Bit of a quiet day for a change. I was told to take the kids to Waip's for tea but when we arrived we found there was none. As I hadn't taken them to A Ni's recently I decided to treat them to steak and chips and they ate most of both the portions. I'd had nothing to eat so had a little of their leftovers before taking them to table tennis. I'd rung Zhang Liangwen and agreed to pop over there in 15 minutes, and unlike most people I know around here he turned up bang on time as we did.
There are many tables here so the kids could play by themselves as I lost 4-1 in games after stupidly winning the first meaning Liangwen moved up a gear. But the kids started to get fractiously annoying, especially when some boys come around and one of them, younger than Leilei probably, started playing with me and it was clear he'd had a lot of practice. So I took them home to find there was no water in the house again. This isn't good news after a drenching session of ping pong but not worries we just went to Waip's again where we did have a shower. I left them there and brought a large bucket back to our building. I asked the security guards what the water problem was and they said it was to do with pressure, and would be ok tomorrow. I thought that might be the case and asked where I may fill up the bucket and one of the blokes did it for me in some room on the ground floor. I wanted to know at which floor the problem started but thought better of the potential conversation; Tan was waiting for the bucket of water as she had an upset stomach and toilets would need to be flushed.
In the lift I met some people going to the sixth floor, and asked them if their water was ok. Indeed it was, well at least I've narrowed down where the problem could start. As the kids would stay at Waip's and Tan was staying in, I met up with advertising friends from yesterday again. This time it was a bit earlier and four of us played cai ma and a brilliant dice game that has a hint of both cai ma and poker about it, not to mention throwing the dice in a loud manner seems to be part of the fun. Before I knew it it was 2am again so we said our goodbyes. Except there were two blokes at another table who wanted to have a couple of gan bei's so as I waved goodbye I sat down with them but kept it to a very reasonable 20 minutes.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Piano and baby washing
I went for a ride in the morning and happened upon the "new" athletics/football stadium next to the basketball stadium. I'm used to it now but I still notice the state of disrepair that permeates through so much of this place, and to a great extent the mainland as a whole. Things get built quite nicely but maintenance doesn't seem to exist unless absolutely necessary, and look at the basketball stadium brought this back to me. To be fair, the Mingdien hotel that we used to go to frequently is now closed for redecoration so things may be changing. And also Zhuhai was heading in a better direction, though still noticeably less well-kept than Macau. The most common place you feel it is in the pavements - most of the paving slabs are broken and wobble underfoot, and I don't that these days it can be blamed on a lack of cash
As I was riding back from Waip's I noticed a car I recognised and followed it. It was indeed A Wu's old car that had taken us to Vietnam in 2009 - I'm surprised it's still going. As I'd got up reasonably early I decided to head for a massage where I might get a little kip too. I called A Wu to see if he wanted to go but he said we'd go later. I told him I wouldn't have time later and he asked where I was going. When I told him it was the one he had an account with he told me not to go there - "there are prostitutes there". That's the sort of thing people will say when they don't want you to go to a place for a different reason. I guess he no longer had an account there and I didn't want to question him. But I'd been there before and knew this was not a place of ill repute. And the massage was perfect - comfortable rather than overly pressurised as if to enforce the feeling that something was being done that was actually good for your body. And I managed 40 winks afterwards as well till gone 5pm when Waipo called me to eat.
Later I had the urge to play the piano as it had been a good few days since the last time, and I turned up at the piano place near the market at well gone 8pm, knowing that they closed at 9. But I got a nice 10 minutes of practice in without others disturbing me, till A Wu called to ask where I was. When I mentioned it he decided to come over so the teacher explained where it was. Five minutes later he was there with his baby son and discussing, quite seriously, how much lessons would be. He's only one year old....
Then some other bloke teacher came along and played a little bit of music I recognised, before asking me to play some. So I played a few rags and they seemed to like it, and I saw I was being filmed too...oh dear my ragged rags would be on WeChat within seconds. The teacher then talked to me in broken English, and said the ragtime was Country Music. I wanted to argue but didn't have the vocabularly this subject would require so I acquiesed that it was "sort of".
Then A Wu and I went to the baby bath place at the bottom of our building and I spent some time chatting to some of the parents there. It was nice to see that not all were the mothers, and there were some grandparents too. But the main thing was seeing the babies held by inflatable rings around their necks leaving the rest of the body in the water - they all seemed to be loving it there.
