Apparently now the power cut will be on the 13th, not today. That's handy. There is a new eatery opened up just around the corner from our block so I decided to give it a go at 2pm when peckish and there was nothing to steal from the fridge. Had a very passable goose and rice together with soup, greens and some other vegetable that was 99.9% water but refreshing. Busy all the rest of the day till 11.30pm but managed to get an hour to have a meal out in the evening with Lao Pan and all the ladies.
Finally got five minutes of rain today. Very comfortable to be a few degrees cooler today at the cost of higher humidity.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Tan back and another power cut
Tan came back around lunchtime, which was nice, though she was very sweaty from the 100 yard walk from the san lun che to our front door. I have been told that there will be a power cut tomorrow from morning till 10 in the evening. This will not do. I will have to go to Nanning in that case to be able to work. At least Er Jie has a house there. She said she would give me the key but that someone else would have to pick me up in Nanning, or go with me from Pingguo. Why? If I have the address most taxi drivers will get me there in five minutes, surely?
No let up on the heat. I think that all the air-conditioning units have helped use up the electricity supply here hence the planned cut. We do have a large damn just outside Pingguo that apparently provides a healthy percentage of the electricity needs, but this is one of the hotter summers on record - even Beijing has reports of 40+ degrees so imagine what it's like here.
No let up on the heat. I think that all the air-conditioning units have helped use up the electricity supply here hence the planned cut. We do have a large damn just outside Pingguo that apparently provides a healthy percentage of the electricity needs, but this is one of the hotter summers on record - even Beijing has reports of 40+ degrees so imagine what it's like here.
Wild cat or wildcat
At 5pm Jiuma said she was going to the house to have a look at progress so I said I'd come with her. Xixi had been asleep since 3pm but Leilei had just fallen asleep half an hour ago so was impossible to get up. So I went on the bike with Xixi to check on progress. Most of the walls have had their first coat of white paint now, which makes a significant difference to concrete colour. The main toilet is mostly tiled and the ensuite bathroom is in progress so nice to see. Still no chance of the three weeks work that Tan reckoned, unless they finish in four days' time.
Bathroom coming along nicely
Living room looking better in white
One of the workers doing the ensuite bathroom
A Wu called while I was at the house to invite me to "eat snake". It was a family affair apparently instead of a mafia one. I told him that would be nice, and that I'd need to go home and get a shower and do the same for Leilei, then we'd take the bike over to the snake restaurant. Must have been called five times in the next half an hour asking where I was and telling me to "kuai yi dian!". He hasn't learnt that if you want to invite someone for a meal you don't do so fifteen minutes before it is being served. Embarrassingly I got a little lost on the way there so we turned up fifteen minutes later than I thought. But it was fine and I was treated to a sumptious meal of snake soup with snake balls (not testicles, more like normal meatballs), a plate of snake skin and another of snake meat from the tail end. The snake was good but the highlight for me was the "ye mao", or wild cat. I think they meant "wild cat" as opposed to "wildcat" which sounds like an American Football team. I imagine this was more of a stray. Also the minced "hong mao ji" (red-feathered hen) was really nice.
Got a call from Tan at 10pm saying she'd just arrived at Nanning 90 minutes late so would stay the night there with friends. Then Lu Hai rang up and asked if I wanted to watch the footy with him. I said I wasn't sure I would make it but would call him later. Leilei didn't sleep till gone midnight and as I was still awake I rang up Lu Hai and we arranged to meet at the seafood place outside our house after 2am. There were still quite a few people outside on the streets watching the telly on projected screens or large LCD tvs, and I managed to stay up to see Spain defeat Germany 1-0 exactly as I had predicted, while at the same time enjoying some nice prawns.
Bathroom coming along nicely
Living room looking better in white
One of the workers doing the ensuite bathroomA Wu called while I was at the house to invite me to "eat snake". It was a family affair apparently instead of a mafia one. I told him that would be nice, and that I'd need to go home and get a shower and do the same for Leilei, then we'd take the bike over to the snake restaurant. Must have been called five times in the next half an hour asking where I was and telling me to "kuai yi dian!". He hasn't learnt that if you want to invite someone for a meal you don't do so fifteen minutes before it is being served. Embarrassingly I got a little lost on the way there so we turned up fifteen minutes later than I thought. But it was fine and I was treated to a sumptious meal of snake soup with snake balls (not testicles, more like normal meatballs), a plate of snake skin and another of snake meat from the tail end. The snake was good but the highlight for me was the "ye mao", or wild cat. I think they meant "wild cat" as opposed to "wildcat" which sounds like an American Football team. I imagine this was more of a stray. Also the minced "hong mao ji" (red-feathered hen) was really nice.
Got a call from Tan at 10pm saying she'd just arrived at Nanning 90 minutes late so would stay the night there with friends. Then Lu Hai rang up and asked if I wanted to watch the footy with him. I said I wasn't sure I would make it but would call him later. Leilei didn't sleep till gone midnight and as I was still awake I rang up Lu Hai and we arranged to meet at the seafood place outside our house after 2am. There were still quite a few people outside on the streets watching the telly on projected screens or large LCD tvs, and I managed to stay up to see Spain defeat Germany 1-0 exactly as I had predicted, while at the same time enjoying some nice prawns.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
House becoming homely
Kids slept in late and so did I for the first time in a long time. Had a lot of work to catch up on but late morning got a call from Tan saying I needed to take the wire I bought a couple of weeks ago for charging the bike to the house. I also had to buy a light, as the workers wanted to lay the tiles to the bathrooms but the ensuite one was too dark and there was no electricity. I wasn't sure how the 15 metre length of wire would help if there is no leccy but couldn't be bothered to ask. I got Xixi on the bike and tried to leave as Leilei was watching something with Chuan Chuan on the computer but he sensed he was missing out and cried when I said there wasn't enough space and he could come next time. We drove to one of the shops I frequent that sells diy stuff and they found me a bright bulb and an adapter so you could plug it in to any mains - 8 kuai for both, then we delivered it to the house where Lin Hong was waiting for us. Finally they have started painting the walls and it is just starting to look a little homely.
Slowly getting there
Hadn't heard from A Wu for a while so it wasn't a surprise when he called at 9pm asking me to go out with him to sing song. I haven't been out for a while so said I wouldn't mind but that I was busy at the moment so I'd get back to him. Then I realised I needed to get some cream for Leilei's mosquito bites. He has a great many and it's horrible to see as a parent. I keep the anti-mosquito thing burning at night and electrify any I find flying around with the cool electric tennis raquet that kills them instantly with a satisfying "bang!". I found a chemist two minutes away and asked for the "Li Yao Gao". They had small pots of the stuff for only 2 kuai so I bought five and adminstered them over Leilei's body.
Actually finished what I was doing by half ten so I took the bike down to the normal KTV place where one of the lovely ladies at the door, adorned in a purple full-length dress with no sleeves, ushered me to one of the big rooms that was filled with about thirty people mostly around my age, with a couple of kids. I was a bit shocked at how drunk they all seemed to be (not the kids). The women (whose husbands were all there) all came up to me with bottles of beer (luckily 330ml) asking me to gan bei with them. I managed three of the small bottles but was full of fizz and couldn't manage any more. One particularly drunk man was trying to get me to dance with the women, so instead I did my party piece of singing "You Are My Rose" and "Friend", then even A Wu looked uncomfortable at the inebriated state of most of these people, especially in front of the kids, so we made a hasty exit and went to sit outside at the seafood place near our house where some friends were, and had a more civilised time until midnight when Waipo rang me up to say Leilei wasn't sleeping. So I said my goodbyes and got home two minutes later to find him sound asleep with Xixi. Although tired, I somehow managed to stay up to watch the Uruguay - Holland semi final. I'd put a quid on 3-3 at 100-1. With just a couple of minutes left Uruguay came back to 3-2 so it was an exciting last part of the game. I predict 2-1 Germany over Spain tomorrow.
Slowly getting thereHadn't heard from A Wu for a while so it wasn't a surprise when he called at 9pm asking me to go out with him to sing song. I haven't been out for a while so said I wouldn't mind but that I was busy at the moment so I'd get back to him. Then I realised I needed to get some cream for Leilei's mosquito bites. He has a great many and it's horrible to see as a parent. I keep the anti-mosquito thing burning at night and electrify any I find flying around with the cool electric tennis raquet that kills them instantly with a satisfying "bang!". I found a chemist two minutes away and asked for the "Li Yao Gao". They had small pots of the stuff for only 2 kuai so I bought five and adminstered them over Leilei's body.
Actually finished what I was doing by half ten so I took the bike down to the normal KTV place where one of the lovely ladies at the door, adorned in a purple full-length dress with no sleeves, ushered me to one of the big rooms that was filled with about thirty people mostly around my age, with a couple of kids. I was a bit shocked at how drunk they all seemed to be (not the kids). The women (whose husbands were all there) all came up to me with bottles of beer (luckily 330ml) asking me to gan bei with them. I managed three of the small bottles but was full of fizz and couldn't manage any more. One particularly drunk man was trying to get me to dance with the women, so instead I did my party piece of singing "You Are My Rose" and "Friend", then even A Wu looked uncomfortable at the inebriated state of most of these people, especially in front of the kids, so we made a hasty exit and went to sit outside at the seafood place near our house where some friends were, and had a more civilised time until midnight when Waipo rang me up to say Leilei wasn't sleeping. So I said my goodbyes and got home two minutes later to find him sound asleep with Xixi. Although tired, I somehow managed to stay up to watch the Uruguay - Holland semi final. I'd put a quid on 3-3 at 100-1. With just a couple of minutes left Uruguay came back to 3-2 so it was an exciting last part of the game. I predict 2-1 Germany over Spain tomorrow.
Monday, July 05, 2010
Red water
Up at just gone 7am to prepare the kids for school. Neither wanted to go but they love riding the bike so at least it's easy to get them there. At Xixi's classroom the teacher tried to explain to me that I needed to go to the main office because school was breaking up today due to "Hongshui", which means "red water". They weren't supposed to break up till 15th July, and this is annoying as Tan is away till Wednesday evening and I will be quite busy. Up at Leilei's classroom the teacher corroborated Xixi's teacher's red water story, and as if to prove it handed me 40+ kuai in some sort of recompense. The teacher did say that the kids could come back on 19th July for "preparation" classes for the next year, designed mainly to help with working parents I gather.
So I went to the main office and asked about this mysterious red water, expecting them to give me back some of the money I'd paid for Xixi. But they didn't, and I didn't want to make a fuss over a few quid. I still didn't understand the evil red water that was shutting down the school two weeks early.
After the school run I went to check on the house. The tiles have been delivered but more importantly the floor had been concreted and things were just starting to look a bit different as both the bathrooms had doors fitted. Lin Hong first took me to the 9th floor to look at an identical flat. Identical that was until the owners decided to move the door of the middle bedroom a few feet to the right. They had simply concreted up the doorway that was and cut a doorway out further up the wall. When I asked why Lin Hong explained that the door had been opposite the front door and that was not good feng shui. She asked if I wanted to do the same thing and I laughed and said "bu yao!". She saw the funny side too but I presume she took me to this flat to genuinely ask if I wanted the same thing done to ours.
All those pipes now covered by concrete - too late to ask for the ethernet cable...
At home Tan rang during a break in her class. She had been learning how to wash faces, and said that it was really interesting, and said she could give me one. We'll see. I explained about the school closing early and discovered that it was hong with the second, rising, tone - not hong with the third down-and-up tone. This "hongshui" means flood. This goes to show how important it is to get your tones right in Chinese. Ok, I knew that the red water wasn't responsible for closing down the school now but it hasn't rained here for over a week, and today is the hottest day so far at 37 degrees C. Are they expecting torrential downpours tomorrow? I knew it was 37 degrees as Er Jie rang me up at lunchtime to ask me if the school had air conditioning. I said it didn't and she told me I should take the kids home as it would be too hot. I said I wouldn't as they have fans and that none of the other kids would come home. Yes, they'll get a bit sweaty but that's part of life here.
Later Waipo was calling me in the house. Jiuma (Tan's brother's wife who now also seems to be living in the house) was in our new house, and had left the key inside while going out to chat on the phone. As luck would have it the only breeze to brace Pingguo in the last week had turned up on the 14th floor and nudged our front door closed locking her out. So she'd called Waipo and Waipo was now panicking asking if I had the other key. When I finally worked out what she was talking about I said I didn't have the key, but maybe Lin Hong did, or would know its whereabouts. Waipo shouted that Lin Hong was in Bangxu and couldn't get back. I asked whether Lin Hong had the key but again Waipo shouted that she was in Bangxu. I thought I was being misunderstood so I asked in very clear Chinese: "Lin Hong you mei you di er ge yao shi?", but still Waipo said she was in Bangxu as if I was asking where she was.
Then it dawned on me to call Lin Hong myself but both her phones were engaged. As Waipo was getting more animated I said I'd go to the house to see what I could do. On the way Lin Hong returned my missed call but the line was so bad I could hardly hear a word. In case she could hear me I shouted that I was going to the house, and that if she didn't have the second key on her person could she arrange for the person who did have it to bring it there? I met Jiuma at the house a bit later and explained I'd tried to speak to Lin Hong, whom I rang again and when she answered passed the phone to Jiuma. It transpired that the second key was indeed in Pingguo and the worker was coming over to deliver it. So we went up to the 14th floor to wait and lo and behold when we got there the door was open and the workers were there working.... Apparently the bloke with the second key had turned up two minutes after my call to Lin Hong. Jiuma looked slightly sheepish as she picked up her purse with the key in it.
So I went to the main office and asked about this mysterious red water, expecting them to give me back some of the money I'd paid for Xixi. But they didn't, and I didn't want to make a fuss over a few quid. I still didn't understand the evil red water that was shutting down the school two weeks early.
After the school run I went to check on the house. The tiles have been delivered but more importantly the floor had been concreted and things were just starting to look a bit different as both the bathrooms had doors fitted. Lin Hong first took me to the 9th floor to look at an identical flat. Identical that was until the owners decided to move the door of the middle bedroom a few feet to the right. They had simply concreted up the doorway that was and cut a doorway out further up the wall. When I asked why Lin Hong explained that the door had been opposite the front door and that was not good feng shui. She asked if I wanted to do the same thing and I laughed and said "bu yao!". She saw the funny side too but I presume she took me to this flat to genuinely ask if I wanted the same thing done to ours.
All those pipes now covered by concrete - too late to ask for the ethernet cable...At home Tan rang during a break in her class. She had been learning how to wash faces, and said that it was really interesting, and said she could give me one. We'll see. I explained about the school closing early and discovered that it was hong with the second, rising, tone - not hong with the third down-and-up tone. This "hongshui" means flood. This goes to show how important it is to get your tones right in Chinese. Ok, I knew that the red water wasn't responsible for closing down the school now but it hasn't rained here for over a week, and today is the hottest day so far at 37 degrees C. Are they expecting torrential downpours tomorrow? I knew it was 37 degrees as Er Jie rang me up at lunchtime to ask me if the school had air conditioning. I said it didn't and she told me I should take the kids home as it would be too hot. I said I wouldn't as they have fans and that none of the other kids would come home. Yes, they'll get a bit sweaty but that's part of life here.
Later Waipo was calling me in the house. Jiuma (Tan's brother's wife who now also seems to be living in the house) was in our new house, and had left the key inside while going out to chat on the phone. As luck would have it the only breeze to brace Pingguo in the last week had turned up on the 14th floor and nudged our front door closed locking her out. So she'd called Waipo and Waipo was now panicking asking if I had the other key. When I finally worked out what she was talking about I said I didn't have the key, but maybe Lin Hong did, or would know its whereabouts. Waipo shouted that Lin Hong was in Bangxu and couldn't get back. I asked whether Lin Hong had the key but again Waipo shouted that she was in Bangxu. I thought I was being misunderstood so I asked in very clear Chinese: "Lin Hong you mei you di er ge yao shi?", but still Waipo said she was in Bangxu as if I was asking where she was.
Then it dawned on me to call Lin Hong myself but both her phones were engaged. As Waipo was getting more animated I said I'd go to the house to see what I could do. On the way Lin Hong returned my missed call but the line was so bad I could hardly hear a word. In case she could hear me I shouted that I was going to the house, and that if she didn't have the second key on her person could she arrange for the person who did have it to bring it there? I met Jiuma at the house a bit later and explained I'd tried to speak to Lin Hong, whom I rang again and when she answered passed the phone to Jiuma. It transpired that the second key was indeed in Pingguo and the worker was coming over to deliver it. So we went up to the 14th floor to wait and lo and behold when we got there the door was open and the workers were there working.... Apparently the bloke with the second key had turned up two minutes after my call to Lin Hong. Jiuma looked slightly sheepish as she picked up her purse with the key in it.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Tan to Hangzhou for beauty course
A relatively quiet day, but extremely hot. Tan went to Nanning at 4pm to catch a flight to Hangzhou where she is doing a beauty course on behalf of A Hua who cannot go due to work constraints. I suppose Tan will teach her what she learnt over there. Kids wouldn't sleep during the day so were not best-behaved during the evening. However, Leilei decided he really liked the dumplings that Waipo cooked and he ate two bowlfuls. I had waited till after 7.30pm before trying to feed them as 5pm is too soon after lunch in my opinion. I was quite peckish at night so I went across the road near midnight to get a little bbq. The second I sat down to wait I was called over to sit at a table of four blokes and a woman and gan bei'd and cai ma'd till my duck tongues and pork were ready.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Football betting
I brought a DVD player from the UK as strangely they are cheaper there than here. It was only 16 quid but I've just realised that it only has a scart output and that they don't have scart here. I'll have to see if I can get an adapter so the kids can watch some of their UK stuff, not that they're particularly missing it at the moment.
While Leilei was out with his friends I took Xixi out to see mama at A Hua's beauty shop. I left Xixi there and went to meet Lu Hai, who I hadn't seen since last year. He was one of the first people I met in Pingguo in 2003 and I always make a point of going to his salon for a haircut. I invited him to Number 5 Cafe and he was happy about that as he loves his football as most of the people do here at least for the World Cup. He explained he lost 300 kuai on Holland beating Brazil. This is not the first time I've heard such a story. At least two people (one of whom was a woman if that means anything) had told me they lost a few hundred kuai when Germany beat England. And just about everyone has told me that if that disallowed goal had been allowed England would for sure have gone on to win. I disagree but maybe they are just justifying their bets. I drew a very clear map of where Number 5 Cafe was, relative to the guang chang, but I got a phone call before 10pm saying he was already there and I should hurry up. I arrived a couple of minutes later to find 15 of my friends there but no Lu Hai, so called him and found he was in the wrong place.
I warned everyone that Germany would win as Argentina had no defence, and was proved right by the 4-0 drubbing. How can Messi be so ineffective in such a good team on paper? Then again the same could be said about Rooney (or "Looney" as he is known in Chinese) and Ronaldo and a few other big stars. I should have bet on the game too. Andge sent me an email saying he'd bet 2 quid on Germany to win 5-1 at 150-1....ooh so Klose.
A Wu left at half time to go to KTV, which he bade me go to. I said I wasn't sure but by the end of the game I thought it would be nice to take Lu Hai there as I guess he doesn't get out so much. We stayed under an hour and did exactly the same as we always do in terms of the songs and the beer.
While Leilei was out with his friends I took Xixi out to see mama at A Hua's beauty shop. I left Xixi there and went to meet Lu Hai, who I hadn't seen since last year. He was one of the first people I met in Pingguo in 2003 and I always make a point of going to his salon for a haircut. I invited him to Number 5 Cafe and he was happy about that as he loves his football as most of the people do here at least for the World Cup. He explained he lost 300 kuai on Holland beating Brazil. This is not the first time I've heard such a story. At least two people (one of whom was a woman if that means anything) had told me they lost a few hundred kuai when Germany beat England. And just about everyone has told me that if that disallowed goal had been allowed England would for sure have gone on to win. I disagree but maybe they are just justifying their bets. I drew a very clear map of where Number 5 Cafe was, relative to the guang chang, but I got a phone call before 10pm saying he was already there and I should hurry up. I arrived a couple of minutes later to find 15 of my friends there but no Lu Hai, so called him and found he was in the wrong place.
I warned everyone that Germany would win as Argentina had no defence, and was proved right by the 4-0 drubbing. How can Messi be so ineffective in such a good team on paper? Then again the same could be said about Rooney (or "Looney" as he is known in Chinese) and Ronaldo and a few other big stars. I should have bet on the game too. Andge sent me an email saying he'd bet 2 quid on Germany to win 5-1 at 150-1....ooh so Klose.
A Wu left at half time to go to KTV, which he bade me go to. I said I wasn't sure but by the end of the game I thought it would be nice to take Lu Hai there as I guess he doesn't get out so much. We stayed under an hour and did exactly the same as we always do in terms of the songs and the beer.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Embarrassing moment and BBQ with the Americans
Although it was tiring getting up so early to do the kids, at least Tan or someone had got them dressed and I just had to bike them to school. Xixi still cries when I leave her and Leilei was a bit tearful today too. At least it's Friday. I had a morning nap this time. Was about to go out for a bite to eat when A Wu called to ask me to eat with what has become the main clique of bosses I know: Boss Yellow and Boss Yang, together with some girl whose name escapes me. I noticed she wasn't really in the conversation much, so as I recognised her as the only girl at the meal last night I asked how her tummy was as she'd been drinking white alcohol then. Very embarrassingly for me she was not the same girl as last night and the blokes laughed at how westerners thought Chinese all looked alike. Bugger. I picked up my nice clean trainers and put them on over a glass of tea with the bosses until they all decided to go for a nap.
Picked up the kids, where I found that Xixi had been good today. I was worried as yesterday the teacher told me she had been hitting other kids.. At 8pm we went down the the "ye shi jie" (night market street) down by the river, which is pretty much filled with barbeque places. Our American friends had invited us to eat, and I suggested "ai yi" (aunty)'s place that Tan and her friends swear by. Although they have spent much longer than me in China and were fans of ducks tongue, they had not tasted the delights of ducks intestine or chicken claws, so I ordered some of that together with the more normal pork. To slightly balance out the meal we had some greens and a bowl of fried sweetcorn too. The kids were a little tired and getting fractious and as Tan has a bad belly at the moment (doesn't only happen to me), she took them home so we could have a proper conversation. By the end of the meal it was time for footy so the three American kids and their mom went back home while the dad went with me to what has become our "local", Number 5 Cafe. All my friends were there (i.e. mostly bosses), and we enjoyed an exciting upset as Holland beat Brazil 2-1. I do hope Robinho returns to City though I doubt he will.
