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| Croquet, Pingguo style |
I thought about asking the rules of Pingguo croquet but realised it would be next week before I had a clue. But just watching it didn't really help either, so I went back until someone came and spent the next two hours sweating like a pig and justifying any future unhealthy activity.
After a shower I said I'd go out and get Tan's lunch, but called Ma Laoban, my friend the manager of a computer shop, and arranged to go for a drink of tea and maybe a bite to eat. He's moved to a newer, bigger shop, and I found it reasonably ok. He thought I was mad to walk the nearly 10 minutes under the nearly midday sun but he doesn't spend 10 months a year in grey and cold. The two flights of stairs to his office really reeked of something but I couldn't put my finger on it, and was too embarrassed to ask Ma Laoban when I saw him, as it might have been some special fragrance or something.
We said a hearty hello and settled down to drink some really pleasant red tea, of which he said he'd give me some. He showed me some pictures of his new son, under two weeks old, and I was very happy for him as I've known him going on 10 years now. A couple more people joined us and I introduced myself to them to learn (not for the first time) that I'd met them before - but apparently it was some time ago. Then, finally, the four of us went for a bite to eat. As we went downstairs Ma Laoban apologised for the stink, coming from a broken fridge....
It was another lovely simple affair that was healthy and cheap; lots of greens with every dish, and a choice of rice, rice zhou or sweetcorn zhou for your carbohydrate. Although it was me who suggested eating I wasn't allowed to pay of course but I imagine it was around 15 quid including the beers, of which even though he doesn't drink, Ma Laoban did manage a whole small glass over the course of the meal as it was a special occasion.
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| The rice is self-service |
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| The beginning of a lovely simple meal |
I suddenly remembered Tan's lunch and called her but no reply, so texted her too but still no response. I guessed she'd gone out with friends. Ma Laoban said next year he'd invite me to go fishing in a lake he was creating, and then said we'd go and see how it was progressing. As it was in his mother's home town, just 10 minutes outside of Pingguo, I was happy to go as it shouldn't impact siesta time too much. We took his Toyota Landcruiser and drove up to this place off the beaten track where people had really dark skin and were washing clothes by hand just by the lake that was in the process of being made. Ma Laoban and I scaled the wall of the semi-filled lake and as we started I got a call from Tan asking where her lunch was...uh oh. We didn't stay too long but it was a beautiful place and I look forward to coming back next year.
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| Ma Laoban's mum's home town |
We stopped off at the noodle place to get lunch in case Tan was still in, and then I was dropped off back home, where I dropped them off before going to Waipo's house to pick up the kids. When we got back the noodles were gone, which was a good sign, and I let the kids play on ipad (or "iped" as they are pronounce here), while getting a little shuteye. As is fairly usual I got a call to eat at Waipo's around 5.30pm so we all walked over there in what was quite searing heat for that time, enough to make you aware of which side of the road to walk on. After tea Chuan Chuan and I took the kids out for a bit to get some mosquito gel to put on bites, as the kids are susceptible, but then they decided to go on a san lun che with her to whatever it was that was more fun than the table tennis I suggested taking them too!
This was just as well as Haiwei gave me a call before I got home at 7.45 saying he'd pick me up at 8pm to go to the new table tennis place people had been talking about. A few minutes later I got a call from my new friend Zhang Liangwen, who also asked me to come over. I said I'd be 15 minutes. But when Haiwei turned up at nearly 8.30 he said we'd first go to his house to pick up his wife who was sick, and take her to hospital to stay the night. She did look rather ill, and apparently had a temperature of 38.8 degrees. After we dropped her off it was 9pm when we got to the table tennis place.
I rang the bell and a minute later a key was lowered down in a water bottle attached to a long string from the sixth floor. We made our way up to the said floor and found a large area sectioned off into about 12 smaller areas each with their own table tennis table. Apparently the whole building belongs to one of the blokes I've known for a few years who is an amazing table tennis player. But I didn't see Zhang Liangwen. I called him and it turned out he had a matter to attend to so we agreed to meet soon.
It was a good hour of mostly topless back hand practice, and I was glad to have cold water to replenish what I lost. Then at 10pm I noticed Tan was calling. She was in a bad mood and it transpired A Heng had been involved in some altercation that had damaged his arm and it may have to be cut off, and where was I and where were the kids? The phone was slammed down so I called Chuan Chuan and explained to Haiwei I had a matter to attend to so left to pick them up. We took a san lun che home and arrived at the same time as Tan. Apparently A Heng had been the unintended recipient of a thrown knife in an argument early in the morning of some night place. It wasn't that serious a cut and there was no chance of needing anything more than a bit of care and attention in hospital for the next few days, and the whole matter seemed a lot less urgent than 20 minutes ago.
I got the kids showered and said I'd take them for a little bbq, but Tan didn't want clean kids to risk getting sweaty again, so I took their orders for some sausage and duck tongues. Tan said she didn't want anything. I went on my own and ordered 10 duck tongues, five chicken claws, five "fat beefs" and the sausages before Haiwei called me to say he still had my tea in the back of his car. I told him to pop around for a beer while I waited for the bbq and in the end we stayed nearly an hour and had an interesting chat about business and so forth. He gave me a lift home and this time I remembered to take the Sheng Pu tea he gave me yesterday. I had a suspicion Tan would be peckish and sure enough she wolfed down the chicken claws and I put the sausages in the fridge as the kids were now asleep.
I made the mistake of checking work emails and realised there were a few things I could do to help colleagues prepare for a meeting tomorrow, so prepared some stuff for an hour or so, before chatting with Awl on Skype. It was gone 2am and I was really knackered but the thought of possibly watching Brazil - Germany was alluring. I fancied Germany and put a quid on 5-2 at 500-1, but although I made it well past 3am I passed out before kick off at 4am in Xixi's room as the kids were both in Leilei's room.
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