Days 19/20 - Aug 23 + 24

Video Blog #8! From Nanning, China~

SAT AUG 23 (Day 19)

I got to sleep in today but only an extra hour. I got up around 920 and had some breakfast and a shower. I met my friends dad in the lobby around 10am and we went out to do some touring. We took two buses to get to this park which I think in english was called "south lake park." Anyway it was so big you couldn't walk it so we took a travel bus around and got off at this tourist area. we then climbed up some stairs and reached a 8-storey tower. Of course we climbed to to the top of the tower (there goes my "day off" from training) and took some pictures of the panoramic view. It was not a hot sunny day today so they view had been deminished by the hazey/damp weather which kinda sucked since it was my day to tour but at least it was cooler. Once we got to the bottom of the tower we stopped for a drink but once we heard thunder nearby, thought it would be best to start walking. We barely made it to the bottom area under cover when the sub-tropical storm hit. 30-min of rain and thunder and lightning you only find near the equator! It was intense! A bus came by to pick all of us "stranded" people up and we got drenched in the 3-seconds it took to get on the bus. But all-in-all it was a good experience. From there we went into the city centre and to McDonald's for lunch. McD's here is like a luxury food - very expensive. A meal is over 2/3 what the price would be in Canada; most other foods/goods and anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3. But nonetheless they had 3 stores within 2 blocks and they were full of people! From there we went to Wal-Mart ... yes, I just said the Wal-Mart Supercentre! It was a shopping experience although "everyday low prices" didn't exactly exist (prices were quite similar to most small department stores), they did definitely have the variety on hand. Took a bus back to the hotel and it had stopped raining but only briefly. My friend said it was going to start raining again so I casually picked up my pace but when he started running I took notice. Needless to say, about 45seconds before I had reached my hotel the skies opened up and by the time I was in the door I was soaked! I got back in my room and relaxed the afternoon away; napping and computer'ing. Finally around 8pm I took another shower and went out to eat. Had a vanilla ice cap and some rice/beef. Back to my room, did my blog, watched some tv and gonna sleep around 1230~


SUN AUG 24 (Day 20)

My Sunday I got up and left the hotel around 915am. I met up with one of the players mom's and got in the car. It was the mom, Mr.Lei, two other players and myself in her Jetta. We then drove for just over 2 hours along the Chinese hwy...I'm guessing the distance woulda been like Seattle'ish to get to this city. The highway is pretty open, 4 lanes, no traffic really except for the big slow trucks. I really wasn't told much or knew what was gonna happen for the day. Apparently they were opening up this new club and invited my coach and his players and their families (in China it's always a big group gathering) because my coach is 'famous' in the province. Anyway we arrived just before 12 and had a massive sit down lunch. Afterwards they put us in these dorm-style housing (3 ppl to a room) to take a nap. At about 3pm we went to the badminton club (which is located on hospital property) and played exhibition matches for a couple hours. Out club managed to defeat their players - I won 2 and lost 2. Then they took us back to the same place as earlier to relax/shower and then eat another massive sit down dinner while we all watched the Closing Ceremonies. We didn't leave there until 10ish and got back just after midnight! Just wanted to comment that they treat me too much like a celebrity; I go to this new city and the badminton group there is just as gracious and generous to me as the ones I am with now. And of course they all want pictures and practice their basic english. When I was little I always hung around the adults, but last night I went over to the kids table and played cards and ran around with them because I was getting tired of the adult attention haha. But all-in-all it was another good/busy day; I went to sleep as soon as I got back!