Picked up the kids, where I found that Xixi had been good today. I was worried as yesterday the teacher told me she had been hitting other kids.. At 8pm we went down the the "ye shi jie" (night market street) down by the river, which is pretty much filled with barbeque places. Our American friends had invited us to eat, and I suggested "ai yi" (aunty)'s place that Tan and her friends swear by. Although they have spent much longer than me in China and were fans of ducks tongue, they had not tasted the delights of ducks intestine or chicken claws, so I ordered some of that together with the more normal pork. To slightly balance out the meal we had some greens and a bowl of fried sweetcorn too. The kids were a little tired and getting fractious and as Tan has a bad belly at the moment (doesn't only happen to me), she took them home so we could have a proper conversation. By the end of the meal it was time for footy so the three American kids and their mom went back home while the dad went with me to what has become our "local", Number 5 Cafe. All my friends were there (i.e. mostly bosses), and we enjoyed an exciting upset as Holland beat Brazil 2-1. I do hope Robinho returns to City though I doubt he will.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Rare meal at home before common meal with bosses
I have found a cool phone browser that works very well on my Nokia E71. I generally use Opera Mini but that no longer works here (you are directed to install a Chinese version). So this year I had found Skyfire to be pretty good, but I started to get a warning that it would stop working on 1st July in this country. So I found Bolt, and so far so good - I can check the news and the footy results away from home.
Had a quick nap after taking the kids in, then after some nice exercise in the air-conditioned bedroom I noticed Tan was listening to her music through the crappy built-in speakers of her netbook. So I thoughtfully went down to Ma Laoban's computer shop to get a pair of speakers. He had just left but his wife was there and helped me choose. It was a toss up between a pair of Lenovo speakers that got their power from USB, and another identical pair but smaller and fatter and 50 kuai cheaper. I couldn't tell the difference in sound (both were good and had a nice bass), but Ma Laoban's wife said the cheaper ones were much better quality...I didn't argue and took them and an underneath fan cooler thing for my old laptop as in this weather they can overheat quickly. The total should have come to 118 + 68 = 186 but she charged me 140. That is what I would have expected in a normal shop but there I would have had to ask for such a discount. I'm glad she didn't just give them to me as has happened in the past.
I rarely feel ripped off here, and people are not out to get you as they would be in touristy areas. Last year I remember I had a bunch of 100 kuai notes falling out of my pocket and some old bloke ran across the street shouting "Boss! Your money is falling out!". Today when I bought a nine-pack of beer for 29 kuai the woman wouldn't accept keeping the 1 kuai change! That's around three quid for ten pints of bottled beer! I then went to have a couple of chang fen (flaccid penis-like noodles) for lunch with a can of Li Quan. The can cost more than the food. My nice new trainers were now nice dirty trainers due to the meal outside of Pingguo on Tuesday so I took them to a local shoe-cleaning shop as you do and paid 5 kuai and was told to pick them up tomorrow.
A beer and flaccid peni for lunch
After the school run we had a rare meal at home with the family. They'd cooked a whole duck especially which was very enjoyable. Then Er Jie took the kids out to the guang chang and I rather predictably got a call from A Wu asking me to "drink tea" with some bosses. This meant going to another private room in a restaurant to eat meat and drink beer. I was full but thought "why not?". This particular restaurant had a lovely area on top of a four storey building where there was a courtyard with a fountain. Note to self: invite friends there before we leave. At the table I sat next to the boss of the restaurant himself, who was rather the worse for wear. Half the bosses were drinking thimblefulls of white alcohol, and the others were on red wine with ice cubes. This time they didn't try to serve me anything but 7 degree (3%) Li Quan, which I appreciated. I was too full to gorge on much more than the lovely Lao Hu Cai (tiger salad - very spicy) and some smoked meat. And I really couldn't drink much beer, so I picked the wrong time to play cai ma with "Big Boss". I lost my first seven hands and felt totally bloated. But as custom has it (unless this was made-up) I had to at least win one hand before I could leave. I showed all fingers and shouted "chut!", he showed two and shouted "clee!". Finally I'd won a hand and they all had a hearty laugh. I made my excuses and left as I had to get the kids to sleep - Tan had gone out with friends.
When they were asleep I helped myself to a Gin and Shui Bi, then took the bike out for a ride in the slightly cooler night air. I fancied a little barbequed ducks tongue so I drove to the place I used to frequent when we lived here two years ago. Ten sticks of tongues (two per stick) and ten of beef cost 40 kuai which I thought was on the pricey side. While they were being cooked two oldish men invited me over to their table were we had an enjoyable few minutes talking about Bangxu. One of the men's wives was from Bangxu too and we found it amusing to have that part of our lives in common. As they were drinking a weaker variant of the white alcohol I had a small sip with them as it would have been rude not to do so. Then I was called over to another table who had overheard our conversation and wanted to drink a glass with me. It would have been rude not too so I gan bei'd with them a couple of times with beer until my bbq arrived and I explained I'd better get back.
At home Tan was there with A Xia and A Ni, plus Er Jie and her kids Chuan Chuan and Qiqi. Am I supposed to put a gap between the syllables in pin yin Chinese or not? And do I capitalise both words if they form a name? I've not been at all consistent.
The television was not working and some bored faces were watching the blank screen with it turned on in case it should come back any time now. My bbq was demolished by all in the room so Chuan Chuan and I went out to get some more, plus a portion of snails. This errand took half an hour and by the time we got back at half midnight there were some hungry bellies that once again demolished the food.
Had a skype chat with Awl at gone 1am but I was flaking and nearly dropping off. Apparently he won't come this year as it's too pricey including the fact he doesn't get paid leave. Big pity as he would have had a great time...there's always next year....
Had a quick nap after taking the kids in, then after some nice exercise in the air-conditioned bedroom I noticed Tan was listening to her music through the crappy built-in speakers of her netbook. So I thoughtfully went down to Ma Laoban's computer shop to get a pair of speakers. He had just left but his wife was there and helped me choose. It was a toss up between a pair of Lenovo speakers that got their power from USB, and another identical pair but smaller and fatter and 50 kuai cheaper. I couldn't tell the difference in sound (both were good and had a nice bass), but Ma Laoban's wife said the cheaper ones were much better quality...I didn't argue and took them and an underneath fan cooler thing for my old laptop as in this weather they can overheat quickly. The total should have come to 118 + 68 = 186 but she charged me 140. That is what I would have expected in a normal shop but there I would have had to ask for such a discount. I'm glad she didn't just give them to me as has happened in the past.
I rarely feel ripped off here, and people are not out to get you as they would be in touristy areas. Last year I remember I had a bunch of 100 kuai notes falling out of my pocket and some old bloke ran across the street shouting "Boss! Your money is falling out!". Today when I bought a nine-pack of beer for 29 kuai the woman wouldn't accept keeping the 1 kuai change! That's around three quid for ten pints of bottled beer! I then went to have a couple of chang fen (flaccid penis-like noodles) for lunch with a can of Li Quan. The can cost more than the food. My nice new trainers were now nice dirty trainers due to the meal outside of Pingguo on Tuesday so I took them to a local shoe-cleaning shop as you do and paid 5 kuai and was told to pick them up tomorrow.
A beer and flaccid peni for lunchAfter the school run we had a rare meal at home with the family. They'd cooked a whole duck especially which was very enjoyable. Then Er Jie took the kids out to the guang chang and I rather predictably got a call from A Wu asking me to "drink tea" with some bosses. This meant going to another private room in a restaurant to eat meat and drink beer. I was full but thought "why not?". This particular restaurant had a lovely area on top of a four storey building where there was a courtyard with a fountain. Note to self: invite friends there before we leave. At the table I sat next to the boss of the restaurant himself, who was rather the worse for wear. Half the bosses were drinking thimblefulls of white alcohol, and the others were on red wine with ice cubes. This time they didn't try to serve me anything but 7 degree (3%) Li Quan, which I appreciated. I was too full to gorge on much more than the lovely Lao Hu Cai (tiger salad - very spicy) and some smoked meat. And I really couldn't drink much beer, so I picked the wrong time to play cai ma with "Big Boss". I lost my first seven hands and felt totally bloated. But as custom has it (unless this was made-up) I had to at least win one hand before I could leave. I showed all fingers and shouted "chut!", he showed two and shouted "clee!". Finally I'd won a hand and they all had a hearty laugh. I made my excuses and left as I had to get the kids to sleep - Tan had gone out with friends.
When they were asleep I helped myself to a Gin and Shui Bi, then took the bike out for a ride in the slightly cooler night air. I fancied a little barbequed ducks tongue so I drove to the place I used to frequent when we lived here two years ago. Ten sticks of tongues (two per stick) and ten of beef cost 40 kuai which I thought was on the pricey side. While they were being cooked two oldish men invited me over to their table were we had an enjoyable few minutes talking about Bangxu. One of the men's wives was from Bangxu too and we found it amusing to have that part of our lives in common. As they were drinking a weaker variant of the white alcohol I had a small sip with them as it would have been rude not to do so. Then I was called over to another table who had overheard our conversation and wanted to drink a glass with me. It would have been rude not too so I gan bei'd with them a couple of times with beer until my bbq arrived and I explained I'd better get back.
At home Tan was there with A Xia and A Ni, plus Er Jie and her kids Chuan Chuan and Qiqi. Am I supposed to put a gap between the syllables in pin yin Chinese or not? And do I capitalise both words if they form a name? I've not been at all consistent.
The television was not working and some bored faces were watching the blank screen with it turned on in case it should come back any time now. My bbq was demolished by all in the room so Chuan Chuan and I went out to get some more, plus a portion of snails. This errand took half an hour and by the time we got back at half midnight there were some hungry bellies that once again demolished the food.
Had a skype chat with Awl at gone 1am but I was flaking and nearly dropping off. Apparently he won't come this year as it's too pricey including the fact he doesn't get paid leave. Big pity as he would have had a great time...there's always next year....
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Flat progress
Back in December last year Waipo's younger brother died. He had been ill for a long time and it wasn't particularly unexpected, but we didn't tell her anyway as being stuck in the UK may not have been the best place to mourn. Waipo was talking about it the other day and how no-one had told her in the UK, and I didn't know if she was in some way scolding me or just mentioning it. But her main point was that one evening Xixi was throwing a massive tantrum which is not like her. Waipo did something really weird; she lit a piece of paper and let it burn on the floor in the hallway, then picked up the smoking black remains and tried to smear it on Xixi's forehead or neck. It looked a bit voodooish and didn't do the trick and she was only consoled when I held her in my arms (Xixi, not Waipo). Anyway, Waipo told me that that was the day her younger brother had died, and that Xixi's behaviour was an indication of that....
Anyway after leaving Xixi crying in school again I later went to meet Tan and the girls for lunch at the Ming Dian Coffee Language Hotel restaurant. The weather has become properly hot now, though not as humid as when the clouds were ever-looming. Now the streets are emptier during the middle of the day, except for a tall foreigner who insists on going out on his electric bike. I really like the meals they served in the Ming Dian last year and the year before in what looked like a bento box. I asked Tan if they still did these boxes and she said "yes". Then the waitress came and Tan found that they don't do the boxes anymore. What is wrong with "I don't know"?
I asked Tan if Lin Hong had the house keys as I wanted to keep an eye on progress but she said today she was busy at work and didn't have any time. So after lunch I rang Lin Hong anyway and she said she was on her way there: "zhun bei dao le" (just about to arrive). Ten minutes later she did come and explained that she had just picked up the keys to her house today as we had ten days ago, and she also wanted to check our house. So much for busy at work.
