Visa Trip Part 1, Too Many Stairs, Donald’s Done!

November 22^nd “Wake up in the morning, slaving for bread Sir”, well it wasn’t quite like that. The alarm frightened me awake at quarter past five; all I had was a shower and a coffee. Huan had time for a quick breakfast. Just after six we were out and very relieved to find that our car had not been blocked in last night. It had found itself a free modelling job though.

We were up and out so early because it was time to present my medical results and my passport to the visa office in Haikou. Getting to Haikou is easy; it is at the end of the highway. However, moving around inside Haikou, especially early in the morning, can be difficult. We arrived at the visa office just after nine thirty and sat waiting at the gate. Someone ‘cheated’ and went in through the out gate so the security guard took pity on us and told us to go in and park in the middle. At least I think that is what happened.

I wish the person inside had been as kind to us, he really didn’t seem very interested in helping us at all. This time, as well as the usual paperwork, Huan had to fill in a form “inviting me to stay in China”. This desk deals with all the ‘international talent’ for Hainan, with its big push to become a world class duty free island. I guess as a retiree I don’t count for much. This year we also have a possible longer wait than previous years, again we know not why. Eventually we were done and on the way home again. That is a much faster journey. We stopped at Fengmu services for some lunch and then a visit to the loo. I had a special one! (I ignored it.)

Even with a stop for lunch, and an unexpected detour due to us talking and missing the turn onto the highway, coming back was much faster. We were very thankful for that, it meant we could have an afternoon’s kip! As it had before our snooze, it rained for the rest of the day too so there were no walks and no more piccies.

November 23^rd Welcome back to shuǐ àn biéshù and the real world. We woke up to no electricity this morning but at least it wasn’t raining so we could go for a countryside walk. For the first time today I noticed that the steps of our faux wood staircase on the other side of the bridge were not made of faux wood. They weren’t made from wood either. In fact they look suspiciously like they were made from the same tiles we have in our living room. This was our second ‘downstairs trek’ this morning; at least this one wasn’t seven flights.

With all the work they are doing at the sluice gates the irrigation canal is running rather dry.

Next up a little kitten who wanted to come nearer to both of us but wouldn’t for some reason. I thought it may have had something wrong with it.

The sun was in and out like a yoyo this morning, mostly in, which made it nice for walking.

Happy families but with a very wary mother.

Then two different photos of one of our favourite villages.

“Your friend isn’t here” said Huan while I was making dog noises at random. She turned up out of the small house to my right. PS Spot the nervous neighbour.

Sometimes you see things you would rather not. However, this is no different to the UK where all sorts can be found at the bottom of canals.

Let’s go back to nature shall we? First with raindrops; they weren’t “falling on my head” but they had fallen on a leaf; very pretty it looked too.

The leaf was just before “Little Island’ where I took these photos of the raging waters.

Huan wondered why I was taking this next one; I just liked the scenery through the glass.

Arriving back at our gate we had two Taobao packages to collect, a new kettle and a “Red Cross” parcel from Dalian for Huan. Her sister had sent her some dried fish and home made sausages. That was the heaviest parcel and muggins had to carry it home, back up those same seven flights of stairs I had walked down this morning.

After lunch I took a photo of a moth with the camera, Huan tried later on with my phone. Which one do you think is the best?

The electricity wasn’t back by evening time so we had to go out for dinner. Those of you with long memories may remember that we still have no gas.

November 24^th There was still no electricity this morning but there were a lot of rumours. “There were no spare parts locally and they would have to come from Guangzhou” was one of them. We had to go out anyway, routine test #53 called. I thought that would come to fisticuffs! My phone would not work again, it would only show Huan and not ‘family’. Huan had only 1% battery left; she spends nearly all her time at home ‘looking at the small screen’. She managed to get herself and family shown in the health code and then pushed to the front of the queue explaining all about no battery and no electricity. It worked!

Both of us felt a little worn out today, not sure why. We did go downstairs and upstairs twice yesterday and then down again this morning but we also had a very early night last night. We were in bed by just after nine. Anyway, we headed riverside.

No lizards were around today, perhaps because it did try to rain a few times. We found insects though, making hay while the sun didn’t shine!

Someone was having fun singing his head off, probably laughing at us. Because we had seen the clouds this morning we had left Percy at home and only taken our phones.

Arriving home we found that there was still no electricity, but that it would be today, soon. Once more up the stairs we went, with no photos this time. In fact Huan couldn’t take any photos today because her battery was just too low. Not long after lunch the power came back on, thankfully. Huan was happy once her phone was usable again and I was happy to upload and edit photos and then catch up with my social media. We made sure we had enough time for a nap though!

November 25^th Huan had booked an appointment for me this morning, one she thought it would be better that I didn’t keep! She had the man from the garage coming to look at our car along with the neighbours who promised to pay. I think she was very worried about my reactions because I am not a big fan of the Chinese way of doing things. Anyway, I ended up feeling a little guilty. The repair will cost ¥800.00 because they will probably replace the front ‘plastic’ bumper, the neighbours agreed without any argument. I felt guilty because the other corner had even more damage on it and that was more than likely all our own doing. Later on when I told Huan that I felt guilty she told me that she had been down and paid ¥200.00 so the neighbours would only have to stump up ¥600.00.

