November 28th Woke up with a struggle after some strange dreams, which is not unusual for me. Looking out of the bedroom window I didn’t think we would be going anywhere for a while.
Going to the kitchen to make the morning drug, caffeine, water, milk and one sugar, I was quite surprised to see that on that side of the house the sun was shining. Consequently we were out and about early enough. Here’s another mean machine that Huan refused, I can’t think why.
We agreed on the landfill walk today, we haven’t been that way for a while. On the way we passed another mountain being knocked down, this one to make way for apartments for people moving from the countryside. They are very noble aims and we know that the apartments will soon fill up. We just wish more could be done with the empty private blocks we have.
After a couple of left turns and a quick scoot under the highway we were soon on the roads that we like, no hat needed for me here.
That last photo was taken over the crest and on the way down just before this wonderful view. Cue a map reading lesson for Huan all about false crests and the disappointment of reaching the top of a long hike only to find it’s not the top after all.
Soon we took a right turn to add a couple of kilometres, more lovely paths.
“Good morning” he cried. That is only a rough translation of course.
On our way back into town another field of sweet potatoes, these had been planted where there was only rough ground before. A lot of Chinese people, including Huan, like to eat the leaves as well as the potatoes. I do like my leafy greens but not these, just the potatoes please.
Another possible chariot for the queen was next. If you enlarge it you can just about see the steering wheel, a little left of centre. Strangely enough, she declined again.
Another decal day, this rather old and drab Suzuki Swift had four, one on each front door and one on each rear pillar. They don’t make sense to me either.
This one did though and you can never have enough of Snoopy. 着急你, 就飞过去, Zhāojí nǐ jiù fēi guòqù - in a hurry you, just fly past.
“And now for something completely different” as spoken by John Cleese, in the show Monty Python's Flying Circus, (1969-1974). How is it that a tree can fall down and then grow more trees out of itself like this? No wonder some forests are impenetrable. PS If you have no idea what Monty Python was and what us oldies scrambled our brains with back in the old days, you can get an idea here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iobWrSE9lEo&ab_channel=CineClips Be warned, we were not normal!
Our last photo shows a few of my feline friends all relaxing in the same place, on the garden table. If I stand outside the gate and meow they will come out and see me, most unusual cats.
All in all we had a good stroll in the countryside, our little detour added enough to give us over ten kilometres. Mind you, we haven’t done enough this month to even get to the magic three hundred, we’ve relaxed more instead.
This week was our third ‘shepherd’s pie’ week, with lamb this time. This is not lamb as you would use but hot pot style thinly sliced lamb. I sliced the slices before adding them to the onions cooking in the pan. Once the lamb was browned through diced carrots and water were added and left to simmer a while. The piece de resistance was the addition of the prepared flavouring. Reconstituted dried mint leaves (soak in water), pickled garlic cloves with a little of the vinegar, three cherry tomatoes and a dash of light soy sauce, all whizzed together. To be honest I wasn’t so sure but it worked very well, no complaints from the customer, or the chef!
November 29th Plans sometimes get changed without warning, today was one such occurrence. I had thought we would be going along the main street and then perhaps to the fish farm reservoir. Huan had cooked additional vegetable balls and some of her sister’s sausages which we had to deliver to Zhao De, in the opposite direction to the main road. Still, the countryside in this direction is fine too and no real hills for us to have to walk up.
Even in the countryside you can find odd things on vehicles. Can you spot the spelling mistake? Also this is another Ninebot moped but with eleven little add-ons this time.
The spotter had been getting worried that she would be forced to go home with no creature photos today but suddenly she found two, very close together.
Some more lovely views as we headed for home.
And into the last village along the way, seemingly quite empty for some reason. There were a few people down the other end and a big dog recognised me from a distance.
After we had passed through the road works near the last bridge I spotted an RSJ with a kink in the middle. Immediately, and not knowing really why, I thought of a see-saw (British English) and had to have a play. To my surprise the good lady agreed to stand on the other end. Onlookers were bemused to say the least. If the fancy takes you, then you can find a very short video here - https://youtu.be/e0YfHaYTwAc
Both of us slept like logs after lunch, I
seem to find it very difficult to wake up. We’ll just put it down to age. Good
news, Huan called the immigration office, my visa is ready. That means a trip
to
November 30th I did put the alarm on just so that we could
make sure we reached the Immigration Office before lunch break. As it happens,
I had one of those rare mornings when I woke up early, before the alarm. We
drove all the way to
The plan had been to take Huan to the RT Supermarket in Guomao, for lunch and a look at all the nice EVs they had there before. Our Satnav had us following roads that got progressively smaller, and even smaller. At this spot there was nothing to say that there was no through road ahead of us but we had to reverse all the way back anyway, as did all the other traffic both behind us and in front of us.
