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Before you ask me what that means, a couple of trips down memory lane and then another one from “today”.

A customer and I were (are, actually, as I speak) shooting the bull.

And being his wife used to smoke for years, and has now picked up the China plague, I sent over my commiserations.

Heart felt. Though I don’t believe in panicking and running away, shutting the world down etc (pity the world for the most part does not agree with me, HA!) . . . and though I maintain and always have, warriors that DO the thing dont get the plague (and if they do, it’s banished to hell quickly), my utmost sympathies for ANYONE that contracts it.

No-one should get it, to be honest, except the bozos in China that spread it (and by that I dont mean the public in China – I mean those that spread it!).

’nuff said.

But anywy she has been a chain smoker for years apparently, so was (is) in the high risk category to start with anyway.

And that brought back memories.

First of a neat little store “Sunflower” (nice name huh. LOL Or was it “Sunshine”?) right outside my apartment complex in China when I FIRST moved there in 2003.

Over the years it disappeared to be replaced by the (I’m borrowing a term from Susan her e”lovely”) Mei Yi Jia brand.

And I love it, to be honest.

But that store was pretty cool too, as was the lady who delivered my beer and cigarettes, usually with a smile right to my house.

Well, some of them did it with a smile.

Some were like “Oh god! That foreign devil and his beer!”

But they all got it to me in one piece, and pretty quick. That’s one great thing about the PRC I cant find anywhere else, nigh on ANYTHING can be home delivered to you 24/7 (yeah, in these times of lockdown too!).

Anyway, so when I first moved there, it was during my chain smoking days.

As I recently told the same customer

“Those were my chain smoking days (two packs a day). I still remember wheezing like an old geezer going up flights of stairs at an age I was supposed to be in my PRIME. Thank God I came to my sense and finally quit at 25 (after trying thrice prior) and thank “Goddess” for Ann Lee a few months later (the HILL!)).

Now, whether or not to smoke should be a no brainer for everyone.

But this isn’t about that.

I remember learning a bit (more) of Chinese from “Clement”, a friendly colleague who instructed me on how to get cigarettes, beer, foot massages …ah, but we best not go there done in CHINESE ,hehe.

Delivered.

And I ain’t talking massages. LOL. We won’t go there!

Anyway, he taught me the Mandarin Chinese in his Hong Kong accented Mandarin.

“Yi Bai Lok Tall Yen”.

One pack Camel cigarettes. NO idea if they were original. My boss Jim who smoked cigars at the time (ex Air Force) thought they weren’t, and he was probably right.

Soft pack no less.

But they hit the spot.

And when you can get ONE pack of 6 kuai (RMB) cigarettes delivered at 2 am in the morning, you know you’re living it up? LOL.

But anyway ….

Beer, cigarettes and that notwithstanding, it was good I quit the latter.

Because it was killing my stamina.

And then of course, a few months later, Providence intervened.

Ann Lee and I never quite kept in touch beyond the three brief roaring “hot” and publicly scandalous time we were together.

Yes, the old timers still remember “Dongguan Expat”, I’m sure!

And the Sunday Roasts, and “Steven from California”, and the usual spats between Rahul and Michael, and Ann Lee “running after Rahul” after he publicly spurned her (after she got tired of his “massage ways” – though he had his reasons. LOL).

I think Jason and his sunday Roast post was the one that will always remain a highlight, and the way the thread (those were the days of Internet forums) was HIJACKED.

Anyway …

For the best in building your stamina, and stayin in shape at an age WAY past your prime, get the System that kick started it all for me – the 0 Excuses Fitness System.

It’s even got an entire chapter on hill training – – and the 10 commandments of physical success, by itself “worth the price of admission as it were”.

And thats the topic for now.

Back soon!

Best,

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – There is a reason I love that good ole hill so much. Advanced Hill Training was shot there too – – another MUST have!