We went back to A Ni's shop and then A Wu said he'd take his son home and to wait for me as we'd go somewhere. I had arranged to see a friend from the advertising shop later but certainly had some time now. The problem was A Wu didn't come back straightaway. Not that it mattered; I wasn't going to waste time waiting for him, but it did sort make it annoying not knowing how to pan out the rest of the evening. It was a good 90 minutes later at well gone 10pm when A Wu rang to say we would go to some place near the KTV place, and he'd call me in a bit. "A bit" would prove to be nearly an hour later, by which time I found myself having tea with a neighbouring shop. I think the daughter there has a bit of a thing for Western men as the other week when she saw me getting home she shouted out "hello!" and ran over to me. Almost instantly her mum or auntie also rushed out and said my wife was from Bangxu, before even I could say it. So tonight I made sure what looked like her dad was present so there would be no rumours about drinking tea together. A Wu finally called to say there was no-one there anymore, and we'd sort something tomorrow. This fitted perfectly as I was able to go to the advertising shop to catch up on an old friend.
It was getting on for 11.30 but all the advertising shop workers were eating and drinking outside the shop, though for no special reason it seemed. I sat down with them for a while and politely gan bei'd for a bit before three of us went to find a small bbq place that I'd not been to before and sat outside till 2am eating and drinking at a much more reasonable speed.
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| It just looks so messy |
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| It seems they maintain the cars better than the buildings |
Later I had the urge to play the piano as it had been a good few days since the last time, and I turned up at the piano place near the market at well gone 8pm, knowing that they closed at 9. But I got a nice 10 minutes of practice in without others disturbing me, till A Wu called to ask where I was. When I mentioned it he decided to come over so the teacher explained where it was. Five minutes later he was there with his baby son and discussing, quite seriously, how much lessons would be. He's only one year old....
Then some other bloke teacher came along and played a little bit of music I recognised, before asking me to play some. So I played a few rags and they seemed to like it, and I saw I was being filmed too...oh dear my ragged rags would be on WeChat within seconds. The teacher then talked to me in broken English, and said the ragtime was Country Music. I wanted to argue but didn't have the vocabularly this subject would require so I acquiesed that it was "sort of".
Then A Wu and I went to the baby bath place at the bottom of our building and I spent some time chatting to some of the parents there. It was nice to see that not all were the mothers, and there were some grandparents too. But the main thing was seeing the babies held by inflatable rings around their necks leaving the rest of the body in the water - they all seemed to be loving it there.
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| Cute |
We went back to A Ni's shop and then A Wu said he'd take his son home and to wait for me as we'd go somewhere. I had arranged to see a friend from the advertising shop later but certainly had some time now. The problem was A Wu didn't come back straightaway. Not that it mattered; I wasn't going to waste time waiting for him, but it did sort make it annoying not knowing how to pan out the rest of the evening. It was a good 90 minutes later at well gone 10pm when A Wu rang to say we would go to some place near the KTV place, and he'd call me in a bit. "A bit" would prove to be nearly an hour later, by which time I found myself having tea with a neighbouring shop. I think the daughter there has a bit of a thing for Western men as the other week when she saw me getting home she shouted out "hello!" and ran over to me. Almost instantly her mum or auntie also rushed out and said my wife was from Bangxu, before even I could say it. So tonight I made sure what looked like her dad was present so there would be no rumours about drinking tea together. A Wu finally called to say there was no-one there anymore, and we'd sort something tomorrow. This fitted perfectly as I was able to go to the advertising shop to catch up on an old friend.
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| Tan ordered a box of dragonfire fruit and even after giving half to Waipo we still had too many so I took a few over to A Ni's to be smoothied |
It was getting on for 11.30 but all the advertising shop workers were eating and drinking outside the shop, though for no special reason it seemed. I sat down with them for a while and politely gan bei'd for a bit before three of us went to find a small bbq place that I'd not been to before and sat outside till 2am eating and drinking at a much more reasonable speed.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Headwash and getting fat
Managed to get up at 9.30 for some reason - I'd been quite good and only had two beers with the late night football. So after lunch at Waip's I left the kids swegging and popped home for a bit before deciding a post-prandial headwash was a good idea. And it was, though for some reason I let them do a facewash too which whipped the price up from 30 to 100 kuai but it's not something I can do every week so sod it.
