Another Burn, The Tree with a Hand, Dinosaur Feet

April 7^th A quick trip to the shops was called for today, to try and buy a new SD card for the Nikon and to replenish our gauze pads in the medicine cabinet. Yesterday I managed to burn myself again! I was getting Huan’s bap out of the microwave after freshening it up for her and I did two things wrong. First I had put the timer on a minute and a half where thirty seconds probably would have been enough. Second, as I got hold of the plastic bag to remove it some steam escaped. It felt like superheated steam and went straight between the pinky and ring finger of my right hand. Huan used our last gauze dressing to sort me out before we went out. Mind you, it has taken us a long time to use what we had. There was no Chinese writing on the packet at all, (Johnson & Johnson), in fact Huan says it came over in our boxes in 2007.

So off we went to our usual pharmacy where we found that they don’t stock such things. She did try and sell us what looked like a plaster bandage but that would have been overkill. Another pharmacy sorted us out with a small pack for ¥1.00 which I found amusing as the price on the pack we finished was 1.00 but whether that was pounds, dollars or dirhams I don’t know. As for the SD card, well we failed there too. Nobody had a 64GB card and none of what they did have appeared to be of a fast enough speed. Taobao to the rescue again I suppose.

Of course burning my hand again gave me a guitar practice problem. Still, it was only my strumming hand so at least I could do some slow chord practicing, trying to make sure all the strings were ringing out loud and clear. Here’s how my hand looked, first with the burn medicine and then with my ‘outside’ dressing.

The burn, because it was on my hand, didn’t stop us doing our TV walk today. Damn! Note to self: “Burn feet next time”. We’re getting better but still not up to video standard yet.

The dressing came off after our exercises as I had said I would cook today, and cook I did! It was a Philippine dish called Ginisang Togue and was not bad at all. Once again the boss was very happy and once again there was enough for an encore tomorrow.

April 8^th We woke up to a miserable day so I decided to bite the bullet and start transferring my Blog from where it is now to Google’s Blogger. The URL is easy enough to remember as no one else had chosen my name of HainanBob, it’s https://hainanbob.blogspot.com/. Mind you, if you are reading this you will already know that, what a dummy I am!

We risked a walk in the afternoon, mostly because it was lottery ticket buying day, you can’t buy in advance here as you can in other countries. You can only buy for the next one and that’s the same for both lotteries, the ‘Welfare’ and the ‘Sports’. Our risk was worthwhile, just, the rain started when we were less than ten metres away from home so we got home dry. It then proceeded to bucket down for the rest of the evening. Not many photos today, in fact only one. This is a gentleman who appears to be a little selfish. He is stringing a net all the way across the river thus ensuring that those poor souls downstream get nothing at all!

April 9^th This month my visa comes up for renewal so today we tried calling the visa office but the phone was never answered. Huan suggested we go to the office in town that deals with such matters to see if they could help. It seems that the office in Haikou has moved. Since sometime in February all visa business has been taken over by another office in another location. At a guess, I would say this has been done because of the Covid-19 problems. Anyway, we’re OK to go two weeks early, on my needle day, instead of waiting until the end of the month.

As we scarcely had a walk this morning Huan suggested a TV walk this afternoon. I wonder if I would have suggested it if she hadn’t, probably not. Still, we needed it and we are still slowly improving. Watch this space for video screenshots, maybe next week.

Back to Blogger in the evening for me, and I managed to complete August 2017. As I wrote on my Facebook timeline, “Boy, it’s hard work!”

April 10^th Huan slept very badly last night and I had my usual disturbed rest so a long walk was cancelled for today. Once around the town was enough, buying lottery tickets and insect spray on the way. Yes, we found ants outside the kitchen balcony window. I do wonder why they make the trek to the seventh floor and maybe even higher. A couple of days ago a cockroach frightened the life out of me in the office, appearing from behind the door of all places. We think that the flat above us and the one below us is probably the cause of such pests.

So, our first picture from today had us both trying to describe it while we were out. Huan thought it looked like a snake, I thought a snake or a swan’ head. Looking at the picture at home on the computer it actually looks more like the tree has a hand, you can see the opposing finger and thumb. The question is “Is the tree giving, or taking?”

Next up, right outside the ticket shop, was this little creature. We’ve never seen one in the town before but as there are a lot of old trees around there I guess it’s not so surprising.

Much further along, just before we tirned for home, we spotted this car, so took a few spy shots. The camouflage is pretty unique. I can’t work out what manufacturer it is but you can see the logo on the back wheel. A Google image search didn’t help me though.

And our last one for today is two pairs of dinosaur feet. These belong to two chickens, the ones living around the local restaurant until it’s their turn for the pot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such big feet on a chicken before!

More Blogger work for me, I have now completed as far as November 2017, it’s a laborious process. All my previous posts are saved on my PC so it’s a matter of copy and pasting the text into Blogger which is easy enough. The hard part is putting the correct photographs in. Most of the time I can locate them easily enough because of my filing system but if they are screen shots, or photos taken on a different date to the Blog post, it can take some time. They also have to be resized which I do using MS Paint. It is possible to import Blogs into Blogger, but as my previous Blog server has gone offline, that’s not an option.

Yoyo Chinese has a ‘streak’ month going for April, this means that if you do a test every day, without missing a day, you can win free courses or discounts. My evening was taken up ensuring that our laptop still works just in case we have to stay in Haikou this week.

