A Landlord’s Tale, Part One.

July 30^th What a start to the week, it’s raining again. In fact it rained all night and then all morning. I did get out after lunch, umbrella in hand just in case. As you can see here, the locals were doing the same as they do when it’s hot, staying indoors. I guess it was still lunch time!

Along the wall there were lots of small creatures. How many can you spot in this picture? If you answered “four” then you’d be right. There was actually another little insect too, on the right hand side, but I failed to get him in the frame!

My first destination was the repair man to give him our old induction hob. Huan thought he would not want it, he was in fact quite happy to receive it. I guess he can either ‘make it nice’ again and sell it, or use it for spare parts; in any case, it has cost him nothing. As you can see, not many people on his street either.

The story remained the same on the riverside.

This next photo was taken for Huan’s benefit so that she can see what’s going on in this part of the river. Of course, like me, she has no idea of what they are doing here apart from pumping water out. It is a temporary basin though, it has been constructed using sandbags on the outside coated with cement.

Apart from delivering the induction hot-plate my other reason for going out was for my weekly coffee and fag break. This was today’s view.

Looking at the little notice board I thought you should see this too. As you probably know, most people in China live in apartments and not houses as we do in the UK. They may not be the most architecturally pleasing to the eye but there is a lot of green involved. There are numerous trees and plants all over the place, sometimes lily ponds too. The little red circle is roughly where I was sat and the line points to the view I had.

Let’s finish off with a couple of vehicles today. The first is a typical old people’s three wheeler; this one is complete with little monkeys.

The second is a moped with cats in boxes behind the seats. They were the reason for me taking the photo. It seems the cats have a message求抱养, Qiú bàoyǎng - Seeking adoption. I should have stolen one.

Had I thought about it I could have included a photo of our cuisine for today, very nice it was too. I made us a lovely chilli with rice but I forgot the obligatory photo. Sorry!

July 31^st Yahoo! The weather allowed us to make another “No Through Road” video, we had only managed one this month up till now. This one was down Changhao Road.

The “no through road” section started well enough, dry road for the most part, lovely scenery.

Soon though, as the road went higher, the going became much slipperier, we had to be very careful where, and how we stepped. Towards the end the foliage at times almost blocked our progress. I lost count of how many spiders’ webs I crashed through.

Finally, covered in bites, for me anyway, the end was reached. If you check the third photograph carefully you might be able to see a red coloured soil track leading to some buildings to the left. That was the end of our last no through road video, the fish farm restaurant that wasn’t! It was time to retrace our steps, being just as careful on the way down as we had been on the way up.

On the way up I had lost Huan at one stage, she stopped to take a photo of a mushroom. On the way down she pointed out to me for my camera to have a go.

All that was left was the bus stop, where we didn’t stop for a bus, we carried on walking!

On the final stretch, from the highway on ramp home, we found a dragonfly, a very still one. We assumed it has shuffled off this mortal coil until we got home and saw the strange object underneath it. Was it perchance giving birth, and if so, why out in the open?

Huan was mumbling about not finding any lizards today so, I found one for her!

And finally, two photos from the Nikon Keymission, one of the lady in question buying her lottery tickets for today and tomorrow and one of our front (or back) gate, depending who you talk to. I say it’s the front, Huan says it’s the back.

To see a, rather long’ video of today’s route, go here - https://youtu.be/UCK2LkTvoNE If it’s too long play it a faster speed with or without sound. PS I played it faster for Huan, she doesn’t have a lot of patience to sit and watch for thirty minutes. I found out that playing something very fast for her is a very quick way to give her what equates to travel sickness. She’s in bed now!

August 1st Well yesterday’s video never got uploaded. Both my VPNs failed completely, and I spent most of the evening uninstalling, reinstalling and trying to get anything working. In the end I had to give and go to bed. This morning, with a little help from my friend Patrick, I was able to finally get back on line, albeit with very slow upload speeds.

However, there was no time to try and upload the video again; the Admin Manager told me I had to get myself off to the hospital up on the main Haikou road to have my eyes tested. Yes, it’s that time of year again when my eyes have to be tested so that I am fit to drive.

As usual, the actual test part was the most difficult. The first doctor gave up in the end and called for someone else to come, something to do with computers, hukou cards and foreigners. While we were waiting I played doctor at the second desk.

