31 August 2012
Bed turn down service
How can I turn down the bed turn down service?
When I arrive in a hotel, I dont unpack my suitcase. I take the dirty clothes out I have already worn and put them under my suitcase, get my glasses and contact lense stuff out, toothpaste etc.
I then put all the pamphlets, welcome documents, notepads, pens, tourist maps that lead you to jade factories, pillow menu etc. in one drawer and shut it, never to open it again.
Then I take all the stuff out of the mini bar I am not ever going to buy so I can put my own stuff in it.
Then I put my useless Automobile club card in the slot thing to keep the power on whilst I am out, leave the tv and most of the lights on, and turn the air conditioner and fridge to near freezing.
This works well for me! Until whilst I am out in the evening, someone sneaks into my room and puts it all back again, in exchange for a chocolate on a folded down corner of my bed. They even put my dirty clothes back in my suitcase.
I dont really understand why anyone would want someone coming into your room to do this, but then I see on tripadvisor lots of Americans complain that the hotel has no bed turn down service and that they had to wheel their own bag to their room. I hate it when someone does that for me too, leave my bag alone!
Nanjing is the nicest place in China I have been to yet. Its streets are very much like Paris, only no one has tried to rob or stab me (and almost certainly wont). The food is also much better, the streets are cleaner, and people are a lot happier, really too happy, maybe they drink the tap water here?
The place I went to this evening was a fashionable part of town, lots of boutiques and things, with me looking under dressed but it was hot and I have limited clothes with me.
As a result, theres no interesting photos, so its a good thing someone snuck into my room whilst I was out so I would have something to type about.
Hunan road is where I went. It has many signs such as this. Lots of brand name stores but then some 'funky' laneways where clothes are mixed with Japanese trinkets and men with perms walk their poodles.
The far end has this pedestrian mall running off it, that has some enormous restaurants. Many have bullfrog as the star attraction, good for virility. Others have snow crab or some other sort of crab, good for virility. Theres a real virility issue in China.
I found this neighbourhood style restaurant one street back. The guy was so happy to see me. He was even happier when I could order in Chinese without even seeing the menu, I knew what they had, I could see someone out the back hand pulling noodles.
Lanzhou nu rou mian I said, shir san kwai he said, pyen yi I said, bu ker chi he said, I speak good Chinese for ordering noodles
Heres my noodles, they were good, but too many noodles, I didnt eat them all. More beef compared to Shanghai, but then it was almost $2 so a bit more expensive.
The sign out the front told me what to order.
Later I had dessert. Under a department store there was a place with just 10 or so dessert shops. I must have looked ridiculous amongst all the young couples sharing enormous heaps of ice cream whatever but I dont care. I selected via the art of pointing, mango, black sticky rice balls and coconut. Floating in the coconut milk were frozen shards of coconut. It was really delicious.
Whilst I was recovering from brain freeze, I saw a guy storm into the area, go straight to a table and have an argument with another guy who was busy feeding something to the girl he was with.
It seems there was some sort of disagreement as to who was the rightful boyfriend of this girl. Rather than one suitor challengeing the other to a dual at dawn with pistols, the angry guy just stomped the other guy on the foot and ran off.
The girl never flinched throughout, she knows what shes doing.