Ledong, More House Maintenance

April 11^th Our next scheduled trip to Ledong for the ongoing repairs. I sometimes wish Huan had bought another apartment in Wuzhishan instead of Ledong. It would certainly have made our lives easier! Anyway, as per the contractor from last time, some holes needed to be filled near the door frames. Here they are being filled.

Now you may wonder why the Prime Minister is doing this job and not the Minister of Labour. The simple answer is that Huan is better at filling holes in walls than I am. I wasn’t idle though, my job was the bathroom. As you can see the seat is off, it was filthy and is drying on the balcony. The toilet was filthy too, outside and in. Another reason for Huan doing the wall is that she really doesn’t like sticking her hands down the toilet. Being an ex squaddie I have no problems. I didn’t think you’d fancy pictures of that though! The bathroom is fairly clean now, one wall left where we had to fill some more holes. We’ll be back for our next visit when we can arrange the plasterer.

Back in Wuzhishan and walking back home after our dinner I decided to take this photo, the school observatory and clock, for Jake’s World Street Photography page. At one time this small observatory would probably have done a very good job. Now I would guess that with the growth of Wuzhishan and the corresponding growth in light pollution it won’t be so good.

April 12^th No water for a few hours, scheduled tank cleaning. No problem, another lazy day, a little shopping, a little learning, a little typing and a little sleeping!

April 13^th Stuck indoors all day again so more character learning. It’s not easy!

April 14^th Back to Ledong again. You can’t phone the workmen before you go, you have to be there and hope that they will be available that day. They said around lunchtime or three o’clock! Hanging around with nothing to do, and too early for lunch, just took a few pictures. This one is the view from our kitchen and bathroom over the builder’s property. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t mind a roof garden like that. I would probably use the pool for its intended purpose though rather than an aviary for chickens and other large birds!

After we’d had a nice long walk along one of Ledong’s main streets we returned ‘home’ and awaited the arrival of the workers. Sure enough, they came at lunch time, took a look and then told us they would be back at 5 o’clock. I wonder why?

I had a little doze on the ‘broken’ bed settee (something else the last tenants managed to do), while Huan wasted time cleaning floors. I say wasted time because all will have to be done again when the work is eventually finished.

We decided we’d better go out for a takeaway so as not to miss the workmen so went to the ‘walking street’ centre. I guess we were a little early as there weren’t a lot of people around.

We were waiting for our pizza to be cooked from Do & Me, which, by the way, has the Chinese name of 多美丽 (Duō měilì) meaning “How beautiful. How they decided on the English name I’ll never guess. Anyway, the walking area has quite a lot of statuettes around including the famous little boy from Belgium, Manneken Pis. Now you can’t see in the photo but someone has broken the end off his ‘John Thomas’. I wonder if that explains the expression on Do & Me’s chicken?

Back to the flat and our worker turned up around 5:30 carrying a big bucket of plaster. Here he is doing his bit.

He did an excellent job but we will still need to have him back in a week or so to give us a finish that will be good enough for us to sand and paint. Only after he had left did I realise why there is always vagueness about their availability, and why this one carried a pre-prepared bucket of plaster with him this evening; they must be on a job elsewhere and we are just casual fill-ins. My brain must be quite slow, it took me over two weeks to catch on to this! Still, as long as the work gets done.

And that was it for today, just managed to snap a couple of photos of the sunset before driving back into the mountains and home.

April 15^th Another lazy day, updating this and reviewing the hàn yǔ (汉语) that I was supposed to have learnt! Not too bad but I appear to remember more words from longer ago than the more recent ones. More practice needed!

April 16^th Miserable weather today. In fact most of April has been overcast so far. I don’t understand why, when #1 son was here last year, the first two weeks of April were glorious! Still, it gave me time to review more Chinese.