Well there certainly were changes. Unbeknown to me there were now railings all the way to the ceiling on all the balconies. This gives the place a bit of a prison feel to it but it is done purely for safety as there will be kids around. More predictably there were lots of pipes around the place. The floor was littered with water and electric pipes stemming from the mains and going to all the rooms. There was already some electricity built in but I guess we were expanding it. All this will be covered in concrete soon so I managed to get some grainy snaps on my phone camera first.
This is a pile of stones to be used for making concrete for the house, and was donated to us by A Wu. Thank you A Wu
The full-length bars we now have on all the balconies
Some of the pipes that will soon be covered by the floor. Green for water, white for electricity
Back home I had a little nap and when I woke up to get ready to pick up the kids I found that some bastards had hemmed in my little bike between theirs. If I had knocked one of theirs over there would have been an expensive domino effect so I had to be careful and only set off two alarms while slowly getting it out.
Tight squeeze
As there was no space to park in the appropriate zone when we got back I just left the bike near the door, out of the way of anyone else. Later when I popped out I found I had a sticker on it saying something I didn't understand, but along the lines of "Don't park here!". As yet I don't know if there is a fine. I decided to go to the old people's place to play table tennis as I hadn't done so in a while. Boss Yang was there along with some mates, one of whom was probably the best player in Pingguo. I sat mesmerised by the quality of play and was sadly aware how far I was behind. It didn't stop them wanting to play against me though and to my credit I did score a couple of points on returned smashes that got rounds of applause.
Anyway after leaving Xixi crying in school again I later went to meet Tan and the girls for lunch at the Ming Dian Coffee Language Hotel restaurant. The weather has become properly hot now, though not as humid as when the clouds were ever-looming. Now the streets are emptier during the middle of the day, except for a tall foreigner who insists on going out on his electric bike. I really like the meals they served in the Ming Dian last year and the year before in what looked like a bento box. I asked Tan if they still did these boxes and she said "yes". Then the waitress came and Tan found that they don't do the boxes anymore. What is wrong with "I don't know"?
I asked Tan if Lin Hong had the house keys as I wanted to keep an eye on progress but she said today she was busy at work and didn't have any time. So after lunch I rang Lin Hong anyway and she said she was on her way there: "zhun bei dao le" (just about to arrive). Ten minutes later she did come and explained that she had just picked up the keys to her house today as we had ten days ago, and she also wanted to check our house. So much for busy at work.
Well there certainly were changes. Unbeknown to me there were now railings all the way to the ceiling on all the balconies. This gives the place a bit of a prison feel to it but it is done purely for safety as there will be kids around. More predictably there were lots of pipes around the place. The floor was littered with water and electric pipes stemming from the mains and going to all the rooms. There was already some electricity built in but I guess we were expanding it. All this will be covered in concrete soon so I managed to get some grainy snaps on my phone camera first.
This is a pile of stones to be used for making concrete for the house, and was donated to us by A Wu. Thank you A Wu
The full-length bars we now have on all the balconies
Some of the pipes that will soon be covered by the floor. Green for water, white for electricityBack home I had a little nap and when I woke up to get ready to pick up the kids I found that some bastards had hemmed in my little bike between theirs. If I had knocked one of theirs over there would have been an expensive domino effect so I had to be careful and only set off two alarms while slowly getting it out.
Tight squeezeAs there was no space to park in the appropriate zone when we got back I just left the bike near the door, out of the way of anyone else. Later when I popped out I found I had a sticker on it saying something I didn't understand, but along the lines of "Don't park here!". As yet I don't know if there is a fine. I decided to go to the old people's place to play table tennis as I hadn't done so in a while. Boss Yang was there along with some mates, one of whom was probably the best player in Pingguo. I sat mesmerised by the quality of play and was sadly aware how far I was behind. It didn't stop them wanting to play against me though and to my credit I did score a couple of points on returned smashes that got rounds of applause.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Boss Yellow's new wood factory
Took the kids to school again, and on the way back I was enjoying the slight breeze in my face as I rode the electric bike down the long road past the guang chang. I closed my eyes for five seconds which was quite exhilarating at 40kph. I opened them and found I hadn't swerved a foot from where I was on the road. I did another five seconds blind driving and again the same. There was still a couple of hundred yards to go before the lights so I decided to go for ten seconds. By seven I was getting scared...eight seconds arrived a long time later...nine seemed like a minute and the moment I got to ten my heart rate had raised dramatically. A cheap buzz maybe but when I opened my eyes I was in the middle of the road a few feet from running some bloke over who had unwittingly decided to cross the road without looking for some stupid lao wei on an electric moped with his eyes closed. I did swerve and avoided some embarrassment. I won't be doing that again in a hurry, although it was fun.
A Wu called as I was on the way back to ask me to go to Boss Yellow's factory opening. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a Quentin Tarantino film. I told him "wo you shi" (I have a matter), meaning I was busy. That didn't stop him calling again at 11am saying it was an important occasion. As I wasn't actually that busy I said ok I'd go, just give me 15 mins to get a shower. Surprise surprise 30 mins later he wasn't there, so I called and he said 2-1 was coming to pick me up instead, and to hurry up! Sod that, I got in the car with Mr Football Score and we drove for three minutes to the shop where we're going to buy our tiles from. It transpired we were now going to wait for some other bloke (Mr Pink? who the fuck knows?). We ended up waiting half an hour for this bloke, during which time we had a nice few glasses of tea with the shop's proprietoress if that is a word. Then I found out this place was outside Pingguo town, on the way to Bangxu, where Tan is from originally.
Tan's 2nd sister's lovely new Mitsubishi Outlander. She doesn't even intend to learn to drive...I hope I will have use of it in Pingguo while she is here as I did a couple of years ago with her smaller car
As we drove the half-hour route we kept getting phone calls telling us to hurry up. I told 2-1 "an quan di yi" (safety first), and he was one of the few men who actually seemed to know what I was talking about. I think most of them think driving accidents are all to do with "fate", and they are the ones who won't live to show that that is a load of bollocks. Although A Wu had said I would be leaving by 1pm it was already gone midday when we arrived.
I hadn't actually realised this was such a big deal. I quite like Boss Yellow, and although I couldn't quite work out what his factory was for - something to do with cutting wood judging by the tools - there were a good thirty people there if I'm not mistaken, many of whom were women. They were possibly relatives of Boss Yellow as they were not particularly slim, as most Pingguonese women are. By the time we got there it seemed they had been holding out on eating, but not drinking as they were all half-cut. Well I understand that starting a business is a big deal and this is all part of the culture but I could hardly physically gan bei as much as they wanted me to. I toured every table and gan bei'd with various women and bosses much to their delight, before managing to tuck in to some rather nice lamb, beef, chicken and finally some rice.
Where the meal took place
I cai ma'd with a few blokes who I'd not met before (increasingly rarer now), and was immediately accepted as family as I was able to explain that my wife was from Bangxu, that the food was good, and that I knew they were from Bangxu too, all in the Bangxu language. But I got to the stage where although hardly light-headed I could not drink more fizz, so I went for a walk by the road in the particularly beautiful countryside so prevalent in Guangxi. I'd asked to go home at 2pm but we were apparently waiting for someone to go with us. This person didn't turn up so 2-1 eventually got A Wu's keys (luckily meaning A Wu wouldn't drive but I hate to think of the amount of inebriated people who did drive back that afternoon).
Some of the folks I ate with. Boss Yellow is the one wearing the pink top (obviously).
Afterwards I had a bit of a saw head
Typical road scene in Guangxi
2-1 got me back by three and I managed an hour an a bit's kip before going to pick up the brats. Xixi was fine again despite pulling a tantrum in the morning as I left. She will get used to it. I found out that Tan and A Ni had got back and that they were doing their hair or something. I took the kids to the old people's leisure place where I played a little table tennis with a couple of them. But it was hard as both the kids wanted to play too. So I gave up and went home. We went out with Chuan Chuan and Qiqi (Er Jie's kids) for some fried noodles and ducks' tongues outside our house and unusually both Leilei and Xixi ate well. It took a while for them to get to sleep after the excitement of having Qiqi around but finally Leilei dropped off, then Tan came back and gave me a reward for being a good baba.
I watched the second half of the Paraguay - Japan match with Er Jie's bloke Lao Pan. I know he is the father of their second child but I'm not sure they're married and I was embarrassed to ask. Anyway I got a text from Tan during the match to STFU as Lao Pan was being noisy (he does have a very funny high-pitched laugh for a bloke with a deep voice). So when it was 0-0 after 90 minutes I asked if he fancied going outside to watch extra time. He didn't as he was watching currency movements on his laptop. Since I set up wifi in the house he is now able to connect from any room, which he really appreciates. Although his laptop is only a year old there is a problem with the internal wifi (as far as I can fathom with a Chinese OS and having no luck installing updated drivers), so I happened to bring a USB wifi stick that I've installed so he can be online to keep his eye on whatever currency he likes. For what ends I don't know, but Er Jie has a beautiful Mitsubishi jeep that if I understand correctly cost around 40 grand in UK money.
Anyway I stepped outside to watch extra time at my local outside eatery with the big screen. As soon as I tried to order a beer at a table by myself I was invited to sit with the people at the neighbouring table. Well, what could I do? I sat down with them and gan bei'd a little and cai ma'd a little while ooing and ahhing at the footy. We were having a really nice time when Tan rang me to ask what I was doing in the second period of extra time. I explained I was watching the last few minutes of footy and she said Leilei needed to go for a wee as if it was my fault. I mean she complained about me watching the game indoors and now she was complaining about me being outside. She also asked who I was with as if I knew. Maybe she was being protective but certainly too much so. I've been here long enough to know who are ok people to sit down with and share a beer. Five minutes later, during the penalties she rang me again! Bloody hell dear, I said I'd only be a few minutes. Last night she said she was just going out to pick up a book at 9pm and didn't come back till midnight as she decided to go for barbeque without telling me...let's put things in perspective here. Anyway Japan lost unfortunately as they'd been the more entertaining team in my opinion.
A Wu called as I was on the way back to ask me to go to Boss Yellow's factory opening. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a Quentin Tarantino film. I told him "wo you shi" (I have a matter), meaning I was busy. That didn't stop him calling again at 11am saying it was an important occasion. As I wasn't actually that busy I said ok I'd go, just give me 15 mins to get a shower. Surprise surprise 30 mins later he wasn't there, so I called and he said 2-1 was coming to pick me up instead, and to hurry up! Sod that, I got in the car with Mr Football Score and we drove for three minutes to the shop where we're going to buy our tiles from. It transpired we were now going to wait for some other bloke (Mr Pink? who the fuck knows?). We ended up waiting half an hour for this bloke, during which time we had a nice few glasses of tea with the shop's proprietoress if that is a word. Then I found out this place was outside Pingguo town, on the way to Bangxu, where Tan is from originally.
Tan's 2nd sister's lovely new Mitsubishi Outlander. She doesn't even intend to learn to drive...I hope I will have use of it in Pingguo while she is here as I did a couple of years ago with her smaller car
As we drove the half-hour route we kept getting phone calls telling us to hurry up. I told 2-1 "an quan di yi" (safety first), and he was one of the few men who actually seemed to know what I was talking about. I think most of them think driving accidents are all to do with "fate", and they are the ones who won't live to show that that is a load of bollocks. Although A Wu had said I would be leaving by 1pm it was already gone midday when we arrived.
