Remember answering in the affirmative if I wanted salt on my chips in a chipper on the Shankill Road. You can guess the quantity that rained down on them.
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China road trip 2003 part 3 (sorry for the delay, on holiday!)
China road trip 2003 part 1
China road trip 2003 part 2
It had always been my intention to fly into Beijing and out of Kunming (a city I’d never heard of until researching my exit). Whatever happened in between was up for grabs. Having already spent almost one-third of my trip in Beijing I needed to get a push on in order to traverse the country and pack as much as I could in to the remaining 20 or so days cos my visa was a strict "30 days or face a fine". So I abandoned my initial plan to visit Shanghai and replaced it with a trip to Shaolin, home of the famous kung fu monks.
Sure why not. But how to get there?
The rail system in China was very good and reasonably straightforward to navigate with the help of my Lonely Planet, though English signage was still threadbare and usually in charming but puzzling ‘Chinglish’ (for some reason ‘Forg Soup’ remains my favourite - I wouldn’t eat frog soup in France never mind China and the mis-spelling somehow made it seem even more alien and unappealing. I often wondered had anyone ever ordered it and how long the ‘forg’s’ would a have been sitting in the cupboard waiting to be used.)
I figured out a route which would take me through Xi’an (pop. About 8 or 12 million depending) and a stop off to see the famous Terracotta Warriors then onto Zhengzhou, an ancient capital of China (pop. About 10 million) and then onto the little village of DengFeng (pop. 600K) where I could visit nearby Shaolin and hook up again with the Swedish kung fu student I drank with in Beijing. at the address of the school he had given me.
The train trip to Xi’an – the start of the Silk Road in the East and home to one of China’s largest Muslim populations - was uneventful but the journey out to the Terracotta Army museum will live forever in the memory as one of the most hair-raising vehicular escapades I’ve ever experienced. A mini-bus journey of pure heart-in-mouth, wrong-side-of-the-road, hair-raising, white knuckle aggression and recklessness.
I was pinned to my seat for about an hour and never so glad to get out of a vehicle – only traversing Cairo by car has ever proved as tense.
The museum itself is a hugely impressive, the main building the size of several football pitches with walkways all around the edge and the warriors themselves standing proud in an excavated pit below – each with different weapons, facial features and hairstyles. Thousands of 'em!
Certainly one of the most impressive historical sites I’ve ever visited and surely the one I’ve gone furthest off the beaten track I've made a dedicated trip to (maybe Uluru was in the same category)
Strangely there was only a handful of people there that day - out of tourist season I suppose it being March. I remember being in this huge space and perhaps no more than a dozen other tourists ambling around. Quite surreal. I think the facilities had been recently rebuilt as part of the Olympics spending to a high international standard.
After a few hours in the vast halls the trip home was less eventful – bar the scrum of entrepreneurial ladies selling Terracotta tat outside which broke as soon as I got it home. Literally disintegrated so it was some feat to be able to manufacture this to a high enough standard to get it sold but then collapse in on itself a month or two later.
The only other things of note I remember in Xi’an is the Muslim quarter and what I suppose where their outside wet markets – fascinating to view but pretty unappealing as an appetite arouser. I do recall having some very fine dumplings there though and the people watching was, as always in China, great.
And there’s a huge tower in the centre and some city walls you can walk round.
I remember being shocked watching a disabled pauper crawl along the pavement begging while commuters rushed past in the shadow of a massive Sony retail outlet.
I was only there a couple of days and don’t remember meeting any other westerners. I got the train out at night and had a sleeper (the top bunk of 3). I bought a ticket to what I thought was Zhengzhou (turns out it was Changzhou or Yangzhou or another similar sounding place hundreds of miles away) and settled into a sleep.
I awoke with a start in the middle of the night as the train pulled into a station and looked sleepily out the window to see the platform said Zhengzhou and panicked and was jumping off my bunk roaring at whoever would listen that this was my stop and I had to get off.
The conductor seemed to be trying to explain that that’s not what my ticket said but confused and all as I was, and despite it being the middle of the night of an uncertain city in the middle of China I jumped off and hoped I’d made the right call.
There was lots of confusion on the platform surrounding my plan to get off here but they let me exit and go though the barrier and I got outside to a small taxi ranked in a car park across the road.
It was freezing cold.
After some of the usual pointing at Lonely Planet and mis-pronunciated communications to the cab driver he popped me with certainty into the warm cab and promptly drove around the block and deposited me right back in the same car park – the bloody hostel I was booked into was 50 meters away.
I couldn’t argue with his enterprise and paid the guy - who looked like this was con was the most natural contract imaginable - and went into my rooming house.
All the hostels spoke English so they tried to upgrade me to some class of room for migrant workers with heat, TV etc… but I only needed a few hours sleep before morning and was happy to sleep in a long, mostly empty dorm.
