Hi All !!!
Greetings from Chengdu :icon_cheesygrin:
"Herself" has just decided to go out to buy me a pair of thermal "long johns", because she is worried I am feeling the cold too much, so I have a few moments to send a small update !!
The trip over was the usual dose of airline organisation, "treat them like cattle", but I have a relatively easy trip of 2 X 5 hour segments so it was OK all in all.
On the Singapore/Chengdu leg, the plane was filled with little Chinese children going home from Singapore for the Festival, I think I was the only adult on the plane apart from their teachers !!
When I checked in, they were sorry to advise me that because they wanted to kep all the children togther, they would have to put me in Business Class...and was that OK by me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....(no-brainer)
Business Class was empty except for me, so it was very pleasant. Also I was able to get off first and leg it through Immigration and Customs in record time....I took 18 minutes from leaving the plane to going through the arrival Hall !!
Nobody was there to meet..........OOPs, I thought....not looking good !!!
I waited for 15 minutes outside the arivals, in case she had got stuck in traffic and quietly fumed away !!!.
Then I had to dig around in a suitcase to find my mobile phone and give her a call. This was quite a fiasco " hello, where are you"......"I am at the airport"...I am at the airport too,.....where are you !!!....and so on, and so on !!!
We both decided we were at door No 10, but I could not see her !!!
Finally it dawned on me that there are 2 exits for International flights...one for HK and Taiwan, and one for all the other arivals...yes, you guessed it, she was at the wrong one !!!
5 minutes later she arrived and just flew into my arms....WOW !!!!!
I know there are many differing views here about face -to-face communication prior to actually meeting, but if ever there was a compelling reason to get onto personal communication...this was it.
She was exactly the woman I have been communicating with...same looks, same smile, same characrter,,,same everything. Except that in person, her bubbly personality and her total self was much more intense, and the chemistry betwen us fairly sizzled !!!
so.....we eventually disentangled and made our way to her car......a bit like a large egg with 4 wheels and off we went to the Shangri-La Hotel where i was booked, We were so busy chatting away, that I did not even notice the multiple near-death experiences we went through on the 30 minute journey.:icon_cheesygrin:
I cant tell you how gorgeous she looked and behaved.......just like we had known each other forever...and so much more lovely "in the flesh",,,so to speak !! All my concerns/fears/worries evaporated in an instant !!
After I settled in at the Hotel, we went off for dinner and had a fantastic hot-pot.......but I dont remember a lot about the food, we were so busy babbling away to each other .
We agreed that I needed an early night so I retired early...alone !!!!!!!!
We met for breakfast and it all began again on the 13th, which is New Years Eve and I was invited to dinner with all the family at her Sisters home,
We went around Chengdu during the day, did some shopping, some eating ...and a little canoodling!!!
The evening at family home was truly wonderful, what a geat bunch of people who fell over themselves to make me welcome...I was so impressed and somewhat overwhelmed at such kindness and attention...nothing was too much trouble for them and the dinner they put on was stupendous, not least of which were mountains of home-made dumplings........so I stuffed myself to bursting point.
I had brought them all some gifts from Aus, and they were so delighted, and I gave the nephews and nieces red envelopes with 200 RMB each.
At dusk, the fireworks started, and got more, and more frequent as the evening progressd,to the point that at 11.30 pm, the whole of Chengdu was alight with the most spectacular display I have ever seen and heard in all my ife, Almost every part of the City was a blaze of fireworks........utterly amazing...what a celebration !!!!
We left the family home at 1 am in the morning and drove back to the Hotel...where we decided it was too late for Ming to drive home.......the rest of this night is censored !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but what a night ..........
Today, Valentines day, she wants me to take her to a "Western Restaraunt " for dinner....so I will.
Will post more when time permits...and photos when I can work out how to do it !!!
All is VERY well...cheers Bros
David E
ps...Would you believe that after only one night, the bathroom is filled with womens things hanging to dry....must be a strange Chinese custom as many Bros have posted about this strange phenomena :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:
