Dream Fragrance Hill Park, Trees with Toes, Ugly Person Fruit

April 16^th The time has come the walrus said, to put on your boots once more! OK, maybe the walrus didn’t say that but we thought it was time to try the hills once again so boots it was. Here I am doing my best Benny Hill impression!

We walked up the hill to the bridge and then went a little further to what we learned today has now become a ‘free’ swimming spot. Our neighbours were there, in fact there were rather a lot of people sitting around. Nobody was actually swimming when we got there but if they had all been in it would have been a little crowded!

Huan left me at the seven kilometre mark, just when we reached the streets again so she walked nine kilometres; I carried on for another three making twelve. If you do a lot of walking in the UK, especially in an average town, you’ll probably see the occasional advert on a wall or a hoarding. Here, every space on a wall seems to be rapidly filled up, but not with adverts, it’s all government stuff. Here they are covering up yet another one.

Once home I met the express delivery man who gave me a couple of packages, they all recognise me now. Upstairs I discovered Huan had already received another three. So we now have breakfast for me, breakfast for Huan, deodorant for me, (another year’s worth), German bread for me and a new holder for my nearly five year old phone. They also gave me a new screen protector so after fitting it I felt I had to do a selfie test. This was just to check the camera lens you understand, nothing to do with vanity at all!!

Rain stopped play in the evening so no dancing for the boss and no walking for me. Secretly, I was a little pleased, for me anyway.

April 17^th A brave day today, we decided to go up the ‘big hill’, about seven kilometres to the reservoir. It may not seem far but it needs quite a few hairpin bends to get there. Hairpin bends are fun in a car, not so much when you are walking up them! Just in case you’re wondering, these photos are not the same bend!

We did make it to the top of course, nowhere near as fast as I have done it before. My fastest time has been an hour and twelve minutes, today it took us nearly two. Well, it has been a long time and it was a very warm day today. Here we are! There should be a city behind us, I got it wrong, probably because I didn’t put my glasses on to see the phone.

Anyway the proof is here, a panorama of the reservoir. Without my glasses, even this took me four attempts to get right.

No wildlife showed itself today, not even any dead stuff, but we did find a couple of flowers that you may think are beautiful, as we did.

After that nice long walk I decided that I deserved a rest this evening whether Huan goes dancing or not.

April 18^th Today we decided to have a walk down the other side of the river. We were quite surprised at the amount of work that’s been done since we last went that way. Next time we will walk on this side of the river where it looks like we will be able to go much further. The trucks have even had a ford made so that they can cross in the process of their work.

A little bit further on we came across just a few goats. For some reason one of them was being bullied by another three. There’s no photo of that although we did make a video of it. Here are the goats just in front of us.

Carrying on we came to the small hydroelectric place and thought we would try and walk around it on the wall. I must be getting old; I was a little bit worried when the wall was on the thin side. As it happened, we couldn’t get back to the river bank because we couldn’t cross the run-off so we had to retrace our steps.

We found our way back to the country side that we know, although we did take a detour through the woods and ended up at a disused water tower. Once back on our route, we took a video of the cows from the 14^th before heading back through the little villages. Now here’s a photo for you. Have you ever seen a tree with toes before?

Once back in town we found some more wildlife for you, a chicken in a basket. Well it wasn’t alone in the basket but I managed to get my lens close enough to capture only one.

Next, we were harassed by a black Labrador. It seemed to know me and then tried to follow us home. It took some doing but we lost him. In retrospect, we wondered if it was the one that ran away from one of our neighbour. Evening time was dancing for Huan, walking for me, around by the riverside where I took another couple of videos. For some reason it was very busy there today, lots of people dancing and lots just looking at the river or walking, like me. All in all a busy and happy day.

April 19^th Today was chauffeur duties for the landlord, or should I say landlady. We had to go to Ledong and renew the internet for another year. That took us to three different shops as only one is allowed to do the renewals now. Ah, the pleasures of owning and renting out property. We spent a couple of hours with our tenants which left me yet again wondering why I haven’t knuckled down and tried harder to learn Chinese. We took them some vegetables from Wuzhishan; the wife there thinks they are better than Ledong vegetables. Of course, we couldn’t come back empty handed; we ended up with four boxes of ‘special’ rice, presented to their daughter and her husband by the bank they work for in Harbin.

The afternoon was dashcam work again for me, combining all the little three minute videos into ‘journey’ videos, thus taking up less space on the PC.

I really didn’t fancy walking when Huan went dancing this evening but decided I had to. My left foot sometimes swells up if I don’t walk enough and tonight both had swollen. “What a drag it is getting old” eh, but at least neither of us is reaching for “mother’s little helper”! It worked, my feet were far more normal when I got home. I also managed to take a half decent photo of the moon tonight although I really have no idea how I did it.

April 20^th Weekends are like being back in the army, a nice long route march followed by a fry-up. Of course the company is better, the scenery is mostly better, the weather is infinitely better but the fry-up doesn’t quite meet British Standards!

