Hey Hey and a Big G'Day to ya
 
Absolute Grid Lock!
 
Upon awakening I thought hey, why not do the local bus journey home. It's got to be better than staying here in this beautiful coastal city that is the home of a girl with beautiful eyes. What is wrong with me, Xiamen is beautiful and I want to take an adventure through the mountains on dirty local buses.
 
I've got to be insane!
 
So I headed out into the beautiful sunshine and thought I'd give getting straight home one last go. I headed down to Zhongshan Lu ( lar di dar shopping street) and tried to find the CITS. Of course its not there, my LP's freakin five years old, why would anything in China remain in the same place for such a long time.
 
So I gave into the sunshine and gave Ms Li a call and we had a splended hour together eating lunch and sipping coffee in the sunshine. After lunch she headed back to guide people around Gulang Yu and I headed to the bus station.
 
Back to the bus station...again!
Good move dumbass!
 
I thought hey, why not try to get a ticket ANYWHERE. Its a start at least. I had spoken to the girl in ticket booth number one on many occasions now, so I joined her line. Her English was a little more than OKish. I knew I was in for a big No No when 99% of the Chinese left without a ticket and a filthy scowl on their faces. When it was my turn we went through the Shaowu and Wuyi Shan thing. Oh she said with a smile, today or tomorrow? Oh Yeah I thought, a ticket. Then also with a smile she said No Ticket! I then tried for a ticket to Fuzhou. No ticket she said with a smile. I then tried Longyan, Zhangping, Yong'an...No No No ticket she said with a smile. So I gave her my LP map and she actually went through most of the town/cities on the map and said No Ticket (with a smile) to every single one of them!
 
I told her I was so impressed with her happy attitude to work and customer service that I wanted to marry her. She then smiled and said Yes, I have a ticket. I blew her a kiss and left the building surely to return the following day.
 
So it seems I am actually stuck in Xiamen without choice. The wrath of Spring Festival is beign thrown at me fully. I mean really, what else can you expect when you give 1.4 billion people holidays at the same time. Maybe they should have two new years and give half one and the other have the other. But then guess that wouldn't work either. Spring Festival really does have its down side.
 
At a loss at what to do I headed towards the Yundang Lake area. The weather had gone completely down hill and the sky had gone grey. As I turned into Hubin North Road a totally massive gust of wind blew me and everyone around me off our feet. It was so strong and such a surprise. Also from out of nowhere came a huge loud CRASH next to us. A huge sign came crashing down from above.
 
Honest mate, the guy next to me jumped as high as I did but when he came down he began running up the road.
 
He soon stopped and pointed to me and then pointed to the building top and yelled DANGER. I looked up and the other half of the huge sign was swinging in the huge breeze. (It was a huge moment I tell you). I needed no further encouragement and joined him running up the road for cover. When I looked back people were running everywhere and soon the other half of the huge sign fell free and landed on top of a parked car pushing in part of the roof and smashing all the windows with its force. The building was only half complete and what ever building companys name was on that sign I guess will have an extra bill to add to the building cost.
 
Luckily for them, not a life or six.
 
I now sit in KFC sipping the last of my cheap coffee. Mr Lu (Mr Runner) and I headed for a coffee after we gathered ourselves. The first half of the sign really was pretty close to all of us. The second, well luckily every one had run off. If the first one did land on one or two people, including myself I doubt my super walking boots would have saved me.
 
BLOODY SPRING FESTIVAL!
 
So what am I going to do?
 
Thats the question.
 
The Super Shaowu Ticket Search Crew came up with nothing just like me!
 
The evening was spent with Ms Li walking and talking our way around Xiamen. She had a meeting back on Golang Yu so I thought I'd drop in for awhile before we meet up again. It's now ten to eleven. I might as well go get smashed with a beautiful girl on Valentines Day.
 
What am I going to get out of bed early for tomorrow...the freaking bus station!
 
Beers N Noodles to ya...shane
 
The soundtrack to this entry was a band called The Cardigans
The album 'First band on the moon'
Cool stuff!