April 17^th Last night we had a call from the plasterer telling us he would be available this evening, at 7 pm! That gave me more time on Memrise this morning and I managed to recapture my position at the top of the weekly leader board! We drove through the rain to Ledong, early enough to have our dinner before waiting for ‘the man’. No photos of his workmanship this time but I have to say, he is good. By 8 pm we were back on the road to Wuzhishan again. As the plaster would take two or three days to dry before I would be let loose with the sander and the paint there was no need for us to hang around. Now I don’t know how you feel about night time driving, I don’t normally mind. Chinese drivers are getting better but some still need to learn a) to drive with lights, and b) how to use them! I can cope reasonable well with them though, the biggest bugbear I have is the ‘camera gantry lights’. They seem to be designed to blind you and that is even before they flash to take your picture!

Just to make both our hearts skip a beat we also came upon the “cows who seem to have forgotten to go home”! Luckily the road and the rain had kept our speed down. The screenshot shows our braking speed but we were coming off a bend so we weren’t travelling too much more than that.

We had one last ‘flash’ right before our apartment complex entrance and then we were home. We did have one minor problem though, which will only get worse over time, no parking space! We had to go and park outside the gate.

Haikou, Hospital, Aspirin, Shopping,

April 4^th No alarm clocks this morning! Back to normal I suppose, weekly shopping and all the mundane stuff that we enjoy, really. Back to nature on the bedroom balcony. When I opened the security screens I spotted a movement and it was an insect around the flower pots, moving ever so gracefully. I couldn’t see any ‘moving parts’ it was almost as if it was just floating along. This is it. I anyone knows exactly what it is please let me know. A Google image search didn’t turn up anything except the words ‘winged insect’!

Later in the day managed to book an appointment with Dr Tim for Sunday, after Qing Ming, at 10 in the morning. Another stay in a hotel required. Oh, it’s a hard life!

April 5^th & 6^th More laziness, apart from trying to learn a few more Chinese characters while also trying to not let Huan see that I was just a little bit worried about my leg. Mind you, Huan gave me something else to worry about, her WeChat told her that Haikou was implementing odd/even days for car use. If you registration ends in an even number, you can drive on even numbered days, vice versa for odd numbers. This would have been a worry and depending on tests and results could have ended up in a much longer stay then expected. Luckily for us, after a few enquiries, we found that it was cancelled!

April 7^th So off we went, the usual stop off at Qiongzhong bus station for lunch. The hospital was very easy to find, no GPS required at all. We also found a hotel right across the road (Ren Min Da Dao) from the hospital. The name is Jin Lang, back of business card and front view is shown here.

It’s a very clean hotel, service is excellent and we would highly recommend it if you have to stay overnight near the hospital. We were lucky enough to find a car park right outside the door but they do also have a small underground car park which seems to have plenty of spaces. When I had a look there was only one car there.

Dinner for us, for a change, was here, very nice too!

Getting settled for the evening, setting up the laptop on the Wifi, somehow we managed to stop the TV working. This is where the excellent service came in. The staff were quick to respond and when they realised they could not fix it in-situ, they replaced it with another one very quickly. More looking around and photos when they had gone, but I don’t suppose you need to see more generic hotel room pictures. This one might interest you though. Who would fancy using one with a name like this?

April 8^th Up nice and early, ready for whatever the day should throw at us. Behind our room at the back of the hotel is a gloriously large balcony. I think I was the only one that used it, for my coffee and fags. This is an early morning panorama shot.

Once we had found somewhere for breakfast, which took a while, it was off to the hospital to pay for my appointment with Dr Tim and to get a card. A little bit busier than Wuzhishan: -

Now paying to see a ‘foreign’ doctor is more expensive than seeing a Chinese one. Instead of paying ¥13 we had to pay ¥53 (we think). My family pay more in UK where health care is free! There is no card anymore, just a hospital ID number, one thing less to lose I suppose. We had some time to waste before my appointment, so we had a wander round outside. Seeing just how many cars were trying to get into the car park and how long it was taking them showed that we had made a good decision in our choice of hotel!

