Ma Laoban has been really busy the last month so we haven't yet had our yearly lunch catch-up, but he called me at 9am to arrange it. Three hours’ preparation time is about as good as it gets here. I was still knackered as had had sketchy sleep last night . I sort of drifted off a little while reading the news later in the morning only to find that the electricity had gone when I roused again.
I could have done with a lot more sleep but there was no way I was going to let down Ma Laoban. We met at his shop and then he drove me to the place to eat. Two blokes came, and we only drank tea, which was a first with him even though he is practically tee-total. I could actually have done with some sleep-inducing beer but decided that it was better to be non-alcoholic, though when I got home at 3pm I still couldn’t sleep despite knowing my body wanted to. So I got up from my non-slumber and went to the local Guan Mart supermarket to see if they could improve on other supermarkets’ poor sugar-free ware. Indeed they could and I found sugar-free Sprite!
Uncle Yellow called to go to Boss Zhou’s again at 6pm, and as I had the time I thought why not? I got there on time but it was clearly too early, as is not normally the case here. I knew I’d have to meet up with Ma Laoban again later as he’d absolutely insisted on it, so I knew I’d have to pace myself. I actually offered to help Boss Zhou and was allowed to serve dishes to the tables rather than actually cook, but at least I was of use more for than just my nationality. Some of the blokes from yesterday turned up and I refused the bai jiu but had a few beers bearing in mind I was pacing myself..Soon after 8pm I made my excuses to go to Ma Laoban's and this was accepted more easily than it might have been, but Uncle Yellow is a bit more understanding than most.
Boss Zhou getting ready to cook up a nice surprise |
At Boss Zhou's - they are bulls' ball in the foreground..actually ok |
I got to Ma Laoban's at about 8.30pm but no-one else was there. For someone who doesn't drink he didn’t do a great job of not drinking. He opened a bottle of Australian red wine and put it into an aerator which took a minute to decant it and it was actually really nice. I remembered that in 2008 after three plus months living here the only thing I really missed was a decent glass of rouge but even that is now available here. And he didn't add ice, or lemon, or lemonade.
Aerating red wine at Ma Laoban's |
Anyway eventually it got sent and I went back to Ma Laoban’s, but then 10 minutes later I got another call to go back home and see if the electricity was working. Although before I'd been told explicitly it would not be I decided not to argue and explained I'd be back in a bit. Interestingly we most certainly did have leccy so I told Tan they could all come back here.
Back at Ma Laoban's (again) a couple more people had arrived, plus the female classmates from lunchtime, then a rather drunk bloke who'd also been with us at lunchtime. It was a pleasant evening but I knew I had to see another friend at around 10.30 so I started to make my excuses. Of course no-one was having any of it, unlike Uncle Yellow, and they started gan-bei'ing the wine, which I wasn't too happy about. Finally, Ma Laoban poured what I estimate to be 250ml of the stuff in my glass and said I wasn't to leave until it was gone. So I managed it in a more pronto fashion than I would have liked, but was allowed to leave after several handshakes.
Next stop was a KTV place where I met advertising friend and various other friends thereof. It was busy and boozy and I had to gan bei a few times but at least it wasn’t wine. After a bit, advertising friend suggested it was too noisy there (which I agreed with), so we went to Bar 3000 Degrees at getting on for midnight for a bit of bbq. Then around 1am Li Kun called me to go to Lao Tong Fried Chicken place to eat and drink, so I told him I might pop over in a bit.
The picture in the men's toilet at Bar 3000 Degrees |
Li Kun had called A Wu, who for some reason was up, and we all drove to the hospital. By this time it was getting light, and it all felt a bit weird. I removed my trousers to reveal what turned out to be about a four inch gash after the nurses had washed away most of the blood with a yellow liquid I think was iodine. Then came the bit that sobered me up the most - someone with a white overall came with a needle. I lay back and closed my eyes, knowing that I would not be able to avoid being pierced. I suppose it wasn’t as bad as it might have been, but I should have known why they were injecting me...worse was to come. A couple of minutes later they came with literally a needle and thread, and I realised I was about to be stitched up. For the fourth time tonight, despite the booze, I made the correct decision of not jumping off the bed and refusing this as I might have done another day, but I certainly didn’t watch what happened next, even if I did feel it a bit.
Doing something horrible to my leg
Ghastly stitching
Before... |
...and after...I suppose I should be grateful |
I was tired and ready to go home after that ordeal, and felt bad for Li Kun and A Wu, who were both still with me taking photos and joking all the time (sometimes that’s just what you need with mates). But no. The next thing was the standard Chinese panacea of giving you a drip, presumably of saline solution. But this was going to require another injection. I refused flatly, but then as Li Kun said “no!” for the fifth time I let them do what they thought was best. Being tired is the second best thing for dealing with irrational fears, and I’d had too much of the best thing previously anyway so a mix of the two made it less fearful and painful than it otherwise would have been. Of course without the beer I wouldn’t have been here in the first place.
So I spent the next hour being drip fed while reclining on a wooden chair that wasn’t quite comfortable enough to fall asleep on, much as I would have liked to. Finally we left around 8.30am and I was wearing my blue sports shorts that Li Kun had thoughtfully advised me to bring. On the way home we stopped off at Luwen’s for breakfast of beef soup which I felt did me better than the drip, but like most things today, I was probably wrong.
What a drip |
The hospital receipt - I'll use it for a more advanced Chinese lesson |
Finally got home at 9am to go to bed. I had hoped Tan would be asleep but she was up and aware of where I’d been this morning so tail firmly between my legs I grabbed a bottle of water, apologised, and got some kip.
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