With nothing important to do I went for a walk in the afternoon again to get my steps in. It's not difficult here, and eats up a few calories that the evenings inevitably bring in. I got in contact with Lu zong who invited me to eat at his bar at Jiangbing Lu at 9pm, so that was the evening sorted. In fact even more sorted as Huang Lidan had got in contact with me to meet up to have a drink at 10.30pm after work. Even better.
So I didn't really bother with lunch or tea much. I had a few bits and pieces in the house to get on with. I also avoided having more than a couple of drinks before going out as it's just not necessary. I got to Lu zong's place soon after 9pm to find he was the only one there, with a huoguo of dog meat and a plate of pig penises as you do. Well it was great to catch up and I enjoyed the pig penises and dog more than I should have done, as more people turned up, and it ended up being a totally enjoyable evening with the lads.
Dog meat and pig penis as you do
But I was due to meet up with Huang Lidan, whom I'd not seen since well before the birth of her son. She now sells gong wen bao baijiu and was just over the river at the new place. It was great to catch up with her...she's one of the few people here who seem to have a fair degree of self-awareness, and it was good fun talking to her and her "meimei" who is literally not her little sister.
Catching up with Huang Lidan after quite a few years...she kindly gave me two bottles of gong wen bao
But I could hear guitar music and singing from another table, and when I went to the loo I was accosted by the bloke I've known for a few years now. I told him that I was talking to "beautiful women" - how sexist, but that excused me from having to play music. For a bit at least. Not that long though...Lidan and I drank the rest of the gong wen bao that was cooked with ginger and brown sugar and probably wasn't very healthy. But being with people is healthy, and I wished her and her friend a very good night around 12.30am.
Then of course I found myself at the table with the bloke I knew and lots of others I didn't. Of course the guitar was thrust into my arms and I had to do a couple of English songs which they appreciated. Jeez...I felt quite sober, but it wasn't hard to do a few ganbeis to catch up with them. I can't remember how long I stayed for but it was a great evening and I managed to drive back unscathed.
Except I stupidly stopped off to go for a walk at about 3.30am. Why? I'll never know...I guess I wanted to sup up a bit more of Pingguo. But I was a bit surprised when I heard my name called out from the other side of the street. Oh blimey, it was a bloke I'd just been singing with not an hour before, with a couple of women. Oh well..in for a penny...I ended up singing a few more songs with them and jeez if it wasn't 8am when I finally got back home. I love living here!
Finally, finally, I slept more than 10 hours till nearly 1pm. Yes I may have taken one or more alprazolam but bloody hell it seemed justified. No more waking up at 6am not knowing how the day would pan out. I had no deeds to do and no promises to keep (thanks Paul Simon) and was dappled (but not drowsy or ready to sleep). I probably should have gone out to get some jiaozi but just made some pao mian at home instead. I decided I'd go for a walk in a bit but boringly had to do some paperwork for my dad's house; apparently the survey had shown there was moisture getting in so the buyers were lowering their offer. Fair enough, I've been in the same position before, and rather than argue just accepted it on his behalf and hoped he'd be ok.
I saw that I had an email confirming my train ticket to Nanning on Sunday. Wow, I must have been on auto-pilot when I booked that, but I'm glad I have. Now I only have to decide whether to book a hotel in central Nanning or by the airport. That will depend on what I hope to do in Nanning, and more than likely booking one at the airport will be the sensible choice. But I rarely do sensible here. I'm really not looking forward to an 8.20am flight though. It's literally 5 years since I took such an early flight but I booked it so last-minute I didn't really care. And quite frankly up to now I have no regrets.
So at 4.30pm I set off for what may well be my last Pingguo walk this year. I will never take this for granted. It's not even special...but yet again every turn greeted me with a potential new experience...seeing workers building new roads, seeing people making earphones for aeroplanes etc. It's times like these where Tan won't understand, although maybe the kids will. Just being in a different place justifies the effort in getting here. And more important than that is the ability to understand (mostly) the language. That is literally the most important thing, along with the justification of being the husband of a local. The former has been my effort, and the latter, well just the way it is but I always hope that I paint Tan in a nice way. I mean I joke about Guangxi women being 厉害 but it's always taken in a way that means respect.
A minor detail maybe, but it's a lot easier to scan these QR codes now to charge up the dian dong che
Well I'd made nearly 5km so I headed for racist Huang's place as I'd not properly seen him this time. It was gone 6pm and I'd done my 5km so arrived while his daughter was playing in his car with his worker's son. His wife was there and bade me speak a bit of English with their younger daughter and indeed she could speak quite well for a five-year-old. And with that I was invited to eat with them. Perfect, I had no other plans so they brought out a chicken soup and a couple of blokes joined us though didn't eat. Huang is now off the booze due (I think) to physical issues, but he ordered a large bottle of beer for me. The soup was fantastic and so was the accompanying fish we had. All in all it was a great meal and I didn't miss the drunken Huang of years past.
Huang's wife and Huang...he's not drinking anymore for a good reason I guess...still a lovely meal
But Li Kun had pinged me to say that Xixi's clothes had arrived, so around 8pm I made my excuses and left to go home to pick up the dian dong che, and drove over to his studio. But this time I made a point of first going to Guanmart to pick up three more portions of pickles, as I wanted to get one for each member of the family; I already had baba, so I picked up mama, and two babies (male and female) and 12 beers to bring over.
Xixi's ware arrived...she is happy
I also stopped off at a place I saw was selling kao ya, but it seemed they had closed. But on looking inside I saw all the ladies (yes they were all ladies) eating and asked what they had left. They were more than happy to jump up from the table and show some kao ya and some pork stuff which they cut and heated up and it only came to 40 kuai. Such a tiny thing to do but I got quite a buzz out of it. It just seems that such transactions make me the winner.
I got to Li Kun's and he was the only one there. That was a bit surprising but it wasn't to last. I brought out my food and of course it was appreciated, as was the beer, but we drank tea for the next 20 minutes until other people arrived. He thought my idea of getting free bowls was a bit weird, but not as weird as a few years ago when he didn't know me as well. I was grateful for him receiving Xixi's clothes and sent her a pic and she was very very happy. Now at least I think I've justified being here, about to bring back many clothes for the women in my life.
