Life update
Trip Start
Feb 08, 2005
1
2
10
Trip End
Jan 19, 2006
Shantou, China
Monday, October 31, 2005
Had a manic weekend. I think my life is getting back to normal after broken foot.
It started on Friday. I was having a nice quiet evening - oh no, it started on Thur. On Thur I went out for Taiwan tea with my friend Bill. I managed to pay for him which is an achievement coz he really is a firm believer that a nice man should always pay for the girl, even if the relationship isn't romantic. That was nice, because that day I had met lots of street kids and it was on my mind.
The street kids are professional beggars of a sort - I'm still trying to get to the bottom of it. The most shocking thing to me is not that they exist but that no one considers them people. We were in Bill's car on Jinsha Road when I saw a couple and said hello, one ran over to show me something but he was adamant you shouldn't open the window. I did anyway coz he wasn't going to ask for money - it set off a convo that lasted a long time. Bill said there are kids trained to hypnotise so you'll give them your stuff. I dunno. They're still kids. What is interesting is when you ask anyone here what you should do to help people, they all say: Get rich and then you can set up a foundation like Bill Gates. It is really a fantastic idea that only the rich can help other people who they don't personally know. Maybe it is the stage of development - people still struggle to make themselves secure. But I don't know. Brazil has lots of people who aren't rich, doing good things.
Then there was Friday. It was planned down for a quiet night in, but I txted Yizhi then Bob, and went to Lao Difang (Old Place) for JDcoke. That was a nice chat, nothing crazy, but then Yizhi called, to Zero (Ling Dian), and Zero always turns into the most mental of nights out, I don't know what it is about the place. Crazy night with Yizhi and old schoolmates - whiskey and green tea or tonic water, drinking games, were the most prominent features. When I got home I drank some milk and water which tipped my poor stomach over the edge and I threw up for the next 14hrs, this has not happened in many years I wonder if it was dodgy whiskey. ugh
Sat night was a halloween party which was too expensive and not enough people. Also we ran out of alcohol, but I wasn't feeling well so this coloured my perception of the whole night. Yen was down from his work, which was good, and around two o'clock he finally took me to this fish place he's been talking about for ages. It's called shen hai yu (deep sea fish), and it's on chang ping lu. Excellent. And we asked for a pile of ginger to be stuffed in the middle of the pot, and ginger is a miracle cure for all digestive issues (well, things that involve throwing up).
Sunday had gan mian (Round Door rest.) lunch with Yen. Aft - windsurfing! Can you believe it! Windsurfing in Shantou! But they have it. It's on Da Hao. I reckon it'd cost about 50rmb in a taxi. I don't know the setup but there are boards and things - it's all in a little hut by a calm (and clean) bay. Don't know if it's an insider thing or what, can't be, they're out to make money after all. I liked that they had proper showers with doors on. Foot hurt a bit, still not very strong.
In the evening I went to Mei Yuan with Cecilia, her cousin +husband and kid. He cousin is my age argh she's married with a 13month old child. They're here to leave the kid in Shantou because they both have to work where they live, in Dongguang. Harsh eh? Harsh but necessary. At least he'll get looked after by caring relatives. Of course the kid didn't have a clue what was about to happen, being so young.
Must eat but there are the notes.
NB These aren't notes, they've been updated into sentences (as you might recognise)
Things to write about:
windsurfing
mei yuan
gan mian
lao difang
zero
ginger cure
taiwan tea - tea.
shen hai yu
mingtien
Argh so much, need pics
