Twice

Shanghai was a lot of learning process but also a lot of fun.

Now, I am back to Eindhoven the Netherlands. Back to the life in Europe; peaceful and smooth.

I'm gonna tell two similar stories I experienced in these few days of my stay in Eindhoven.

Thursday, 27th of January 2011.
01.15. I arrived at Eindhoven railway station. Grabbed a taxi. Heading to a hostel downtown.
01.25. Found the hostel but there is no one in the receptionist desk. Checked out a hotel nearby. It was fully booked. The guy inside told me that there might be no room for me in all Eindhoven. He didn't know why.
01.35. The same taxi driver sent me to the Hotel Corso in the centrum. Checked it out but no one was there as well. A Dutch guy, jumped into the taxi, knowing that the taxi driver was going to drop me to a close hotel nearby so he could be sent home after me. Went to Sofitel Hotel, but was full as well.
01.45. Following the Dutch guy advice. Saw several hostel close to the PSV Stadium. The receptionist said the same thing too, "no room, fully booked".
02.00. Last resort. Holiday Inn hotel. I couldn't get any room as well. I was told that there was a conference in Eindhoven. A big one, supposedly. Finally called the only contact I had, Mr. C. S. and he agreed to let me stay in his house for the rest of the night.

Thanks God!

Saturday, 29th of January 2011.
12.03. At Ms. L. H. front door. I sent a message an hour earlier while leaving from Mr. C. S. house, stating that I'll be there at her house in an hour. Rang the bell four times. No answer. Couldn't call her. Phone was down. The back-up battery was inside my big 30kg traveling bag. Didn't want to open it up and unpack it.
12.05. Decided to leave the house and hoped that there would be the last bus to the city center. I thought, at least I could take a taxi from the city center. FYI, in Eindhoven, there isn't so much taxi around except you call them first.
12.10. In the bus stand. Saw the schedule. The last bus was coming in 9 minutes. Good. But that bus doesn't go back to the station. It goes back to the garage. Need to walk about 2 km to get back to the station. Well, I might be able to convince the bus driver to drop me somewhere on the way to the garage, but where?
12.15. Took out my back-up battery. Call Mr. E. S., thinking that he might still be awake and sure he was. His house is in the same bus line. I thought it was a good idea to visit him and Ms. R. P.
12.35. Did convince the bus driver to take me with him. Got to the bus garage. Walked from there to Mr. E. S. and Ms. R. P.'s house (the big bag was with me). lol.
13.00. Arrived in destination. Having great fun talking about everything in the past few months and meeting three new friends; Ms. B, Mr. J, and Mr. P. Chat til dropped. Slept at 4 a.m. in the morning.

Two nights and two early mornings, I traveled all around Eindhoven looking for a place to stay. And twice, I found a place to rest my head upon. What does it mean? I don't know. But I am glad to be able to see old mates back here. And they really did save my ass!