LIGHT DRIZZLE, FOLLOWED BY RAINFALL

After my stormy prediction of the arrival of the boys, all were ready and assembled for action, the predicted storm of controversy and chaos began with a light drizzle at best.

This was of course however after the typical, patented and much regretted ‘first night crash and burn’ which saw:

• 1 team member naked on stage in one of the busiest and best nightclubs in Shanghai
  

• 1 team member wandering the streets of downtown Shanghai inebriated after leaving said club at random
  

• 1 team member getting into local cuisine (!) and ordering room service ‘Alaskan crab cakes’ at 6am and to the value of an average Shanghai weekly wage. No prizes for guessing who that one was, so pic attached.
  

• 1 team member also fulfilled his boyhood dream of meeting Karete Kid's Mr Miagi, although after a lengthy discussion they mutually agreed to abandon any training and hopes of taking on the Cobra Kai dojo.
  

Monster size hangovers followed accordingly.

However, before the arrival of my unimaginatively nicknamed mates Tom (Webbo), and Mark (Millsy), myself and Dan (Dan) managed to sneak in a game of poker in a small Shanghai bar behind a curtained off room, which was very cool and made me feel very likewise.

I also felt pretty pleased at the fact that my poker luck / skill / mojo / whatever had returned with a vengeance, seeing me finish 2nd and 1st in the 2 games we played. This resulted in me walking of the bar with more alcohol in my bloodstream and money in my wallet than when entering. Nice.

Needless to say the profit was blown on further bloodstream intoxication later that evening.
There was one other game I played before leaving China that I also feels deserves a mention. My winning streak look set too continue, when in typical UK style I was heads up against Mark ‘Spawny critter’ Mills.

I was marginal stack and was dealt AA, after a modest bet pre flop was called the flop came 4-6-9. I pushed all in and Mark called me after hitting 2 pairs, 4-6 and I was left with a couple of chips, which disappeared next hand.

Scandalous, especially after he’s been taking my money at pool and darts the entire trip, even involving an embarrassing 7-ball effort seeing me lap the pool table with my shorts around my ankles. Proof enclosed.

After the initial Shanghai antics and this brief rant, it was onto Qingdao where the previously referred to light drizzle began, both in weather and mischief terms.

After making the most of a disappointing turn out at the closing night of the much famed Qingdao beer festival, everyone (besides myself – I’m hard as nails!) was sick in one form or another, and at one time or another. Even the 50kg of pre purchased anti-this cream, and anti-that tablets weren’t taking effect! It was like illness bingo, and I think it was only bubonic plague and bird flu before someone was going to shout “full house!”.

Although I moan and complain about this it really wasn’t the issue I like to make it out to be. Whilst the promise of German beer, architecture and beaches (not German, sunbed anyone?) were enough for me to lead the fellow blind here it did not live up to the expectation I may have (falsely) built.

I do think Shanghai spoils you in this way, with so many bars, restaurants and café’s to go to any night of the week with the food choice being endless (“Korean barbecue tonight?, or shall we go for some Tibetan Goulash?”).

Qingdao is very much a lively weekend city, with the dozen or so bars only occupying ourselves most of the time. The 1 nightclub ‘feeling’ as busy and frequented twice by ourselves, although very little in the way of mingling action, as well as a bouncy dance floor and 350bpm beats that even the most hardened of Germans would struggle with meant that we weren’t feeling ‘feeling’ anymore.

So after 3 days and nights in Qingdao it was on to Beijing, at which point Dan bowed out and headed home. A fine effort in a short amount of time, nice work.

On arrival in Beijing it was good to see the others pleased at the prospect of things to do and see once during the trip to our hotel from the airport.
I would like to go through the hotel selection process at the airport, although this would require a blog of it’s own. Needless to say it was a lengthy and fruitless exercise in which professional in sales and purchasing should be ashamed of!

At this point, the two remaining members of the visiting delegation were still playing illness bingo, although 2 major touristy days were crammed in thanks to the lack of any serious night time activity.

The Chinese term “la douza” meaning “spicy stomach” was a phrase well known by the end of the trip. I did manage to ease my frustration with the lack of night antics by pointing out this fact in my terrible Chinese at any waiter / waitress that cared to listen. Kept me amused anyway.

This was particularly useful during some troublesome day trips, especially the Ming Tombs, where 1 of the party was traveling at a speed of 7 toilets per hour. It seemed like we had embarked upon a ‘toilets of China’ tour rather than my pre planned ‘wonders of Beijing’.

I was pleased to see though that all the major touristy things got seen, and the proximity of toilets to team members kept any serious accidents under control.

So back to Shanghai where I was literally scratching at the walls of the airplane to top up my critically low blood alcohol levels.

Shanghai. Saturday night. Leaving party. Awesome.

With everyone feeling rested and somewhere near 100% health we all well and truly fell off the wagon Shanghai style!!

And from there on it continued as previously planned into nights of antics, mischief and all other things unsuitable for publishing here.

And so after a week of this, hopefully having seen a mixture of Chine, with Shanghai, Qingdao and Beijing all contrasting each other. Hope to see you in Oz mate.

So, it was left with me and the one they call Mark for 3 days in Shanghai….what to do?.....urm, let’s keep getting on it!!!

And that we did, thanks to the ever helpful, bad influences I have come to know in Shanghai, all of them good people, great fun and bad influences in their own way!!

I could travel a long way and meet a lot of people although I may never find good friends and dangerous drinking buddies like these. They nearly broke me.

So, the day before myself and Mark leave China and I wisely decide to move out of my apartment 1 day early and get a hotel to avoid any unwanted hassle in broken English / Chinese on the last day. I guess I can be sensible after all. Wrong.

My journey to my hotel from my apartment was only a small one, although it’s a long story and fraught with my usual SBE’s, which is to be updated soon, as well as my first impressions of Sydney.

Shanghai and China as a whole has been an amazing experience, one which I would repeat again in a heartbeat. Thanks to everyone who made it so, it could have so easily gone the other way.

So many stories have been missed, as well as those unofficial ones that can only be discussed over a beer.

Will post again soon, as well as a 50th post special comeptition! Not sure what you can win, but something will be on offer.....until then.