It was so cold I slept in my clothes and coat and may even have taken a few items of clothing out of my bag to lay them atop my bed sheets and began to drift off, my reveire punctuated only by one of the female occupants of the room farting loudly.
I don’t remember much about my short stay in Zhengzhou – I have fleeting scraps of imagery of a family wanting to take a picture with me, finding a welcome McDonalds from some western scran and, most memorable of all, the largest train station I’d ever seen.
It was like an airport with multiple departure gates - turns out the city was, unsurprisingly for its central location, a major transport hub. It was pretty easy to navigate but while I was in a line an English speaking Chinese lad came up to me and told me a bunch of shadowy thief types were eyeing up my bag so he’d stay with me if I liked until they were gone. Good man! The only cost was a bit of English chit chat, for which I was grateful. I boarded the train and was on my way again.
Next stop Dengfeng and the nearby Shaolin Temple and multitude of kung fu schools.
<part 4 to follow...>
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^^^^
Benny, sound amazing. I so want to do that trip.
Was in Beijing once for a couple of weeks. Navigating my way around scared the shit out of me. I am reasonably tall so stood out like a freak and didn't really like the way the locals stared at me like I was an alien from another planet, it really is very disconcerting. I loved my time there but never felt quite comfortable there enough to relax fully.No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by Solksjaer! View PostSaw Salmon jumping in the river today. Something simple and yet thrilling for myself and the kids
Aasleagh fallsGone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.
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Originally posted by ComradeCollie View Post
I'd seen a piece of shit (not sure if dog or human) on the pavement last Tuesday. Reminded me of the 1970's and Pans People.Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.
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Originally posted by pokerhand View Post^^^^
Benny, sound amazing. I so want to do that trip.
Was in Beijing once for a couple of weeks. Navigating my way around scared the shit out of me. I am reasonably tall so stood out like a freak and didn't really like the way the locals stared at me like I was an alien from another planet, it really is very disconcerting. I loved my time there but never felt quite comfortable there enough to relax fully.
But people did tend to stare a lot when I was noticeable. TBH I didn't find it too disconcerting - most gave a smile back when I smiled at them but some definitely were quite intense and what we'd probably consider rude, if not quite threatening.
Navigation and language was by far the biggest daily challenge. So little English signage (though I'm sure that's got to have improved) and so few English speakers then (again, gotta have come on in leaps and bounds).
I've always hated speaking foreign languages due to being extremely self-conscious about being bad at it - so it really was a leap into the unknown but proof that no communication barrier is insurmountable with a will, a smile and a ridiculously emphatic gesture!
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Originally posted by BennyHiFi View PostSo little English signage (though I'm sure that's got to have improved) and so few English speakers then (again, gotta have come on in leaps and bounds).
Love going to Hong Kong too, or at least I did, the perfect meeting house of China and the West, where English only is fine. Have to go to Australia every few years as two of my wife's sisters live there, always stop off for a few days in HK on the way, so much better than going via the Middle East.
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I still treasure the memory of a backpacker dude summoning a waiter in a remote Malay town (the language barrier being of Trumpian proportions), then flapping his arms, squawking like a chicken, pretending to lay an egg and then performing vigorous whisking motions. He got his scrambled eggs.
HiFi system works.
"We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Pat Mustard View PostBut hardly surprising if you've worked in one in Ireland, people who own/run and 75% of people who work in nursing home are scum.Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View PostI still treasure the memory of a backpacker dude summoning a waiter in a remote Malay town (the language barrier being of Trumpian proportions), then flapping his arms, squawking like a chicken, pretending to lay an egg and then performing vigorous whisking motions. He got his scrambled eggs.
HiFi system works.No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostThat terracotta museum sounds amazing!
Am I right in remembering when I was quite young there was a massive visiting terracotta army exhibition in Dublin. Anyone remember that? I think it was a big deal at the time.
I'm not sure if that's the one you meant as you said 'quite young' and seemed somewhat hazy about whether it was real/imagined.
Or maybe your time works differently.
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Originally posted by ArmaniJeans View Post
It was on at the Ambassador Theatre at the top of O'Connell Street around 6 years ago.
I'm not sure if that's the one you meant as you said 'quite young' and seemed somewhat hazy about whether it was real/imagined.
Or maybe your time works differently."We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil
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1985-1987 by the looks of it.
And apparently the Ambassador ones were only replicas, which seems a bit deceptive."We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil
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Originally posted by ComradeCollie View Post
I used to pick up blood samples from many of them ( in most of south Dublin). Pretty disturbing, but I wouldn't blame the generally low paid staff."We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
I hate that reason. Your pay isn't an excuse to be a shithead. For example, the person in my local centra on probably a tenner an hour is very nice. There's some really dodgy hospital and home care out there that is down to workers simply not doing their job, or simply not caring about their jobs.Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.