Back at home I tuned up the guitar in order to have a bash before Yang Haiwei called me to come over to eat. I was sent another "location" dot on WeChat and thought "why not?". This time it was not quite as hard to find though was still a comedy of errors trying to get the exact building. I though house number 2302 was on the second floor but no of course it was the 23rd floor. By the time I got there the sky had darkened as a storm loomed up, and I wondered if I'd be trapped. Not that it would have mattered if I was; there were food and friends, well Haiwei's mate and his wife, and the Olympics were on the tv.
I needed to pop back though to get the kids as Tan was out, but I was told by Haiwei and his mate I definitely had to come back. The dian dong che was low on juice so I had to charge it and this time took the the kids on a san lun che for 10 kuai. I need to know if buying the dian dong che is justified on a purely economical basis. I estimate I average 10km a day, on about five journeys, each of which would probably be at least 5 kuai on a san lun che. So that would be roughly 25 kuai a day, or 175 a week. 3000÷175=just over 17 weeks and so far we've been here for about 11 of those weeks so if we can make it here again it will have paid for itself. Of course it was more than justified on the day I bought it in 2014 (except it was replaced by a newer, larger one last year) just as a huge convenience and giver of many memories to the kids. The problem is I've hardly walked anywhere so the only exercise I'm getting is the actual exercise I do rather than day-to-day stuff like walking to the train station. It's rather hot to be doing that a lot.
Plus I was reading that the fruit we eat today almost certainly did not exist a few hundred years ago; then it was smaller and more bitter. But now we've evolved fruit to be luscious and sweet, which is all very well, especially the Tian Yang mangoes, but I think I'm seeing the effect on my belly. I guess eating five fruits a day is not necessarily that good for you if they are full of calories....
Anyway, back at Haiwei's mate's place there were a couple more mates who had arrived to join us with a couple of beers. I noticed that the home-owner had run out of Snowflake 2.5% and I thought that was rather strange. But of course his fridge was filled with another brand of beer that was actually bottled. I miss bottled beer - it used to be almost the only way of drinking 10 years ago but cans have massively taken over. Anyway, as I had the kids with me I couldn't stay too late and arrangements were made to take us home before midnight. It appeared that we were taking a taxi, though it was more likely to be a mate who just happened to be passing, as is how it normally works here.
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| I was in the middle one and surprised that the lady was nearly 40 |
Back at home I tuned up the guitar in order to have a bash before Yang Haiwei called me to come over to eat. I was sent another "location" dot on WeChat and thought "why not?". This time it was not quite as hard to find though was still a comedy of errors trying to get the exact building. I though house number 2302 was on the second floor but no of course it was the 23rd floor. By the time I got there the sky had darkened as a storm loomed up, and I wondered if I'd be trapped. Not that it would have mattered if I was; there were food and friends, well Haiwei's mate and his wife, and the Olympics were on the tv.
I needed to pop back though to get the kids as Tan was out, but I was told by Haiwei and his mate I definitely had to come back. The dian dong che was low on juice so I had to charge it and this time took the the kids on a san lun che for 10 kuai. I need to know if buying the dian dong che is justified on a purely economical basis. I estimate I average 10km a day, on about five journeys, each of which would probably be at least 5 kuai on a san lun che. So that would be roughly 25 kuai a day, or 175 a week. 3000÷175=just over 17 weeks and so far we've been here for about 11 of those weeks so if we can make it here again it will have paid for itself. Of course it was more than justified on the day I bought it in 2014 (except it was replaced by a newer, larger one last year) just as a huge convenience and giver of many memories to the kids. The problem is I've hardly walked anywhere so the only exercise I'm getting is the actual exercise I do rather than day-to-day stuff like walking to the train station. It's rather hot to be doing that a lot.
Waiting for the lift I saw these workers bringing down the scaffolding - how much is life insurance here?
Plus I was reading that the fruit we eat today almost certainly did not exist a few hundred years ago; then it was smaller and more bitter. But now we've evolved fruit to be luscious and sweet, which is all very well, especially the Tian Yang mangoes, but I think I'm seeing the effect on my belly. I guess eating five fruits a day is not necessarily that good for you if they are full of calories....
Anyway, back at Haiwei's mate's place there were a couple more mates who had arrived to join us with a couple of beers. I noticed that the home-owner had run out of Snowflake 2.5% and I thought that was rather strange. But of course his fridge was filled with another brand of beer that was actually bottled. I miss bottled beer - it used to be almost the only way of drinking 10 years ago but cans have massively taken over. Anyway, as I had the kids with me I couldn't stay too late and arrangements were made to take us home before midnight. It appeared that we were taking a taxi, though it was more likely to be a mate who just happened to be passing, as is how it normally works here.