Maybe last time this year with such good friends
I think he sort of understood why I'd got the bowls too, and even Xixi sent a nice message saying she'd use hers every day. Hmm... Anyway more and more people turned up and it was a typically lovely evening, the sort of which I'm here for. I'm not special, I'm just a normal bloke with these people, and that means more to me than when I was the "foreign guy". That now to me is the most important thing...just being a normal bloke.
Up at an ungodly hour of course and was actually quite hungry. I looked around and found the pack of whatever it was I bought yesterday. I only bought it because it came with a free bowl, so now I have three bowls I need to take back with me. There were three or four choices...daddy, mummy, baby...maybe another one. So I got the daddy one so I could have my own bowl, but I'm now thinking I'd better get a mummy one for Tan too. And then maybe a couple for the kids, not that they'll care. Anyway I opened one of the packs in the bowl, literally not knowing what to expect as I couldn't read the Chinese on the packet. It turned out to be some sort of picked veg. Oh well, it was something like 7am and I was hungry so ate a pack as you do.
A "daddy" bowl with pickles
I was still feeling a bit shit though so allowed myself a tad of medicine alcohol before slumbering away from 9am till 2pm in a form of siesta that really requires a different name...pre-esta? But it did the job and I must have needed it. That meant I'd had getting on for 10 hours' sleep in the last 12 hours. Result. I knew I was due to eat with Huang Lei tonight and guessed it would be around 6pm so around 4pm I went for a constitutional as it's a bit milder now and it's nice to go out without a coat.
I ended up at Xixi's and my favourite watering hole by a mini guangchang and the owner recognised me strangely enough. I sent a pic to Xixi and she asked for a watermelon juice but at this time of year they don't have it so we settled for a mango juice which we virtually shared as I sat in the remaining warmth of this little park that has given me big memories. Again, sometimes the simple things in life can be appreciated when you have the chance, and a relatively warm afternoon supping mango juice on a park bench in Pingguo is surely one of them.
Xixi's and my favourite watering hole
Mango in the afternoon
But it couldn't last of course...I'd be called soon and hadn't showered or shaved so headed back home via the shoe cleaning place to pick up my yellow Converse which may be the only pair of shoes I'll be bringing back with me. And of course Huang Lei called me. Actually I'd already missed a call and a dingwei from him to say where they were and to hurry up of course. I told him I was on my way home and would be there asap.
Once with my newly cleaned shoes (I wish they had this service for cheap in the UK) and back home, I realised that at well gone 6pm it was a bit late to have a shower and shave, and didn't want to be too late. So I decided to wear last night's smoky clothes as no doubt there would be more smoke tonight. I grabbed the dian dong che and went to where I thought we were eating as I remembered there was a shop selling fruit downstairs. So I popped in the shop and asked what fruit they had and the owner said they were nearly running out of cherries, except she used another word from ying tao, suggesting that these were even better. At £6 a kilo I hoped she was right. Well the box came to over £7 but who was I to complain? Then I saw a missed call from Huang Lei and checked the dingwei but I wasn't at the right place at all, so told him I was on my way and I'd be there in 3 minutes.
And indeed when I did arrive at the place I'd taken the kids in the summer a woman arrived at exactly the same time with a box of flowers in her dian dong che. Hmm...Huang Lei was also waiting outside so we walked up together and I found loads of bunches of flowers and Huang Lei then announced to me that it was Xiao Chong's (his wife's) birthday. Blimey if only he'd told me before! Anyway, my gift of cherries was appreciated and I was just glad I hadn't turned up empty-handed as I would have done in a previous year.
Xiao Chong's birthday meal
In typical Guangxi style one half of the table was men, and the other half women, and more typical than that it was all luscious, including the raw cock balls that we cooked in the huoguo. Li Kun pinged me to meet for a beer at the new bar I'd gone to a couple of weeks ago but I told Huang Lei I wouldn't leave early. My choice of using yesterday's clothes proved to be a good one as I was literally the only male not smoking, and one of only two drinking beer, until the bloke next to me started on the red wine he'd already opened thinking the women would drink it. But every one of the women was drinking water only, saying they were on medicine. I thought about asking if they had synchronised, but even after a few beers thought better than actually asking the question. It was really nice that towards the end of the meal Huang Lei said "let's put out the grapes that Peng Duoming brought", and indeed they did and everyone partook of them. As I hadn't known about her birthday I said that although flowers looked prettier, you couldn't eat them!
Well, the women left, then Xiao Chong's younger brother turned up to help finish off the food, and finally at around 10.30pm things were petering out so I made my excuses and left. Downstairs by the lift to the new bar I spied Ma. I can't remember his full name but he saw me and told me to wait with him as four young ladies from Long An were coming, and indeed 4 minutes later they turned up on foot and we took the lift to the fourth floor.
Even before I could get to Li Kun's table a couple of blokes from another table called me over for a beer. Life's like that. So I jumped over and sat with them for 20 minutes or so, pretending I remembered them. Then to Li Kun's table and the Long An ladies and Ma. Well it was another fun evening despite me being a little ill still. Normally I wouldn't have gone out feeling like this but with so little time left sod it. I managed to make it home for 12.40am but for some reason didn't get to sleep till 2.30.
It felt like a barely got a wink of sleep last night as the coughing just grew worse. It seems to happen every time I get here after about 2 weeks. So at 7am I just sat up to slightly ease any pressure on my lungs. Try as I might I couldn't dose off in this position so I looked for some medicine but could only find some kiddies' Calpol, which I took anyway if only to ease my throat. But I needed some real stuff so headed out to the chemist and to get some breakfast.
The woman in the chemist seemed happy to see me and advised three different types of medicine; some miniature bottles of something, the normal black sticky stuff, and some lozenges to ease the throat. That should have been it but when it came time to enter my phone number it was apparently registered to someone else, even though I'd already used it twice here before. Normally, such an exchange would be a delight for me but this morning I just wanted to get my medicine and be out of there. Finally she updated the system and I paid my 97 kuai. I walked back in the direction of the breakfast place but was coughing so much I didn't even go in for fear of being sick.
