Hi Blogatrons.
I hope you have seen our signs in Newcastle above our new hot joint. CLUE- near the Hancock Museum/Civic Centre.
Work is progressing. All the big construction has been completed. And we are installing kitchen items this week. Basement graft has still got a long way to go, but that's ok.
We have begun the xmas tea happenings (packing gift packs, and getting the xmas blends sorted, and having the usual arguments about ribbon). I cant believe we're talking about christmas. Sorry. We wont advertise that sort of stuff til later, dont worry. Just letting you know whats going on.
Also we picked up some lights from London. Which was a ridiculous mission, but a fun one. They are for our gallery space. FOR TO ILLUMINATE WORKS OF ART.
The windows are being installed at a leisurely pace. As soon as they are installed, things start to become VERY interesting. The building hasnt had natural light for 20 years. So it's like it can breath again. Like a chlorophyl starved seedling, suddenly flung into the sunshine. It will grow and blossom into the beautiful flower it had the potential to be. Unless its a slimey snotwort (gloopius bogiarum).
We love you all, and please do look at Everything Everything's new song.
Day 2.
There were 2 things to achieve in Guangzhou. Anything else would be excellent but not necessary. Number one was to look at some crockery, and possibly buy it. Number two was to taste some tea, and possibly buy it.
Waking pretty (but not obscenely) early, the journey took me once again along the river bank, through the university grounds, to the nearest metro station. This is what i did see -
Hostel view
Hostel view no. 2
These chaps were kite flying men. They had special leather pads on their thighs to allow for speedy reeling in of kite. It made a crack noise when they did it, and the kite fluttered fast. Exciting it was.
These ladies were just having a sing song together.
These lads were having a good old fish using ye olde techniques
This lad was dead happy, and maybe a little simple, but very nice.
Regarding the kite chaps and the singing ladies. There were SO MANY groups of people doing things together outside. It was amazing. People dancing, exercising, badmintoning, creche groups, biddy chatting groups, mahjong groups, all outside, all together. That is so very very different from here in the UK. Can you imagine meeting on Newcastle quayside to have a sing of some Abba hits together? It was eye opening, and lovely to see. I felt happy around all the group activity.
I then jumped on metro 8 and rode it to Pazhou.
Some notes on metros/public transport.
For a public transport system to be BRILL, you need congruency through all modes of transport (including bicycles), and prices need to be low. Take, for example, the Prague metro system. For 1ish euro you can have 90 minutes of travel. BUT ON TOP OF THAT YOU CAN CHANGE TO ANY BUS, TRAM, LOCAL TRAIN ETC, included in the ticket. Thats enough to get to the shops, buy your purchase and ride home again. Now, say you have to take a not very far metro trip in Newcastle, followed by a bus. That will cost you around £4, 1 way. That's obscene. There aren't enough naughty words in the world to describe with any accuracy how frustrating the Newcastle Metro is. Obviously the cost of living is less in the Czech Rep, but those prices are not relative.
ALSO up until a short while ago, in Budapest, a ticket would cost £1. If you wanted to change metros, you would need a new ticket. So, say you wanted to travel ONE stop on one metro, then change to travel a few more. You would need 2 tickets (or a more expensive transfer ticket). Which is just bloody stupid, money grabbing, idiocy. They used this system to nab trusting tourists as well. Fine them. Fine them good. But i like the BP transport system, despite the silly prices, and vulturine ticket inspectors. Mostly because they have trams. And trams are excellent. They have gorgeous 1960's squeaky trams, that trundle and teeter. And they also have Supa Modern A/C trams (the longest single carriage trams in the world FYI FYI), all working harmoniously with a pretty well run metro line, and crappy old buses, that i also love. This man also enjoys a good public transport.
The Guangzhou metro is a sanitary, clinical affair. I was comparing it to the London Tube whilst riding it. What is preferable - this super efficient, air conditioned, characterless, affordable dream of a metro system, or the marvellously eccentric n QuiRkY, occasionally dependable, joyful London Tubular Chap? London wins. Despite me not wanting it to. Please do spend some time on this website. It gives many reasons why the London Tube is mint.