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| Watching the Olympics on an HD tv that was actually HD |
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Swegways and late footy in gui jie
I slept in a little as I was hoping to catch City's Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest that would take place at 2.45am, but the kids were keen to get to Waipo's because their swegways had arrived. So we got there about 11 and set upon opening the first box. As soon as we unfolded the first bit of cardboard a large jianglian (cockroach) jumped out and scuttled around. Leilei had been squatting and jumped back and hit his back against the table and A Heng stamped on the damn thing but it took a few goes before it was motionless. Had it been a less interesting present the kids would probably have been in tears but I managed to keep them focused on the task in hand and we pulled out the first one, which judging by its colour, was for Xixi.
We didn't expect them to be charged but Xixi's was and we set about trying to mount it first. Actually the kids got used to it pretty quickly, probably because the swegway itself is heavier relative to their weights, at least that's my excuse as I couldn't balance on it without holding the wall at first. But somehow I sort of got the knack, and was able to slowly roll from one side of the room to the other, spinning around to change direction in the process. It was only after I'd had enough that I realised I had no idea how to dismount, so I quickly put one foot behind me and the other went shooting off in front leaving the rest of my body to obey gravity and plummet to the ground. I banged my ankle and landed on my right wrist and back of my head. I think the fact it was all three places somewhat buffeted the fall a little, but I was in a bit of shock.
So I popped back to the house, leaving them to happily practise. Today is gui jie, which translates as Ghost Festival, of which there is no equivalent in the UK, not even halloween, as I had been wrongly told before. The most important thing about it is that the family eat together, so I knew I'd be back soon. Yang Haiwei called me to eat later and of course I said I'd be at Waipo's but he asked me to call when I was finished there anyway. Fair enough.
After Waipo's meal I duly called Haiwei around 6 and he sent me a WeChat location. I had to ride a couple of hundred yards in the wrong direction before I knew it was indeed the wrong direction as the blue dot that represented me was a fraction further away from the destination red dot. I realised I was not close, and spent a good 10 minutes finding my way to the west side of Pingguo and eventually his mum's house's complex. As I entered I heard the security guard shout at me and then realised it was my neighbour, who asked for my phone number so we could arrange to meet up soon. Then Haiwei rang to ask where I was and after a bit of fuss because the red dot wasn't exactly where he was, I found the place and was welcomed in to the family meal as if I was one of them.
The main reason for me coming was because Haiwei's first son was going back to school tomorrow. Even though it's in Pingguo he sleeps there except for the weekend. His English is relatively good and I had been drafted in to help him. It had actually improved significantly in the last two years, and he's quite a bright lad so it wasn't as boring as it might have been. We had semi-conversations about football and English culture, with frequent translation breaks for the rest of them.
There had been no beer at Waipo's so it was fine to perform a few gan beis with the family. Even the resident Nainai gan beid with me a couple of times. These sorts of family meals are my favourite, as you know the blokes aren't going to get stupidly drunk as they have the womenfolk and babyfolk around. After a couple of hours though, it was declared that we were to go to bbq. We went to the place near our house, and another family turned up with their daughter, who could also speak some English, then another girl turned up who was a "sister" and spoke very good English, albeit with that American twang many speakers have. It transpired she'd lived or studied in the States for a few months.
One thing I've noticed is that there appears to be an inverse colleration between foreign language ability and good looks with women, and possibly men too (though I would be an obvious exception). I suspect this is quite natural, as those more favourable in the looks department don't need to make so much effort to find a bloke or work. It probably applies to other aspects of education too. Of course it's a sweeping generalisation but there's definitely something in it.
The English speakers then left and I was left with Haiwai and his second son as his wife took elder son back home. Haiwei was faltering and I left him to sleep in his chair as I went for a walk around the other bbq places with second son and we talked for a bit but he is only six and didn't understand about sometimes slowing down when using more complicated vocabulary. So we woke up his dad a few minutes later when wife was back, and she took them all home in their car, which meant I could go and find the kids who were still at Waipo's.