So the first thing to report today is having this little beastie stuck in my hand by one of our old neighbours. No doubt it belongs to her daughter who is not yet up to cleaning out the cage.

And then we were off again, up the main street and then taking a turn off. We had been up here before but not quite the same way and we ended up fighting our way through small paths designed for goats and midgets I think.

Eventually, after finding one of the local recycling dumps, we found ourselves on a country road that we knew and followed it to the end where we knew we would have to turn round and go back down to the main road. I also knew we could get some lovely iced water there, gagging I was! We sat and had a little chat with the old guys trying to get me to have some binglang, (betel nut), and me telling them they should stick to water. Now maybe if they had offered me beer…

Evening was the usual, dancing for Huan and a walk to buy the lottery tickets for me. I tried to get the sun reflected in the river, not sure I succeeded so well.

April 21^st Out fairly early this morning to take the third turn off on the main road and walk up to another reservoir cum fish farm. On the way we found a track so followed that instead. It took us on a nice walk through some woods.

Carrying on we eventually came out on the fourth road which leads up to an old, but possibly still in use, military camp. As I was carrying the Fuji we decided to go down the hill and not up! We passed some cows, a bull with an enormous pair of wotsits, (I didn’t think you needed to see them), chickens of course and the ubiquitous dogs. Walking back down the main road there is quite a nice path running at the side which Huan insisted I photograph, so here it is for you.

And for today’s last two photos, I thought I would show you two fruits that didn’t quite manage to fall far enough from their trees to propagate, but made good macro photos.

April 22^nd The usual shopping today but with a photo for you. I spotted this ‘orange’ and asked Huan what it was. She said it was an ugly orange but she didn’t use the Chinese I have written here. I found this on a Google image search. “丑八怪 (Chǒubāguài – ugly), Sichuan’s favourite fruit is called “Ugly Person Fruit” Similar to the traditional orange, this fruit is a hybrid citrus. Originally from Japan, the “Ugly Person Fruit” looks like a tangerine on the outside with many wrinkles. The flavour is more sweet and intense than an orange.” It is quite large as you can see by the cups behind it, it is seedless and it is very tasty.

In the evening when Huan went dancing, I had to go walking; my left foot was swollen yet again. Maybe I need to mention this to Dr. Tim when I see him for my PSA test this week. On the way home I spotted another of those big green insects that I showed you last month. Three Chinese ladies were trying to take photos of it from too far away and with their phones in ‘Portrait’ mode. I showed them how to do it properly, (at least I think it is), and they were suitably impressed by how much bigger you could make it in ‘landscape’ mode. Almost back to the town square to meet Huan, and I thought the sky looked very pretty and most definitely worth a snapshot so here’s the last one for today.

April 23^rd Two very lazy bunnies today, neither of us really wanted to go out, especially me after waking up at four o’clock and only dozing off for short periods thereafter. However, we decided that needs must and so off we went but kept to our more modest riverside walk. We still managed nine kilometres. For me I became a botanist and took lots of photos of flowers and strange trees. I thought that this one flower was definitely worth showing you, it’s absolutely beautiful. Isn’t it amazing how different flowers have different ways of attracting the insects that help them propagate?

Huan had a visitor in the afternoon so I had to do a little work. The dancing teacher will shortly be returning up north but wanted to give Huan a copy of the music so that she and the other lady who are staying can still practice over the summer. I was the USB technician! After such a hard job I zonked out for two hours!

Dancing and walking as usual in the evening, no pics, on purpose. This month’s missive is growing a little too big so I need to be a little more frugal with my photography!

April 24^th The first thing I did this morning was search Google for “Sanitary Pad Rash”! I should not be doing that, I’m not a woman, I’m a sixty nine year old man! I guess it’s another bit of understanding what you ladies have to put up with. As you can guess, today’s walks, morning and evening, were a lot more sedate.

April 25th No piccies today, just a couple of mundane stories. The first concerns Huan and her yet to exist driving licence. Way back in time, around 2010, I gave her ¥3,000.00 towards the required lessons and tests. Huan, in her own inimitable way, decided to wait a little longer. Earlier this year, Chinese New Year, I did the same again and gave her another ¥3,000.00.She once again decided to wait. Today I managed to get her into the driving training office. Guess what; the price has now gone up to ¥6,500.00! Trying to find out what she actually gets for this is a major communication breakdown. In the UK it used to be that the cost was per lesson and you took a number of lessons then applied for your test. Repeat as necessary. Here, the price is fixed; she will get free software to download to her phone where she can then take the written test until she eventually passes it. I think in China you have to score more than 90% to pass. When I asked how many actual lessons, I got the answer “four”. That I think it where the translation failed! Hopefully she will go ahead this time.

Second mundane story. When Huan went dancing tonight, she vainly tried to get me out walking. I declined having decided I would finish off our bubble bath and soak for a while. It’s been a while but it is nice to sit and soak and read a book now and then. I spent an hour in there, reading “Frederick Forsyth’s Day Of The Jackal”. It was most enjoyable. I do have a question though. Why, when your body is immersed in water, do you leak more?

