Saturday Night in Downtown Wuxi.

I spent Saturday Evening in Downtown Wuxi. My wife wanted to get her hair done for the Spring Festival and so I was to look after Tony while she did this.

We first went to a Muslim Restaurant on JianKang Road near Xueqian Road and the restaurant where we had our wedding party. I took Wuxi Tony Update #264 there. The food there was great but my bad cold prevented me from enjoying it to the utmost.

Having eaten, we walked to the hair salon which happened to be near the Blue Bar, a popular Wuxi Expat pub. I thought it would be a good idea to maybe take Tony to the pub while Jenny got her new hairdo. First though, I did some DVD shopping. I found a copy of Saturday Night Fever which I immediately snatched up. The film is on my short list of must buy movies especially after John Derbyshire gave it a rave review. I also bought a Abba CD. I remember being in the Ikea in Nanjing hearing Abba and wondering why they didn't sell their CDs there. I then took Tony for a long walk, feeling reluctant to go to the Blue Bar, remembering how Tony ends up having fits in smoky places serving alcohol. I wasn't in a social mood either, what with my cold.

So I walked around the block, deciding to visit another DVD shop. The proprietor was quite taken with Tony as many Chinese are when they see him. I then felt obligated to buy a DVD, finally choosing a Thomas and Friends DVD for Tony to watch. (Later that evening, I saw that he did like watching the train stories.)

Tony is a heavy bugger now, so I finally entered the Pub to wait for Jenny to finish her session at the hair salon. The Blue Bar is a place I had gone to on a regular basis before I got married and the arrival of Tony. My trip there last night was a rare event. Several of the patrons seemed familiar to me, but only on sight. I, of course, saw a couple trainers from work there. Stewart, the Blue Bar owner, seem impressed by Tony's size. Tony attracted the usual bunch of woman. One girl who who came to hug and caress him was particularly attractive, but he wanted nothing to do with her. He seemed more interested in the two cats which Stewart has living at the bar. Amazingly, Tony was gentle with them. Only one time, did he try to spank them. I enjoyed seeing Tony's amusement at the cats, but it still seemed incongruous to have him in the pub. Most of the expats there seemed to the sort that have escaped the responsibility of having them. I sipped on a beer which was okay. But I nearly fell off my seat when I was charged 20 rmb for a glass of orange juice which I bought for Tony but he didn't drink. Tony, after playing with the cats, decided to hang out at the pool table. We eventually had to leave the pub because Tony suddenly wanted to handle the balls which was too distracting for the players.

Jenny was at the salon for almost three hours. I was ready to go home after two. She had phoned, at one point, to tell me that she would be done in 30 minutes when I was hoping to hear she was finished. I eventually returned to the salon to wait out the session. I watched Tony wander around the salon including when he decided to climb the stairs to get to the second floor. Just as Jenny was finally finishing the session, Tony took a large empty water bottle (the kind you put on office water coolers) and started carrying it around in his arms. He then tried to take the water bottle up stairs. It was interesting to see him try to figure out how to do this. He carefully put the bottle on the next step before maneuvering himself up. After a few steps, he found his rhythm. I taught him nothing.

My wife wanted me to get my hair cut there but I didn't want to. Too often, the stylists use scissors when what is needed is a good hair clipper.