I dared not have another go on the swegways, despite their appeal after a couple of 2.5% Snowflake beers, so took them home for a shower instead. I still had well over two and a half hours before the footy but was managing so far. I took the bike out for a late night run and decided to see if Luwen was in. I couldn't be sure where his office was, but I happened upon three blokes drinking beer at a tea table. I asked them if Luwen's office was nearby and they looked at me as though to say "why the hell would we know who he is?" for a minute before inviting me to sit down for a beer. Oh well, why not?
I probably spent an hour there chatting and sipping and sometimes gan bei'ing and sometimes cai ma'ing, as the blokes took photos of me with them and sent them to their social networks. It's like having your own personal CCTV service with you at all times - I've barely travelled a mile without someone taking a photo of me, and it's even more intense for the kids.
By the time I left it wasn't that far off 2am so I got home to catch up on the Olympics and some pre-match chat. This is one of the most important matches this season; lose this qualifier and that's it for the Champions League. And it's only the second game of the season, we have injuries, and the side is yet to gel. A big banana skin if ever there was one. But we played brilliantly, albeit partly because Steaua weren't really up to it, and the 5-0 away win with two missed penalties helped me easily to stay up till gone 4.30am.
We didn't expect them to be charged but Xixi's was and we set about trying to mount it first. Actually the kids got used to it pretty quickly, probably because the swegway itself is heavier relative to their weights, at least that's my excuse as I couldn't balance on it without holding the wall at first. But somehow I sort of got the knack, and was able to slowly roll from one side of the room to the other, spinning around to change direction in the process. It was only after I'd had enough that I realised I had no idea how to dismount, so I quickly put one foot behind me and the other went shooting off in front leaving the rest of my body to obey gravity and plummet to the ground. I banged my ankle and landed on my right wrist and back of my head. I think the fact it was all three places somewhat buffeted the fall a little, but I was in a bit of shock.
Leilei getting better on the swegway
Xixi also gaining in confidence
So I popped back to the house, leaving them to happily practise. Today is gui jie, which translates as Ghost Festival, of which there is no equivalent in the UK, not even halloween, as I had been wrongly told before. The most important thing about it is that the family eat together, so I knew I'd be back soon. Yang Haiwei called me to eat later and of course I said I'd be at Waipo's but he asked me to call when I was finished there anyway. Fair enough.
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| On the way back to our house I couldn't help noticing this anti-Japanese sticker on a (Chinese brand) car - a sad reflection of how many still think |
After Waipo's meal I duly called Haiwei around 6 and he sent me a WeChat location. I had to ride a couple of hundred yards in the wrong direction before I knew it was indeed the wrong direction as the blue dot that represented me was a fraction further away from the destination red dot. I realised I was not close, and spent a good 10 minutes finding my way to the west side of Pingguo and eventually his mum's house's complex. As I entered I heard the security guard shout at me and then realised it was my neighbour, who asked for my phone number so we could arrange to meet up soon. Then Haiwei rang to ask where I was and after a bit of fuss because the red dot wasn't exactly where he was, I found the place and was welcomed in to the family meal as if I was one of them.
The main reason for me coming was because Haiwei's first son was going back to school tomorrow. Even though it's in Pingguo he sleeps there except for the weekend. His English is relatively good and I had been drafted in to help him. It had actually improved significantly in the last two years, and he's quite a bright lad so it wasn't as boring as it might have been. We had semi-conversations about football and English culture, with frequent translation breaks for the rest of them.
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| Yang Haiwei's family meal: Haiwei, an uncle, a brother, Haiwe's actual brother, Haiwei's second son on a Waipo's knee, a Nai nai, and Haiwei's first son with whom I was speaking English |
There had been no beer at Waipo's so it was fine to perform a few gan beis with the family. Even the resident Nainai gan beid with me a couple of times. These sorts of family meals are my favourite, as you know the blokes aren't going to get stupidly drunk as they have the womenfolk and babyfolk around. After a couple of hours though, it was declared that we were to go to bbq. We went to the place near our house, and another family turned up with their daughter, who could also speak some English, then another girl turned up who was a "sister" and spoke very good English, albeit with that American twang many speakers have. It transpired she'd lived or studied in the States for a few months.
One thing I've noticed is that there appears to be an inverse colleration between foreign language ability and good looks with women, and possibly men too (though I would be an obvious exception). I suspect this is quite natural, as those more favourable in the looks department don't need to make so much effort to find a bloke or work. It probably applies to other aspects of education too. Of course it's a sweeping generalisation but there's definitely something in it.
