So, obviously I’m miserable at this whole blog thing. In my opinion, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve been so busy with work and being social – yes, I really do have friends – that telling you about my adventures has been the last thing on my mind
Before I begin regaling you with stories, let me explain why I finally have some time to write.
Today my life is very “trains, planes and automobiles”. I started my morning on the MTR. Currently I’m taking a 2 hour train ride to Guangzhou, which will be followed by a 30 minute drive to a factory. Next will be another 30 min drive to an airport shuttle bus, and I will end my day with a 3 hour flight to Qingdao. So, with that being said – I would say I have at least solid 5 hours of time to kill.
Let’s see, where to begin?
Well, I celebrated my 25th birthday in Hong Kong by attending the horse races at Happy Valley. Horse racing is massive here. There are places all over the city where you can place bets on horses without even having to attend the races. While I did place a few bets, beer drinking was really our main activity while at the races. The rest of the evening was spent drinking wine and then dancing – to “normal” music.
What do I mean by “normal music?” Well, everyone here seems to dig the whole house music thing, but I just CAN’T get into it. I need a little hip-hop, top 40 or some old school 80’s jams to bust a move. I think it has something to do with knowing the lyrics and the beat so I can make some sort of cohesive dance move. Without that, I’m really just left flailing about.
Not long after my birthday I had to make another trip to Qingdao – my third since arriving in April. Each time I go, things just get weirder and weirder. I’ve been naked in a Korean bath house and on my second trip I had the strangest massage of my life. At one point, the masseuse actually reached out and touched my eyelashes because he didn’t think they were real. I’m not sure why I expected my third trip to be any different.
I was at the factory in Qingdao to do a progress check on production. Nothing too exciting – checking the quality of the mass production fabrics, making sure they were cutting pattern pieces with the nap all going the same direction and checking the sewing quality – basic stuff. As usual, they wanted to take me to dinner after the factory visit. I agreed, and we all went to eat “the Korean food” at the restaurant at my hotel. Once dinner was over, the crew insisted that we go get “the foot massagie.” By this point, it was around 9:00 PM. Having had a foot massage at the hotel the night before, I knew it only takes 45 minutes, so I should be in my bed no later than 10:30.
WRONG.
I noticed that we weren’t walking to the entrance I usually take to get my massages at the DoubleTree (yes, I frequently get a Swedish or foot massage when I’m at this hotel – it’s the equivalent of around $25 US for an hour – can you blame me??). We walked out of the hotel and around to some entrance I’d never seen before. Once inside, we slipped off our shoes and were given a locker. A locker? Why would I need a locker for a foot massage? No. It can’t be.
I WAS BACK AT THE KOREAN BATH HOUSE.
This time I wasn’t with Grace – someone I actually felt semi-ok with being naked around. No, this time I was with 2 older men, a 50-something year old woman and a tiny little 21 year old girl. The men slipped off into the men’s changing area, and I entered the woman’s lounge with the other two girls. As I stood there processing what was about to happen, I looked over to see the other two women already out of their clothes and off to the shower. With a little bit of “liquid courage” – aka TsingTao beer – inside me, I slipped off my clothes and darted to the shower.
Once I was all clean, I was handed a pair of the pajama like clothes they give to everyone before you enter the common area. I noticed that the clothes they handed me were different from the other women’s – they were a different color and much bigger. I didn’t think too much of it until we ran into the men in the common area… I was wearing the men’s outfit. Apparently the women in the shower area thought I would be too big for the traditional women’s clothes, so they handed me the bigger, male ones. Good.
The common area of the bath house consists of several saunas of varying temperatures, a small restaurant/bar, a lounge area with mats where you lay on the floor and a giant dark room filled with more than a hundred big plush chairs. We headed to the room with the big plush chairs and each took a seat. These chairs were actually pretty awesome – each one had its own tv and you could even make it lay flat if you wanted. Within minutes a male masseuse was at my chair. They always choose a male to do my massage – which is miserable. It hurts so much worse and can sometimes get a little awkward as Chinese massages are slightly invasive. Of course it wasn’t just a foot massage either. It was a full body massage plus a foot massage. Ouch.
Once the massage was over (and my body was in serious pain), I checked the clock to see that it was 11:30 PM. All I wanted was to be upstairs in my plush bed drifting off to sleep. It was late, and these people had to drive at least an hour to get to their homes, so I figured we must be done. Nope.
Han (the woman who broke my camera on my first trip) said that it was now time for a snack. A snack? It’s nearly midnight and I’m still stuffed full of “the Korean food!” She lead the group to one of the saunas that was kept at a “mild” 47 degrees Celsius and handed us each a beverage. As I sat in the sauna, sweat dripping down my face, listening to Korean banter – I really thought I was going to lose it. When I had finally had it, I told them I was too hot and had to go. They followed me out of the sauna and began setting up mats on the floor. Really? We’re still not done here?
A few moments later, Han showed up with a bucket… a bucket filled with hard boiled eggs. Apparently, after an evening at the Korean bath house you all sit around on the floor peeling and eating hard boiled eggs together. Really good. Once we all finished our eggs, we headed back to the showers… where I had the pleasure of seeing my vendors naked… again. When we all met back in the common area, I was told they would pick me up for my flight around noon.
I immediately went back to my room, booked an earlier flight and got the hell out of Qingdao first thing the next morning.