Eventually I gave up and headed for the hotel which is easy enough
to find and also has something highly necessary in
Once the baggage had been dropped off we headed out for a quick lunch nearby’ which we forgot to take any photos of. We did get some on the way there and back though. Right outside there was an enormous ‘pill’. If you enlarge the photo the notice explains all.
This one needs no explanation. It is the first time we have seen a self service one though.
Back in the room the Prime Minister needed to rest her weary bones, she coped rather less well than I did with the hordes of two wheeled motorists. Once she was rested and fit for walkies we set off for the same destination, RT Supermarket, for dinner and those tempting EVs. We knew it would be a long walk there, but we didn’t know that we would later on decide to walk back too. Anyway, cars and their decals took first spot again this afternoon. We have no idea what the first photo is about, Huan thinks it is Japanese, not Chinese. Who is Sailor Moon?
Soon we were going over the bridge at the
end of Rénmín dàdào, it connects the small
Over the bridge we modified our plans, the destination would be the same but we would follow what looked like a walking route nearly all the way there. You can see it here passing by the famous clock tower which chimes by the way.
You don’t just have to walk; you can stroll, jog or even cycle.
Although you can’t see any people in this photo the whole route was quite busy, I was just lucky with this shot. There were all sizes, all ages and all fitness levels, it was good to see.
Now you have Bob trying to watch movies for free from a distance and Huan trying to see what is going on in the port authority. Of course neither of us could actually see anything; the viewing scopes did not work. You need to scan with your phone and the QR codes had worn away.
The good lady is very fond of hiding her light under a bushel, in this case it didn’t work for her, she looks very nice, well I think so anyway. The strange thing is I don’t remember asking her to pose behind the flowers, I didn’t see that until I uploaded the photos.
Before passing under
Later we came across Santa. Now is he early and checking his route? Maybe someone’s husband came home early and he has had to jump out of the window? What do you think?
Excuse me?
Now we come to the old and the new, side by side. Is Huan miming using her phone or is she using these few seconds the check her messages?
Sometime not long before six we arrived at RT Supermarket only to find the EVs had moved on, at least the smaller ones had. It was also dinner time so we didn’t search too much for any of the more normal size cars. Downstairs we found that even more of the food stalls had closed down. When we first visited, a few years ago, it used to difficult to find somewhere to sit. It’s certainly not like that anymore. They still had stalls to satisfy us of course, here are our dinners.
Walking back we went through what we call
Back along the walking route we went, having now decided that we would walk back to the hotel. We varied our route a little but generally walked in the same direction. This beautiful building had not been on our earlier route, it is a library. Searching for the name this afternoon, I found this https://www.dezeen.com/2021/04/22/mad-cloudscape-of-haikou-library-hainan-china/#
We went back to Hǎi diān dǎo by going over
Would you believe we bumped into Sailor Moon again? Having seen her twice in one day another Google was needed, yep, it is Japanese again https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Moon It is a much nicer car this time though!
By the time we got back to our hotel room, after walking back along the opposite bank, it was approaching nine o’clock and we had walked over eighteen kilometres. We did have a pause for dinner though. I got down to the business of uploading the photos to our laptop and discarding the rubbish or duplicates. We really should have taken the camera with us but we didn’t know about the walking route.
Very shortly afterwards, while I was trying to sort out internet connectivity, I started shivering. It wasn’t mild, it was uncontrollable shivering. Immediately I changed my clothes, put my jammies on and jumped into bed. Within minutes I had stopped shivering but I was absolutely roasting. Huan was worried sick and wondering if we should go across the road to the hospital, I was happy just to lie down and sleep.
December 1st It was a long night’s sleep, with plenty of water drunk, lots of it sweated out again but by the time I woke up this morning, far too late for breakfast, I felt much better. Maybe I caught a chill walking back in the cool evening air.