I hadn't actually realised this was such a big deal. I quite like Boss Yellow, and although I couldn't quite work out what his factory was for - something to do with cutting wood judging by the tools - there were a good thirty people there if I'm not mistaken, many of whom were women. They were possibly relatives of Boss Yellow as they were not particularly slim, as most Pingguonese women are. By the time we got there it seemed they had been holding out on eating, but not drinking as they were all half-cut. Well I understand that starting a business is a big deal and this is all part of the culture but I could hardly physically gan bei as much as they wanted me to. I toured every table and gan bei'd with various women and bosses much to their delight, before managing to tuck in to some rather nice lamb, beef, chicken and finally some rice.
Where the meal took place
I cai ma'd with a few blokes who I'd not met before (increasingly rarer now), and was immediately accepted as family as I was able to explain that my wife was from Bangxu, that the food was good, and that I knew they were from Bangxu too, all in the Bangxu language. But I got to the stage where although hardly light-headed I could not drink more fizz, so I went for a walk by the road in the particularly beautiful countryside so prevalent in Guangxi. I'd asked to go home at 2pm but we were apparently waiting for someone to go with us. This person didn't turn up so 2-1 eventually got A Wu's keys (luckily meaning A Wu wouldn't drive but I hate to think of the amount of inebriated people who did drive back that afternoon).
Some of the folks I ate with. Boss Yellow is the one wearing the pink top (obviously).
Afterwards I had a bit of a saw head
Typical road scene in Guangxi
2-1 got me back by three and I managed an hour an a bit's kip before going to pick up the brats. Xixi was fine again despite pulling a tantrum in the morning as I left. She will get used to it. I found out that Tan and A Ni had got back and that they were doing their hair or something. I took the kids to the old people's leisure place where I played a little table tennis with a couple of them. But it was hard as both the kids wanted to play too. So I gave up and went home. We went out with Chuan Chuan and Qiqi (Er Jie's kids) for some fried noodles and ducks' tongues outside our house and unusually both Leilei and Xixi ate well. It took a while for them to get to sleep after the excitement of having Qiqi around but finally Leilei dropped off, then Tan came back and gave me a reward for being a good baba.
I watched the second half of the Paraguay - Japan match with Er Jie's bloke Lao Pan. I know he is the father of their second child but I'm not sure they're married and I was embarrassed to ask. Anyway I got a text from Tan during the match to STFU as Lao Pan was being noisy (he does have a very funny high-pitched laugh for a bloke with a deep voice). So when it was 0-0 after 90 minutes I asked if he fancied going outside to watch extra time. He didn't as he was watching currency movements on his laptop. Since I set up wifi in the house he is now able to connect from any room, which he really appreciates. Although his laptop is only a year old there is a problem with the internal wifi (as far as I can fathom with a Chinese OS and having no luck installing updated drivers), so I happened to bring a USB wifi stick that I've installed so he can be online to keep his eye on whatever currency he likes. For what ends I don't know, but Er Jie has a beautiful Mitsubishi jeep that if I understand correctly cost around 40 grand in UK money.
Anyway I stepped outside to watch extra time at my local outside eatery with the big screen. As soon as I tried to order a beer at a table by myself I was invited to sit with the people at the neighbouring table. Well, what could I do? I sat down with them and gan bei'd a little and cai ma'd a little while ooing and ahhing at the footy. We were having a really nice time when Tan rang me to ask what I was doing in the second period of extra time. I explained I was watching the last few minutes of footy and she said Leilei needed to go for a wee as if it was my fault. I mean she complained about me watching the game indoors and now she was complaining about me being outside. She also asked who I was with as if I knew. Maybe she was being protective but certainly too much so. I've been here long enough to know who are ok people to sit down with and share a beer. Five minutes later, during the penalties she rang me again! Bloody hell dear, I said I'd only be a few minutes. Last night she said she was just going out to pick up a book at 9pm and didn't come back till midnight as she decided to go for barbeque without telling me...let's put things in perspective here. Anyway Japan lost unfortunately as they'd been the more entertaining team in my opinion.
Monday, June 28, 2010
2-1
Got a call from Boss Yang to go for a late breakfast at around 10.30am. A colleague of his picked me up. On the way to the International Hotel I was asking his name so I could put it in my phone. He said 2-1, and I said I already had his phone number as he had already rung me, I just wanted his name. So he started again, 2-1. I thought my Chinese may not be good enough so I read out to him his own number, then I said "my name is Peng Duoming, what is your name?" (in Chinese) and he started again: 2-1. I was a little bit embarrassed to find out that his name (or least what he is called) is "er yi", i.e. "two one". Don't ask me why.
Me and 2-1 having breakfast at the International Hotel. Too early for the chicken claws for me but the dumplings were ok
A Ni had had an argument with A Wu last night for some reason so her and Tan went to Nanning as ladies do. At least she took the kids to school first. So for the first time in a long time I actually had some time to myself till 5pm, which I pleasantly spent catching up on news online, and a little sleep in the afternoon. Although we gave most of the booze away as presents, I kept a bottle of gin for such pursuits (and it wouldn't be the done thing to give a plastic bottle as a present). It mixes ok with the "shui bi" lemonade but I'd love to find somewhere that sells tonic water. I had to go to the supermarket after dropping off the kids at school as Xixi needed a pillow and a cup, plus a blanket that I took from home. I have found that the local supermarket now sells Gordon's gin plus Smirnoff vodka at around a tenner each for 75cl. Ok it's not particularly cheap (though it is the stronger imported stuff), but it's still a sign of where this place is going. Two years' ago I saw locally produced "Finnish" vodka for sale for the first time, as well as Coca Cola Zero, which meant I had more than one choice of palatable alcoholic beverage for the first time since I've been coming here in 2003 (the wine does not count as palatable). There was one specialist alcohol shop that carried a couple of bottles of western vodka but at highly inflated prices and I don't really like vodka anyway (can only do with sugar-free Coke). I asked the woman in the supermarket if they sold "kui ning shui" (tonic water, literally "quinine water") and she said "no" obviously, but that I may be able to get it in Nanning.... I will go there this weekend.
In the evening I got a call from A Wu to go for a meal with more bosses...a bit tiresome but as Tan was out and I was with the kids we went with him. Not a great idea. Leilei was behaving badly and I warned him a couple of times that we would go home if continued to do so. He did so once more so I thought I'd better be true to my word and marched him and Xixi out to get a san lun che back home. He was sullen and rude all the way back but unless he knows that I mean what I say he will continue the same way in the future. "I hate you, I hate you!" is a horrible thing to hear but I told him I loved him very much but we just need to behave nicely.
Waipo was home and I left them both with her and went back on the moped. I was glad the kids weren't there as not only was it rather smokey, the blokes were all drinking an insipid yellowy alcoholic drink that tasted horrible and was 22%. I said I'd only drink weak beer so that was forthcoming. But they were quickly trolleyed and I didn't have much interest in staying there. We were in the middle of a long photoshoot with the camera I gave A Wu four years' ago when we stayed at his house for three months, when one of the more pissed-looking men grabbed me and moved me out of the room in a very rough manner. A bottle of beer had been pushed into my hand and he grabbed it and shoved it into the waitress as we left the room. He bid me to go down the stairs and get out, and I realised he'd seen that I wasn't comfortable and that the others were really caned; he was doing it more for my own safety and I really appreciate that.
Back home I got the kids to sleep by 11pm then watched some of the footy with Er Jie's husband (the father of her second child). They all came back yesterday as their son Pan Qi has finished school for the summer. It was all unannounced so once again the house is pretty full.
Me and 2-1 having breakfast at the International Hotel. Too early for the chicken claws for me but the dumplings were ok
A Ni had had an argument with A Wu last night for some reason so her and Tan went to Nanning as ladies do. At least she took the kids to school first. So for the first time in a long time I actually had some time to myself till 5pm, which I pleasantly spent catching up on news online, and a little sleep in the afternoon. Although we gave most of the booze away as presents, I kept a bottle of gin for such pursuits (and it wouldn't be the done thing to give a plastic bottle as a present). It mixes ok with the "shui bi" lemonade but I'd love to find somewhere that sells tonic water. I had to go to the supermarket after dropping off the kids at school as Xixi needed a pillow and a cup, plus a blanket that I took from home. I have found that the local supermarket now sells Gordon's gin plus Smirnoff vodka at around a tenner each for 75cl. Ok it's not particularly cheap (though it is the stronger imported stuff), but it's still a sign of where this place is going. Two years' ago I saw locally produced "Finnish" vodka for sale for the first time, as well as Coca Cola Zero, which meant I had more than one choice of palatable alcoholic beverage for the first time since I've been coming here in 2003 (the wine does not count as palatable). There was one specialist alcohol shop that carried a couple of bottles of western vodka but at highly inflated prices and I don't really like vodka anyway (can only do with sugar-free Coke). I asked the woman in the supermarket if they sold "kui ning shui" (tonic water, literally "quinine water") and she said "no" obviously, but that I may be able to get it in Nanning.... I will go there this weekend.
In the evening I got a call from A Wu to go for a meal with more bosses...a bit tiresome but as Tan was out and I was with the kids we went with him. Not a great idea. Leilei was behaving badly and I warned him a couple of times that we would go home if continued to do so. He did so once more so I thought I'd better be true to my word and marched him and Xixi out to get a san lun che back home. He was sullen and rude all the way back but unless he knows that I mean what I say he will continue the same way in the future. "I hate you, I hate you!" is a horrible thing to hear but I told him I loved him very much but we just need to behave nicely.
Waipo was home and I left them both with her and went back on the moped. I was glad the kids weren't there as not only was it rather smokey, the blokes were all drinking an insipid yellowy alcoholic drink that tasted horrible and was 22%. I said I'd only drink weak beer so that was forthcoming. But they were quickly trolleyed and I didn't have much interest in staying there. We were in the middle of a long photoshoot with the camera I gave A Wu four years' ago when we stayed at his house for three months, when one of the more pissed-looking men grabbed me and moved me out of the room in a very rough manner. A bottle of beer had been pushed into my hand and he grabbed it and shoved it into the waitress as we left the room. He bid me to go down the stairs and get out, and I realised he'd seen that I wasn't comfortable and that the others were really caned; he was doing it more for my own safety and I really appreciate that.
Back home I got the kids to sleep by 11pm then watched some of the footy with Er Jie's husband (the father of her second child). They all came back yesterday as their son Pan Qi has finished school for the summer. It was all unannounced so once again the house is pretty full.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Charging and unlucky charger
Tan has been told that we're not allowed to charge the electric moped ourselves as if everyone did there would be wires coming down from everywhere and it wouldn't be safe. Not that this is the most safety-conscious place in the world but it does make sense. Instead we need to pay 10 kuai a month to charge up the bike. Bit of a bargain I reckon as I'm sure it would have cost more than that to do it from home. If I was so inclined, I could hide a car battery under the seat and charge that instead and run the house lights off it. But I'm not that way inclined. The way it works is that there is a box attached to the wall where you park the bikes that has a lockable opening to which only the security guards have the key. Inside the top of the box are the slots to put the charger plug in, and at the bottom is a biggish hole where the wires go through to the actual charger. So I tell the guard I want to charge up the bike and he'll come and plug it in for me, then when it's done (this bike takes around 6 hours to fully charge) you just yank the wire out of the box without having to open it. Quite a clever way of ensuring that the security guard only needs to come out once.
Charging a "dian dong che"
With the remaining juice I had in the moped I took Leilei down to "Old Macdonalds" as he calls it. Actually it is more of a KFC place and the only place I've been to where the chicken is tasteless. Waipo and Xixi joined us and at least they had some food. I then dropped them off with Tan and picked up the key to the flat we lived in last year as I wanted to go back to pick up my flipflops. Waipo came with me and we slowly walked up to the 5th floor. The stairs had not been cleaned for months and looked very unkempt. Waipo said she was the last person to clean the stairs, then it dawned on me that she had been away for a year.