My cough drugs
I made it home and had a couple more sickly biscuits as I figured I needed the energy. Then opened one of the tiny phials of medicine and took a sip and it was fouler than anything I'd ever taken before, even as a kid. But maybe this meant it was effective, right? The lady had said that the box of 18 phials was enough for 3 days and said something about 2 of them per dose, which I guess made sense, so I downed a second one before washing it down with a capful of the infinitely nicer normal molasses-like stuff.
I was painfully tired so took a single Alprazolam as it was gone 11am now and so needed some sleep, even if not lying down. But annoyingly as I went to the loo my coughing got worse. So much so that indeed I did vomit again but luckily I was in the loo still. At least this time it was definitely down to the physical coughing and not boozing. I hoped the Alprazolam had already been ingested as I didn't want to waste another one. Now I felt hungry again and found the other sausage I'd bought from yesterday and heated it up and wolfed it down, followed by a yoghurt.
Back in bed I could feel I was knackered but coughing kept sleep at the front door. Only eventually after about an hour did I finally succumb and managed a coughless 3 hours I dearly needed.
I've been meaning to get a haircut for over a week now so a bit later I sauntered over to Lao Ma's while chatting to Awl on the phone. I realised my thick coat was actually thicker than most other people's, and that was pushing 17 degrees even at 7.30pm, so I must have been under the weather. I saw her shop was open and the lights were on so walked in and shouted "lao ban zai ma?" (is the boss around?) and out popped a young man who I sort of recognised but more guessed was her son Chen Chen, whom I'd not seen for 20 years! Well he recognised me and shook my hand and then gave me a hug.
We had a nice chat, and he explained that his mum was at some 喜酒 (literally wedding alcohol) ceremony. As far as I can ascertain, this term is used for a large event where over 100 people get together to eat and drink to celebrate one of three things: a wedding, a baby's 100th day in this world, or the opening of a business. So I knew she wouldn't be back for a while, and left Cheng Cheng (all these years I thought he was Chen Chen) saying if he was about on Saturday I'd see if he was about for a beer.
Me with Cheng Cheng in November 2003
Me with Cheng Cheng 21+ years later
Then, walking back while talking to Awl, I crossed paths with Juan, the alcohol seller I've known for a couple of years now, who asked why I hadn't told her I was coming back...I told her I hadn't really expected to, but mid-conversation Lao Ma called me to say she was back already and I could come for a haircut. So I cut all three conversations and headed back to Lao Ma's, calling Awl to explain what had happened. But before I even got to her salon I heard her shout out my name. We shook hands and had a little hug. Apparently Cheng Cheng had already gone home but Lao Ma hadn't drunk so I trusted her with my head. She just been to her old town to celebrate the opening of a friend's new business so I guess that fits in with one of the three reasons for 喜酒.
We had a nice chat for 10 mins while I got my haircut then I walked back via Guanmart where I picked up some medicine alcohol for the first time this trip. I was in no mood for drinking in my situation but I thought it might be more effective than the medicine I'd bought as I'd send the picture of it to Tan and she'd said it was all useless apart from the sweet stuff to sooth the throat. Yes, I'm literally blaming Tan for making me buy booze.
I'd resolved to stay at home for once and recuperate but a mate I didn't remember had invited me out to sing song at 9pm. I said if I could I'd make it out for a bit later, thus giving no expectations. I tried a sip of the medicine alcohol and recoiled. Not only was it 38% but it tasted worse than the actual medicine. Luckily I'd had the forethought to buy some 0 sugar cola and lemonade and that made it a bit more palatable, if less efficious at killing throat germs. But also it made me think twice about not going out. What's the worse that could happen? A couple of drinks, some smokey clothes? So I said I'd try to make in shortly and I was told to 过来 as per usual.
So I went over to Boss Zhou's place and up to the 3rd floor and it was as bad I as could have hoped...four pissed blokes, one of whom was already asleep, and a sober woman singing. Oh well, I joined in but didn't sing. I stuck to a few beers and they didn't make me drink more than I wanted to, and even though a couple of women joined us a bit later I made sure to leave soon after midnight and wasn't met with too much forcing to stay. Back home, for once I had no inclination to open another beer, and managed to fall asleep before 2am.
Well at least I'd had 6 hours of sleep in a row...the most since I'd got here, but I hoped I'd add to that tally a bit later. But after being sick last night I didn't fancy tempting fate by having an afternoon drink. And I knew I'd told Lin Hong I'd go to see her dance at 2pm today. So I picked up some jiaozi and two sausages for lunch as yet again I'd foregone breakfast, and was glad for some proper food for a change.
Oh, it would have been so easy to sleep for an hour or two but Lin Hong reminded me that we were to go to Li Jia He Xian, but at least it was 2.30pm instead of 2pm so I put my head down and nearly got a rest till 2.20. I got to the place on time but there were almost no cars parked outside. Inside, the woman at the reception said it was probably the other Li Jia He Xian, which I'd eaten at many time before, if not in the last few years, so went to set off there. I left to hear them saying "his Chinese is so good!" so even if the rest of the day turned out shit I'd have that to appreciate! Then, as I was getting on the bike, I heard her come outside and shout 先生！ we think you should go to the Pinglu hotel. This actually made sense as there they have a huge hall for such events. I thanked her and her colleague and made my way there.
Indeed this was the right place, the hall upstairs was nearly full, but I didn't want to enter on my own. That wasn't a problem though as I met two aunties I'd known from 21 years ago coming up the stairs. Then of course Lin Hong pinged me to say she was arriving. Yes, she'd sent me the wrong details and indeed she'd gone to the same place as me and was only just coming to the Pinglu hotel. Ha! Well that's just the way it is sometimes. So I met up with Lin Hong, who was dressed up to dance, but said it would be better if I sat with the other aunties as she was performing. So we walked in and we were found a few seats with other people they knew.
