Author Topic: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded  (Read 28113 times)

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shaun

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #30 on: November 05, 2009, 08:17:26 am »
Willy,

You better not be LINGering around there too long. :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

Shaun

Arnold

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #31 on: November 05, 2009, 08:48:58 am »
Your too funny Shaun :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

Somebody , needs to bring the Viagra :blush:

Scottish_Rob

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #32 on: November 05, 2009, 11:28:06 am »
Quote from: 'shaun' pid='22024' dateline='1257427046'

Willy,

You better not be LINGering around there too long. :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

Shaun


ROFLMAO

Hey Irish..Look out there's a Willy about:dodgy:

hahahaha

Offline Irishman

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #33 on: November 05, 2009, 12:40:16 pm »
So I have finally arrived after a marathon trip to Guangzhou. I had originally booked non refundable tickets to Beijing to meet Ling (2) long in advance but as you all know that didnt work out so tacked on a cheap return flight to Beijing in ctrip so added about and extra 5 hours over normal to the journey.
The flights themselves went like clockwork. I flew Air France on the way over and the food was really great. Pity the hostesses were mostly male so no window shopping there! They were very friendly and happy to help so would definitely use Air France again.
The flight from Beijing to Guangzhou was with Air China had the pretty hostesses but awful food and no in flight entertainment. I did a long haul flight with them before and it was the same, for a short three hour flight its ok, but long haul, you need a decent cinema system, food and plentiful drinks (soft, juice water) to stop going stir crazy. Did I mention how good the Air France food was already??
Qatar Airways still reigns supreme - fantastic food, entertainment and eye candy, the complete package!! And one I hope to be using in future flights to Guangzhou.

Ok, with the boring flight details over lets get into the story. So somewhere over Russia during a whizzbreak i took a cheeky look at my China Mobile phone to see if I was getting any signal and I was surprised to see the battery strength down to two bars, that little fella usually went about two or three days before that happened before and I only recharged it last night..So when the plane landed I thought I'd give Ling a victory ring..but the blasted battery was coming up low charge so I couldn't use the phone.

Now I had a slight moment of panic - landing in Guangzhou where next to nobody speaks conversational English without anyone to meet you at the airport which is not connected to by a underground train system and a bus system that's indecipherable to westerners as everything is written in Chinese writing (not Pinyin) and having a hotel booking for a place you have only a vague idea as to location is pretty daunting.

So then the tech side kicked in, problem solving is what I'm fairly good at. My laptop had one hour of charge left, my China Mobile charger has a usb in to the cable that plugs into the charger so maybe I can make a call with my laptop battery charging the phone, messy but should be doable in an an emergency.
Then I remembered I have a cooked rom on my HTC Tytn 2 phone which has most global networks built in..so theoretically i just need to put my Chinese sim in there choose China Mobile, should work great except my phone wont display Chinese characters..well thats no biggie for the moment as I cant read them anyway.
So poped it in, choose China mobile adrenalin flooding my veins with the sweet snifter of victory over overwhelming odds where lesser men would have failed...alas..I got the blasted message I got on landing in Tianjin, this sim is expired...agghhhhhhhhhhhh!!

OK

My flight is being called , I'll figure it would when i land in Guangzhou.
On landing in Guangzhou I went up to one of those phone kiosks and asked for a prepay sim and as luck would have it the girl actually understood me!! 100RMB, comes with 65RMB credit...probably able to get that margin smaller but fellas believe me i would have paid 90:10!!
So whacked that sucker in, clarified which network its was on (the card didnt say in Pinyin - China Unicom) chose that on the phone, called Ling, heard some stupid super happy music some Chinese (I'm thinking oh crap what now) then a message in English saying thanking for choosing China Unicom and then at last i heard Lings regular ring sound (the welcome message only happened the first call). It was sweet relief when i heard her voice (barely) above the noise of Guangzhou's horn happy taxi and bus drivers outside.

She booked me into the Hanting Express Inn which is right opposite TeeMall almost :) and dead smack centre of town, perfect location for me. Told me to get the bus to Tianhe dasha. So I eventually found a bus that went to Tianhe Hotel and Zhonshen Plaza which I was able to find on the map and looked to be pretty close to the area I thought she was talking about. I called her and said i cannot find this Tianhe dasha place and I'm taking this bus and i'll then get a taxi from there to meet her as its gotta be close. I was outside at this time and noise of car horn beeping was ridiculous so couldn't really hear Ling at all.
So I got the 6A bus from our side the international arrivals area which cost 20RMB (a taxi would be 100+).

