Visa Granted, Pareidolia, Aye Aye Sir, Plumber Bob!

December 13th You set the alarm to make sure you are up early enough to go to Haikou and then wake up an hour and a half before the time you’ve set! We were both awake at quarter past three, far too early. My plan had been to set off a little earlier than last time so that we could more easily get into the car park. This was one of the rest stops on the highway at half past six, quite a difference to one in the UK at the same time. There was no fuel or food available here, just the public conveniences.

Anyway, I planned it wrong, we arrived too early and the car park was closed. We found somewhere else then waited for the visa office to open. When it did open we were not allowed in! Knowing we were going to Haikou today, and to a government office, we had both had a test yesterday. For some reason which we never found the answer to, both of our health codes were green but showing 7 days instead of the 24 hours it should have been. Luckily the visa desk is on the ground floor and visible from the door. I waved at the staff and Huan called them on the phone, the lady on the desk was gracious enough to bring my passport out to me. I am now legal for another eleven months.

From the visa office we took a roundabout route to Haidian Dao so that we could stock up at the “Grocery” with all kinds of foreign stuff. It was a disappointing visit today, most of what we wanted was not available and Christmas was noticeable by its absence.

Back on to the big island we went and off to “Corner’s Deli” where our luck was better. Cheeses are more abundant and we found a few other bits and pieces we needed. There was even a turkey in the freezer but we gave that a miss. It was too big and too expensive, ¥1,500.00. Christmas was definitely in attendance here.

We left the car parked there and took a walk to RT Supermarket, always good for shopping. It is located in many big cities, often multiple branches we used them a lot in Harbin when we there. Unfortunately, in Hainan, it’s only present in Haikou although again there is more than one branch. We found Santa on our walk; he looked a little deflated about something.

At the same place, a little coffee shop there was a rather large elf by the tree.

I was pleasantly surprised in the RT building, a lot of the ground floor shops; (first floor for non-Brits) had been taken over by electric cars. Interestingly, the first one I saw was a Mustang which you may know divided opinions worldwide. I have to say I was suitably impressed!

I wish I had taken more photos; there were so many different cars to see. Nissan and Volkswagen looked quite jaded next to a lot of the Chinese products. I was quite taken by many of them, in particular the XPeng G9 SUV and the ORA Ballet Cat. Maybe they’ll still be there when we have to return for my next PSA test, maybe in March.

Huan did let me have a drive while I was there, isn’t she good to me!

Shopping done, more essentials bought, we popped downstairs to the food hall. More disappointment awaited us there. We were able to find something for us both to eat; the disappointment was how much it had shrunk. I would estimate that over 50% of the stalls that used to be there have disappeared. That could be due to Covid or due to more people using food delivery apps, or perhaps a combination of the two.

I’m beginning to think the car needs a service; this is a regular occurrence now.

At least it still goes, gets us from A to B, it even stops at rest stops now and then.

Back to Wuzhishan, unpacked the car, struggled to keep our eyes open for a while, and then went out for dinner. All together then separated, can you guess which one was mine?

December 14^th Two little teddy bears slept in a little today, not too long though, eight for Huan and nearly nine for me. We still went out for a stroll, it was needed after yesterday. Huan stopped to chat with one of her friends, so I did the same with the friend’s dog.

We found another Mustang today, not an EV this one, but a convertible. Don’t look too closely though or you may spot the prang damage.

In the past I have shown you the old fountain structure in the middle of the river, today there was someone there so you can get an idea of the size. Before we ever arrived here the fountains used to work and used to shoot jets of water fairly high.

Some of our favourites for you now, a little bit of pareidolia again. What can you see in this tree? Both Huan and I see a dog in a human seated pose with its ‘arms’ out and its ‘legs’ crossed. Huan also sees another puppy behind its head!

And then I was back to picking animals up again! I like to think that I had no choice with this little kitten; it was harassing a teenaged schoolboy who kept trying to leave on his bicycle. Once I picked the kitty up, we waved and he was off.

Yesterday, as we went out for dinner, we spotted some work going on at the sluice gate bridge, today we noticed more. All of the ‘machinery’ has now disappeared.

Close-up we could see that all the pipe work and the control cables had been removed too.

And finally, outside the control house, parts of the hydraulics had been taken out.

We don’t know if they are refurbishing the existing hydraulic system, putting a new one, perhaps converting it to a different kind of control system. What we do know is that the bridge will be closed to traffic until 22^nd December. They work fast here you know!

On we went towards home, via the little island and Pooh sticks bridge.

Neither of us won, neither of our ‘boats’ came out on the other side.

We had a lucky day in another way though. Very unusually I was able to get close enough to a bird to snap a photo that then, when cropped, is still good enough to share with you. We hope you like it as much as we do.

