Third day in Pingguo and Massage

Up around 8am and festered until nearly 10 when I used my counting in German trick to claw another 10 mins of sleep. My back was not good, so I resolved to go for a massage after my 11am breakfast. A Wu had just called to say he’d business in Nanning and wouldn't be back till the evening, so I seemed to have a potentially free day ahead of me. But although she wasn't there, I could feel the pain Tan would have felt in the presence of such dust and dirt in a flat that had been left unlived-in for more months than amount to more than half a year. In fact last night I had looked at the kids’ rooms but didn’t have the heart to start cleaning them up.

Our fridge before...

...and after I'd given it the once over

But now I got to work in the sweaty heat. I was in Leilei’s room and after wiping away the thin layer of dust from his side-table drawer thing, I opened the lower drawer and straightaway saw his and Xixi’s photo from a few years back in school. It has only been a couple of weeks or so away from them but seeing that hit me hard. It was probably a thousandth of a percent of parents who must have been in far worse situations, but I just couldn’t tidy up the room after that. It’s the best excuse I’ve ever had for not tidying up a room, and one I hope never to have again.

When I opened the drawer to this I just couldn't continue...I miss them so much...

I couldn’t call the kids as it was around 4am their time, so mustered up my energy to wash the floors of the rest of the house. It took bloody ages and I sweated so much I justified myself a weak drink by 1pm. Actually, it was more of an excuse to use my soda machine again, that I’d bought last year. In fact I’d left water in it from last year in the fridge and it still appeared to be fizzy, in that when I pulled the trigger some came out. But I wasn’t going to trust that. I emptied last year’s apparent fizz, and filled up with new water. Unfortunately, I had no cold water so had to make do with the recently-delivered stuff at room temperature. This is not how you’re supposed to do it but to hell with that. I filled the 70s style syphon, added the mini canister, pierced it and heard the bubbles go through. I then shook it for good measure. The water I’d put in the ice cube trays earlier that morning had still not solidified, but I used the fairly cold water for them as a base for my drink, then added a smidgen of sodastream bitter lemon concentrate and a nice nip of gin. I then poured the gushing soda water from the bottle and admired what was probably the first gin and bitter lemon to be prepared in Pingguo since about this time last year.

I sat down in my office, full of anticipation, raised the glass to my lips, justifying it in the absence of my family, then downed a generous mouthful. Of warm and almost totally flat lemony crap. I had totally failed, but because last year it had worked I realised I had to be more patient and wait for cold water and proper ice. The problem was I couldn’t at this moment as I wanted a massage, so in the spirit of things I downed it, poured a marginally less room-temperature follow-up, and took the newly charged dian dong che to the massage place.

I remembered the way to the massage place pretty well, and while not taking the most efficient route, I had a fully-charged dian dong che and I didn’t care too much. As I entered the massage place it stirred the people who were drinking tea on the ground floor. Within seconds a young lady swept down the stairs to usher me to the second floor “VIP” room. I didn’t argue. She left me to shower and get into the massage garb that I had done last year and maybe the year before, but this time strangely alone.

Somehow she knew when my shower was finished and entered the room with impeccable timing and some sweet tea and slices of watermelon. The next hour was blissful, not just because of the fact of the massage, but because I was able to orient her in the direction of where my back pain was most severe. I'm not ignorant enough to expect her to have cured anything, but golly, it did feel better. When she finished I semi dropped-off for 15 minutes or so but had a dangling reminder in my head that I’d promised to go to Waipo’s again for tea.

I could have signed A Wu’s name for the massage - and I'm sure he would have wanted me to - but I paid the 108 kuai very happily. I'm only here for a few days so the odd luxury won’t kill anyone.

I ended up bringing my work to Waipo’s as not only did I feel a bit lonely in our flat, we (I) had no Internet access there. It was a 2 minute trip with the laptops and after tea I managed to sort out a couple of emails, and annoyingly, book flights to Australia and back from Hong Kong as my boss really needed me to go there for a couple of days. Apparently it is winter there and I only have summer clothes...oh well...first world problems….

I did go and try to find a place to practise the piano again, but to no avail. But I was just somewhat happy to be in Pingguo when a few weeks ago I had not expected it. I had nowhere to go, nothing to. I would like to say I was dappled and drowsy too but Pingguo doesn't easily lend itself to Simon and Garfunkel songs, though I dare say there is one here (not the Sound of Silence).

I came back to Waipo’s in the evening as I wanted to watch the footy. We managed a hard-fought 2-0 home win against Watford, but perhaps more interestingly Chelsea lost at home to Palace! Interesting….

I was tired, but happy, and decided to go for a spin and see my mate Huang - the owner of the Beihai Seafood place. It was well past midnight but he was there and not expecting me, and happily forced me to sit at a table and eat and drink with some friends. It was totally cool. I chatted with him and chatted with the guys at the table as they took several selfies with me.

I did manage to say I was tired an hour later, and this was accepted. But I’d made the point of meeting a good friend in this short sojourn, and I hope it won’t be the last time before I leave.