What turned out was quite weird. There was lots of cheering, and I joined in. People were walking to the stage and making speeches and I wasn't quite following, but kept up with the clapping anyway. Then it was the turn of some bloke in a white suit and trousers, and he was extolling the virtues of something called Angel Competition Chain. Jeez, the more I saw, the more I realised it was some sort of crypto venture/scam. They were comparing to the cost to ETH, and the TPS (transactions per second) to BSC, plus the cost of gas fees. Almost literally all the audience were oldish Guangxi folk who, without being patronising, don't know the first thing about the technicalities of cryptocurrencies. And after every few sentences, the people working for the place, wearing similar smart clothes, would whoop and clap, encouraging the locals to do the same.
Dodgy crypto spiel
I immediately turned off. I tried to search up ACC and found nothing in English, and very little in Chinese. Lin Hong had warned me to to invest in anything and I had absolutely no intention, and was just sad for the locals who might be intending to. It had the feeling of a Ponzi scheme even though I'd never experienced one. In the end the bloody pitch lasted 3 hours and I spent the whole time just trying to learn new words, and never clapped again after the first few minutes. Really sad, and 3 hours I'll not get back.
Finally, at 5.30pm Lin Hong's dance troupe managed a 3 minute number and that was it. She asked me to eat with them in a few minutes and indeed a few minutes later she came back to take me from the main hall to an adjoining one with fewer people where we actually had a decent meal. I was sitting with her husband but all the others were Bangxu dancers and only spoke in the local language with each other. It was fine of course, but I felt a bit out of sorts as the only conversation I could have was the type I started, and quite frankly they were laughing and joking so much between themselves I didn't want to intervene.
I don't understand a word but I love listening to them talk
Presently, a bloke from another table came to me to suggest a drink, but they only had baijiu. But I remembered I still had four cans of beer in the dian dong che from two nights ago when I lost at caima. So I suggested getting them and he didn't disagree. When I got back he showed a video from 2018 of me caimaiing with him. I wish I could say I remembered that, but I sort of pretended I did as I usually do, and we ended up having a couple of ganbeis until I moved to his table with more blokes.
Lin Hong and her table went to leave and she of course told me not to drink too much, and I promised I wouldn't. I was pretty much good to my word, but one of the other blokes, who looked like an aging rocker with long hair and a cool jacket, decided he'd prefer beer too. So that meant the 4 cans didn't last long but my mate bought another 6 of them and kept shaking my hands saying we were "good friends" due to that meeting 6 years ago. Well we had quite a few hands of caima but luckily that part of the hotel was closing down for the night so we left at 9pm and I made sure to tell the bloke that I'd got home safely.
All in all it was a relatively shitty pm up to now due to the 3 hours of crypto-bollocks. But I got in contact with Li Kun to ask if he could help with Xixi's order of some clothes from Taobao. I'm sure I could have done it but it was all in Chinese and one error could have led to an unhappy daughter. He said he was busy but to meet at Xiao Bai de Tian's shortly, so I didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
At getting on for 11pm I went to to Xiao Bai de Tian, after picking up more water for the house. Which meant picking up some beer too as I was out, not that I'd need any before going out. So I left to meet him soon after 11pm. Damn, I've started to have a bit of a cough...this is so normal here and generally happens after two weeks...can't think what could really have caused it. Anyway, although the place was absolutely full on a Monday night I had an excuse not to get on the stage. It was nice that Nong popped in for a quick drink as she'd been drinking next door.
I did remember to ask Li Kun to help me order Xixi's clothes; a hoody, two tee-shirts, and a pair of trousers for 400 kuai in total. I just hope they arrive in time. I would have done it myself but feared making silly mistakes and getting the wrong size etc..
Presently, I had to swap seats with Li Kun and caima with the young ladies at the next table, and they pretty much wiped the floor with me. For some reason, this time my caima foo has not been so good...I'm sure it's to do with not having "gum" available any more. But I was coughing more and more, and eventually excused myself at getting on for 1am, but not before I was able to pay 150 kuai for beers...bloody nothing in the scheme of things and I'm sure they made me a discount. That would have been two pints in my local in London.
Back home I pinged Li Kun to say I was home ok as is my wont now. But I was now properly coughing and couldn't even lay down so maybe dropped off for a bit at 3am.
Of course I was up around 6am and unguiltily finished off the beer I'd opened when got back as it helped me eventually get a little more kip, despite not having anything to eat. Well it helped me manage a bit more kip till getting on for midday, when Awl called as he wasn't sleeping at 4am, so we had a bit of a chat and as I knew I'd need some more kip I had a little V and cola as it was the afternoon too. I stupidly didn't have anything to eat though and couldn't push myself to go outside so just had a couple more crappy biscuits.
I was having fun though I suppose. But at 2.15pm I pinged Nong to see what she was doing. I didn't hear back but a few minutes later another friend pinged me to go for a bite. Fair enough. Then, of course, Nong pinged me soon after 3pm to ask what I was doing, then to invite me to afternoon KTV as you do. But as I was busy for a bit I told her I needed a bit of a siesta to which she said that wasn't ok but I know her better than that so a little after 4pm I told her I could come around.
I've got nothing against afternoon KTV...especially with my seemingly always jetlagged self. And I'd had a couple of drinks already, so a bit of beer wouldn't be a problem would it? And it was fun of course, even if I didn't do any singing for once. We finished KTV around 6pm and I met up with her for a bite to eat a little later, as one does.
Another afternoon KTV as you do
But I realised I'd not really had any proper food all day, so I headed home to see that I'd had another message from Nong. I pinged back and she was with friends and to come over as I'd not seen most of them so far this month. So I said I'd come over but the dian dong che was on charge, so in the end despite having drunk baijiu she came to pick me up, even though she said she was sending a didi che to get me. Whatever.
We drove to one of her friend's new office north of the guangchang, and immediately I knew 3/4 of the people there. It was one of those tables where each person has their own huoguo saucepan and you cook your own stuff. Lord knows I needed something to eat, so was grateful for the raw chicken even if it took 10 minutes to cook. One of the blokes was apparently the drum teacher from outside Pingguo, who was here to invigilate today's drumming exams, of which Nong's son was a student.
At Nong's friend's new office...huoguo for everyone
Well I did my best, although was really flagging after a rather taxing afternoon both physically and alcoholically. And I managed to ganbei everyone in the two hours or so I was there. I appreciate that Nong knows when I'm flagging and she appreciated that I wanted to walk the 20 minutes or so home, and didn't force a lift on me, just asking that I tell her when I was back. I do appreciate a friend like her...I've bloody known her for 18 years so she's really just a mate, but has her head screwed on more than most people here.
