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Qingdao |
Bangkok | Hanoi
| Xian | Qingdao | Seoul
Tuesday June 27th 2000
Wow! Made it to Qingdao which is all I have time to write today. Am in an intrenet cafe in the Book City in Qingdao. My friend A-Tao, who I met in Korea back in 1998, is sitting next to me and it's almost time for dinner already. Am staying in the Jin Hai Hotel next to the railway station, courtesy of the General Manager, Mr. Yang Zhen. Will write more soon - honest.
June 28th 2000
Still don't have as much time as I'd like to so here's a very quick rundown of what's been going on
Sunday
25th- Flight from Xi'an delayed to door not closing properly + and
again at Zhengzhou stopover + On airplane to Qingdao met Imae, Jap. Businessman
who kindly gave me a lift from the airport to the city and his personal
assistant tried to help me find a hotel in my price range (all too expensive
though.) + Eventually found hotel for Y30 p/n. Went walkabout by the sea
and found a street artist + I became instantly popular when he asked me
to teach him the ABC with his pastels, so I drew a picture ABC on the spot.
A=Apple , B=Bus etc...
Took a stroll by the seaside and took some great shots of the sea-front.
The town struck me a little similar to back home but I know for sure I
wouldn't feel as safe walking around with my camera equipment back at Cleethorpes
sea front. Went to lunch at Stephen Gao's Restaurant which is really nice
and good food. not too expensive either. While eating met David and Alma
who sing in the Haitian Hotel, Irish bar. To bed quite late.
It took a little while for me to get my luggage together but after I'd done so we didn't take a direct drive back to the Jin Hai but out to friend's of Miss Zhang's. Still feeling stuffed from lunch I was offered more snacks at my host's house which I nibbled as our hostess, Miss Zhang, and the driver of the car chatted. I played with the hostess' daughter seeing as our level of Chinese was about the same. I guess they thought I was a little strange playing more 'boyish' games with the daughter but that wa only because at the time I thought she was a boy because she looked more boyish and hadn't bothered to check with the mother. Ooops!
After a while of green tea and conversation I didn't understand (not really directed at me anyway) we made our way back to the hotel where I was given a chance to shower and rest a while - before dinner.
Funnily enough I wasn't yet too hungry so I picked at my food although I soon learned that 'Chi ba' (come on, eat!) was something I was going to hear a lot of on this trip. Unfortunately it was done to overkill and really started to tick me off to the point of protesting that the food was good but if I was to eat anymore I was going to have a bad day. Anyway, faces from the Expo came and went on that day and it was really good to meet up with these friends with whom I'd already shared an interesting time in Korea. Funnily enough my glass was never empty, no matter how many times I tried to drain it. It just would not stay dry. I do (looking back on it) remember asking about going to a club to see David and Alma play and that's the last I do remember for that time being.
The next thing I remember is being carried up to my room and being put on the bed by Ah Toa, Qiu Kung and Ah Toa's girlfriend. The 'Chi ba, he ba!' (eat more, drink more) had gotten the better of me and I'd black out on hitting the night air. One thing that did worry me at the time was 'Who was that girl they're leaving in my room?' When I asked here who she was, she just replied, 'Mass-ah-ji!' I made my apologies to her and asked her to leave, there was no way I was in the right state for a massage at that time, (or anything else she had to offer.)
After trying to tell Miss Zhang for the fourth time that the reason I wasn't eating was because I felt really ill from the amount I'd eaten the day before I thought a stroll outside would do me the power of good. (and make me feel a little less imprisoned. Out walking I felt much better and without feeling obliged to eat or drink lest I offend I was much calmer. I walked for an hour or so and after a while I was met by Ah Toa, who'd seen me from a bus and came to find out what I was doing. I told him that there were some things I really had to do today and that was fine,
although
he instantly came out with an itinerary for the day because he had a few
errands to run. That was cool too but inside I thought that we could
meet up later instead of my trailing around for a few hours. Eventually
all was done and we met up with his girlfriend - and I apologised for 'my'
drunkenness of the night before.
The rest of my time in Qingdao (until Friday morning) was spent going from relative to friend's house and although I felt that it was a show of sincere hospitality I still, at times, couldn't shake the thought that I was somehow a conversation piece or some kind of 'Hey, look! We've got a foreigner!' The night's also were a lot of drunken revelry, which really didn't let me recover properly from Monday night.
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