When the next doctor arrived I had to change positions and have my photo taken. Look carefully and you can see the tiny camera and also the colour blindness check books. The eye chart itself was on the wall and when I stood for that the camera boss forgot.

It still took quite a lot longer while the new doctor tried to confirm that my data had been uploaded and that the traffic police would be able to see the results of my test. During this time Huan decided she needed a screen grab too. The big red circle is my doing so that you can see how abysmal my file photo is. (I know, you can’t see it, just as well really.)

Back home I stayed in the car to try and download some video files from the dashcam to my phone. Another very slow job. Huan hopped out and found a lizard but didn’t get close enough.

Eventually I was done and came home with nine videos from today’s little trip.

After lunch it was nap time for the Prime Minister but not for the peon in the IT department. I warily tried going back on to the internet, it is still working now. My first job of course was to start again and try to upload yesterday’s video. As I write this it has been uploading for seven hours, is now up to 87% and still has well over another hour to go. I guess it is quite a large video, 4.5GB, but these low speeds are not normal.

August 2^nd I thought it was time to let Huan go on one of her favourite walks so it was around Feicui Park we went, in the easier clockwise direction of course. Laden with recyclable trash and kitchen trash I had to dump it all on the car bonnet when she found a lizard. It looks very much as though he has his dinner in his mouth.

We passed by yesterday’s hospital so here is a different view for you.

Before too long we were on our way up the road, not many snowbirds around today.

Passing by our little cave we noticed that someone had cleared a lot of the undergrowth away and we could now see the ‘locked’ gate. However, they had also put a new fence in place so there was no way to get closer and look inside.

Huan decided she needed a photo of me taking a photo, and, although she didn’t know it, a video too. The video went down quite well on Facebook, more importantly, SWMBO liked it.

The last time we walked this way I took a photograph of this object from a distance but we still had no idea what it was. Today I walked up to get a closer look. Google tells me that it could be a Wing Trap, a Cross Vane Trap or a Funnel Trap.

Huan took a video of me on the way down; I told her she likes to see me looking old! Mind you, that was quite well received on Facebook too. While I was up there I had heard a dog barking and wondered where it was coming from. It turned out that she knew us; we haven’t seen her for quite some time. If I had known she would be there today I might have taken some eats with us.

In a similar vein as our ‘no through road’ videos, here is another definitive version.

“This little park usually has birds” said the boss. “Correction” said I, “it sometimes has birds but there haven’t been any on my last three visits”. As usual, I was proved wrong today!

We took the back tea road home, more restaurants than tea shops on this road. As you can see, it is also not a pedestrianised area.

Our last photo was not so easy to snap. This poor little creature was in a bit of a hurry to get away, not just from us but from someone, or something else. Take a look at its tail, very recently abandoned by the look of it.

August 3^rd Market day came round again today, this being Saturday of course. However, we had no need to buy anything this week as we are off to Sanya tomorrow. Huan suggested a bus and walk ride just to really exhaust me before tomorrow’s drive. I respectfully declined and said we would walk through the market anyway. It’s just as well I did because we met many of our friends, some local, some otherwise. Of note was Sam showing off his granddaughter, he seemed surprised that we go to the riverside market every week. Friends from afar surprised us also, Jack and Virginia, who you may remember stopped and talked to me not so long ago, were also doing the market thing today. Lovely bumping into them.

So, lots of news but hardly any photos I’m afraid. We did spot what some people may think would be a robot, but wasn’t really. The ‘lady’ does not rotate the grindstone; rather the rotation of the grindstone makes her move. We did make a very short video too but it’s hardly worth sharing, I didn’t even put it on Facebook.

Between the riverside market and the lizard market I thought I spotted a lizard. At least that’s what I thought it was initially. Then I thought it was a little fat before my brain caught up with my eyes and noticed that it was a rodent. Now whether it was a small baby rat or a fully grown field mouse I have no idea. Maybe you can tell us.

Not to be left out Huan insisted that I take another bird photo!

And that was our Saturday, apart from naps to prepare for our expedition down south!

August 4^th Most people like to share pictures of their holidays, their wonderful times away from home. This is the first of ours, check the luggage out. That is followed by our destination, the land of no car parking where our apartment is in Sanya.

