Consulate Services Prepaid PIN Cards

[MoonCarolCafe]

Many of you at some point in the visa application process will make use of the pre-paid cards from CITIC bank for the Visa Information Service.

 

How many of you actually make use of all the time you purchased?

 

As much as the Federal Office of Management and Budget might like you to let whatever minutes you have not used expire, why not donate them?

 

I have a RMB54 card with some unused minutes on it. I'd considered posting the PIN here for all to see but instead I've sent the card information via PM to Robert S. How many minutes? Who knows, but considering how much the recipient is paying for the card number...

 

Robert, I trust you won't object too much if I direct them to contact you if they are in need, or have leftover minutes to donate?

[Robert S.]

MoonCarolCafe, one of the coolest, most interesting guys ever to be a member here, sent me the card number and the PIN if someone would like to PM me for the info if they need it. He and I have sent several PM's back and forth over the last few weeks. I was so glad to see that he still checks in with us from time to time. He has got quite a story to tell, but I will leave it for him to relate if somebody can draw him out. Of course the best way to get his story would be if you spotted him in the Moon Carol Cafe, and if you did, he would buy lunch for you!

Edited October 4, 2010 by Robert S. (see edit history)

[MoonCarolCafe]

Hey Moonie, what's going on with you and why do you have a card?

Fortune dictates I return to the USA for a short spell, and this time I plan to do so with wife in tow.

 

Of course the best way to get his story would be if you spotted him in the Moon Carol Cafe, and if you did, he would buy lunch for you!

Thank you for the kind description of a humble soul such as myself, but I fear I must make a minor correction and edify our less senior members.

 

In Guangzhou you may come across foreign gentlemen with skin coloration commonly found among the natives of Africa and their American diaspora. If the spotter was to loudly query without introduction or preamble "Have I Spotted The Negro?" you and your significant other would be treated to a meal at my namesake cafe- if it was Yours Truly to whom you had directed the question.

 

There was always the risk you would have "Spotted the Wrong Negro" and therefore enjoy the luxury of discovering what sense of humor and how thick a skin the target of your attention possessed- this alternative outcome was far less likely years ago when Guangzhou was still a relative haven for those vile and despicable creatures who object to a free mixing of the races, than it is today where Guangzhou is a civilized metropolis wherein people of various shades peacefully cohabitate. heh, I was almost able to write that last bit with a straight face!

 

I'm waiting to find out if he got his driver's license back from Guz. I don't remember if he ever said.

Yes. Mailed it back to me.

Edited October 16, 2010 by MoonCarolCafe (see edit history)

[MoonCarolCafe]

Same old same old. Robert has custody of another PIN, and once again I encourage anyone with unused time to donate it. The cards are cheap- but getting ahold of them can be a huge hassle for some.

[knloregon]

MCC checking in .... welcome back! For all the newer members, perhaps, you could relate how you came to avatar of MoonCarolCafe --- and btw, any chance that is still a viable business? --- and an update on how its going for you and your family in the States?

[MoonCarolCafe]

Passed through Guangzhou recently. Sadly had no time to visit the location of the restaurant- and knowing how things are in China I seriously doubt that after a decade (yes, it's been that long) later that restaurant is still open.

 

I did see some of the "upscale" malls that had seemed so shiny and new during my first trips to GZ. Time has not been kind to them.

 

And by way of update- we are divorced. Amicably so, no bitter words for each other, and we still are in frequent contact. She's a great woman, and I wish her only the best. FWIW she's still the wonderful woman she was when I married her. Except now she speaks a bit of Spanish too.