The English speakers then left and I was left with Haiwai and his second son as his wife took elder son back home. Haiwei was faltering and I left him to sleep in his chair as I went for a walk around the other bbq places with second son and we talked for a bit but he is only six and didn't understand about sometimes slowing down when using more complicated vocabulary. So we woke up his dad a few minutes later when wife was back, and she took them all home in their car, which meant I could go and find the kids who were still at Waipo's.
I dared not have another go on the swegways, despite their appeal after a couple of 2.5% Snowflake beers, so took them home for a shower instead. I still had well over two and a half hours before the footy but was managing so far. I took the bike out for a late night run and decided to see if Luwen was in. I couldn't be sure where his office was, but I happened upon three blokes drinking beer at a tea table. I asked them if Luwen's office was nearby and they looked at me as though to say "why the hell would we know who he is?" for a minute before inviting me to sit down for a beer. Oh well, why not?
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| An enjoyable hour or so with these guys |
I probably spent an hour there chatting and sipping and sometimes gan bei'ing and sometimes cai ma'ing, as the blokes took photos of me with them and sent them to their social networks. It's like having your own personal CCTV service with you at all times - I've barely travelled a mile without someone taking a photo of me, and it's even more intense for the kids.
By the time I left it wasn't that far off 2am so I got home to catch up on the Olympics and some pre-match chat. This is one of the most important matches this season; lose this qualifier and that's it for the Champions League. And it's only the second game of the season, we have injuries, and the side is yet to gel. A big banana skin if ever there was one. But we played brilliantly, albeit partly because Steaua weren't really up to it, and the 5-0 away win with two missed penalties helped me easily to stay up till gone 4.30am.
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| We got one more later too - well worth staying up for |
Monday, August 15, 2016
Back to Pingguo after annoying travel arrangements
The lazy boy didn't rouse till 11am but I understand growing kids need their growing sleep. I checked and found we needed to check out at midday so we didn't have too much time to waste before we would have three hours to waste. We checked out just before midday and walked towards the station. I'd made a deal with Leilei that we walk on the proviso that he could have a KFC if we came across one. Five minutes later we came across that horrible Colonel whatever face and indeed it was a genuine KFC. I let Leilei have a chicken burger with chips and a cola for 15 kuai but I didn't have anything despite not having had lunch yet. I checked the ctrip app I'd downloaded just to be sure how much time we had before the train and I saw that the my train tickets had been cancelled! Bollocks. I wanted to be double sure and checked me email and yes, at 2.30am I'd had an email saying the tickets were sold out - why the f did you sell them to me then you annoying bastards.
I needed to take advantage of the free KFC wifi but it was broken, as were, annoyingly, all the other free wifi hotspots in the place. We were in a sort of eating hall and we ended up walking around finding new hotspots and failing to connect on a single one. But I absolutely had to sort out how to get back, so we took the bridge to the other side of this shopping complex and found a Pizza Hut with a working wifi hotspot. It look like getting a bus was the best option. Worst case scenario would be getting an expensive taxi that we'd somehow have to arrange sharing with others. It looks like Tan was right about so many people travelling for the summer but I don't remember it being this bad before. In fact we didn't have the high speed train before and it wasn't like this - maybe just more people are travelling full stop.
I remembered there was a coach stop that Leilei and I had gone to a couple of years ago when we had to come to Nanning to fetch our delayed luggage. But it was far away, a long bus journey and I had no idea which one. So I searched for all buses to Pingguo and thankfully ctrip's page showed this info albeit totally in Chinese and in a non-mobile-optimised site. But I had a lead. From the list there were plenty of buses but the source was not the same - I counted at least three different Nanning alighting points, so next had to find a map service that worked in China. Luckily Bing maps was just about up to the job though it couldn't place my location there. I worked out there was a west station, which we'd been to a couple of years ago, an east station that was miles in the wrong direction, and a south station about 4km from where we were in the centre. Ok, nothing was bookable online so we'd take a taxi there.
As we went to the street we found a taxi waiting for us with a female driver. Ah it was almost a pleasant drive, and certainly the best I've had in Nanning. I felt a bit sexist when I gave her 20 kuai and told her to keep the change (1 kuai), but I genuinely appreciated the care she took on the road. No jokes about women drivers here.