Inside, the place was obviously not lived in and had a musty smell to it. Quite sad as I remember the vibrancy of living there not twelve months ago. I didn't find my flipflops, but I did find my guitar from 2008 still almost completely in tune. And finally I got my hands on my camera battery charger. This is the unluckiest charger I have ever had. I was doing some last-minute charging before leaving for China in 2008 and of course I left it in the UK. I didn't make the same mistake last year except I did in the opposite way, and left it here. Now we are reunited it is a bit quicker to recharge the battery, though I've grown very fond of the makeshift chargers they have here where you just adjust some metal pointers so they touch the battery contacts and trickle-charge just about any battery.
A Wu had invited us all to the fish restaurant in the evening where we had some great beef, duck and lamb. I tried to join in with the men drinking thimblefulls of white alcohol but I just can't stand the stuff. I insisted on beer, and the ladies drank cold, sweet, weak red wine. In typical Chinese style I was led away from the table after an hour or so to sit in another private room with some bosses where we gan bei'd and cai ma'd until it was time to start preparing for the England Germany game.
All I can say is that I'm glad it wasn't a 2.30am start. Apart from the 20 minutes where we came back and should have been 2-2 we were by far the lesser team and didn't deserve anything from it. Oh well, time to take the flags down for another couple of years or so. Booooo.
Charging a "dian dong che"
With the remaining juice I had in the moped I took Leilei down to "Old Macdonalds" as he calls it. Actually it is more of a KFC place and the only place I've been to where the chicken is tasteless. Waipo and Xixi joined us and at least they had some food. I then dropped them off with Tan and picked up the key to the flat we lived in last year as I wanted to go back to pick up my flipflops. Waipo came with me and we slowly walked up to the 5th floor. The stairs had not been cleaned for months and looked very unkempt. Waipo said she was the last person to clean the stairs, then it dawned on me that she had been away for a year.
Inside, the place was obviously not lived in and had a musty smell to it. Quite sad as I remember the vibrancy of living there not twelve months ago. I didn't find my flipflops, but I did find my guitar from 2008 still almost completely in tune. And finally I got my hands on my camera battery charger. This is the unluckiest charger I have ever had. I was doing some last-minute charging before leaving for China in 2008 and of course I left it in the UK. I didn't make the same mistake last year except I did in the opposite way, and left it here. Now we are reunited it is a bit quicker to recharge the battery, though I've grown very fond of the makeshift chargers they have here where you just adjust some metal pointers so they touch the battery contacts and trickle-charge just about any battery.
A Wu had invited us all to the fish restaurant in the evening where we had some great beef, duck and lamb. I tried to join in with the men drinking thimblefulls of white alcohol but I just can't stand the stuff. I insisted on beer, and the ladies drank cold, sweet, weak red wine. In typical Chinese style I was led away from the table after an hour or so to sit in another private room with some bosses where we gan bei'd and cai ma'd until it was time to start preparing for the England Germany game.
All I can say is that I'm glad it wasn't a 2.30am start. Apart from the 20 minutes where we came back and should have been 2-2 we were by far the lesser team and didn't deserve anything from it. Oh well, time to take the flags down for another couple of years or so. Booooo.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Re-wiring the flat and making Pimm's for the ladies
In the morning Lin Hong called as she needed our new house key to give to someone who is doing the electricity. This is something I find annoying about house-buying here. You are in a bleeding hot place, every house is going to have air-conditioning, and they don't wire the place with sufficiently thick wiring so it all has to be removed by digging it out of the wall. Why can't you just pay a little extra and just get the proper stuff done in the first place? It's a bit like the gas - we're going to pay an extra 2000 kuai just to have the pipes fitted in properly rather than having them clamped on the outside at a later date. Having said that there is the option to go with gas bottles but for future-proofing I've opted for the installed pipes. Actually the 2000 kuai is for registering with the gas company, the work will be extra.
When I got to the house Lin Hong was waiting with the worker - a middle-aged woman carrying a number of 12 foot lengths of pipe I gathered were going to contain the wiring in the walls. There was no way they would fit in the lift so she started trekking upstairs. It would have taken her a month of Sundays on her own so of course I stepped in to help. It's not very comfortable lumbering of 14 flights of stairs on your own in late June in Pingguo. I was dripping by the time I finally got to the top, but it was good exercise. I saw that work had at least started and the wires had indeed been taken out of the walls. Then noticed that the lift wasn't working anyway so made the slightly easier trip back down to meet Lin Hong, where she handed the worker 5 kuai for her efforts (probably more than an hour's normal wage).
Got a phone call from Tan asking me to come to A Hua's beauty salon and make some Pimm's for the ladies. Fair enough I grabbed a shower, put the kids on the bike and went off to buy two large bottles of "shui bi" (lemonade, think it's 7-up), two apples, an orange, a cucumber and a large jug. Found the ladies eating chicken claws and spicy dried beef as you do so joined in for a bit. A Hua had had the foresight to prepare some ice, and also had some home-grown mint so I had all the ingredients I needed. Ten minutes later it was served to the delight of all the ladies. I left them on their third glass with instructions on how to make more. I understand they got rather tipsy during the afternoon.
Pimm's on a summer's afternoon
In the evening I took the kids out to watch the fountain display in the guang chang. The climax is the centre spout that gushes up nearly 90 metres into the dark sky. Strangely, about 20 seconds after each gush, we felt a strong blow of wind. It felt like it was coming from the hills, but it must have been due to the fountain because it happened every time. I don't yet have much of an explanation for it as the water was being push straight up, not sideways. A few seconds after each wave of wind we then got rained on by the droplets which was a bit fun at first and then slightly annoying, so I tried to get the kids to go home, something that took longer than it should when they are both running around like lunatics.
When I got to the house Lin Hong was waiting with the worker - a middle-aged woman carrying a number of 12 foot lengths of pipe I gathered were going to contain the wiring in the walls. There was no way they would fit in the lift so she started trekking upstairs. It would have taken her a month of Sundays on her own so of course I stepped in to help. It's not very comfortable lumbering of 14 flights of stairs on your own in late June in Pingguo. I was dripping by the time I finally got to the top, but it was good exercise. I saw that work had at least started and the wires had indeed been taken out of the walls. Then noticed that the lift wasn't working anyway so made the slightly easier trip back down to meet Lin Hong, where she handed the worker 5 kuai for her efforts (probably more than an hour's normal wage).
Got a phone call from Tan asking me to come to A Hua's beauty salon and make some Pimm's for the ladies. Fair enough I grabbed a shower, put the kids on the bike and went off to buy two large bottles of "shui bi" (lemonade, think it's 7-up), two apples, an orange, a cucumber and a large jug. Found the ladies eating chicken claws and spicy dried beef as you do so joined in for a bit. A Hua had had the foresight to prepare some ice, and also had some home-grown mint so I had all the ingredients I needed. Ten minutes later it was served to the delight of all the ladies. I left them on their third glass with instructions on how to make more. I understand they got rather tipsy during the afternoon.
Pimm's on a summer's afternoon
In the evening I took the kids out to watch the fountain display in the guang chang. The climax is the centre spout that gushes up nearly 90 metres into the dark sky. Strangely, about 20 seconds after each gush, we felt a strong blow of wind. It felt like it was coming from the hills, but it must have been due to the fountain because it happened every time. I don't yet have much of an explanation for it as the water was being push straight up, not sideways. A few seconds after each wave of wind we then got rained on by the droplets which was a bit fun at first and then slightly annoying, so I tried to get the kids to go home, something that took longer than it should when they are both running around like lunatics.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Xixi manages another day at school while I manage a siesta
Why do I keep getting up at 6am? Didn't feel much like jogging, so did some clothes washing though there was now a stack of stuff hanging out in a vain attempt to dry. As the electric bike was out of juice, and it was still pouring outside I took the kids to school in a san lun che. Dropped off Leilei no worries, but Xixi, despite yesterday, was not having any of it when I tried to leave. It was a near-repeat of Wednesday, except this time we traipsed around the inside of the school and exercised in the big hall due to the rain. Xixi did hold hands with a boy during the walk (as well as my hand), and when we got back to the class she let go of mine as she followed the others inside. One of the teachers saw this and told me to leave quickly while Xixi's back was turned. This I did, but within seconds I was sure I could hear her screaming her lungs out. It was heart-breaking and all I could do to not go straight back in. I stopped and waited for a few seconds but decided this would have to be something like a rite of passage, and that if she was truly inconsolable the teachers had Tan's phone number.
As per yesterday I walked home as I need the exercise and the rain was less persistent. I was looking for some wire so I could charge the bike from our house directly as we're on the first floor, about 10 feet above where we park it. I didn't find any and as I was walking home I got a call from Tan. I was dreading it would be about Xixi but thankfully she was just asking me to get some breakfast. I bought a couple of huge fried dough things and some soya milk, together with a large bowl of ricey-noodly something-or-other for 7 kuai. The fried dough things were quite nice but awfully oily. I then decided to pop out to look for wire again. This time I tried a different direction and pretty much the first shop I came to had exactly what I wanted. Fifteen metres of the stuff at 1 kuai per metre, plus the bits on either end which of course they fitted for me. I also fancied some lemonade and the next shop had exactly that. Then I fancied a bite to eat for lunch and lo and behold the next shop had exactly that. All within one minute of our house. I got a rolled up noodle thing with meat and greens inside that I sometimes get for breakfast. The woman only wanted 1.5 kuai so I ordered another. 3 kuai for a nice lunch eating out - I love living here! I left saying I would be back, bought a bottle of beer at the lemonade shop, drank it while reading about the amazing Wimbledon game that ended with Isner winning 70-68 in the final set. Then, unlike yesterday I managed to have a nap and wake up before picking up the kids. Note to self: have a beer with lunch if planning a siesta.
Xixi had been fine in school, and slept and eaten well. These Chinese don't just sit back and allow kids to be stroppy and not join in, and I think this approach works; it's a bit more effort at the beginning but it pays dividends and the kids learn that mama and baba are still there after all. Lin Hong was telling me that the first evening she took Xixi out to the guang chang she cried incessantly for a number of minutes, then later just got on with it and enjoyed the evening immensely. Now she'll got out with quite a few people with little or no fuss.
As per yesterday I walked home as I need the exercise and the rain was less persistent. I was looking for some wire so I could charge the bike from our house directly as we're on the first floor, about 10 feet above where we park it. I didn't find any and as I was walking home I got a call from Tan. I was dreading it would be about Xixi but thankfully she was just asking me to get some breakfast. I bought a couple of huge fried dough things and some soya milk, together with a large bowl of ricey-noodly something-or-other for 7 kuai. The fried dough things were quite nice but awfully oily. I then decided to pop out to look for wire again. This time I tried a different direction and pretty much the first shop I came to had exactly what I wanted. Fifteen metres of the stuff at 1 kuai per metre, plus the bits on either end which of course they fitted for me. I also fancied some lemonade and the next shop had exactly that. Then I fancied a bite to eat for lunch and lo and behold the next shop had exactly that. All within one minute of our house. I got a rolled up noodle thing with meat and greens inside that I sometimes get for breakfast. The woman only wanted 1.5 kuai so I ordered another. 3 kuai for a nice lunch eating out - I love living here! I left saying I would be back, bought a bottle of beer at the lemonade shop, drank it while reading about the amazing Wimbledon game that ended with Isner winning 70-68 in the final set. Then, unlike yesterday I managed to have a nap and wake up before picking up the kids. Note to self: have a beer with lunch if planning a siesta.