We paid the bill and headed off to or first shopping stop, “The Grocery”. For the first time ever we left with hardly anything, we were not impressed. From there we drove to “Corner’s Deli” our second and final shopping stop. Arriving there we found people parked in every available spot outside, even on an enormous piece of waste ground. Thinking there was a problem with the building parking and being lemmings we followed suit. You can score bonus points if you can find our car in this picture.
Walking out we found yet another car and decal. You guessed it, I had to do another Google and; you guessed right again, it was another Japanese one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponyo
Walking up the building complex, the entrance to the underground car park was not closed off, there were no signs, I guess people just didn’t want to pay. We didn’t need much so there was no point going back for the car. Corner’s Deli was nicer to us than The Grocery had been and we stocked up on cheese and sandwich meat, enough to last us until March. That’s when I have to go for my next PSA test. The store is no longer alone downstairs there is a food court too.
A final view of the dockside with Huan’s finger pointing out the bridge we crossed on our way back to the hotel last night.
And that’s it for our trip to
Back home, our plan to go out for a cheap dinner was changed by the weather, we stayed in and had a sandwich instead. Isn’t life easy?
December 2nd And so life is back to normal, waking up in our own bed. I wish we knew
where the hotel in
And I found our first back home decal, on the back of a Weltmeister EX5. 礼让, lǐràng – comity (also translates as courtliness), 女司机, Nǚ sījī - female driver, 送你个, Sòng nǐ gè - give you one, 小心心, xiǎoxīn xīn - be careful.
And finally for today, did you know that despite being in the middle of the mountains, we have a beach? It will disappear of course when they finish the riverside beautification project.
December 3rd Someone slept terribly last night, was it the boss’s fault for continuously stealing the blanket? Well, I couldn’t possibly say, she would beat me, and make me sleep in the bath tonight. On the other hand, I wonder if I would sleep better in there. Huan had decided we should have a long walk today but being slightly late, I modified her plans to a round the end of the river “let’s look for lizards” walk. We found cows first so we went down to the riverbank; the second photo is just a crop showing the ones in the distance.
These particular bovine buddies were not too scared at all so Huan got very busy with her phone. As always she took too many, here is the first one.
This second one actually passed its Dad before coming to me and having a sniff of my hand. There is a video here https://youtu.be/hEdS8a0yWJ8
Soon after we went back upstairs and passed by our ‘audience’ we bumped into a friend of ours. She works in Sanya now but returns here for weekends. While she and Huan were nattering it was left to me to find the first two lizards of the day.
By the time we reached the next one we had lost our friend so Huan saw it first and then ‘got me’ while I was ‘getting it’!
She found the next two before me as well; I rather like this first one. Unusually he was horizontal on the tree and not vertical. Just check his back legs, must be a strong boy.
One day I will manage to ‘shake hands’ with one again, not today though.
We did find one more lizard but I think you’ve seen enough for one day. Instead we give you someone foraging by the riverside. What is she looking for? Huan thinks, and I am tempted to agree with her, that she is collecting something for medicinal purposes.
So that was a ten kilometre walk, long enough for today. After an afternoon nap the rest of the day was spent as Sundays should be, doing a lot of nothing at all.
December 4th With the weekend over it was time for a bit of admin work, presenting my visa to the local police and then the bank. At the police station it was decided that I didn’t have to go there in the first place. To the bank we headed, nice murals in the car park.
In the bank we found rather a large queue of snowbirds waiting to be served. Now this new and impressive looking bank has only one cashier's window so the security man suggested that we come back after lunch. Having started our day thinking we would do admin in the morning and shopping in the afternoon, we ended up shopping in the morning. I know which one I would have preferred and it’s not this one.
Shopping done we headed home for lunch only stopping at the express delivery boxes at the entrance to the apartments to collect something that Huan had ordered. Isn’t she a hero?
After lunch and an afternoon coffee we headed off to the bank to try
again. Only two people were before us so we didn’t have to wait too long. That
is, we didn’t have to wait to long in the queue. Bear in mind that this is not
something we want to do, but something that the government and banks insist we
do to curtail money laundering. All I needed to do was to present my passport
with my latest visa for the bank to copy and file. We have done this before in
Sanya and in
Eventually all was done, I think. We’ll know it hasn’t been done when the ATMs refuse to give me money again. Back home we headed, down the back alleys.
We were so pleased to reach our humble abode, hungry and tired. All that was left for this week was to update and upload this Blog post. Here’s hoping it finds you all not quite as frazzled as we felt earlier on. All is well with the world again so we’re happy. See you next time!
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