Back home I pinged that I was safe and she said she'd heard I'd gone out somewhere else again. Fair enough, on another evening I might have done but I was ensconced in bead with fatigue. I did allow myself a nightcap though, and think I dropped off some time after 2am, only to wake up half an hour later in a bit of a sweat. Then I had that horrid feeling that I've not had for years, and never in China. I felt physically sick, and went to the bathroom and yacked up for a minute or so. Not that much came out, suggesting I've not been eating enough, but I felt a lot better. Then I realised it was the family zoom so I thought I'd better join (without webcam) and managed till 3.40am.
It had been a long day, and probably too much booze, so I was glad to fall asleep at 4am and not get up till 10am. Not the greatest of sleeps, but probably the longest since I've been here this month.
Yet again I was up after little more than 4h30 minutes of sleep, but Awl was about so we had a chat and I stupidly had a couple of beers, during which I could hear the sound of little footsteps and then adult voices. Oh yes, Tan had called me last night to castigate me for using A Heng's wife's towel. Well I wasn't to know...it was just a towel...but apparently here that sort of thing is taken very personally. To be fair I have now found the towel I bought in the summer but it isn't as big as the one I used.... Anyway the family are back in the house and who knows for how long?
I had no particular reason to meet with them, so ended up getting back to sleep a couple of hours later. Then I woke to a banging at the door. I thought it was a dream but it persisted too long so I went to take a look and it was A Heng's wife. At least she didn't have a go at me for using her towel. It looked like the others were out now at least so I grabbed the rest of the chicken and duck from yesterday and wolfed it down. Well it had managed three meals at least so not bad for 30 kuai.
Haiwei had invited me to his mum's to speak English with his son this evening at 6.30pm so I hoped to get a couple of hours of shuteye in the afternoon but it wasn't to materialise. At least the others had gone out though so I went to grab a shower and of course had Haiwei leaving me a message to come over now and not in 30 minutes. Well it would have to wait, and when I did get there I wanted to pick up some fruit but could only find a bloke selling these huge things that I can't even name in English, so I picked up a half one for 110 kuai which I thought was a bit steep.
£13 for whatever this was seemed a bit steep
But anyway Haiwei was already at the main gate waiting for me so we went in and it was only four of us for once; his mum and his son and me. At least his son was a bit more talkative this time, so I'd justified my meal tonight. Earlier, Lin Hong had told me there was a caima competition tonight at the new place across the bridge, and she was to be dancing there, so I'd said I'd come, but knew plans could easily change. But at bang on 8pm she asked where I was so I told Haiwei I'd need to go, which mean finishing off only a third beer so I was a lot more sober than I'd have liked for a potential caima competition.
And when I got there I found it was in full swing, but Lin Hong said it wasn't too late for me to join so I wrote my Chinese name and phone number and within one minute I was called onto the stage. Shit, I had a pre-poured V&C in the back of the dian dong che but had no time for Dutch courage. Maybe that was a good thing, as I also had no time to worry. I leapt on stage and the bloke I had to battle broke into a massive grin when he saw who I was and just said "waiguoren!". Unfortunately for me it wasn't as simple as starting with "laiyouchek!" because the event was sponsored by Snowflake beer. So before caimai'ing we had to say ”雪花啤酒来酒来啊。。。“ but of course I screwed up the first time so I had to get the lady on stage to repeat what I needed to say. I managed it the second time but it knocked me off kilter a bit and I lost the first round. But at least I won the second to avoid a 3-0 defeat as my component won the next two to win 3-1. I "won" two cans for my efforts at least and when I got off-stage asked Lin Hong how much I should pay just for joining. Apparently nothing. Ok, I won't ask too many questions.
My first losing attempt
The winners of the rounds then went through to a knockout stage where they were placed in two teams each. By now I'd managed to sneak back to the dian dong che and sneak a bit of V&Cola. Not that I needed it but I thought there may be a chance I'd be asked back on stage.
But Lin Hong and her troupe put on a lovely dance and when they finished I guessed that was it for the evening. At least for those who had lost. But no! When the compere saw me leaving he pointed to me and said I had to come back on stage for a final battle! At least by now I was sort of ok with the idea, but I'd said I'd go and see Boss Zhou shortly. Anyway, I got back on stage (there were maybe between 100-200) people in the audience and sadly lost 3-0 to the next bloke. Then the compere started asking me a few questions on stage and I was happy I could understand them. I explained I was a "Bangxu guye" and I'd been coming to Pingguo for 21 years, and that Lin Hong was my Biao Jie and had just done a lovely dance. I think it went down ok, as I got applause from the audience. I also remembered to smile during the mini-interview, unlike a few days previously.
Lin Hong's dancing troupe
My prize for losing was a crate of Snowflake beer, which I made an effort to look surprised at, then accepted. If nothing else I'd held myself on stage, if not won, and come back with 16 cans of beer which I would take to Boss Zhou's place.
My second call onto stage and having to ask a few questions about why I was here
I really like Lin Hong. Outside of immediate family she really feels one of the closest. She seems to genuinely care about our wellbeing and therefore was understanding when I said I had to be somewhere else soon. Of course she told me not to drink to much and of course I told her I wouldn't, and of course I probably would...but it would only be 2.8% beer that I was taking there. She didn't seem to complain about me downing a can of the stuff on stage for losing!
I got to Boss Zhou's around 10pm I guess and they were in fine fettle. It was nice to be able to bring a crate of beers and we actually got into it as well as some blokes moved from the baijiu to something weaker.
Enjoying a bite to eat at Boss Zhou's chamber of commerce
But when Li Kun asked me to go to Xiao Bai de Tian I thought that was a much better alternative...not a sausagefest at least. So I told A Wu I'd pop out and he said they'd also pop out and I should meet them soon in the bar I'd been in with Li Kun the other week. Oh, it was going to be one of those evenings...and why not!?
