Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

What’s this: W
No, it’s a dead one of them; M

Sorry I have just finished watching 'Grabbers’ and apart from that you are wondering if the 2013 ‘Summer Beers N Noodles Adventure’ actually begun and sadly the answer is a whopping big fat NO.

I’m in Dexing still waiting to receive my passport and new residency visa from Guilin which should arrive hopefully tomorrow. I’ll then pack and take off once I have finished all of the fresh fruit and what little food I do keep in my fridge which should take a lengthy day or two.

I finished teaching on the 28^th June and since then I’ve been riding for two days and taking each third day off as a sleeping/rest/water day. We are up to thirty eight degrees during the day along with huge humidity and around twenty six to thirty at night so most nights I’ve been sitting up watching (re-watching) many of my old favourite Trilogies/Stories ie:

Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Underworld, Resident Evil, Twilight, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Fast and Furious, Spiderman, Superman, Rocky, The Godfather, Hostel, Pulse, The Hills Have Eyes, Jeepers Creepers, The Exorcist, Cube, Scorpion King, The Marine, Bourne, Leprechaun, Return of the Living Dead, Planet of the Apes, all of the Walking Dead, Speed, Drive, Mission Impossible, Men In Black, Pirates of the Caribbean and in between a few new flicks that are found tucked away on the many ‘Twenty Eight On One’ DVD’s I have.

Of which I think ‘Grabbers’ would be my absolute favourite of the bunch of singles.

Totally Awesome Storms

So how does one fit all of the above in, ride for up to or over seven hours two out of three days, spend time with friends eating BBQ over frosty cold beers and also playing pool?

Mother Nature my friends, she always steps in to make sure I also have a few extra days rest. We’ve been having some of the most awesome storms, some of which last for days at a time. Never ending deep growling thunder, lightning that continually lights up the skies above and then a sudden stillness and humidity that not even the combination of my fan and tiny air conditioner can battle.

When the latter happens, no matter what time it is instead of sitting at home soaking my floor and bed with sweat I simply grab my bike and ride. Any good rider knows that riding a bike is a natural air conditioner. Combine your bodies sweat with the breeze created by riding and what you have is a huge smile as you pass by The Walking Dead who are walking the streets looking all woozy doing their best to remain in some sort of cool state with a hand fan.

The Out Come of My Foreign Affairs Officer

Those who read my blog about the ‘fun times’ I had whilst trying to get my annual VISA Medical will also know that the same guy that made a complete ‘shambles’ of this year’s VISA Medical also stole over two month’s salary from me the first term I was here along with all of the wasted time and money this term.

Well it seems that some people never learn as this term he proceeded to steal and lose over forty thousand Yuan of the schools money playing marjong and from what I can gather there will be no third chance and the big boys have been called in and his future now depends on the powers that be. Like I said in that blog, he is a very smart guy and he somehow did this whilst being monitored.

STRANGE: The guy in the photos in the cap and white top at BBQ is my new FAO and he is such a nice guy. We’ve always got along and until now have only spent time chatting at school. He is the ‘Head English Teacher’ in my schools High School and he takes his job very seriously but lately finally, FINALLY I’ve got him to settle down and that ‘dude’ I am just a human and that yes I am lucky that I can speak English but I am not a super star…kindathang (nice Engrish).  

He’s introduced me to new friends, found a pool hall for us and friends to play pool, his wife has many absolutely stunning friends and unlike most Chinese is totally right there with me when I fight to pay my part of any meal/nights costs. It seems that finally some Chinese are now ‘hip’ to all pay their share for a meal and that just because they ‘organised the night’ that they don’t actually have to pay the entire cost.

So What Is So Strange?

His name is exactly the same as the ‘bad FAO guy’, the family name and the actual given name are the same and there is no difference in tones etc and I think that is pretty freaky!

The Photo’s In This Entry

The photos in this entry are from a ‘link between two rides’ that I actually found by mistake. Whilst riding my Tongkuang Ride (click for the blog) I decided to follow a sign that was in Chinese that also had the figure of ‘20kms’ on it so I figured hey, it’s only three in the afternoon, let’s go find out what’s twenty kilometres away.  

As I rode I noticed that my compass kept pointing north west and by half way through the ride I knew exactly where I would end up, in WuXing/XiangTun Villages which are the ‘new’ end points to my ‘Around The River Bend’ Ride (click here for the blog). The two villages are not in the photos on that blog as they will be in a completely separate blog and will make the final destination of the actual ‘Missing Link Ride’ that I have been searching for over a year now.

The 2013 Summer Beers N Noodles Adventure

It will begin with Ting Ting and I doing some very very very and extremely special!
Beers N Noodles toya…..shane

PS: the drink you see in this blog is a Ginseng drink that has only just popped up all over China and it is actually brewed just down the road from me and when I ride it is the first thing I buy and then mix it with any ice cold water I buy along the way.
___________________________________________________________

The soundtrack to this entry was by the wonderful ‘The Pindrop Band’
The album was ‘In Concert 2002’ 
 ____________________________________________________________