Xixi had been fine in school, and slept and eaten well. These Chinese don't just sit back and allow kids to be stroppy and not join in, and I think this approach works; it's a bit more effort at the beginning but it pays dividends and the kids learn that mama and baba are still there after all. Lin Hong was telling me that the first evening she took Xixi out to the guang chang she cried incessantly for a number of minutes, then later just got on with it and enjoyed the evening immensely. Now she'll got out with quite a few people with little or no fuss.
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| Leilei did very well with his writing - fruits of Chinese school back in the UK |
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| Xixi looking happy with her "Hong Qi" (red flag) - Leilei got one too |
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Xixi's successful first day in school
Although it was a bit of a late night last night I still somehow woke up at 6am. I think it may have something to do with the weather - hot and humid - despite the air conditioning. As it was too early to get the kids up for school I decided to do something that most people would consider insane, and went for a jog around the guang chang. It wasn't boiling hot outside but I broke into a sweat within 100 yards. However, I was determined and jogged the whole perimeter then back home, for a total time of no more than about 15 minutes. At least during that time I did see others out exercising, though most of them were much older than me.
Back home Tan was getting up as I'd warned her that I may not be able to take the kids to school today. So once dressed we all took a san lun che to school as even in China the four of us on the electric bike would have been a bit much. Leilei was fine going to class but Xixi needed mama to stay with her...I feared it would be like my experience yesterday, so I left and had a long walk home. By the time I got there Tan was already home with no Xixi, meaning she was actually in school without one of us! After a lunch of noodles in soup, which is about the most common thing here at this time of day, I went back for a nap but just couldn't sleep. I'd had my first cup of coffee earlier in the morning so I put it down to that.
5 o'clock came around and I took the bike to pick up the kids. Xixi was sitting happily in the middle of the class, though did run to me when she saw me. The teacher said she had been good and had slept for a couple of hours after lunch with the other kids. Also, she'd eaten well which is a good sign. I'd just been told half an hour earlier that today was "Pingguo Friends' Day", whatever that means, but one thing was for sure and that was another meal out. We ate in the restaurant near where we lived two years ago that made its own beer until recently. I guess there was little market for stronger, darker beer in such a climate. At least this time we all chipped in for the meal, rather than someone picking up the tab for all.
The the high point of the meal was the fantastic duck. A Wu didn't like what was served and went to the kitchen himself to improve it - imagine that happening in the UK. I had taken the electric bike to the meal but half way through a torrential thunderstorm decided to join us. The lightning was so constant it was like a flickering giant bulb o'er the hills yonder. Luckily the electricity didn't go though, and when the rain slightly died down I took the bike back home, slower than usual as the battery was running out.
Then A Ni went into our house to stay with Tan while A Wu and I went to "wash face". Aaahhh I've been here over a week and criminally have not yet gone for this magic experience. And this was the best one I've ever had; hair wash for half an hour, face wash, face mask, face and head massage, back massage with warm soapy water, hand and arm massage...all in all an hour and a half of pure decadent luxury. I was so comfortable I started to drop off now and again but made the effort to mostly stay awake just to enjoy the experience. This was pretty much the bells and whistles version of "wash face" as it cost 50 kuai each, and normally it's 25-30 kuai for 50 mins that doesn't include the face mask. I realise now that what you are paying for is the quality of the materials, not the labour time. In the UK this would have been ten times the price...what a bloody bargain. I will try to do this more often, I may even save more money than the flight tickets cost, which would be some sort of tenuous justification.
I was shattered by the time I got home and it was all I could do to stay up and watch the second half of the Slovakia - Italy but what a cracking game it was! France and Italy bottom of their groups and out, four years after competing in the final!
Back home Tan was getting up as I'd warned her that I may not be able to take the kids to school today. So once dressed we all took a san lun che to school as even in China the four of us on the electric bike would have been a bit much. Leilei was fine going to class but Xixi needed mama to stay with her...I feared it would be like my experience yesterday, so I left and had a long walk home. By the time I got there Tan was already home with no Xixi, meaning she was actually in school without one of us! After a lunch of noodles in soup, which is about the most common thing here at this time of day, I went back for a nap but just couldn't sleep. I'd had my first cup of coffee earlier in the morning so I put it down to that.
5 o'clock came around and I took the bike to pick up the kids. Xixi was sitting happily in the middle of the class, though did run to me when she saw me. The teacher said she had been good and had slept for a couple of hours after lunch with the other kids. Also, she'd eaten well which is a good sign. I'd just been told half an hour earlier that today was "Pingguo Friends' Day", whatever that means, but one thing was for sure and that was another meal out. We ate in the restaurant near where we lived two years ago that made its own beer until recently. I guess there was little market for stronger, darker beer in such a climate. At least this time we all chipped in for the meal, rather than someone picking up the tab for all.
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| Xixi and Leilei after school |
The the high point of the meal was the fantastic duck. A Wu didn't like what was served and went to the kitchen himself to improve it - imagine that happening in the UK. I had taken the electric bike to the meal but half way through a torrential thunderstorm decided to join us. The lightning was so constant it was like a flickering giant bulb o'er the hills yonder. Luckily the electricity didn't go though, and when the rain slightly died down I took the bike back home, slower than usual as the battery was running out.
Storm over Pingguo
Then A Ni went into our house to stay with Tan while A Wu and I went to "wash face". Aaahhh I've been here over a week and criminally have not yet gone for this magic experience. And this was the best one I've ever had; hair wash for half an hour, face wash, face mask, face and head massage, back massage with warm soapy water, hand and arm massage...all in all an hour and a half of pure decadent luxury. I was so comfortable I started to drop off now and again but made the effort to mostly stay awake just to enjoy the experience. This was pretty much the bells and whistles version of "wash face" as it cost 50 kuai each, and normally it's 25-30 kuai for 50 mins that doesn't include the face mask. I realise now that what you are paying for is the quality of the materials, not the labour time. In the UK this would have been ten times the price...what a bloody bargain. I will try to do this more often, I may even save more money than the flight tickets cost, which would be some sort of tenuous justification.
I was shattered by the time I got home and it was all I could do to stay up and watch the second half of the Slovakia - Italy but what a cracking game it was! France and Italy bottom of their groups and out, four years after competing in the final!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Xixi's unsuccessful first day at school but England qualify
Up at 6am yet again! Put some clothes in the wash and some out to dry. Although the rain stopped a couple of days ago it's very humid, and the clothes still take forever to dry outside. Well not as forever as when it was raining and I was worried I'd have to re-wear my sweaty boxer shorts again (no, I would have gone to the market to get some new ones).
Got the kids ready for school, Leilei didn't want to wake up so I pretended I was having a spinning top battle on his back thus tickling him awake...that did the trick. Xixi was a little easier as I just had to mention going on the electic bike to school and she woke immediately as excited as a girl would be who was about to go to school at long long last...
Once there I dropped off Leilei at his class and was pretty much ok about me going this time. Then it was Xixi's turn...she suddenly balked when faced with walking into a classroom filled with noisy kids who doubled in volume as soon as they saw her. They were welcoming her but not in a way she understood. However, we went to the adjoining playroom and she played with me for a bit while the others ate their breakfast. Then, one-by-one they came into the playroom to play with her. She wasn't too happy sharing and went to punch one of the kids but at least she wasn't scared of them.
At home Waipo was there. I had to pop out to get some stuff and by the time I got back she'd taken Xixi out somewhere. So after some time checking emails I did one of the things I really enjoy here and went for a ride on the "dian dong che" - the electric bike that was given to A Ni years ago that she doesn't use as she doesn't want her skin to get dark. I have appropriated this bike the last couple of times we have been here and ensured it was re-appropriated this year too. I looked around the relatively new basketball stadium and found a group of oldish people brandishing swords. Luckily they weren't threatening me, rather this was more of a martial art I believe. Still, like I said, old and young, they like their exercise.
Back at home Lin Hong (the cousin who's helping us with the house purchase/decoration) rang me to say she was coming round to pick me up to look at tiles for the kitchen and bathroom. Ok, I said, give me 5 mins while I just have a shower and I'll be ready. 30 minutes and a shower later she rang again to tell me she wasn't coming. But I said I was ready so she said she would come...that's the way it is around here. She had a friend/cousin in the car and we went to a friend's tile shop where we looked at the fare. We'll probably go for light brown tiles for the smallish kitchen and Tan and I will have to argue about the bathroom as she wants dark grey and black (v. expensive) and I want a brighter white/yellow. Also Tan wants two "ma dong" - western style toilets - and I want one of each. Lin Hong agrees with me, especially as when we have local guests who might not be used to sitting as opposed to squatting. The western style one can be the en-suite while the "normal" squatter can be the main one.
From the shop, we took one of the friends to show me her daughter's new house, which had recently been furnished as she had just got married. On the way a slightly funny thing happened. There is a newish pedestrianised area which leads into the housing complex we were going to. It has bollards to prevent cars getting in as many a UK one does. However these bollards are suffiently spaced that pretty much any car can actually get through. And so you see it looks a bit like a normal street except all the cars slow down drastically as it's a tight squeeze. A bit too tight for Lin Hong in the end, as we spent a good two minutes with her holding up traffic trying to line up properly to get through. It was quite embarrassing as a "bunch" (I hate that term but it fits here) of Americans who are here for a week or so walked past at that time, at least it would have been embarrassing if all Chinese cars didn't have blacked-out windows. When Lin Hong finally gave up (I nearly suggested I'd drive through but didn't want her to lose face), she parked on the side of the road and we walked a whole minute to the house in question. It was actually rather a lovely apartment with four bedrooms and very spacious as 148 square metres can afford. We had a look at the kitchen, which I approved of, and the very expensive bathroom (which I didn't), and I was slightly peeved that our place paled in comparison to this one.
Lin Hong then dropped me back home, from where I took the bike to the nearest eatery and ate some noodles with a beer then went for a nice siesta before the evening that was to hold the destiny of English football for the next few days at least.
I didn't wake till nearly 4.30pm, so didn't have much time to get on the bike to pick up Leilei, but I found Xixi sleeping on the couch (she'd had one hour according to Waipo). I whispered in her ear that I was going to pick up Leilei from school and she woke immediately! So she took her position standing at the front of the electric moped and we went to pick him up in the boiling heat that our transport made bearable by providing a breeze. I let the kids play on the climbing frames while chatting on the phone to mum (English mum). I saw our American friend walk past with a couple of his kids and asked if he would be watching the match tonight (USA have an important must-win match too). He said he indeed would be, or words to that effect.
Well this evening we were invited to a meal by Xili for her daughter's first birthday. She'd been born while we were in China last year but we hadn't seen her as it is customary for mother and child to stay indoors for the first month after birth here.
A Wu came to pick up Leilei and me. I had brought some England footy flags and party stuff from the UK, and put two car window flags on A Wu's aging Toyota, surely the only such car for many a mile around! He wasn't too sure about it at first but on the short drive to the restaurant bathed in the attention he was getting from all the people outside!
The meal was a family occasion and there were three tables in the private room laid out for us. It was in the same restaurant I've already been to four times in the last week but the food is good here generally. As is my wont, I ended up playing cai ma with some of the family I hadn't met before and didn't do as well as I normally do, though in this case it was a good thing as it was not much more than an hour till kickoff. I left before the end of the meal in order to kit out the bar we were to watch the footy at. The waitresses helped me blow up some balloons and stick up the bunting and other stuff. All in all we created not a bad looking England area around the tv.