Bags packed and in the comfort of the bus I texted Ling, she said this dasha place is the ticket termainal beside the Tianhe hotel. Sure enough the girl conductor bellowed out "Tianhe dasha" when we got there which would be mighty confusing to most laowai but not this one!

Lings office is right around the corner from there so called her once I realised I recognised the place and that we were close.

So I got of the bus and within a minute or so Ling arrived. I had to catch my breath, she truly is even more beautiful than I remembered her.
She keep looking at me with her lovely eyes and was clearly delighted to see me. There was no western style hugging etc, but there is water under the bridge here and I'm just going to remain relaxed an let things take their course.
So we walked the short distance to my hotel(the bus is one side to Teemall and the hotel the other literally, its utterly perfect, and at 209 RMB per night for a basic room with double bed , broadband and a window I am not gonna complain, wont be in the room most of the time anyhow and its all i need or want.
Its got one for those great hard Chinese mattresses that i love, I used to have a bad back in my youth and have a rock hard mattress sorted that out so much so not that i cannot sleep well in a soft bed and the harder it gets the better I sleep, western beds dont have a patch one on these Chinese ones.

So we went up to the room, no there was no snogging..i was smelly and dog tired from the days travel so I gave her some little gifts i had bought for her which she was delighted with.
She watched tv and i had a quick shower and change into fresh clothes.
We then went out to dinner in a nice restaurant. I had forgotten how Ling makes a fuss in a restaurant, if the seating isnt right, the table just where it gives best privacy and or view outside she wont take no for an answer,its funny and I just let her do her thing and we usually end up with great seats!

So that done she ordered after quizzing me what i felt like - noodles, something spicy and hot..so various stuff arrived which i can only say was there was frogs legs, pork thingys and beef, and some wildly hot chillies...as usually describing Chinese food is harder than eatng it haha. I remember first time in Guangzhou i could barely eat the hot stuf and by the last day nothing tasted particularly hot. Well same today, my nostils and tongue were fried today, fabbo, i loved i!
 No doubt in a few days the pollution will have coated my taste buds sufficiently to dampen out the incredible heat again ..or i'll just adapt, its good either way :)

Ling and I chatted about this and that and the food, it was a little like starting agan but this time was obvious warmth and friendliness there from the beginning. She kept giving me those lazer beam looks that just swallow me up whole.  It was nice. There was some left over so she got a doggie bag and she then took me to get my Guangzhou travel card topped up , nice little detail.
She has training tomorrow morning then has to work a regular day after that.. She wants to meet me for lunch after training and then wants me to come to her with her to her yoga classes this week. Her credit card company gave her a weks worth of free classes and she has been saving them up to do with someone so she would like me to come along Apparently there are other laowai there so i wont feel like a complete eejit there. Whadda i care, the only one there that i know or who will likely ever know me is Ling so its all good.
We walked around for a bit after that, Guangzhou has changed, its is noticeably cleaner to my eye and the front of TeeMall has a new incredibly bright façade, i'll attach a pic here, its fabbo. There also  a weird Samsung water display that bobbles water in waves and colours, its very strange and beautiful at the same time.

It was nice that Ling and I stood right beside each other and there was a lot of touchy feely stuff, but no hand holding. I think I could have initiated it but I don't want to rush this along, I need to be sure about her, I am going to take this at my own pace and not rush anything.

I am going to meet the friend that introduced me and Ling initially (shes more of a friend of a friend) as i promised her chocolates so I must deliver :) (I got her some nice French and Belgium chocs as well as some Irish ones of course).

So all is good with the world...well..fellas there is one more detail i haven't mentioned..and i dunno what is the best way to describe it so i'll just write it down.
The girl that introduced me and Ling also introduced me to another girl when Ling 2 and I didn't work out and that girl and I have been getting on great..shes a translated for a bank and is beautiful, is almost perfectly fluent in English and is clearly extremely smart. She is a lot younger than me though , shes 26 and i'm 38 almost 39 (January) .

First thing I saw in my inbox this evening was a letter from her saying welcome to Guangzhou and when was I going to see her....
She knows what i look like (webcam) and we have great meaningful conversations on msn, I cant help wondering if maybe she is better long term material, though maybe i am selling Ling short there - she is much closer to my age - 32, and when I am with her she goes out of her way to take care of me.