April 11^th Executive decision taken this morning, with the approval of Her Majesty of course. We will not walk far today, we will not exercise today. Tomorrow we will not walk and we will do two TV Walks, the one mile and the two mile, with a break between them. Why? Because we have to be up early on Monday to go to Haikou.

Huan’s WeChat said that the Saturday market was back so we headed off in that general direction. On the way we were waylaid by the small farm shop to come and see their new rabbits. They were only five days old and their eyes were still shut but he still insisted that Huan held one.

Off we toddled then down to the riverside. Lo and behold, there was no sign of any market anywhere. I guess the powers that be told Joe Public but forgot to tell the farmers and the other assorted stallholders. Never mind, we still managed a useful ramble by popping into the bread lady’s apartment complex, it’s not locked down anymore, and came away with ten fresh baps.

Blogger took the rest of my day and I am now up to the end of March 2018! Huan asked me tonight if I thought I could finish it all before we go to Haikou on Monday. Poor soul, she is lost as far as computers go although she’s a dab hand at Taobao!

April 12^th No photos today but a busy day at home instead. We did our first TV Walk, the one mile, before breakfast. Both of us worked up a sweat but both of us also found it easier than before. After breakfast, it was Blogger for me and phone for Huan until it was time for the two mile TV Walk. Huan didn’t have too many problems but I kept getting the timing all wrong! Guitar practice for me then while Huan took a shower, she can’t hear the noise so well in the bathroom! Back to even more Blogger before lunch and normal TV for Huan.

After lunch it was more of the same before I took a nice salty bath, finished another book, and Huan did the washing. Dinner was our third day of Bob’s chicken stew, still very tasty. Guess what I did then? Well more Blogger of course! I have now completed up to the end of June 2018. That means of course there is still a lot more to go!

Finished the day with my routine Chinese lesson and another episode of Midsomer Murders. I’ve never seen this series before but I can see why it had a reputation for the sheer number of murders carried out, especially in a small, sleepy English county.

April 13th I’m getting too old for all this palaver! Up at twenty past four this morning to go to Haikou for my monthly needle, giving some neighbours a lift to the port on the way. Here they are waiting to be picked up, not such a good picture, it’s a dashcam screenshot.

After we had dropped them off we found a place to park near the beach to eat the breakfast they had kindly provided for us, tea eggs and some kind of sweet fried bread. Quite a few people were out for a morning walk and one chap seemed to be taking pictures of the waves.

Both of us needed the ‘loo’ and as luck would have it, we were parked not too far from one. Huan came back and told it they were clean, she was right, they were spotless, gleaming even! I did like this sign though and wondered exactly what it was supposed to mean. Huan translated it along the lines of “Leave the toilets as you would expect to find them”.

From there we had to find our way to the visa office which has moved since we last had to visit them. Before it was easy, now it’s not! They have moved to the main Haikou government offices where the parking is abysmal. We found our way to an underground car park and were just reversing into a slot when we were ‘moved on’. “This car park is not for the public” we were told! When we finally got parked we then tried to find the office. The first hurdle was getting into the building, easy for Huan, not so easy for me. It seems foreigners have to be booked in and a form filled in. The guard on the door disappeared for a few minutes because he had none of the required paperwork on his desk. Once in we then had to find the ‘new’ office. It turned out to be a desk in a corridor on the second floor, and that seemed to be the Chinese version of ‘Social Services’. The sign behind the desk, obviously not changed yet, said “Comprehensive Acceptance Area for Special Matters’. Our problems still weren’t over, they couldn’t find me registered as living in Wuzhishan at all. It took a phone call to the department in Wuzhishan to clarify that for them. Then there were the usual questions such as when I first came to China, all details which should already be on their computer system. I even had to produce my old passport so that they could verify when I last left the country and came back in, the dates of which precede my new passport and the visa I have now! My last visa was a three year one, this time I will get one year, or if I’m lucky two. They did suggest we go to Dalian and get a longer visa from there, (Huan’s Hukou is registered there), provided I could provide a certificate of no criminal record from the UK police. It works out cheaper and more convenient just to go along with whatever they decide locally. So, I am now sans passport for the next three or four weeks.

Onwards then to the hospital where at least luck was on our side and we were able to get all done before the doctors stopped for lunch. It doesn’t get any better for me, I’m still putting my fingers in my ears and screwing up my eyes before the nurse does the dastardly deed. Today I thought I felt a burning sensation, something like a hot liquid, but the nurse and Huan assured me that it was just the normal pain!

Off to the grocery we went then and life became better. Huan insisted on buying (cheapo) foie gras, canned tuna, lots of butter, cheese, beetroot, red cabbage, some decent marmalade and I put some Bratwurst in just for a treat. Lunch was had in a local restaurant where you pay ¥15.00 each for as much as you can eat. It was a busy little place and I’m pretty sure some of the younger customers were filling up here so that they wouldn’t have to cook once they got home. Huan tried her best to imitate them, I just took enough for a small lunch.

And then, thank God, we were back on the road again on our way home to Wuzhishan. Neither of us fancied staying in a hotel at the moment, we’re not sure how well they will be cleaning after one occupant leaves and before another takes the room! Being Monday, it was Huan’s turn to buy our (winning) lottery tickets and then we ate out in a burger shop.

At home, I caught up on Facebook, with great difficulty; my eyes kept ‘falling down’. Eventually I decided to do this post, do another month of Blogger and do a Chinese test. That was more than enough for one day. As I said at the beginning, I’m getting too old for all this palaver, a more than three hundred kilometer return trip in one day, with all the hassle at the other end!