We were a little late arriving; we got diverted off the highway. It made no difference; our tenant was not there anyway. She arrived after my brain was already going crazy thinking about how much work would be required this year and how much money we would have to spend. Just checkout the rusty fridge and the discoloured walls, followed by the fly screen that the cat destroyed. That may or may not have been her cat.

Lunch time, we thought we would visit one of our regular spots when we come down here. We thought wrong; it is now another one of those snack shops.

We found a place, a noodle shop close by. Here’s the kitchen accompanied by my before and after pictures. Huan ate hers far too quickly for my phone.

Back in the apartment I realised that the cat had done more than destroy the fly screen. The poor thing must have been going crazy, just check the scratches on the window sill.

No afternoon naps today, I also discovered that the bed was both BLR and BER, military types will understand. We had to cross the river to find a bed shop.

Bed found, and a new wardrobe to match it, we set off home to await delivery.

While we were waiting I took the old bed to pieces.

After the bed had been delivered and assembled we decided a return trip to the shop was required to order a couple of bedside tables that (almost) match They will be delivered tomorrow so it was time for dinner, which we almost forgot to take a picture of. Here it is, mine and hers together.

All that was left was to walk our weary bones home.

I spoke too soon. There I was, naked in the bathroom, ready to take a much needed shower, when nothing came out of the shower head. The process of elimination showed that the flexible hose was blocked. That’s a first for me, it’s never happened in any apartment before. Someone had to go across the road to the Mr. Fixit shop. Huan asked if I was going to go. I did volunteer but I suspect the neighbours would not have been impressed by a naked Bob in the shop. Huan went, came back with a new hose, Mr. Fixit said the shower head was probably OK. All plumbing bits reassembled, he was right, we could shower again.

August 5th Just when you think everything is settling down along comes a text message. “We have towed away your car, please present yourself at this place to sort out the paperwork and we will give you your car back.” It seems that the place we parked, along with many other cars, is no longer parking spaces. It was full last night; this was how it looked this morning. I checked too, there is a new sign now.

In the taxi on the way to the pound and illegal parking centre the taxi driver told Huan that if we moved the car before six in the morning we would be fine. I don’t intend to try that out. In the centre it took about an hour and a half plus eight sheets of A4 for the police, one for me, two invoices, again one each and details also had to be entered into a little book. Not forgetting all my documentation needed to be scanned (again) and my photo had to be taken (also again). Money then changed hands, virtual money from Huan’s phone, mine doesn’t work, and then we were free to rescue Donald. On the way we spotted these two, also seen in our area last night.

Using the remote I found Donald, looking forlorn and suffering in the corner.

On the road again we headed to the bank as the wallet needed refilling probably not for the first time this week. We found lunch next to the bank, one large dish between two, not bad.

Getting back into the car, not very long after, it felt a little hot! I have to say that it was very hot but I seriously doubt it could have been what the screen shows here, top right corner.

Back home I brought the Blog up to date while Huan had a nap. When she woke up, to go and pay the electric bill, (they switched us off despite us still being in credit), I had to give up and take a nap myself. Early evening the man came round to give us a quote for sorting the walls out. Huan was surprised when he told her that it was water damage. I’ve only been telling her since 2007 that buildings here are not weather sealed as they should be! The quote was¥1,800.00 before Huan started asking more questions when it went up to ¥2,000.00.She thought this was way too much, I accepted there and then, I’ve had enough of trying to do things on the cheap. Supposedly he will remove the damaged part of the wall, resurface it, waterproof it and then paint it. There will be two people working and it will take between three and four days. Good enough for me.

It was time then for a relaxing walk and our evening meal. We found this place, unfortunately it was closed so we couldn’t find out if the owner was an Irishman or not.

After quite a bit more walking we found a place that we deemed suitable.

In retrospect, it would have been better with some more varied choices. Here is Huan’s, very nice it was too. That’s beef you can see on the top.

Unfortunately nearly all the dishes were beef so finding something to share with Huan became an impossible task. Here is mine, which would have been better with more chips!

And there you have it, as they say on Youtube, that’s the end of our day, the end of our week, and the end of our short trip to Sanya. Our workman suggested that we not stay and I tend to agree with him. We have paid 50%now and will pay the balance on completion. Tune in next week to see the finished result and whether or not we did the right thing. Wish us luck!