I dunno whether I should come clean with this second girl or not, she is going to think it weird that I flew 6000 miles to her home town and dont want to see her immediately. I told her that today i'd not be up for anything but sleep  on arrival..which is partially true..but am running adrenalin and Chinese "Great Wall" red wine right now.
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Offline Voiceroveip

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #34 on: November 05, 2009, 01:51:27 pm »
Quote from: 'Irishman' pid='21617' dateline='1257109129'

Thanks Ted, I'd be up for that for sure, I'll contact you when there.

Quote from: 'Voiceroveip' pid='21528' dateline='1257024681'

Hey, when are you coming back? I'm getting there around 11/20 !!


I'm coming back that Sunday the 22nd.
Jeeze this is turning out into a brotherhood convention haha!!

Voiceroveip, I may be out of town that weekend or at least until late Saturday evening, its depends how things go.
Will you be bringing a laptop or netbook with you?, if so I'll PM you when there once its firmed up, all the hotels have free internet in my experience (as does Starbucks), so we shouldn't have any problems communicating.
I'll PM you my mobile number one I know it  (I suspect I'll need to get another new sim when I arrive).


Wow that will b tight! I'm landing in HK on 19/11, but sure PM me your number, I'll have a laptop and a Chinese sim ^^

Have fun! I will ^^
Go deep or don't go

Offline heckerd

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #35 on: November 05, 2009, 02:02:30 pm »
Since your currently undecided I would spend some time with the second girl and then decide from there. I won't worry about the age factor. I spent time with 2 other girls when I was in China before deciding on my current wife. My wife was understanding on me for seeing the other 2 as she said it was normal since i wanted to be sure. Now she give me odd looks or comments if i even look at a lady to long. She know its normal for a guy but its her way of saying "Don't even think about it".

Offline davidaquincy

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #36 on: November 05, 2009, 02:55:26 pm »
Good Luck Irishman. I just got back from my second trip to China a couple of weeks ago and have been too busy with everything to check in. I will be checking in everyday to see your adventures!

Have Fun!

Vince G

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #37 on: November 05, 2009, 03:04:53 pm »
The Mall picture.... (the T isn't working?) But I can see Starbucks on the left and Haagen Dazs on the right. That's all I would need.

Your not committed to any yet sooo see who you want when you want.

Offline Irishman

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #38 on: November 06, 2009, 12:26:33 am »
Just had lunch/breakfast with Ling.
Four courses, al equally delicious and came to the princely sum of 24 RMB.
I.m writing this in Starbucks in Teemall sipping my Grande Americano which cost the same as the entire meal with Ling, such a contrast.
I was going to walk Ling back to her office (she met me outside the hotel ) but she said she didn't want to be seen with a foreigner by her colleagues as they would make fun of her. I thought that really strange and I was a bit weirded out by it truth be told, I need to mull over that a bit I think, that was not my experience in the past. Personally this wuldnt bother me here or if the situation was reversed, hmm, one to think about.

I am going to meet up with the other lady this evening I think and see if there is any real chemistry.
Become the change you want today, or all your tomorrows will be like yesterday.

Offline mustfocus

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #39 on: November 06, 2009, 12:33:22 am »
Sometimes it's not being seen with a foreigner that is the problem.  Often I find it is the teasing by the co-workers that is the problem.  Why would you want to put up with the friendly ribbing.  I refuse to mention to any of my friends or co-workers whether I am talking to a chinese girl because I know the ribbing I would get from them...even if it is in good natured fun.  When I'm busy, I don't have time to put up with it.
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Offline Willy The Londoner

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #40 on: November 06, 2009, 01:08:45 am »
It looks like the Irishman is going after my recently vacated position.  

At least I never went out with two on the same day!!! Well not in the same city at least.  Well to be honest - not in the same hotel.

Willy
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Now in my 12th year living here,

Offline Irishman

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #41 on: November 06, 2009, 09:44:39 am »
Ok, what and afternoon and evening its been, tomorrow is going to be a rollercoaster for sure, more on that later..

So while I was in Starbucks I had msn running and how should pop up but the other lady "Sunny" she was excited to know that i was in Guangzhou and told me her friend Yamaha (who is a good friend from my first visit here) works near the Starbucks and was going to pop over to see me so i was ordered not to budge!!