Then we saw the queues for buying tickets and my heart sank. We could be here some time, and would we get the next bus in 45 minutes at 14:10, or would we have to wait a couple of hours or even more? I almost felt like running back to the lady driver and asking how much to Pingguo but thought better of it. If queueing is good enough for the Chinese, it's good enough for us. Five minutes later though we were halfway through the queue when Tan texted to say we were having a family meal at 5pm and what time would I be back? Bugger, now I felt even more that we wouldn't be able to get tickets - that would be just typical and of course my fault. I thought it best not to reply until I knew the horrible details but it was with palpable relief that the ticket woman answered me "14:10" when I asked for the time of the next bus to Pingguo.
We had over half an hour so went to the "Kungfu" fast food place upstairs where I had an expensive ribs and rice at 28 kuai and both Leilei got a hit of wifi after registering my and Tan's numbers and getting Tan to WeChat me Leilei's code. We found door number 5 for our coach (there were about 30 in total) and found other people that were going to Pingguo so we knew we were on the right one, but somehow I managed to board the wrong bus still, but thanks to Leilei and about 30 others, I was told the error of my ways and made my way to next bus along. Jeepers another day, had I been alone, I could have ended up in Kunming.
Despite only having woken up three hours previously after 10 hours sleep, Leilei found his Chinese genes and spent most of the journey asleep. It took longer than usual due to road works and it didn't help to have crappy radio blaring out over our heads. But we arrived about 4pm and got a 15 kuai san lun che back home where we first bunged a load of clothes in the wash before going to the supermarket to pick up some provisions. Tan had told us to get some grapes to bring to Waip's but as we were leaving the supermarket the heavens literally opened and we rushed to our bike as the grape-sized raindrops tried to usher us outside. But we were English (well 75%) and made of sterner stuff. We went into 3rd gear and got home before we were totally saturated. It was bucketing down beautifully, the sort of weather that needs to be appreciated by a vodka and tonic, and as the former was one of the things I'd bought from the supermarket I performed the appropriate operation and, assuming Tan would know that we were beached at home for a few minutes, observed and enjoyed the ensuing storm in a way that literally (in the proper, classic sense of the word) no other Chinese person in Pingguo would.
As soon as it died down I called Tan to explain why we were a little late and said we'd now get some grapes. But my usual market stall, with the women I've known only a month less than Tan, only had some greeny ones. Apparently it was the time of year. I wasn't sure but as I looked around other stalls had the same. So I ended up buying the much nice longyan fruit that Tan had said not to buy. As we were arriving at Waip's I could feel the vibration of a telling-off call coming from Tan to my pocketed phone, so didn't reach to answer. Yes of course for whatever reason we were "late" and everyone was waiting for us even though everyone meant Waipo, Jiuma, Er Jie, and Tan and Xixi. Apparently Da Jie had left yesterday.
Afterwards I took the kids home and the storm started again, but more magnificently now that it was dark, and Xixi managed to get a decent shot of some lightning on her phone. When the rain abated we went out on a ride as is our wont. It's nothing amazing, just something that we can't do in the UK. I let the kids get a bottle each of red and green tea respectively, and we all appreciated the cigarette spinny thing on the side, though I suppose it could have been used to advertise anything that fitted on it, like condoms.
After the kids were asleep and I couldn't I went for a little walk as the dian dong che was chonging dian. I happened across Beihai Seafood Boss Huang, who was the soberer of three mates sitting at a table, and had a good chat and a couple of gan beis - so much the better for him being on the beer instead of anything stronger.
I needed to take advantage of the free KFC wifi but it was broken, as were, annoyingly, all the other free wifi hotspots in the place. We were in a sort of eating hall and we ended up walking around finding new hotspots and failing to connect on a single one. But I absolutely had to sort out how to get back, so we took the bridge to the other side of this shopping complex and found a Pizza Hut with a working wifi hotspot. It look like getting a bus was the best option. Worst case scenario would be getting an expensive taxi that we'd somehow have to arrange sharing with others. It looks like Tan was right about so many people travelling for the summer but I don't remember it being this bad before. In fact we didn't have the high speed train before and it wasn't like this - maybe just more people are travelling full stop.
I remembered there was a coach stop that Leilei and I had gone to a couple of years ago when we had to come to Nanning to fetch our delayed luggage. But it was far away, a long bus journey and I had no idea which one. So I searched for all buses to Pingguo and thankfully ctrip's page showed this info albeit totally in Chinese and in a non-mobile-optimised site. But I had a lead. From the list there were plenty of buses but the source was not the same - I counted at least three different Nanning alighting points, so next had to find a map service that worked in China. Luckily Bing maps was just about up to the job though it couldn't place my location there. I worked out there was a west station, which we'd been to a couple of years ago, an east station that was miles in the wrong direction, and a south station about 4km from where we were in the centre. Ok, nothing was bookable online so we'd take a taxi there.