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Originally posted by ComradeCollie View Post
I wasn't suggesting that it's a reason. It was merely a descriptor. I'd say I've been in about 40 care homes in south Dublin, many several times a week, and there is clearly something systemic in the huge differences between them. Really don't think the individuals working in each one had much say in the conditions or level of care given."We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil
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Originally posted by ComradeCollie View Post
I wasn't suggesting that it's a reason. It was merely a descriptor. I'd say I've been in about 40 care homes in south Dublin, many several times a week, and there is clearly something systemic in the huge differences between them. Really don't think the individuals working in each one had much say in the conditions or level of care given.
The latter is superb, the former absolutely shit.
Likely on similar pay, but the main difference is likely job satisfaction. Super Valu management understand the importance of treating staff well.I hold silver in tit for tat, and I love you for that
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Drinkwise, normally go to the off licence once every two weeks get four bottles of pale ale and a decent bottle of white wine (that I would half drink one night and the rest the other) and that would be my limit for home drinking.
Never had a problem I am thankful to say, I like it but don't ever really feel the need for it except when it been a shit week in work and that usually only happens once a year.No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by pokerhand View PostDrinkwise, normally go to the off licence once every two weeks get four bottles of pale ale and a decent bottle of white wine (that I would half drink one night and the rest the other) and that would be my limit for home drinking.
Never had a problem I am thankful to say, I like it but don't ever really feel the need for it except when it been a shit week in work and that usually only happens once a year.Her sky-ness
© 5starpool
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Originally posted by SatNav View Post
don't ever really feel the need for it except when it been a shit week in work and that usually only happens once a year.
Have a cola
No contradiction, as it's the exception that proves the rule!
I often go weeks without having a drink, never bothers me if I have one or not.No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostEDIT: OR what could be better than just SIPPING ON LIFE
I sooner hang out with a druggie than a priest!
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by pokerhand View Post
Newsflash, as the recent lockdowns have proved... Life is boring, man gotta have his vices or what's the point.
I sooner hang out with a druggie than a priest!Her sky-ness
© 5starpool
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Originally posted by SatNav View Post
Thankfully I'm still as mad as ever with no vices on board Hitchhiker's Guide To... Gulping on lifeNo beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by hotspur View Post
That's one phrase I never seem to get. "Begging the question" is another.No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by hotspur View PostI didn't know that rememberable was a word either. Every day's a school day with Pokerhand.
Being deaf is a constant challenge. All my life I could never hear/understand all the words that is said to me in a conversation. If I was to guess at the % I actually hear, it would typically be maybe low 30s. That would be an enormous gap to bridge in order to participate in a conversation, and one I constantly need to battle otherwise I become a bystander pretending to be part of a group (forget jokes, I never hear enough to get it).
So what to do? The only way to bridge it is to be a constant active listener. Being an active listener doesn't mean paying attention, it means paying attention to try understand the key words in the conversation, usually there is only two or three words in every 10 that is key to understanding the topics. And once you have those two or three words, you can train your brain to fill in the gaps.
You know when you are passively listening to someone while watching TV and following both conversations, results are kind of mixed? That is me on my very best day while giving my full attention to just one person.
It's exhausting to be honest...No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity, but I know none, therefore am no beast.
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Originally posted by SatNav View Post4 Months off the drink today, I'm quite proud of that achievement!
I missed when you presumably talked about this first time, but is this something you are planning to be a permanent thing, or are you doing it for a set period?
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Originally posted by pokerhand View Post
Newsflash, as the recent lockdowns have proved... Life is boring, man gotta have his vices or what's the point.
I sooner hang out with a druggie than a priest!"We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil
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Originally posted by 6starpool View Post
Well done Michelle, As you say, you're mad enough without it!
I missed when you presumably talked about this first time, but is this something you are planning to be a permanent thing, or are you doing it for a set period?
I knew alcohol and valium were just making things worse, stupid vicious cycle that had to stop.
3 weeks in maybe less, anxiety was getting less and less to practically zero today.
So I don't think I could go back to that fear again as it was just affecting every aspect of my life. I'm doing so much more with my life now I'm not drinking..Her sky-ness
© 5starpool
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Originally posted by SatNav View Post
No it will hopefully be permanent. I had chronic anxiety, to the point where I was just afraid of waking up. It was like a death sentence every day, I couldn't even drive the car much as my anxiety would get worse.
I knew alcohol and valium were just making things worse, stupid vicious cycle that had to stop.
3 weeks in maybe less, anxiety was getting less and less to practically zero today.
So I don't think I could go back to that fear again as it was just affecting every aspect of my life. I'm doing so much more with my life now I'm not drinking..
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