sitting room with it just before opening the door. A Dong at least pretended not to notice; he had heard about our air con problem and had turned up with a tube and screwdriver. Within a minute he diagnosed a blocked exit tube and soon fixed it. Phew. I let Xixi play on Tan's laptop while I grabbed more fractured sleep in our bed in 27 degree warmth.

I got woken up at 4.45 by Waipo asking if I was coming to eat. I said probably, but noticed I already had a missed call from Haiwei. Then Uncle Yellow rang to ask me if I could go out to "eat beef" with him in a bit. I rang Tan to check and she said it was ok if I didn't go to Waipo's house to eat, so called Uncle Yellow and he said he'd pick me up in 10 minutes. That didn't leave me much time to put out the clothes to dry but I managed it in 20 minutes and took Xixi down with me and used the aged-old excuse that the lift took ages to come.

In the car Uncle Yellow happened to mention that he had changed the colour of his car from orange, so I finally felt vindicated in my surprise at its non-yellowness the other day, but not impressed at how easily I had let myself think I had perceived the same colour as yellow last year.

Uncle Yellow's orange car

We went to A Wu's office to pick up Leilei and dropped them both off at Waipo's house, with no protestation at all. We drove to a new place that hadn't been built this time last year and found ourselves in a private room with three blokes and one of their wives. Two of the blokes I knew from the cool cave the last few years, and the other was from near Shanghai but married to a local. He was jokingly berated somewhat as I was also married to a local yet I could speak some of the local language.

There was a huge metal bowl of beef soup in the middle of the table and all manner of raw cow parts around it. They took pleasure in serving me interesting-looking parts and then telling me it was a testicle or part of the ball-sack, and that it would help my nether region (not that I needed it!). After half an hour the beer was poured. I noticed it was 8 degrees and for a moment worried it might be really strong, but in fact it was 2.5%, so I was happy to indulge in cai ma with everyone and ended up staying till 10pm by which time I made the excuse of having pick up Leilei and Xixi, so Uncle Yellow took me back, after I'd ganbei'd with everyone there again.

Some raw beef ready to be cooked in the soup

Friends at the beef meal

Back home I got them showered while answering phone calls asking when I was coming to watch the footy. I would have liked to go out to watch Belgium v Argentina at midnight but after getting the kids to lie down I pretty much collapsed into our bed as the game was starting.