Late home for lunch, but then again, we’re retired so who really cares. Huan had already made dumplings so there was nothing for us to prepare really, just cucumber and baby tomatoes. I did chop some tinned meat for me, couldn’t have it going off now could we and then the ‘pièce de résistance’, a jar of Branston Pickle. That was one of the delicacies we found in Haikou yesterday. Huan even likes it and thinks it goes well with dumplings.

December 15^th We were out for another test this morning, our sixty first. For the last two years or more we have had many messages on our phones advising us what we have to do and how often, now suddenly we have no messages at all. The consensus appears to be that testing is no longer required. However, as I will have to go and visit Dr. Ma this month, and an up to date test is needed to get into the hospital, we will persevere at least until after that. This morning there was a display of Wuzhishan and area photographs, this first one shows Mauna Cun.

Here’s an overall view showing nearly all the presentations. The people towards the front are looking at the photographs; the ones towards the back are queuing for their tests.

Because the rules have been relaxed there are fewer personnel involved in the testing. This was the front of the queue that started back in the art gallery.

Quite a rarity these days, a Nissan Patrol. We used to see a lot of them in the UAE; here the big 4WDs tend to be Toyotas. I like the fact that it is ‘labelled’ off road and then the off road scene shows somewhere that cars can’t go! I also have to be honest though and say that I really miss driving the big off road 4WDs. Now where is that lottery money?

Nap time attacked us after lunch, much worse for me than for Huan! We did manage another walk after dinner though; Huan needed to go the bank and also Baijiahui only has our baps after 4pm. Going across the island I spotted a little buddy. He wasn’t sure at first, he hasn’t been back to Hainan for over two years but it didn’t take him long to remember me.

Huan took this next collage. Can you make out what’s happening? It is a Taobao delivery. If that is a regular occurrence perhaps they should invest in some rope rather than plastic bags tied together. Still, it worked well enough today.

Speaking of Taobao, arriving home we had one waiting for us. No rope or plastic bags needed, it was left at the gate for us. I am lucky this year, I have more Christmas sweeties!

December 16^th It would be very easy at times to be absolutely lazy and not go out at all, especially easy when the weather forecast is miserable and there is no sign of the sun outside. However, the weather is only expected to get worse over the next few days so we forced ourselves out. Huan was first off with the photos, strange machines on legs. The operators were working for occupational health testing the air outside the car repair shop. I suggested that they go all the way down testing all the other repair shops and also do the restaurants while they’re at it. That suggestion fell on deaf ears!

With the uncertainty about the weather we stuck to the river walk. Look closely here and you may spot the farmer sitting and watching his cows.

Foreigners, unbeknownst to many Chinese folk, also like to go fishing. I wonder if you can spot the big difference between the Chinese way and the British way. Brits would more than likely have a cool box in attendance full of ‘cold ones’!

Let’s have some more machines now, these were playing in the river. The first one is clearing all the vegetation on the side we were walking; the second is swimming across to the other side and the third is the second one removing the vegetation on the far side.

We noticed that this stretch of the river has flags on both sides.

Closer inspection showed that these flags belong to the railway construction company. I doubt if the railway will come up the river though.

Looking back we can see the vegetation that will disappear.

Looking downriver though, we wondered if we had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Maybe, even hopefully, they are going to build walkways like the ones you can see here.

The director had me snapping birds again, too far from the camera again!

It was then my turn to choose the next subjects, more birds. These ones are happily grubbing around in the dirt, “free as a bird” as you might say. They are blissfully unaware that their owner, who put then there to graze, also owns their final destination, his restaurant. In the UK it’s only farmers and country folk who know where their food comes from, we all know here!

December 17^th Neither of us fancied going anywhere this morning, the temperature had plummeted, or so it seemed to us anyway. We had to go out of course, it was market day and we needed our weekend dinners. Chinese medicine was the first thing we found, although I had no idea what it was. The Chinese is 金刚藤 - Jīngāng téng which Google translates as Vajra vine which is no help whatsoever. Searching for any of these three terms gets no images that look anything like this one. Anyway, it’s supposed to be good for your knees. PS We didn’t buy any.

We did buy our dinners, here is Huan, wearing her seasonal red and black, getting the spring onions weighed.

Having seen the pigeons we did actually buy some today, in fact we bought four, one each for Saturday and Sunday. No pictures though, you saw them last week. Huan insisted on buying a water melon and then having her photo taken in amongst the bamboo.

I wasn’t carrying the melon because it had no bag and I had already been tasked with carrying the remainder of the shopping. I wasn’t that mean though, I did spell Huan by carrying the melon on one hand now and then.

Our walk was not so long today, once the shopping was done we made a beeline for home. At times like this I almost wish we had some kind of heating! I mean, it doesn’t get what you would consider cold here but the change between the warmer months and the cooler ones is definitely noticeable. In the warmer part of the year I wear only shorts and flip flops at home, now I have my jammies on, my dressing gown, my socks and my half gloves. However, I have not had to resort to the hot water bottle this year, yet!