So I met up with Li Kun at Xiao Bai de Tian's and after an hour I guess I'd had enough to fulfil the promise I'd made to Xiao Bai that I'd sing a Chinese song. Despite the fact that Leilei had appropriated my guitar in the UK, I'd managed enough practice here that my callouses were starting to come back. Not enough, but more importantly I'd been practising the line “早习惯穿梭充满诱惑的黑夜”, which has been a bugbear for me. But knowing I mightn't come back here any time soon, after a toilet break I sat on the stage and brought out the lyrics.
You can't avoid seeing eight people filming you while singing, but you can sort of ignore them if you get into it. I hope it was ok. I then was asked to do some English songs so did the usual S&G ones and it seemed appreciated. Then I did go to see A Wu and mates but was getting late and I didn't fancy getting on the stage there so just stayed half an hour before checking with Li Kun if he was still at Xiao Bai de Tian's at 1.30am. Indeed he was, so I headed back there for only half an hour or so, enough time to meet some more people, one of whom was a women of not yet 20 years old. Jeez...she's not that much older than Xixi, and I ganbeid with her.
With the owners of the joint enjoying a last beer
It wasn't much longer that I got back around 2am and got to sleep pronto. But another really full day which is one of the main reasons I come here.
With the help of a pill I managed to sleep till 6am, so still only four hours, but I had nothing planned so knew a siesta would be in the offing. So a bit later I went for a walk and managed getting on for 5km before deciding to realise breakfast for a change, as I remembered I'd not been to the sweetcorn soup place at all this year. The lady remembered me of course and was happy as I was the only customer there, but was happy to sit down to my lovely yumi tang and fried egg.
First visit to the yumi tang place for over a year
My favourite soup - yumi tang
5.68km, 7988 steps, 1h2m, 1 nice Chinese breakfast
I remembered to pick up some fabric conditioner at Guanmart and was home too early to consider anything as silly as a beer, so made an effort to get through a set of dumbbell exercises for the next 50 minutes or so until it was nearly 12.30pm. That sort of justified liquid refreshment but after a couple I realised I should really eat, and should find something more protein-rich than the usual jiaozi or xiaolongbao. So after a bit of a walk I found the place I'd got half a duck from in the summer, and found he conveniently had two duck legs and a portion of chicken breast. Perfect. He cut them up and heated them and it came to 30 kuai. Only 10 kuai more than my breakfast but a lot more than I could eat in one sitting so at least I'd have something left over for tonight if necessary.
But it wasn't necessary as after a good three hour siesta A Wu pinged me to ask where I was, which really meant to go to the chamber of commerce to eat with Boss Zhou. I unhurriedly had a shower and a beer and made my way over around 8pm to be fashionably late, and Boss Zhou slightly annoyingly put some of the most expensive cuts of duck in my bowl...the bits with the most skin and bones, and I politely thanked him and tried to tuck in. Needless to say the evening dissolved into more food and booze and presently we went to a KTV room.
Another fine meal at Boss Zhou's chamber of commerce
I didn't even ask which animals were pickled in this alcohol
I don't know who pays for these things...I guess A Wu and Boss Zhou do some sort of business together but it's not my business to know the details. But as happens, I ended up in another room, and maybe another...they start to blend into each other. Nong pinged to arrange to sing song too, but in the end she said there were too many people where I was, and anyway by now it was gone midnight. I realised despite my siesta I was tiring and the beer had finally got to me. So I left at 1.30am and once again was asleep shortly after 2am.
Of course I was up at 8.30am wide a-bloody-wake. I did ping Nong as she'd said to meet up in the morning and I was sort of glad she suggested the afternoon as it would be easy to get back to sleep wouldn't it? Yeah right. At lunch I went out early and got a portion of jiaozi and xiao long bao and managed most of them, washed down with a couple of drinks as I knew the night wouldn't happen if I didn't get some more sleep. And eventually I managed from 3-6pm after a slight pill.
Well finally I didn't have a plan for tonight so finished of the xiao long bao. Then at gone 8.30pm Nong pinged to say it was her elder sister's birthday and was I coming over? Well why not? I asked what I should bring and she said to get some flowers so I grabbed a shower and picked up some beers before going to the flower shop where I picked out some purple and pink ones and the ladies arranged a bouquet and charged me 128 kuai for the effort.
During this time Li Kun sent me a link to the article about yesterday's concert, together with four mini-commentaries from the performers and two members of the public of which I was one. Gosh, it was pretty unnatural from me, but also the locals didn't seem that natural either. Interestingly, I was simply name as 彭先生 (Mr Peng) on the tv and there was no mention of my origins or anything, just as if I was a normal member of the audience, which I was really.
Totally unscripted praise of the concert...I wish I could have smiled while talking...
...well the one shot they put of me in the article sort of caught a smile
Luckily, Nong's sister loved the flowers and posed for pictures with them, and I'd thought to bring some sweets and toys for the youngsters too. Well that was dinner sorted, as we had some of Nong's mum's sheep feet and duck, plus a single glass of her yellowskin fruit alcohol which I found rather palatable.
Nong's sister's husband had clearly had a few beers and stumbled to the settee to watch his phone but soon fell asleep to it. Nong tried to make plans to go to KTV but surprisingly couldn't find people who weren't already busy, so at gone midnight we started to wind down. In fact that wasn't a bad thing at all as I recognised that I was starting to flag too, so left at 1am before a brief chat with the lads as sleep set in bang on 2am.
Well I almost had a normal night's sleep...certainly the most normal since being here. It was a bit fractured but I was up by 9am. But I realised I had no more money in Weixin and certainly no cash. I had sent some to Li Kun last night but I guess it was too late so I pinged him at lunchtime as I needed a bite to eat. At least he confirmed that he'd received it but wouldn't be able to send till 5pm as he was driving/working till then. But luckily I found a pack of instant noodles that I bought in the summer as a pack of four came with a free bowl. I wouldn't normally do this many carbs but I'd not had breakfast and it was now the afternoon and I was hankering after a nap again so I had them with a couple of beers.
And I even managed nearly an hour nap too, when at one minute to 5pm Li Kun sent through the money. I asked him what his plans were for tonight and he said he was performing at a concert. Oh, I thought he might have told me about that before. I didn't have any plans so asked if I could go and of course I could, but it wasn't to start till 7.30. No probs, I had a couple of phone calls to make and in the end only just got there to see him playing the drums to music teacher singing with the guitar. But this wasn't his main appearance - that was next when he played the flute to accompany a lady on the zither very nicely.