After that we had to stay in and wait for my annual visit from the police. They have to come and see where I live and then complete a form for Haikou immigration. On that form they can approve or not approve my application. Thankfully they approved. Now it all gets sent back to Haikou and we await further instructions.

Sleep called Huan after lunch; it was a bit warm for me so I declined. Huan then called me from the bathroom to tell me that someone was watching her. The photo was very difficult and as soon as we tried to move the fly screen the intruder ran away.

My turn to cook today and it was chicken curry, a rather orange looking one as I used sweet potatoes and carrots too. It was fine but not spicy enough for me, more like the Vesta curries of old that we used to eat in the UK.

After dinner, the CMO, (Chief Medical Officer), decided that a walk was needed to stop my feet swelling up. I didn’t argue, it was a nice evening for a meander.

We tried some photos of the riverside lights, not so good with our phones but you get the idea.

On our way home some of tomorrow’s market stalls had already set up and some of the food stalls were doing a very brisk business. This was well after seven so if we want to pop down there for dinner one night it will have to be a very late one.

Arriving home I found another nearly one hundred photos on my phone, all ‘portrait’ aspect and all black I must not have locked my phone when I put it in my pocket.

November 26^th Despite seeing the early part of the market last night we thought we should follow our normal routine and go and do our Saturday visit anyway. It was busy!

Luck was on our side today and we found the belly pork lady, she remembered us and how we like it to be cut. We haven’t seen belly pork for many weeks here so we’ll enjoy it, probably on Monday. Both of us forgot to photograph it though.

Huan did find something for me to snap; unfortunately she forgot the Chinese name. The lady said it was a wild fruit and very tasty, we didn’t buy one.

An image search on Google came up with quite a few options, red durian, red melon, but the most common was gac fruit. No, that is not a misspelling of jack fruit, I meant to type gac fruit. More details can be found here – https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Gac_Fruit_12844.php

Huan then decided we should have photos of guinea fowl, one from her and one from me.

Last stop on the way home was the inside market to buy the makings of a salad.

We did have a six and a half kilometre walk this morning and we had plans to walk after dinner for another five or six. Plans got cancelled, we were too lazy!

November 27^th Another routine test day, this one #54 and aptly timed. I’m off to see the doctor tomorrow for some more PSA tests. We’re having them done here to avoid having to visit the hospital in Haikou. If the results are suspect we’ll send them to the doctor up there.

Donald came home this morning looking pristine with his new front skirt.

The rest of the morning we did our usual ‘not a lot’ with a plan to walk after lunch. That plan was destroyed by the onset of rain but we did manage a nine kilometre after dinner stroll.

Crossing ‘little island’ we spotted some boys carrying a bucket on a pole so I playfully tried to catch them to see what they were carrying. Seeing a ‘foreigner’ they started running whenever I did. I dare say I could have put on enough speed to catch them but I decided not to!

The boys crossed the road when they left the park, that’s where they made their mistake. Huan crossed to see what they had in their bucket and I overtook on my side before crossing and then we had them sandwiched! They had crabs in their bucket.

Within seconds they were off again, accidentally leaving their bamboo pole behind. I followed them trying to return the pole but they wouldn’t accept it from me. Huan had to take it off me and they then accepted it from her while she explained that I actually lived here.

Our last photo perhaps shows how easy it would have been for the boys to catch crabs. The river level here is very low as the sluice gates are permanently open at the moment. In fact we don’t think we have ever seen it so low.

November 28^th Remember the planned hospital visit to do my PSA tests? It was cancelled. Huan had been summoned to go and get paid for her recent dancing efforts. Along with everyone else in the group she got ¥1,000.00, quite an expensive show! Needless to say she came home very happy, even more so when she found me busy preparing today’s lunch and dinner. Just like yesterday the rain turned up after lunch so we stayed in, with no naps though.

Again just like yesterday we managed an after dinner walk. I found a couple of nice little two wheelers but Huan wouldn’t let me buy one!

Much later we passed by the pet shop and had a chat with some of the birds.

Also in attendance, along with all the usual hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, other birds and fish was a rat, at least I think that’s what it was. I’m afraid that the photos of the babies didn’t come out so well, every time I went to that end of the cage the adult tried to bite me!

We had some two wheelers, how about a four wheeler with no roof? Even Huan fancied this one, possible because the back seat is not quite as small as the one in my Peugot 206cc in Abu Dhabi. Looking at the wheels and the absence of a sat-nav I think this was quite an old model. Having said that, I would not say no to owning it.

And so we come to the final photo of the week and lo and behold it is yet another dog. This one always goes crazy when it sees me and today there was a strategically placed chair that I could sit on. No further encouragement was needed. Luckily it was on a short chain otherwise the chair and I could both have been goners!

Another week bites the dust, all too quickly. How time flies these days, I’m sure it was much slower during my eight week school summer holidays! I did learn this week that time may be faster but my body is definitely slower! On that happy note I will sign off so from Her Ladyship and myself, stay safe, stay happy, we’ll be back soon!