I thought that I had left long pizza searches back in Beijing, but I guess that the fates had another plan for me.

I saw an online listing showing where to find the previously-mentioned Shenzhen pizza place in person, so I 记好了 (wrote down) the place’s phone number.  It wasn’t until I was in a taxi on the way to the address I had written down that I tried calling it.  Somewhat surprisingly, no matter how many times I dialed the phone number, I 打不通 (was unable to get through).  Walking around aimlessly, I decided to ask people on the street.  Since this is Shenzhen and nobody (except for maybe the original population of 10,000 native Shenzhen people 30 years ago) is from here, everyone’s answer was some variant of 不太熟 (not really familiar [with this area])when asked about the address.  I then got the idea to ask people who worked 房地产 (real estate), as they 绝对 (absolutely) must know the location of buildings for their job.  Additionally, the boom in renters and real estate in China means that there are real estate agents working well into the evening on Saturdays- right when I was looking for this pizza place.  After asking an agent, I was pointed in the direction of a 闪亮 (flashing) building.  When I got to the general vicinity, I mostly saw places for 洗车 (car-washing) as well as some 车库 (garages).  Funny place for a pizza place, right?  I walked all around the area and couldn’t find the place, despite having the correct address.  When I tried to enter the courtyard of another complex, the 保安 (security guard) ran over and asked what I was looking for.  Well, he hadn’t heard about this pizza place either.  Crestfallen and still hungry, I returned to my apartment to see what had happened.  The next time you’re reading a post and are hungry, make sure you’re not reading any 旧帖 (old posts).  It just might save you a lot of time!

记好了 ji4hao3le – wrote down/recorded
打不通 da3bu4(usually a neutral tone in speech though)tong1- to not be able to get through on the phone
不太熟 bu4(2)tai4shu2 – not too familiar [with something, an area in this case]
房地产 fang2di4chan3 – real estate
洗车 xi3che1 – car wash
车库 che1ku4 – garage
保安 bao3an1 – security guard (also the name of a district in Shenzhen)
绝对 jue2dui4 – absolutely
闪亮 shan3liang4 – flashing (of a light)
旧帖 jiu4tie3 – old post (on a forum)