So, how was our pigeon dinner? I did mean to photograph it; maybe I’ll try again tomorrow. Huan didn’t like it at all; I may have to eat the remaining two! It does taste quite different to our normal chicken but I didn’t think it was that ‘fowl’! (sic) We probably won’t buy pigeon again but at least I have tried it now.

December 18^th I fancied another very lazy morning, especially as it was cold outside! However, Huan reminded me around ten that we had to have another test today. Unusually, this queue fed back on itself in a big circle; we joined it as soon as we reached the gate. This picture was not planned to be a panorama so don’t look too closely or you’ll see the bad stitching.

Half way round we paused for some exercises, I didn’t get Huan, but she got me!

Straight back to the house we went, a nice hot coffee for me and a cup of hot water for Huan. After lunch the weather improved a little so I decided we should walk. Huan decided that ‘we’ should really mean ‘only me’! Needing exercise both for my heart and my feet I set off alone. Here you can see, via the little island bridge and over the bridge to somewhere, the mansions on the hill; they look much different here to what they do there.

Having pigeon for dinner yesterday, today and tomorrow I thought you should at least see some live ones. I don’t think they can read minds so they won’t know that I have been and will be eating their relatives. Some people liken them to vermin, I think they are rather good looking flying creatures. What say you?

Some macro experimentation with a little flora next.

Do you remember Huan’s gift of the little black gibbon after her last show? Well this is the ‘pair’ that appear on a lot of the lampposts around Wuzhishan. Which one reminds you of me?

Having seen all the work in the river and the flags along the banks today there are signs that I may have been wrong about a walkway along the riverbank.

I am sat here writing this and singing at the top of my voice “ooga-chaka ooga-ooga”, I wonder how many of you can remember that. Flower Power Radio is on in the background, it’s a happy place to be. Try it, you’ll like it too! https://www.flowerpowerradio.com/

On my way home I noticed that the pneumatic dam was deflated, makes the view much better. Well, that is true looking downriver, not so much looking upriver.

Approaching the market and food street area I spotted Blackface so I called her. Initially she came running towards me but then abruptly changed her mind and went back the other way. I found her where I couldn’t follow; she had her pup with her.

When I’m out alone I take quite a few photos for Huan, sometimes so that she knows where I have been, sometimes to clarify things I have seen. Today there were some extra photos of the various road works for her benefit. These next two though were taken for you but Huan did ask where everyone was, why there were no people on ‘tea street’. The answer of course was that they were there, hiding from the weather underneath the awnings.

My walk was more than worthwhile today; it was a ten kilometre one! I was telling Huan how Dr Ma would be so impressed with me only to find out that he won’t be there tomorrow. In fact he won’t be there for the foreseeable future, he has gone to Lingshui. Maybe he is setting up a new department there too. He told Huan that we could do what we did last time, get a repeat prescription without seeing a doctor. He also said that if I had problems we should still call him, that’s good to know.

December 19^th Yesterday’s walk had my eyes watering a little, I thought just because of the weather. This morning my left eye was worst. First I tried to photograph it and then I asked the Director of Photography if she could perhaps do better than me.

You may remember that we had planned to visit the hospital today. That plan came to nothing because neither of our health codes had updated since yesterday. Since it was a Monday we went shopping instead, entry is now unrestricted in the supermarket. Just before lunch I received a text message telling me that my test yesterday was abnormal and that I had to present myself at a certain test centre today for retesting. Now the samples were combined in phials in batches of ten so if mine was abnormal then Huan’s should have been too. She had no message. Off we went just before three to join the queue.

At the front of the queue Huan explained, as always, that my phone would not show the results, showed them on her phone instead. They asked if Huan had also had a message and when she replied in the negative they asked her why she hadn’t. Instead of just me being tested we both got done in the end. These tests were not batches of ten but individual phials and it would be eight hours before we would see any change on our phones. We’ll check tomorrow. This was the queue as we left; I guess many people had received the same message as me.

With me being in a ‘limbo’ stage we gave the hospital a miss for today. Huan had other ideas anyway; she wanted me to be a plumber. The cistern in our bathroom was not filling so she went off downstairs to buy a new piece. Having taken out the old one we then discovered that she had bought the wrong size part. While she was on her way down to see if she could change it I took the whole shebang to pieces. I discovered that the problem was not in the part we had removed but in all the plumbing leading up to that. Here I am beginning to put the original part back in.

Huan took fifty two photos of the work, most of unusable, but here’s a collage of some of it.

And finally for the job, for the day and for the week, here is the battle scarred veteran climbing out from underneath the job site. I really am getting too old for this! Still, on the plus side, Huan didn’t have to spend any money.

With all the extra work I forgot all about taking a photo of my pigeon dinner again, sorry! I’ll try and remember to snap my culinary feast later in the week. Don’t forget to let us know where you are reading from and leave comments if you like, either on the Blog post or on the Facebook post. Either is fine by us. We’ll be back before long, see you then.