Our appointment with Dr Tim was in the International Primary Care Clinic and we were lucky to be seen early. Dr Tim put me at my ease while he first patiently listened to me regaling him with tales of chocolates under the sofa, my ribs, me feet, my Achilles tendon and of course the clots in my leg. He then grilled me for some more info before deciding what I would need. It was to be a another CT scan, this time more of my torso and less of my chest, another Ultrasound and one more blood test. Off we went, first stop blood test. I hate needles at the best of times and this one wasn’t quite so gentle. Perhaps it was the choice of vein. Then off to Ultrasound, number accepted, come back at 2:30 for a room number. CT area next, come back at 1:30, with a full bladder. Huan was mumbling a little about what seemed to be a lot of messing around. I was muttering a little too but then I thought, getting an Ultrasound and a CT scan on the same day as you see the doctor would be unheard of in the UK unless you were a critical case!

The blood test results are given by a machine when you give your ID number. Worry number 1 my results were above the range limit. CT scan was next, seemed to take a little longer than last time. Also Huan had to stay out this time. Unlike Wuzhishan, the operators were in another room. Worry number 2, what did they find? Ultrasound came next. This was a lone one, almost an hour, painful now and then where the technician ‘marked the spot’, Worry number 3, I have clots in both legs, not just one!

So having been a little bit worried before we came, we were now both just a bit bigger bit worried! We went back to see Dr Tim who very graciously stayed late for us. He explained everything in great detail for me, I won’t bother you with everything of course. I may need to make some minor lifestyle changes, nothing too serious, (except trying to give up smoking). As for medication, like many old gits, an aspirin a day. Relieved doesn’t quite do justice with how we both felt.

Now the experience of visiting the clinic, and Dr Tim in particular, was well worthwhile. If you are in Hainan and in need of expert help, give them a go. Tropical Hainan has more details here, http://www.tropicalhainan.com/get-hospital-treatment-haikou-peoples-hospital/

April 9^th I told you we were just across from the hospital, well here is the sunrise just to the left of the hospital building, looking out of out window.

In fact it was a beautiful morning. We tried a different route looking for breakfast, and wasted a lot of time not succeeding. We did have this wonderful view though.

Now if we had gone just a slightly different way, and carried on across the Ren Min Da Dao traffic lights, we would have found this place earlier. This is an early morning market with plenty of places for a typical Chinese breakfast.

Breakfast over, booked out of the hotel and shopping began. First stop is the Wholesale market which is after the clock tower going back, from the island, towards Bin Hai Da Dao. Now; many of you may have the same trouble we used to have, where to park? Your dilemmas are solved, you can park here.

This is on the same side as the ‘pifa’ and just a few metres away. It usually costs us 5 RMB but there was no one there today. Well worth the fee anyway. In the past we have spent hours just trying to get out once our purchases had been made.

From there to Corners Deli, located in Yusha Capital city. For those who don’t know it, Corners Deli provides us with all our cheese requirements, HP Sauce, Pickled Beetroot, Marmalade and all kinds of other stuff. Always worth a visit.

Our last stop was RT Supermarket to stock up on bread, much better than anything we can find down here, and then we were done and on our way home.

April 10^th Resting, learning Chinese and updating this!

Ledong, Home Maintenance, Dreaded Lurgy

A worrying week begins. I really feel I should have gone to hospital in Haikou, if only to ease my mind, but circumstances prevent it for a few days. Still have a lot of pain in my left leg. Anyway, chin up, as they say!

April 1^st Same as March 1^st, lazy day, updated blog, learnt some more Chinese characters.

April 2^nd A short walk, bought the lottery tickets, and took a photo for Jake’s World Street Photography Facebook page. Huan was wondering how such slender stalks could hold such heavy fruit. I certainly wouldn’t want to be underneath when they come crashing down. They look beautiful, shame about the smell when you open them!

April 3^rd A very busy day today. Up at 5 o’clock. We set the clock radio for then, it switched on, but with no music. I guess they don’t start that early. Luckily enough, the light woke Huan. Off to Ledong after breakfast to see the old tenants out. Traffic was very easy so we arrived early, far too early. We went up the roof for a look round, bit of a hazy day but some great views.

