Time for an update? Well why not:
I have to thank Ted for waking me up at 9:30 am, I went to bed at 4:30am, I hope I didn't sound too garbled, or did I Ted? :icon_cheesygrin:
Now I didn't really want to get up that early but since I was up I went to breakfast which I missed on the previous stay at this hotel, it's a 5 star and quite impressive, I'll review it on Ctrip once back home, a decent deal at 328 with nice rooms and excellent service. Breakfast buffet was humongous, lots of choice including egg station and some Western things which I did not need, friendly service and the coffee was actually very good, way better than your standard hotel coffee in the West, so I had half a dozen cups I think :icon_cheesygrin: Then it was time to get ready for the trip to Jiangmen, I am being picked up for lunch and then we'll hit the road, about 450km drive to the west.
I don't know how she does it but her timing is always perfect, we seem to be synchronized. While I walk to reception to check out I get a text, saying they are on their way to pick me up, and as I sip the last drop of espresso which I had just after check out, she appears, beautiful as ever, big smile and we brush hands and shoulders, I realize her mom and her niece are in the car outside with her brother ... Lunch happened in a typical cantonese restaurant, not posh, not cheap but probably a reasonable choice, brother orders, she feeds me (I love that :icon_cheesygrin:) and we hold hands under the table although she gets more comfortable than me and shows her affection in front of the family. Her mom doesn't say much but she does invite me to eat more and try this and that.
Now every time I eat with new people I get interrogated on how I learned to eat with chopsticks, last night brother actually ordered knife and fork for me even though I thought I manage quite well. My darling showed me a different way of holding the sticks, it was hard to change my grip to the new one but it is more comfortable and I still manage to pick up 2 peanuts at once which seems to be a decent performance, and in a race to pick up as many peanuts as I could, I was only beaten 6:8 by my sweetheart. The food is getting a bit weird, but it's always tasty. We then drop off mother in her apartment together with the little niece (wow she is so cute at 2 years old, calls me uncle ... :heart:). Mother insists that I come inside, we were going to stay in the car while brother got his bag, so I get offered some hot water and a mandarine which I share with (my?:icon_cheesygrin:) little niece, and off we go.
Our chauffeur in front, us in the back, we cuddle up nicely for the first bit of the drive, she falls asleep in my arms, everything feels so normal and natural. After about 300km we take a little break and ... I get asked to drive as brother is tired. Traffic was quite bad on the highway, it seems all of Guangdong is heading to Zhanjiang at the same time and unfortunately we got out photo taken by the police for overtaking on the emergency stop lane on the right :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin: I believe the fine is 500rmb for that, and brother swore in Chinese with the occasional f**k thrown in which was priceless. No licence? No problem, the police don't stop you on the highway he says. I'm always up for an adventure so off we go. Chinese highway driving is not that scary, you just avoid the people walking there, slalom between cars and buses somehow stuck on the left lane and use the emergency lane when needed. After 20km it felt no different than at home. We talk about speed limits in Germany and he asks me how fast I drive etc ... then he says there are no more radar traps until Zhanjiang and that I could go fast, actually he wanted to know if his car could do 200km/h, so I tried a few times but the little 2.4 engine needed a good distance to achieve that speed so we never passed 190, Zhanjiang arrived really fast however :icon_cheesygrin: We switched places after the toll exit, you never know, a policeman could be hiding at every corner ... oh and we passed a radar trap, but luckily traffic was not that fast just then ...
Zhanjiang is a smallish city on the coast, about 1.2 million people, it looks much like Jiangmen with big roads downtown and lots of shops, maybe a bit dirtier than Jiangmen but by no means horrible. Brother's friend organized a hotel for me, 5 minutes walking from his home, on the main street of Zhanjiang so I know where to find coffee and stuff if needed. The hotel is 178rmb a night, brand new, really nice and quiet, 4 stars except for the missing robes, but then they are shrimp size here and I never use them anyway. Oh, on New Year's day the rate is doubled ... We pick up brother's friend and WE CHECK IN :icon_cheesygrin: I am asked to bring my laundry as the hotel service does not operate over the new year weekend. Then we pick up the friend's wife and son and go on laundry hunt but the 2 first ones we find all close the next day so no dice. I tell them not to worry about it and go for dinner as planned, but they all insist my laundry has to get done (Brother says worst case I should give my laundry to my girl, she could do it for me :s although they have a washing machine ..) But we are in luck and the 3rd cleaner is ok to do it for tomorrow, so I'll be presentable for the family New Year dinner to which I have been invited.
We then head to dinner and it's brother's friend who is treating us in his cousin's restaurant, so I am told there is no Mai Dan ... to which I reply we should come back tomorrow which causes a good laugh (after translation for those who need it), I think I'm beginning to grasp their humor a bit more. Brother then tells a story about my Karate lessons I had shared with him during the drive, My teacher wanted me to hit him with all my strength and not stop my effort just as I was about to hit (I feared I would hurt him). So I hit him with a rotating high kick on the shoulder and he takes off and flies about 3 meters before landing on all fours haha, he asked for it. He showed me a wonderful purple bruise on his shoulder the week after, and now I am allowed to moderate my hitting hehe. My sweetheart almost choked on her food laughing ... a very cheerful moment for everyone. The host treats me like the guest of honor, serves me the new foods as they arrive and always gives me the best piece, I knew this could happen but my god are they nice. I feel totally spoiled as my sweetheart feeds me ... we have lacquered pigeon, porc toes (they're good!), crab porridge, shellfish soup, delicious veggie soup and some other vegetables, a wonderful meal. Although the conversation is in Cantonese, they always make an effort to include me and translate or ask me things, I don't feel strange or left out which is nice. Once the food is eaten I thank the host profusely, all along the dinner everyone teaches me Chinese, my sweetheart does the most as usual, and she always tests me the next day to see what I have learned ...
We end up on our own at last, go back to the hotel to pick something up and hmm enjoy the privacy for a few minutes, but the hotel room is clearly not acceptable so we leave and find a coffee shop where we continue what we had started, she is not shy at all in public, of course everyone looks at us but she doesn't seem to care and neither do I, we occasionally drink something until the place closes. I drop her off and am now back in the hotel, mesmerized. Even got an SMS from her to check if I arrived well, same as last night.
I will be introduced as a customer/friend of brother to the family as our relationship is not confirmed yet but I am heartily welcomed, and I think I will be introduced as the boyfriend to her father at least.
I've traveled a lot, met many people, amongst them many very nice people, but I have never been made so welcome, they bend over backwards to make me comfortable. I hope I can repay them some day, especially brother I feel deeply in debt but am grateful to be accepted like this so soon, and even before any decision about our future has been discussed, they all know it's way too early.
But I have to say, she is a dream come true. I'm sure she loves me, I'm sure I love her ... this is looking so good and I feel very lucky. It is all very comfortable and natural, the only thing that seems to be on her mind is why and how my relationship in Shenzhen didn't work out and ended, maybe she is worried that this might happen to her. At the same time I think she would have climbed inside me if she could today, she is always in as close contact as possible, I can't remember ever having been hugged so much in my life ... and I love it hehe, and everything else too of course, it's all so natural.
So yes I am in cloud seven but my logic is still there, I don't feel like head over heels at all which I don't really understand. I love her for sure, but it's a reasonable and comfortable love rather than wild, passionate and mindless. I've never experienced that and it has me thinking sometimes. Maybe I am just more mature?
Wan an for now, tomorrow is party day and clean clothes day!
Frank