April 26^th Up before the larks today, I had an appointment with Dr Tim for my scheduled PSA test and we wanted to be early to get it all done in one day and then do our shopping tomorrow morning. The plan started out well, we were on the road by quarter to five. Here’s a screenshot of our dashcam just before six-thirty.

By ten o’clock I was having a needle stuck in my arm, quite a painful one I might add. The nurse, who I have seen more than once before, chose a vein that has never seen the point of a needle, ever! Maybe I should have kept my eyes open and told her where to stick it! Our plan then went completely askew. My results will not be ready until Sunday afternoon. I suspect they are working Sunday because they will have a holiday for May 1^st. That meant we didn’t need to stay in a hotel tonight so could do our 批发 shopping today. (Pīfā = wholesale). At least that was successful, stocked up on bacon, some new sausages we haven’t tried before, boneless chicken legs and some very small ‘Munich’ sausages. (Our other shopping will be done on Monday morning at Corners Deli, a foreign food store.) By eleven o’clock the coolbox was full and we were on our way home via the highway.

We often stop on the highway so I can have a coffee and a fag and we can relax for the rest of the way home. Today we tried the new restaurant that has opened there, very nice indeed. It was the usual Chinese fare of course, but tasty enough, reasonably priced and far more than enough for the two of us. In fact Huan had to ask for ‘doggy bags’! Now as you know, Hainan is a semi tropical island paradise, however, today it felt more like we were back in the UAE. Just look at that temperature when we got back in the car. It’s a good job the coolbox is an electric one!

April 27^th Haikou again tomorrow so we decided a trip up the hill was called for today. On our way, we saw a class going somewhere for extra curricular activities. Do you know, I don’t really remember any of these when I was a child, do you?

We also took a slight detour so we could show you some more deserted villas. What goes on here is shameful at times. People have bought all these properties, or so we believe, but have still not received their house books, (title deeds). As a result, they sit empty as you can see. We have been around the right hand one and would not mind living there at all!

Evening time was the ‘last dance’ for the damas; they will start again in the autumn. What will Huan do with her evenings? She’ll have to walk with me I suppose… I did five kilometres tonight making a total of fourteen today. One day I will succeed in shrinking this bulge around my middle!

April 28th On our way to Haikou, as my results would not be available before the afternoon, we decided to stop at a tourist spot. This spot was called “Dream Fragrance Hill Park”. I sometimes wonder where they dig up these English names from. Anyway, it was worth the stop, even though it was a bit warm so Huan was using her umbrella for the duration. Here’s a panorama taken from the ‘faux’ castle. To see all the other pictures, check out the album –

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kLApumpruySxgSKX6

Once we had the results, being gluttons for punishment, we had another walk around Haidian Dao. I fancied a drop of German pilsener so dragged Huan to where I knew the pub was. It seems that they don’t open until half past six in the evening and as we hadn’t eaten, we had to give it a miss yet again. One day I’ll see whether the beer is as good as it should be. Here’s a pic for you guys in Haikou, it’s on Haidian Lu 1.

April 29^th Corner’s Deli for our foreign shopping this morning. We did all right for cheese, cream, sandwich meat, grapefruit juice, HP Sauce and quite a lot of other stuff. Unfortunately, they had no beetroot and even worse, no marmalade! We bought something foreign made with lemons, we’ll find out what it’s like when we’ve finished our previous marmalade. We stopped for lunch on the highway again, the temperature when we got back in the car was even higher today, 43ºC!

Speaking of highway, our ‘tyre alarm’ was going crazy all the way there and back. This morning we had a low pressure on one of the tyres so we got the local fix-it place to sort it out for us. There are no self service air pumps here. Despite my protestations, they used the high figure for the tyre pressures so on the highway the tyre alarm was forever telling us that the tyres were hot and over pressurised!

Who understands car computers? Leaving our lunch stop ‘left to travel’ on fuel was 170km. As we got nearer to Wuzhishan it suddenly dropped to 89km, then 39km then, as is usual towards the end, it went blank. We decided to play safe and turn off at Maoyang to fill up. Instead of returning to the highway we took the scenic route home through the mountains. What a difference the highway has made. We only saw a couple of other cars, no trucks, no buses, no crawling behind anyone looking for a place to pass. It was quite pleasurable.

Once home it was work on the computer again for me, sorting out all the photos from yesterday and as usual after a road trip, doing all the dashcam work. Huan got a pleasant surprise; she was ‘called’ to go dancing again this evening. Obviously, the previous ‘last night’ was postponed. I had an excuse not to go walkies!

April 30^th Another shopping day, this time a local one. ‘Hyacinth’ needed a new hat.

We finished off our day, and our month, with another walk around the town. Do you think it was dinner time?

Oh, I didn’t mention the PSA test results. I think they are fine but I will await confirmation from Dr Tim. He will tell me when I have to return for another test, not too soon I hope!

So that’s it from the old folks for this month. The old man is slowly getting back to normal so hopefully we’ll get out and about a bit more in the coming months. Bye for now!