Plenty of memories for me too, the Air Force were practicing, probably ‘circuits and bumps’ so every few minutes there was a roar of fighter jets as two of them flew over. My sibling would also have loved it, we grew up on RAF bases. I did try and get some pictures, with very little success though. Probably just as well!

Still with plenty of time to waste we went for a stroll around the city. It is much bigger than Wuzhishan and we saw a lot we hadn’t seen before. In fact I think we may have stumbled across the original Ledong village in the middle of the city.

We spotted one of the earlier Chinese modes of transport. I saw many of these in 1986 on my first visit to Pingdingshan. We often see them when we drive around the rural areas of Hainan but very rarely have the chance to take photos. Well, here’s one now.

Another thing we often see is ‘ducks in bags’! These little chappies weren’t too happy about me getting too near but I did snap their pic.

All too soon of course, our leisurely stroll had to come to an end and work had to start. The first thing was tile replacement. The tenants had not taken care and the kitchen door had slammed causing two tiles to fall off. We got them fixed, not quite a match but fine if you don’t look too closely. Message to all potential house owners; make sure you keep spare tiles!

Now these tenants had only been in residence for four months and we left them with a brand new gas hob. What a mess it was to clean! They even had a housemaid but I guess her job was mostly ‘the twins’! The bathroom is a mess too but I told Huan I would clean that next time. In the five or six years that we have rented the apartment out, we have never returned to a toilet bowl yellow on the outside and a toilet seat with the beginnings of black mould!

I guess we should be grateful that almost everything was still there.

Much worse for us was the holes had begun to reappear in the walls that we repaired last time.

Well, I argued with Huan this time and said we would have to have the job done properly. (I hope that’s possible in China.) We needed to have the walls sealed before trying any repairs again. The man who fixed the tiles was in agreement with me, luckily. Of course, he may have just been seeing dollar signs in his eyes! He advised us to clear all the plastering off up to where it was no longer easy to remove. I didn’t think any of it was that easy! It seemed we would have to purchase a hammer, according to him and Huan, so off they went to the shop while I had a coffee and a fag.

Huan returned with their version of a hammer, which in my words, is a metal axe. It still wasn’t so easy but we did what we could. Here’s Huan giving it a ‘bit of welly’!

It became obvious to me after a while that we would not be able to get enough off to satisfy the ‘tile man’ who would be coming back to do the next job so off we went to the tool shop. I thought I would be able to find something to put on the end of my drill. No success there. The lady offered to sell us a tool that would do the job, I was reluctant as I would probably never use it again. Knowing us from before, she graciously allowed us to borrow one from the shop. We bought three brushes and off we went. What we had borrowed was an angle grinder. Thank God I didn’t buy one. Years ago I was blasted by a sandstorm in the desert, this was worse! I sent Huan out to buy a water spray and a couple of masks. Huan couldn’t stay anywhere near me to get a photo while I was actually using it but here I am just after a few minutes break going in for another attack.

Eventually we called back the tile man, and to our great relief he said we had done enough. He then got on with his job. Here; he is, working on the kitchen wall, earning his loot.

And here’s his finished work on the bedroom wall,

The house was in such a mess now, and we knew we had to wait three days for this ‘sealant’ to dry out properly before any plastering could be done, so we decided to go back to Wuzhishan. That would also allow me to try and make an appointment with Dr. Tim as soon as possible after Qing Ming. We got home around half past eight in the evening I suppose, both of us in dire need of a shower. Being the gentleman, as always, I let Huan go first. I also knew that it would take me much longer than her due to having about three tons of plaster, brick and cement dust all over me and in my hair, ears, nose and even some in my eyes! Apart from all the aches and pains we had from the work we had done, which was quite a lot for a couple of OAPs, my hands had also been badly affected by the use of the tools, in particular the grinder. The dreaded lurgy was back in force along with blisters to keep it company!