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!