So Yamaha came along and we had a great conversation. I talked to her about the situation with Sunny and Ling and that I didnt know what to do. She suggested meeting Sunny first and then make a informed decision.
Ling was going to be working until 20:00 this evening anyhow and i had already told her that i was going to see Yamaha who she apparently doesnt really like that much so would be fine with me seeing her by myself, Yamaha is married to an American so she doesnt see any threat from that direction.
Yamaha then helped me buy a new battery for my Chinese phone and then brought me to see her office and introduced me to just about every one including the boss there!..spot a difference to earlier? Yamaha has a very good job in a big multinational insurance company..yet she was happy to introduce her Irish friend to all her colleagues and boss....is Ling ashamed of me?

So Yamaha and I were on the way to meet Sunny when Ling texted me to say that she actually was able to get off work today at 18:00 so would meet me then at the hotel...oh crap!!

Sunny was already in a train on the way to see me and Yamaha..what to do. I suggested calling it off and Yamaha would tell Sunny the truth. She suggested saying instead that I was with her and met her boss and workmates and we were now going to dinner together...slight bending of the truth but not an outright lie. She called Ling and told her this and I texted Ling (Ling's English isnt the best and it would have been real hard to explain that to her, she reads much beter than she speaks).

So we waited at the Metro for Sunny to arrive, i was shaking a little with anxiety.
Finally Sunny showed up and I recognised her in the crowd before Yamaha, she was dress in an elegant form hugging dress and tights and medium sized heeled shoes and held herself with poise, man...it just about blew me away, she's utterly beautiful!! She speaks English with that incredible sexy lightly Chinese accent which I just love. We got a taxi together and went to a real nice Chinese restaurant where I ate snails for the first time - very spicy and various other indescribable things ha! Sunny and Yamaha are obviously good friends and were great to be with, It was great being able to talk to someone here natuarally.
The evening seemed to go well and she wanted to know what I'm doing tomorrow and could she come along too at the end of the night...
Yamaha thought this hilarious and the little minx of course chimed in and suggested that this was a great idea!! Yamaha knows me well and knows Ling too, she thinks Sunny is a better match for me and doesnt beat around the bush telling me that.

So I agreed to meet Sunny tomorrow afternoon, I told her I was going to sleep in late as the time difference is hard to adjust to. However I'm going to have to tell Ling that it really is over. Ling is beautiful but there is little conversation and that is usually about the food we are eating or light stuff, never anything of consequence. I had to come here and make sure that my feelings back home were the same as here but the rebuke about her office mates seeing her with me is the final straw i think. She is lovely and beautiful and probably would marry me i think because she wants a western husband, but she wont love me and thats not enough.

Its going to be a rough morning telling her this but i must, maybe its better to do over msn tonight, i dunno, I'm writing this down now first because as soon as i start msn I know i'll have three ladies on right away .

I do feel like a cad doing this to her, but its right for both of us i think. Sunny speaks better English, she can hold a conversation, and frankly comes across as more classy to me. I just love the way she holds her poise, and her eyes are just like laser beams into my heart, i genuinely feel a little flutter when she turns those beams in my direction.
Tomorrow evening Yamaha is throwing a dinner party for her friends and of course Sunny and I are invited so that will be fun.
I am dreading the morning.
My hotel stay is ending tomorrow, so I think though the room is a bit basic and small , it is a great location so I'll just prolong the stay rather than have the hassle of moving after all the emotion of breaking up with Ling.

This city is like a pro boxer, its keeps on throwing the punches, but I am not going down!

I'm going to take it slow with Sunny and try to be romantic and let things happen normally, I'm not going to go on about marriage to her on this trip at all, so I will be back to Guangzhou, its going to take as long as it takes, but I've learned a lot in the last year and made many mistakes. Sunny feels like a good fit, the best yet, so lets see where this adventure leads me this time.
Become the change you want today, or all your tomorrows will be like yesterday.

Arnold

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #42 on: November 06, 2009, 10:00:20 am »
Very interesting .... Irish . I'm happy for you and Sunny ... while I'm also sorry for Ling #1 . I hope she doesn't take it like a Latina :@

Your doing the right thing , because that is how your Heart feels and you must go with that .
Oh ... by the way , make sure it's not Chong's " SUNNY " :blush:
« Last Edit: November 06, 2009, 10:02:00 am by Arnold »

Offline JimB

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #43 on: November 06, 2009, 10:44:39 am »
Now you know, so no more wondering.  it sounds like the right thing to do Irish.  Good luck.
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Offline RobertBfrom aust

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RE: My trip to Guangzhou - reloaded
« Reply #44 on: November 06, 2009, 11:31:39 am »
At least Ronan you are moving further up the Alphabet , no more confusion , YET , regards Ying and Robert .:dodgy :s
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