Wednesday, June 28

got up, was groggy, boiling day, took bus to the curtain market, where ppl get curtains made. but they have more than just curtains. .... we bought a wheely suitcase, and decided to leave only when we filled up the suitcase with stuff. heheheee... so we bought lotsa stuff: bags, shoes, shirt, skirt, etc... then we got hungry, and went to the cool breakfast place i like, but they weren't actually there - it was jsut a sign, but no restaurant - wtF?!?!?! ... so then we walked back (it was really goddam far, and it was really really fucking hot) where we passed by a hair cutting place... 10yuan for wash, cut, dry. woohoo! so i did that. and he cut my hair some more... and i didn't even care how he cut it, cuz my ahir was so nasty already i just wanted someone to wash it and DRY it. ... (it was nasty cuz it's NEVER EVER dry. i wash it, and since i have no hair drier and neither does cassandra, i just sleep with it wet (i always do that anyway, back home), and in the morning, it's never ever dry... so with the humidity outside, my hair never ever has a chance to dry!! it sux ASSS!!!!) .... anyways, then we went back to the curtain market, and bought some more stuff, and then went to the supermarket to buy soap, face wash, etc etc etc... fililng up the suitcase some more. heheheee.... finally, munkee went home, with plans of taking cassandra and her mom out for dinner... so after "bothering" cassandra with this inquiry, my JJ called, and said "Let's go to Hangzhou, wanna go? if u do, u have to decide within 5 minutes and pack within an hour and i'll come pick u up" .... so i decided to go. cuz i like going out with my JJ, she's funnest and prettiest lady around. yup. ... so i canceled my plans with cassandra, and packed.... then i waited around for moreo than an hour for my JJ.... i txtmsged her and she said she's waiting for my jiefu's car (jiefu = jiejie's husband)... and so i was fully expecting a Porsche Cayenne to be picking me up... so i walked to the gas station, and waited for my black Porsche to pick me. ... but then a slightly old Audi pulled up next to me, and i was gonna run away, when my JJ stuck her head out the window... gworsh darn it! ... apparently, my JF hasn't actualy bought the porsche yet, it just a plan. .... the audi is a company car... pfft, audi. gebus....

anyways, so we drove to Hangzhou on a highway. it's much like the highways in north america - nice, paved, not crazy crowded. and we stopped mid trip for some "zhong zi" (instead of mcdonald's, BK, wendy's, etc - WOOHOO!!!). and it was yummy zhong zi too... i barely had time to take a pic cuz it was so yummy. ...

when we finally go to Hangzhou, we dropped the kingdee ppl off at their hotel. my JJ told the driver (who's her friend) that we'll just take a cab to the hotel, but no, the driver HAAAD to drive us... 'cept he doesn't know hangzhou very well, so we were uber confused.... the hotel she book was called "Hu ZI guo guo bing guan"... so we asked these two girls, and then told us to go back the way we came and look for a big rock. .. so we did, and we didn't see a rock. so we asked this other fat lady... the driver called her "shi fu", which means smt like "master"... and both men and women in shanghai can be called that, and no one really cares (i.e. the women don't mind at all being called "shi fu")... but this crazy fat woman.... she told us to go back in the other direction, and then said "and another thing: i'm not a "shi fu"" ... she was PISSED... weird. ... different place, different terms i guess... oops. ... so we followed her driections and still couldn't find it. so we asked a cab to lead us there. .... he did. but TO THE WRONG HOTEL!! so an hour after dropping off the kingdee COO+manager, we were at the wrong fucking hotel!!!! it was the "Hu XI guo guo bing guan" ... differed by one word, but huge fucking difference!!! ... so we asked them how to get to the other hotel, and they told us, and the first set of girls we asked (the rock) were right!! ... so we went there and security (which was btw, really tight) told us it was "building 8" ... which means there are at least 7 more buildings in that hotel - GEBUS!!! ...

when we got to building 8, there was NO ONE inside, including at the front desk. on the desk, there was a sign saying smt like "in emergency,call this number" ... so we called it, and 5 minutes later, this stupid lady comes out looking all groggy. it was like 10PM. she checked our reservations ,adn told us that it was a single bed. ... so we went to chek out the room, and it was a SMALL ass bed!!! like, SMALL... for the two of us... also, the new was NOT of the lake, but of TREES! (oh, i shouldmention here: hangzhou is famous for its scenery which centers around a lake called "Xi Hu" or "West Lake" in english... also famous for its tea, and some foods, i think) anyways, so my JJ was pissed, and we cancelling our reservations and left. ....

we were planning to check in, then go to this restaurant in Hangzhou that my JJ looooves... but after that whole fiasco, we were hotel-less, hungry as hell, and when we got to the restaurant, it had stopped serving food already!!!!! cuz it was like 11-something... so we went next door, where they had "niu wa" (frogs) in front, that were to be eaten, and she ordered yumy food: "mao han" (furry clams), stinky tofu with plant stem, crab, etc etc etc ... there's another variety of furry clams called "xue han"., where "xue" = blood... i.e. they are blood. ... good thing they didn't have that... but the furry clams were nasty enough as it is... she LOVES them... i guess it's an acquired taste. ... this stuff is really dangerous to eat... in 1987 (i actually remember this), a HUUUGE population of shanghai got Hepatitis A from eating this stuff... (well, originally, from eating this stuff, but Hep A is easily passed from person to person ... so my JJ got it from her classmates, and half her class was sick) ... i remember this cuz my Kindergarden teacher got it too, and it was a big deal. no one in my family,luckily, got it. yeepeee!!!! ... anyways... FINALLY, after we ate, we cabbed it to the Hyatt hotel, which my JJ stays at all the time. ...

so, we get there, and my JJ asked for a room with a Lake view, and two breakfasts (totalling 385yuan. for two BREAKFASTS!!!) ... so they gave us a room on the 6th floor... we get there, and the view was absolute SHIT. the lake was only visible if u stood at the very very side of the window and looked in this one direction. ... so my JJ was pissed, and called them and said that the room smelled like modl... so they switched us to another room on the sixth floor. .... after walking the length from one room to another (it was faaaar, and already really freaking late), we get to the other room, walked in, and immediately smelled perfume. uh oh. turning on the light, we realized that the room was already being used!!! i.e. blankets were all over the place, bathrobe was used and on the bed, all toilettries were out already, and there was a half-eaten melong on a plate on the desk!!!!!!!! so then my JJ was REALLY pissed and YELLED at the idiots downstairs for giving us a room that was already assigned to someone. so one dude came up and upgraded us to the eighth floor (top floor) to room 871, for ur info if u ever decide to stay at the Hyatt in Hangzhou, cuz it's apparently the best room they have. 2400yuan per night. (the other rooms were about 1600yuan/night) the also gave us our breakfasts for free, and then called me [JJ was in bathroom], i barely understood them, but they said smt about giving us a free fruit platter - woohoo!!! ... when i went to the bathroom, they came up to give us the fruit platter - which consisted all of one apple, one orange, and one banana. yeepeee.....

finally, around 1AM, we went to sleep. bed = so comfy!! down pillows (two of 'em), down duvet, and the bedspread plus duvet cover had high thread counts - so comfy!!!!! ....