As we went to the street we found a taxi waiting for us with a female driver. Ah it was almost a pleasant drive, and certainly the best I've had in Nanning. I felt a bit sexist when I gave her 20 kuai and told her to keep the change (1 kuai), but I genuinely appreciated the care she took on the road. No jokes about women drivers here.
Then we saw the queues for buying tickets and my heart sank. We could be here some time, and would we get the next bus in 45 minutes at 14:10, or would we have to wait a couple of hours or even more? I almost felt like running back to the lady driver and asking how much to Pingguo but thought better of it. If queueing is good enough for the Chinese, it's good enough for us. Five minutes later though we were halfway through the queue when Tan texted to say we were having a family meal at 5pm and what time would I be back? Bugger, now I felt even more that we wouldn't be able to get tickets - that would be just typical and of course my fault. I thought it best not to reply until I knew the horrible details but it was with palpable relief that the ticket woman answered me "14:10" when I asked for the time of the next bus to Pingguo.
We had over half an hour so went to the "Kungfu" fast food place upstairs where I had an expensive ribs and rice at 28 kuai and both Leilei got a hit of wifi after registering my and Tan's numbers and getting Tan to WeChat me Leilei's code. We found door number 5 for our coach (there were about 30 in total) and found other people that were going to Pingguo so we knew we were on the right one, but somehow I managed to board the wrong bus still, but thanks to Leilei and about 30 others, I was told the error of my ways and made my way to next bus along. Jeepers another day, had I been alone, I could have ended up in Kunming.
 |
| Leilei taking some Zs on the bus |
Despite only having woken up three hours previously after 10 hours sleep, Leilei found his Chinese genes and spent most of the journey asleep. It took longer than usual due to road works and it didn't help to have crappy radio blaring out over our heads. But we arrived about 4pm and got a 15 kuai san lun che back home where we first bunged a load of clothes in the wash before going to the supermarket to pick up some provisions. Tan had told us to get some grapes to bring to Waip's but as we were leaving the supermarket the heavens literally opened and we rushed to our bike as the grape-sized raindrops tried to usher us outside. But we were English (well 75%) and made of sterner stuff. We went into 3rd gear and got home before we were totally saturated. It was bucketing down beautifully, the sort of weather that needs to be appreciated by a vodka and tonic, and as the former was one of the things I'd bought from the supermarket I performed the appropriate operation and, assuming Tan would know that we were beached at home for a few minutes, observed and enjoyed the ensuing storm in a way that literally (in the proper, classic sense of the word) no other Chinese person in Pingguo would.
 |
| GuanPark supermarket has now taken over Nanfang Baihua as my favourite supermarket in Pingguo - I've not got a card with them too |
As soon as it died down I called Tan to explain why we were a little late and said we'd now get some grapes. But my usual market stall, with the women I've known only a month less than Tan, only had some greeny ones. Apparently it was the time of year. I wasn't sure but as I looked around other stalls had the same. So I ended up buying the much nice longyan fruit that Tan had said not to buy. As we were arriving at Waip's I could feel the vibration of a telling-off call coming from Tan to my pocketed phone, so didn't reach to answer. Yes of course for whatever reason we were "late" and everyone was waiting for us even though everyone meant Waipo, Jiuma, Er Jie, and Tan and Xixi. Apparently Da Jie had left yesterday.
Afterwards I took the kids home and the storm started again, but more magnificently now that it was dark, and Xixi managed to get a decent shot of some lightning on her phone. When the rain abated we went out on a ride as is our wont. It's nothing amazing, just something that we can't do in the UK. I let the kids get a bottle each of red and green tea respectively, and we all appreciated the cigarette spinny thing on the side, though I suppose it could have been used to advertise anything that fitted on it, like condoms.
After the kids were asleep and I couldn't I went for a little walk as the dian dong che was chonging dian. I happened across Beihai Seafood Boss Huang, who was the soberer of three mates sitting at a table, and had a good chat and a couple of gan beis - so much the better for him being on the beer instead of anything stronger.
 |
| Boss Huang did insist on taking me home in his new BMW |
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