As 10 o'clock drew, more friends arrived, and unexpectedly (in a good way), our American friend dropped in too. I warned him we wouldn't be showing the USA game but he was fine with that and had come for the atmosphere. Well by kickoff the atmosphere was kicking too; the beers were poured and the party whistles blowing. On 22 minutes Jermain Defoe's goal was met by cheers from all the bar. There were more oohs and aahs from our various missed chances but the better team won on the night. On the stroke of full time one of the barmaids switched to the USA game and a second later they scored the goal that was to qualify them in first place. Amazing stuff for our American friend and although I was not happy about not coming first in the group we high-fived as I'd have taken that result before the match started.
I came back happy but slightly the worse for wear as the neighbouring table had ordered a bottle of whisky and suggested I share a glass or two with them, together with a fair few weak beers.
Got the kids ready for school, Leilei didn't want to wake up so I pretended I was having a spinning top battle on his back thus tickling him awake...that did the trick. Xixi was a little easier as I just had to mention going on the electic bike to school and she woke immediately as excited as a girl would be who was about to go to school at long long last...
Once there I dropped off Leilei at his class and was pretty much ok about me going this time. Then it was Xixi's turn...she suddenly balked when faced with walking into a classroom filled with noisy kids who doubled in volume as soon as they saw her. They were welcoming her but not in a way she understood. However, we went to the adjoining playroom and she played with me for a bit while the others ate their breakfast. Then, one-by-one they came into the playroom to play with her. She wasn't too happy sharing and went to punch one of the kids but at least she wasn't scared of them.
After a few minutes all the kids got together and paired-up into a line for a walk around the school. I held hands with Xixi and we stayed at the back. I got her to hold on to the tee-shirt of the girl in front as we snaked through the main doors and outside into the main foyer bit of the school. As we were walking around, Xixi spotted a climbing frame and made a dash for it. She was tearful when I brought her back explaining that we were in school now and had to do things together.
Then it got more difficult as we passed the sandpit (with dark grey sand) as Leilei's class was there playing in it. That was it, we left the rest of the class to walk to the back of the school as Xixi and Leilei played contentedly with the sad sand. Then a few minutes later I decided she needed to get back with the class, who by now were doing morning exercises in the playground. It was really nice to see this - Chinese of all ages spend a good deal of time stretching etc. But not Xixi today; she wouldn't even let me join in. We then went back to class and I sat on one of the tiny chairs with her, but she wouldn't let me leave her so although it was not yet 9.30am I called it a day and took her home saying we'd try later or tomorrow. Maybe she just is a bit too young now.
At least she spent a little time playing
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| Xixi and Leilei playing in the dark sand |
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| I tried to take this without them noticing me for fear of losing a limb |
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| Slightly amusing Tai Kwon Do WTF |
At home Waipo was there. I had to pop out to get some stuff and by the time I got back she'd taken Xixi out somewhere. So after some time checking emails I did one of the things I really enjoy here and went for a ride on the "dian dong che" - the electric bike that was given to A Ni years ago that she doesn't use as she doesn't want her skin to get dark. I have appropriated this bike the last couple of times we have been here and ensured it was re-appropriated this year too. I looked around the relatively new basketball stadium and found a group of oldish people brandishing swords. Luckily they weren't threatening me, rather this was more of a martial art I believe. Still, like I said, old and young, they like their exercise.
Back at home Lin Hong (the cousin who's helping us with the house purchase/decoration) rang me to say she was coming round to pick me up to look at tiles for the kitchen and bathroom. Ok, I said, give me 5 mins while I just have a shower and I'll be ready. 30 minutes and a shower later she rang again to tell me she wasn't coming. But I said I was ready so she said she would come...that's the way it is around here. She had a friend/cousin in the car and we went to a friend's tile shop where we looked at the fare. We'll probably go for light brown tiles for the smallish kitchen and Tan and I will have to argue about the bathroom as she wants dark grey and black (v. expensive) and I want a brighter white/yellow. Also Tan wants two "ma dong" - western style toilets - and I want one of each. Lin Hong agrees with me, especially as when we have local guests who might not be used to sitting as opposed to squatting. The western style one can be the en-suite while the "normal" squatter can be the main one.
From the shop, we took one of the friends to show me her daughter's new house, which had recently been furnished as she had just got married. On the way a slightly funny thing happened. There is a newish pedestrianised area which leads into the housing complex we were going to. It has bollards to prevent cars getting in as many a UK one does. However these bollards are suffiently spaced that pretty much any car can actually get through. And so you see it looks a bit like a normal street except all the cars slow down drastically as it's a tight squeeze. A bit too tight for Lin Hong in the end, as we spent a good two minutes with her holding up traffic trying to line up properly to get through. It was quite embarrassing as a "bunch" (I hate that term but it fits here) of Americans who are here for a week or so walked past at that time, at least it would have been embarrassing if all Chinese cars didn't have blacked-out windows. When Lin Hong finally gave up (I nearly suggested I'd drive through but didn't want her to lose face), she parked on the side of the road and we walked a whole minute to the house in question. It was actually rather a lovely apartment with four bedrooms and very spacious as 148 square metres can afford. We had a look at the kitchen, which I approved of, and the very expensive bathroom (which I didn't), and I was slightly peeved that our place paled in comparison to this one.
Not getting through the gap
Lin Hong then dropped me back home, from where I took the bike to the nearest eatery and ate some noodles with a beer then went for a nice siesta before the evening that was to hold the destiny of English football for the next few days at least.
I didn't wake till nearly 4.30pm, so didn't have much time to get on the bike to pick up Leilei, but I found Xixi sleeping on the couch (she'd had one hour according to Waipo). I whispered in her ear that I was going to pick up Leilei from school and she woke immediately! So she took her position standing at the front of the electric moped and we went to pick him up in the boiling heat that our transport made bearable by providing a breeze. I let the kids play on the climbing frames while chatting on the phone to mum (English mum). I saw our American friend walk past with a couple of his kids and asked if he would be watching the match tonight (USA have an important must-win match too). He said he indeed would be, or words to that effect.
Well this evening we were invited to a meal by Xili for her daughter's first birthday. She'd been born while we were in China last year but we hadn't seen her as it is customary for mother and child to stay indoors for the first month after birth here.
A Wu came to pick up Leilei and me. I had brought some England footy flags and party stuff from the UK, and put two car window flags on A Wu's aging Toyota, surely the only such car for many a mile around! He wasn't too sure about it at first but on the short drive to the restaurant bathed in the attention he was getting from all the people outside!
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| A Wu and his chavved up car. I told him to wear his England top but he brought his Man City top I gave him a couple of years ago thinking that was it. I have no problem with that |
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| Xili's daughter's first anniversary meal |
The meal was a family occasion and there were three tables in the private room laid out for us. It was in the same restaurant I've already been to four times in the last week but the food is good here generally. As is my wont, I ended up playing cai ma with some of the family I hadn't met before and didn't do as well as I normally do, though in this case it was a good thing as it was not much more than an hour till kickoff. I left before the end of the meal in order to kit out the bar we were to watch the footy at. The waitresses helped me blow up some balloons and stick up the bunting and other stuff. All in all we created not a bad looking England area around the tv.
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| Getting ready for the England - Slovenia match in Number 5 Cafe |
As 10 o'clock drew, more friends arrived, and unexpectedly (in a good way), our American friend dropped in too. I warned him we wouldn't be showing the USA game but he was fine with that and had come for the atmosphere. Well by kickoff the atmosphere was kicking too; the beers were poured and the party whistles blowing. On 22 minutes Jermain Defoe's goal was met by cheers from all the bar. There were more oohs and aahs from our various missed chances but the better team won on the night. On the stroke of full time one of the barmaids switched to the USA game and a second later they scored the goal that was to qualify them in first place. Amazing stuff for our American friend and although I was not happy about not coming first in the group we high-fived as I'd have taken that result before the match started.
I came back happy but slightly the worse for wear as the neighbouring table had ordered a bottle of whisky and suggested I share a glass or two with them, together with a fair few weak beers.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
First day back at school
Up at 7am for Leilei's first day back at school. He was a little reluctant to let me go but no tears. The kids in his class remembered him. I went out with a list of things to buy for the next three weeks: a towel/cover for sleeping, felt-tip pens, pencils, a writing book for characters and one for something else, plus a drawing book. On the way to the shops Ma Laoban (Horse Boss, honestly, isn't there anyone who isn't a boss around here?), the boss of my local computer shop and good friend for four years shouted out my name "Peng Duoming!", and I instinctively turned around. He asked me if I'd eaten breakfast and I said no, which was an invitation to do so. We had savoury pancakes and a very nice dumpling together with cold soya milk drink which I'm not too keen on. Then he took me to his friend's shop to get the stuff I needed for Leilei's school - 6 kuai for all the pens and books. I then picked up an Aotoman (like a Chinese Spiderman) school bag for 20 kuai from the market and a 55 kuai towel from the supermarket.
I brought the stuff to his teacher and then she told me he also needed a pillow and two changes of top as the kids can get sweaty...she could have told me when she gave me the list. She also told me my Chinese was worse than two years ago which didn't please me one bit; most people had said "yue lai, yue hao" which means the more time you spend, the better it gets...oh well...
I brought the stuff to his teacher and then she told me he also needed a pillow and two changes of top as the kids can get sweaty...she could have told me when she gave me the list. She also told me my Chinese was worse than two years ago which didn't please me one bit; most people had said "yue lai, yue hao" which means the more time you spend, the better it gets...oh well...
Had a bite to eat for lunch at home for once and then got a couple of hours' kip before taking Xixi to pick up Leilei. This time we went to the main office again and I said Xixi would soon be 3 (November is pretty soon), so they said she could go to the "Xiao Ban" class (little half?) which I guess is the youngest one. We went to have a look and the teacher was happy for her to come the next day.
Hurrah hurrah! We have the internet again! And it was what I first thought: someone had bloody cut the line outside our apartment while doing manual work on another place.
Finally got the chance to use my bat when I went to the old people's leisure centre at 7.30pm to meet Boss Yang. This time I spent more time concentrating on my serves (backspin) and being highly criticised when any one failed. Also I got in trouble for doing too many backhands when I should have been moving my body more and smashing with my forehand.... I was dripping wet by the time Tan called at 10pm to ask me to look after the kids as she was going out. Leilei was already asleep by the time I got back but the little madam most certainly was not and she was due to go to school the next day. By 11pm I gave up trying to get her to sleep and gave her to Waipo as she'd been asking. Then I sneaked out to watch the second half of France's loss 2-1 to South Africa. And thanks to having a connection at home again I could read about the incredible collapse of French football! Here's hoping we won't be the next...
Hurrah hurrah! We have the internet again! And it was what I first thought: someone had bloody cut the line outside our apartment while doing manual work on another place.
Finally got the chance to use my bat when I went to the old people's leisure centre at 7.30pm to meet Boss Yang. This time I spent more time concentrating on my serves (backspin) and being highly criticised when any one failed. Also I got in trouble for doing too many backhands when I should have been moving my body more and smashing with my forehand.... I was dripping wet by the time Tan called at 10pm to ask me to look after the kids as she was going out. Leilei was already asleep by the time I got back but the little madam most certainly was not and she was due to go to school the next day. By 11pm I gave up trying to get her to sleep and gave her to Waipo as she'd been asking. Then I sneaked out to watch the second half of France's loss 2-1 to South Africa. And thanks to having a connection at home again I could read about the incredible collapse of French football! Here's hoping we won't be the next...
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