Popping my head up from my nice cool subterranean lair, i immediately ran to a cool beverage retailer and tipped a bottle of coke over my head. On reflection, drinking it would have been advisable. I had this address - Room 2008, North Tower. It was fun finding it.
Guangzhou is home to the Canton Trade Fair. A bi annual trade meeting of nearly 200000 people, held on 1125000 m2 of exhibition space. ITS MASSIVE. Its mostly held where i was, in huge purpose built exhibition buildings. Like this-
When it's not on, the river Island on which it is held is kinda quiet and ghost towny. Just sod loads of GIMONGOUS buildings with nowt in em. North tower is the office block attached to one of the exhibition buildings. It was very very quiet, and i went to the 20th floor. No one about. I wandered to the bottom of the empty corridor, with empty offices. No one about. I did a little break dance because the floor was dead polished, and i was lonely and scared and thought it might attract at least SOMEONE from SOMEWHERE. It didn't.
So i wandered some more, and finally found an office with someone in. I knocked and they looked surprised. AND IN I WENT….
Inside was a plethora of porcelain, a cornucopia of crockery, an excess of earthenware not to mention a whole abundance of affected alliteration.
It was quite the spectacle. And so hours were whiled away inspecting cups and saucers, talking about the fabrication of new bone china, the variation in the clink of cup on saucer, the possibilities of customisation and simply everything i could think of in regards to porcelain. It was DEAD INTERESTING, and a cup of excellence was found (or the components of).
They took a long hard look at our cup design, and told us it was all possible, and that a sample could be fabricated in 10 days!!!! (this was 6 months ago, and we are still waiting….)
So there we go.
Number one mission for Guangzhou was complete.
It was just after midday, so had the rest of the day to buy tea. Guangzhou has one of the worlds largest tea markets. Near Fangcun metro station. So that was where i headed. Understandably.
I stopped for lunch and had an amazing bowl of pork chop noodles (i think) and had a maple syrup bubble tea (im going to talk to y'all about bubble tea soon, don't worry. ITS GOOD)
I had a lull in NRG, so sat down on a park bench and fell asleep. It was nice. Then I wandered and got dead lost. But it was fine. I saw some nice things. And ate some more nice things also. Past dim sum shops, and so many iphone accessory retailers, and strange fashion dogs, and NO LITTER ANYWHERE and loads of parks that looked lovely.
Eventually the tea Mecca was located. And in i wandered. There was NO ONE THERE, bar the proprietors, so i got a lot of attention. Eventually i settled on a chap who had a VERY nice looking bunch of wild Fuding White, and some gorgeous Huang Cha.
And so began 6 hours of filling my bladder with liquid, then emptying it, and repeat.
TEA PEOPLE
Some of the liquid was absolutely phenomenal. Taste sensations, LET ME TELL YOU!!!!!OMG The yellow tea rocked my world, and i experienced some Fujian Oolongs that would give Eeyore a Gregg Wallace Grin.
I also nibbled on the mans green tea pumpkin seeds that he had made and was very proud of. I loved them at the time. But now i have them here, they aren't so delish (he gave me very many to take home). I ordered about 10 kg of tea, to be collected upon return to Guangzhou at the end of the trip, and then made my way back to the hostel.
It was evening. This is what i did see -
This was an evening entertainment strip, with fairground games and stalls selling plastic shit that usually went 'weeeeee' or 'bzzzzzzdiiiiiingkerblink' and flashed blue and red.
This was on a boat across the river.
This was at a fish market. There were many bags of mysterious wriggling writhing things, and animals that i just have no idea what they were. It was bustling.
This was a snail as big as my fist.
This was a whistly chap, on the beautiful Shamian Island.
I then got tired and jumped on an electric scooter taxi. My hair got ruffled, and i got a little too up close and personal with the driver. It felt invigorating and lush (the drive, not his body between my groin). I also nearly lost my shins quite a few times by him driving too close to hard objects. We got lost, but we had fun together, communicating with noises. Laughing as one. I wondered if i squeezed his nipple from behind i could get away with him thinking it just a weird cultural difference thing.
Then i got in, fatigued, did an email, then did a big achey sleep on the pointless mattress.
GOOD NIGHT LADZ N LASSES xxx
This blog has been sponsored by the word chap and a massive snail.
