Where do I start with this? Yesterday I drew strongly upon one of my greatest influences; Ferris Beuhler.
I met up with Sophie, the girl I mentioned in the previous entry, and she showed me a lot of the downtown area of Wenzhou which I hadn’t had a chance to see. Several days ago I had seen one building with tremendous architecture – it was two 30 storey buildings connected by an enormous bridge, very similar to the towers in Kuala Lumpur. We were walking around the plaza below it, and I insisted that we go up the building and cross the bridge. Naturally, being Chinese, she thought this was a bad idea because neither of us owned a condo in this ridiculously lavish apartment building. As we approached it was apparent that the building wasn’t completed yet and had no tennants. We approached the sole security guard inside one of the buildings and asked him if we could have a look and he said he’d take us up. Hello best view in Wenzhou. He took us to the skylight condo on the top floor with 30 foot high glass ceilings which some rich bastard will live in.
After leaving there and walking outside she pointed out a hotel which she said was the nicest in town. Again I insisted that we go inside, except this time I wanted to see a room. The cheapest room, called the “Superior Room”, started at 1,100rmb. Not too bad, less than $200. We were able to get into there fairly easily, just by insisting that I wanted to see room at the English-speaking conceirge desk. The room was nothing short of fantastic. But after seeing it, I still wasn’t satisfied and asked the man who escorted us up to show us something bigger. Yes, the Presidential Suite. He said that I would have to speak to the Sales Manager to make this happen, so that’s what we did. She spoke English, and I explained that I wanted to see the room before making a reservation. After waiting in her office for her to make 10 phone calls, she brought me up along with the assistant manager of the hotel.
I can’t really describe this part accurately, but holy shit will have to suffice. I counted 10 rooms. Three bedrooms. Sauna, steam shower, regular shower with 4 shower heads, 3 living rooms, hot tub the size of a kiddy-pool, enormous kitchen with island, fireplaces, plasma tv’s, you get the idea. 16,800rmb a night, although the asst. manager said he could offer me a substantial discount if I sign a contract with them making a commitment for future reservations. Hooray!
We ate at Pizza Hut afterwards, which was my first time at the classy “Asian” Pizza Hut which is nothing like American Pizza Hut. No sir, this one’s mighty classy and expensive. And the pizza tastes just like Uno’s.
After that I went to the club to help setup equipment. Later that evening I saw the two dancers again, who didn’t say hello when they saw me. I understood this as them not wanting to say hello, so I didn’t say anything for an hour or so. Finally I said hi and asked why one of them didn’t say hello, and she said she was unhappy because she thinks I like her friend more than her. I’m still not able to comprehend the power that I have here. After one of the most embarassing psuedo-date situations of my life, the girl still has the ability to be jealous. Fascinating. Everything worked out in the end.
Today I was woken up at 8:30 in the goddamn morning by Sophie. She called my cell phone ten times, I didn’t answer because it was too early, and then my hotel room phone rings. It’s her, she’s downstairs waiting for me, we’re going swimming. Why the fuck do we have to leave so early? She’s waiting with a taxi, I get in, we take an hour long trip south to a famous spot on the river for swimming. I have a blast basking in the intense sun and meeting Chinese people and getting gawked at, get sunburned, write in my journal, and take an hour long trip back when the sun is starting to set. I’m on 2 ibuprofin’s to relieve the searing pain on my shoulders, back, and chest.
Tonight I’m playing in The Caribbean Club. It’s pirate themed.