Hey Hey and a Big G'Day to ya
 
With a ticket to Fuzhou leaving at 1:25pm I said a huge Thank You to the hotel owners for allowing me to stay in my room paying the same price as I was paying prior to Spring Festival and then slowly made my way towards the bus station.

First stop was a Wok Em Up Noodles stop and then to find some fruit for the journey.
 
I arrived at the bus station around 1:00pm, showed my ticket and was pointed to bay number eight. Lucky for me a couple left their seat and I quickly filled one of them. There were people everywhere. They were sitting on newspaper on the floor, squatting in any space possible and standing to fill the gaps the others left. So to get a seat I was very lucky.
There were many station staff walking around in their blue uniforms and as soon as they spot a westerner I'm sure it is their duty to look at your ticket to make sure you are where you should be.

I was told another three times that I was in the right bay.
 
The time to leave Xiamen arrived so I joined the line beside me. I boarded the bus and then a lady wanted my seat. I pointed to my ticket and the seat number, she pointed to her ticket and the seat number. Both said the same destination and seat number. The bus driver came to intervene.

In a previous entry I explained how noisy the bus can get and if you've never been to China then you'll not understand what happens if you try to take the seat number that is on THEIR ticket.
 
It really is like they MUST sit in the seat allocated to them!
 
Later in the afternoon when I boarded my SECOND bus out of Xiamen I watched as the mother put her three or four year old next to someone else and then went to sit in the seat allocated to her.

Seriously, wouldn't you ask to swap tickets with the other person?
You would wouldn't you!
You would, you would, you would!

But she didn't and for the entire journey to Fuzhou she got up and went across to make sure the kid was ok and to cover him with her jacket. And what really got me was the person sitting next to the child was crazy enough to have the mother lean over them and do this the entire time...
 
...AND NOT EXCHANGE BLOODY TICKETS!
 
It seriously frustrated me so much that I couldn't watch it anymore. I just wanted to yell, YOU! Get out of the bloody seat and move over there. And YOU, for gawds sake, sit next to your child. But of course I didn't say anything and if I did they probably would have thought I was ordering take away noodles.
 
Anyhow, the winner of my seat was the Chinese lady.
Why? Because I was at the wrong bus station.
GRRRRR!
 
You see, I could sit here and say the bus station staff was stupid and no one out of the four looked at the bus station, but instead I will blame myself as I usually do when there is some sort of confusion. Why do I blame myself? Because I'm too freakin lazy to learn Chinese. Too busy walking, riding or travelling. I can get by traveling from place to place but that's about. Two freakin years mate and I can barely recognize a character.
 
I should have stayed in the 'Asian Character Museum' on Gulang Yu for longer!
 
Anyhow, the bus driver got a young guy to explain everything to me. He went and changed my ticket for me and put me on the bus that took me to the other bus station. The young guy came with me and held on to the ticket the entire way. Cool I thought, obviously the bus must be waiting for me and he's coming to sort it out. We arrived and he waved me good bye, I grabbed the ticket and walked into the 'other long distance bus station'.
 
I then looked at my ticket and what time was it for?
It was for six freaking thirty.
 
FARK, why put me on a bus and rush me here when I still had four and a half hours to wait.  
 
I decided to head out and see if I could find a Net Bar. Nothing, there is nothing at all around the bus station. Not only do I mean there are no Net Bars but the only thing around the bus station is apartment buildings. So what does one do in a situation like this. One goes on an apartment building adventure.

What would I suggest others do if the same thing happens to them? Get back on bus number 816, head back into the city and go shopping or laze in the park.
 
Only an idiot would go on a Chinese Apartment Building adventure!
 
After amusing myself by watching apartment buildings, girls, couples, girls, cleaners and girls go by six thirty finally arrived and I found MY SEAT and watched as the mother placed her son beside someone else and then went to take HER seat. I passed the next four hours listening to my phone MP3's and watching the rain drops crazily slide down my window.
 
Usually here I'd say, Rain, that's a real bugger for me!
 
But as it was my last day traveling I thought Cool, the real rain held out until now.
It knew I had to get as much out of my days as I had to get my passport home early.
I smiled and it faded as I then thought...BUGGER, I don't want to go home!
 
Anyhow, where to stay in Fuzhou? You could head towards the train station where there are a heap of little hotels OR right next to the south bus station is a large hotel. I chatted to a taxi driver who could speak a little English for awhile until the rain stopped. We then jumped into his cab where I thought we must be heading down the road a little but we drove next door and he organised my room for me.

A beautiful plush room complete with its own stove etc for less than I paid for any of my hotels over the past few weeks. Nineteenth floor too with a great view and sparkling clean everything. After throwing my pack on the bed I headed back to the bus station and had seafood laksa and a beer with the cabbie and his buddies.
 
A perfect end to a perfect coastal 'Earth Building, Ancient Granite City, Temple and Beach Frolicking' Romantic Adventure.
 
Beers N Noodles to ya
 
The soundtrack to this entry was:
 
The awesome stoners 'Monster Magnet'
The album '25.......TAB'
 
Along with one of the greatest bands ever, 'World Party'
The album 'Dumbing Up'
I can't get enough of this band and Carl's lyrics!