Li Kun playing the flute
It was a professional show, with all the lighting and production you might expect for a huge audience but there were maybe only 50 people in total watching and I felt a bit bad as during the whole show there were far many more performers than audience. Still, I'm a little bit used to that now and I think some people like being on the stage. I almost get it now that I've had to do it. Of course half an hour after I arrived I got a message from Huang Qian asking me to go to sing song in a bit and I said I should be able to. But Li Kun had said we'd be going for a drink after the performance and I didn't know when that would end. Well actually it ended under an hour after I got there, but Li Kun told me the people filming it wanted me to give a little interview.
One of the performers doing her interview before me
Jeez, I sneaked back to the bike where I'd planted a little drink and had a sip. But only a sip...I shouldn't need Dutch courage to say a few words. The woman from the tv then showed me the words she wanted to say on her phone. Err...they were all in Chinese characters of course but actually I could understand most of them: 我想来通过这场演出更深入地感受那段光辉岁月，而且这样的文化活动也丰富了我们的精神生活，所以就来啦 - actually I knew all but 5 of them but I wasn't going to remember this or be confident, so I got her to add me to Weixin and send me the text so I could translate it to pinyin to be on the safe side. I really hope that soon I won't have to do this...and in fact I would have preferred to have a more natural question and answer session rather than reading some prepared text. I sent the text to Tan and she said the same...that it sounded a bit ridiculous coming from me. I hadn't realised that this performance was some sort of 95th anniversary thing for some cultural phenomenon.
Anyway I tried to rehearse my line while a couple of the other performers were being interviewed, and I made a point of congratulating one of the ladies for her powerful singing performance. When it finally got to my time we did a couple of takes but I said it looked unnatural, which it did because it was. So we did a last take that they seemed to like. Oh yes, it was the answer to the question "Why did you come to watch this benefit performance commemorating the 95th anniversary of the Baise Uprising?", and my answer was "I want to experience that glorious period more deeply through this performance, and such cultural activities also enrich our spiritual life, so I came.". Damn, now I really wish I'd just answered naturally...did I really want to experience that glorious period therefore I came?
By this time Li Kun's wife had taken their younger two back home, so I took Li Kun to his studio on my dian dong che and realised the batteries are pretty much knackered. They had only just been filled and were having trouble getting both of us back, even though we only weigh about 160 jin each. Well, it won't we worth doing in the 11 days I have left here, but hopefully will last that long. Then I think it will be bye bye bike, sadly.
Once back at Li Kun's he went out to buy a fish and then came back to bring out some beers. Luo and Meng turned up a few minutes later and we cracked open a couple as you do. I realised I hadn't eaten since lunch and was bloody starving, so waited patiently till the fish was fried, but that wasn't it. Li Kun then added a load of water to make fish soup so it took another 20 minutes before it was ready but it was bloody good. We then added raw fish for 20 seconds before dipping it into a mix of oil and vinegar and grass of some sort. It didn't totally fill me up but filled a bit of a hole. But I said I needed to go to see Huang Qian who was with Haiwei and his girlfriend as usual, and of course there was no problem as it was already gone 10.30pm.
Fried fish...soon to be soup
Of course I took the wrong lift and ended up at a massage place. As nice as it might have been to stay there they showed me where I should be, so I went down again and as I passed the car park I heard my name called. It was Ling Ming...he was on his bike waiting for his wife to pick up some food for their son. We ended up chatting for a good 5 minutes and he jokingly had a go at me for "secretly" coming back to China. He's really busy with work at the moment but I said if he had a spare evening to give me a call and go for a beer. Then his wife materialised and we had another 5 minute chat but I realised I was being late for KTV.
So finally upstairs at nearly 11pm I found the room and there was applause as I walked in. And ganbeis and caima and then I realised I had forgotten it was Huang Qian's 40th birthday celebration and I hadn't even brought a present.... Not that the others had either I suppose...and I had given her a box of chocolates when we ate at her place last week. But no longer had I got there than Nong video-called me from another KTV to ask me to come over. Ha...typical...I said the usual 等一下 which meant a bit later. And I intended to, but I wasn't going to leave a birthday celebration so soon.
Huang Qian and Baoli singing at the former's birthday party
So I did my usual Pengyou and No Matter What, and Qian's parents seemed to appreciate it and shook my hand. Gosh, I hope they don't think I'm a potential partner...I don't know if she's had a past but a 40 year-old without kids in China is a worry to their parents. At least the others knew about Tan. We ended up caimaiing in order to get through the rest of the beers as I was being asked where I was, so I finally left at 1am to go to the usual KTV place that Boss Zhou owns. A Wu was there, but other than Nong I didn't know anyone else. I went through the same repertoire as about an hour ago to their delight, but then a couple more women came in and we started dancing in a way I haven't done for bloody years. Why not? We finally left at 2.30am when the women decided to go for zhou. A Wu and the other bloke were nowhere to be seen, so I headed off home and managed to stay up to watch the crap that was City losing 2-0 at Juventus. We were the better team, but looked devoid of ideas in front of goal...oh well...it was a great few years. Finally asleep at 6am for my sins.
Jeez of course I was up at 6.30am as awake as a button. It didn't make sense as it was 10.30pm in the UK so I wasn't on their time. I guess waking up at 6.30am isn't that bad really, but I knew I'd have to negotiate more sleep some time. I ended up using the "it's 10.30pm in the UK" excuse to finish off what I hadn't finished last night but I was still awake at 9.15am when the American football started and I managed to get about halfway before dropping off again. To my horror it was 3.45pm when I awoke. Now I really was worried that I was back in UK time. But at least I hadn't taken any sleeping pills.
I recalled that on Sunday at Li Kun's place the northern bloke had invited me to his to eat today. But I'd not heard from him so I put that chance at 15% due 100% to experience. Drunken invitations are like that, unless they are from one of my five main friends. So if anything else was to turn up this evening I'd go for it.
