I am staying at the Bridal Tea House on Li Tak Street, not to be confused with the Bridal Tea House on Anchor Street just a couple blocks away. Of course, I thought I was booking the other Bridal Tea House Hotel because it is literally right next door to Meredith's apartment. That was the other part of the rough start to this trip--so in case you're keeping track: I had luggage issues, I lost my wallet, and I booked myself in the wrong hotel. I swear to you, I am normally a really good, organized, and competent traveler!
When we arrived at the Bridal Tea House Hotel--the one next door to Meredith--to check me in at 1:30am, they had no record of my reservation, the guy at the desk spoke no English, and after trying to make us understand Chinese for 10 minutes, he summoned a security guard and indicated that we should follow him. We started to but when it became obvious that the security guard, who also spoke no English, was leading us out the door and down the block we got a bit nervous so we refused to go any farther. I was pretty confident that I wasn't being smuggled into the white slave trade but maybe they wanted Mere--she's young and cute and white--it could happen...
But back to the story...as it turns out he was just trying to lead us to the other Bridal Tea House Hotel, the one where I had actually booked a room. While you would never guess it from the street, the hotel is OK and the room is actually quite nice and far more spacious that one would think. I think it is bigger than Meredith's apartment which she shares with another girl.
I'm using one of the beds as my desk and have all my capstone stuff spread out and it works quite well. It's clean, has free wi-fi, horrible TV on a little flat screen TV tucked in the corner, and a big closet with a mini-fridge and an electric tea kettle. Really, what more could a girl ask for?
Well...a beautiful view, I guess, and I certainly didn't get one here. It is an interesting view, but not what I would call beautiful.
2 comments:
I just heard about this last night from Margaret. Yeah, that qualifies as major addition to an already maddening evening.
I've been thinking about how the desk manager, and the hotel in general, could have handled what must be a common confusion. Knowing that I am likely to have a number of non-Chinese customers, I'd probably have a handy street map with both Bridal Tea Houses clearly marked. I'd then hold up two fingers, to emphasize the point; point to one spot on the map, indicating "you're here"; and the point to the other spot on the map, indicating your destination.
Then I'd call in the armed security guard to haul away the crazed round-eye to parts better left unknown.
They were nice though? We had a few communication issues as well. I have no idea what I paid and what it covered, for example. They talk a lot and nod. I nodded back. That was it. They may have said, "You are a stupid pig." It is ok though - they were very pleasant about it.
It is amazing what you can get by with if you are pleasant.
My room was a fraction the size of Theresa's - but nice nonetheless...
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