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My bus was due to leave at 8:30 in the morning.I made myself a bus-picnic and went to the station.I was a bit nervous about getting on the wrong bus, but I showed the ticket collector my ticket, and I also showed the driver once I got on the bus.There was already at least one person in each pair of seats so I had to sit next to a Chinese girl but she didn't smile or anything so I just put in my iPod, put on my eye mask, and relaxed.The journey was going to be about seven hours long so I intended to sleep for as much of it as I could.Although it was a warm day, I was cold on the bus because of the air conditioning so I put on my cardigan.After a while I was woken by a strange feeling around my legs. I lifted my eye mask to find that at some point the coach aisle had been filled with extra passengers, sitting on little stools or standing, and because it was so crowded the lady sat near me was spread into the foot-well by my legs and her baby kept pulling at my jeans.
I was soon able to fall back to sleep despite the lack of leg room and slept for some time before being woken by a second strange feeling, this time on my arm.I lifted my eye mask to see what it was, shrieked "OH MY GOD!!" and glared at the lady responsible as I found that I was covered in vomit.It was the lady who had been sat around my feet.She had obviously got travel sick and instead of just being sick on the floor or into a bag, she had stood up and projected it all over me.I was the only non-Chinese person on the bus, and I was the only person who got any on them...Typical!I was covered in it, she'd got my back, leg, chest, arm, shoulder.I had to take off my cardigan as that had suffered the worst.Her husband handed me a roll of tissues and I was able to get rid of most of the solids but everything was still damp and smelly.I spent the next three hours shivering and smelling of sick, and needless to say I lost my appetite for my picnic!
Luckily the hostel I booked had a nice hot shower and a washing machine so I got myself and my clothes clean as soon as I arrived, but that took up my afternoon for sightseeing unfortunately.It was starting to get dark by the time I left the hostel, but as soon as I got outside I felt very calm.The fresh sea air felt wonderful compared to the dustiness of Liaocheng.I walked along the seafront and I came across a temple so I went inside and had a look around.I later found out this was the Tianhou Temple, dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea.I kept walking along the seafront and came to a long pier which stretched out into the sea.I wasn't really sure what it was for but I walked along it and it was really bustling, lots of people were walking up and down and others were stood there trying to sell food and souvenirs.I couldn't really get my bearings in the dark so I went back to the hostel to look at my Lonely Planet book.
When I thought I knew where I was going, I walked into the main part of town where all the big brand shops were.I was starting to get really cold as my cardigan was drying back at the hostel and it was the only warm thing I had brought to Qingdao.None of the shops really interested me but I did find a drink stand selling coffee.I ordered a latte and it was the best coffee I've had since Hong Kong and it also warmed me up nicely.I started to get hungry and looked at a few restaurants as I walked past.Most of them here were seafood restaurants.The different varieties of seafood were sat in buckets outside of the restaurants.I went for a closer look outside one place and saw these disgusting creatures, pulsing and moving and like wriggling pink fingers.I wanted to take a photo but the owner came over to me and asked me to sit down.There was no way I was going to eat there!So I shook my head and walked on.
After a while I saw a restaurant which looked similar to one of the Muslim places I eat in Liaocheng, with pictures of the food on the walls.I went in and there were a few customers eating but by the time I sat down and ordered my food, the place had emptied. Apparently Laowai (foreigners) are not too welcome here! Well never mind, the restaurant made me a lovely portion of the stir-fried potatoes I like and also some vegetable fried rice which was very nice.The waiter wanted to talk to me but he could hardly speak any English and I can hardly speak any Mandarin so it was a bit of a challenge!He sat at my table while I ate and I was able to tell him I'm a teacher and I'm from England, but that was about all.
When I got back to my hostel I switched on the TV and found the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was on, and in English!I love that movie and apart from the vomit incident, I'm glad I endured the seven hour journey alone and came to Qingdao as I had a really nice evening.
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