I managed a boiled egg and tiny sausage I'd picked up at the supermarket the other day. Then at 5.15pm A Wu asked where I was and I said I was home, so he said to go to eat at the chamber of commerce. Fair enough, I knew this meant Boss Zhou's office but I'm still not sure if this is really an on-running joke or not. I asked when to go and he said "now" but I knew this wouldn't be the case. Indeed he said he'd come to pick me up but I said I needed a shower first. So he said ok he'd pick up the kids first and I said we could meet up at 6pm but then he countered with 6.30 and I knew I wouldn't be there till 7pm.
That gave me time to have a beer and chat with Awl, and this time I brought my remaining bottle of booze as a present; Bombay Sapphire is generally a good one as it looks good on the shelf. Boss Zhou was happy to see it, and I was happy not to have broken it on the journey over. I was the last to turn up and sat next to Boss Zhou and immediately beers were ganbei'd.
Boss meal at Boss Zhou's in full swing
Of course it was fantastic food and I loved the raw fish particularly. But I also noticed despite being only 2.5% I was feeling a little drunk, so at around 8.30pm I did what is perfectly acceptable here and found and easy chair and lay down in it pretending to sleep...but really just avoiding beer for 45 minutes or so. I got up and re-joined as if nothing had happened (well, it hadn't), and a few minutes later it was A Wu's turn to lie down but he really did sleep and snored too to prove it. But he came back to the table too to continue drinking and a very jolly time was had by all, including the two banking partners in their suits. At around midnight I gave A Wu a lift back home and finally home I must have taken some melatonin as I was asleep by 1am according to my app.
Well I fell asleep to American football by 3am but at 7am I was wide awake yet again. I considered going for a long walk but instead had a single Alprazolam at 8am and slept till 11.30, and then 12.50. I'm sure it's a mixture of the jetlag and the drug rather than the drug itself. But I was refreshed at least, and managed to get out to eat a portion of jiaozi at the usual place. Apparently the owner isn't in France for two months, but rather in her home town till the New Year. I'm absolutely sure they said France the other day but I guess that might have another meaning....
Anyway, A Xia had been in contact with me on Saturday to collect some clothes for Tan "tomorrow" and tomorrow was yesterday so I pinged her to see if today would be convenient. It would indeed and she was on her way to her shop that she no longer works at, but rather lets out. I had already started a dumbbell workout and just remembered I'd need to register myself, so asked if she'd still be there at 4.30. She said she should be but I felt a bit bad so I said I'd be there in under an hour, and finished my workout (it was tough but not as tough as when it's in the high 30s) and grabbed a shower, this time in the main bedroom en suite, and left at 3.30 only to find she'd changed the front of the shop so I didn't know where I was. Luckily I found the ding wei from last year and found I was outside it when she came out with a massive bin bag of clothes and other stuff for Tan. Such is the cost of coming here by myself this time....
I am such a wally...I brought a tub of creatine on the left, not knowing there was still a tub (middle) and I also brought a bag of the stuff thinking it was protein powder (which I don't have any of)...more first world problems I guess...
I had time to drop off the clothes and make it to the police station just after 4pm to get registered by Xiao Mong as usual for the last couple of years. As Li Kun had confirmed Luo Xiaoping's invitation I knew I'd be meeting up with him in over an hour so I thought better than to go for an hour's piano practice and instead went to the supermarket and bought some drink instead. When I got home I found in the freezer a full 500cl bottle of Sprite which wasn't frozen. This could only mean one thing; I'd left half a litre of booze and indeed it smelt like gin. There was only one way to be sure though so I poured some and mixed it with lemonade and indeed it was. Then Awl called and we spent 45 minutes chatting while I should really have been doing some guitar practice as I feared I'd be called up later tonight.
But anyway instead of going to Li Kun's to meet him, he turned up outside Yu Jin Hua Ting and I met him there 30 minutes later than planned. He was in his car with his wife and two younger kids and they didn't seem too excited to see me, rather it was just this normal "uncle" who looks a bit different. We drove to the complex just north of the guangchang and Li Kun showed me that he worked in that big building. We pulled up outside after negotiating with a worker who'd parked her bike there to do some cleaning, and were the first ones to arrive at Luo's place on the 25th floor.
Li Kun brewed some white tea and us three blokes sat down to drink and I did ask why the women couldn't join us but that was met by a wave of the hand. I'm not imposing western standards here and I've been in many places where ladies have not just partaken in tea but led the ceremony. But it seemed this pre-prandial tea session was to be men-only. And it was lovely tea. I have so much tea back home in the UK that has been given as presents but none of this variety. First world problems.
Nice night scene from Luo's place
Music teacher, Luo's wife, Luo, Ma, Meng, Li Kun - great ingredients for a great meal
Music teacher turned up, then A Meng and we were presently called to table for yet another family feast. During the meal Li Kun's kids constantly called for me to play games with them and I spent a good deal of time buying turtles with his son from his daughter, and getting free eggs. And we would feed the eggs to the turtles. Not real turtles or eggs (although the money was real), but it was really fun...at least for the first three or four times...then it became a bit tedious for me but obviously not for them. So I went back to the table only to be pulled back a few minutes later. At least it slowed down my drinking a little.
A Meng's wife joined us and got through a whole bottle (50cl) of 10% something-or-other before moving on to some white alcohol, and us blokes got through more 2.5% beer than would be healthy had it been twice as strong, and a hearty time was had by all! Two or three meals like this (that I've already had) is more than enough to justify the expense of coming here. Li Kun received a message and said that at 10pm we'd go to Xiao Bai de Tian, but no-one moved till we finished the beers that were on the table (in good tradition) until 10.30pm.
Walking back with Li Kun's daughter
Mates at Xiao Bai de Tian's
Thankfully Li Kun's wife drives, and drove us to Xiao Bai de Tian's where the owner (Xiao Bai's husband) was sitting with a couple of blokes in the otherwise empty bar. We said we'd only stay till midnight but a couple more blokes turned up and the boss brought out more beer and food and Li Kun went home to pick up his motorbike. Only at gone 1am did we leave and I got on the back of Li Kun's bike. At least I managed to get to sleep around 2.30am after a chat with Mat and Awl.
