September 24th This week we
may or may not have walkies, today was a definite NOT. It rained again, nearly
all day. However, we had a plan. For a change we decided to eat out everyday
this week, for every meal. A lot of, if not the majority of, Chinese families
appear to do that most of the time. We thought we would try it, check variety
and costs. Variety will be limited here, after all this is not
We have no photos of this meal but we do have a video - https://youtu.be/a5MuYIDsjAM The cost, for both of us, was ¥6.00. Having not done any shopping yesterday, we did that after breakfast, not that we needed much this week. Milk, fruit and washing up liquid was about it.
When it came to lunch neither of us really wanted to go out, we were both full enough to quite easily wait until dinner time. However, the plan was three videos per day for seven days so needs must. I did well with getting my lunch on my shirt.
How did I manage that? Well, I am not really very good at using chopsticks with one hand while trying to operate my phone with the other - https://youtu.be/hr_OxyiF-g8. This time we had to pay a little more, ¥17.00 for two lunches.
No naps today although we both almost fell asleep in our own little worlds. We’ll have to try and get the timing better tomorrow. Dinner was later and to avoid having to think too much we just went to our usual buffet restaurant. Here’s our dinners in advance of eating.
And here’s a full to the brim wifey, and happy for it.
We have been using this restaurant for nine years. Recently it shrunk by half but it’s still a good place to eat - https://youtu.be/ptjFD_f8xpA This evening’s cost was ¥35.00 giving us a total on day one of ¥58.00. We thought that eating out would be cheaper than cooking for ourselves; it looks like we may have been wrong.
September 25th Happy birthday to the boss! Yes, it was Madame’s birthday today which meant that breakfast had to be noodles with egg for longevity. I had the same, very nice.
Having the egg included put the price up so today’s breakfast cost ¥20.00 for the two of us. The video is short - https://youtu.be/JOO5MGxkIv8
After breakfast we were early enough for a ‘bus and walk’ day. Here’s the boss on the bus.
Off the bus and passing the school before crossing the river we saw this sign. The Chinese means what the English says. What on earth does the sign mean?
The river crossing looked wonderful, no rain anywhere!
Lizards were hiding but I did find butterflies.
While I was busy chatting to a couple of caged birds Huan was chatting to the lady who is often weaving when we pass this spot. Today she wasn’t weaving but cooking with fire! I told the chickens that they needed to hide!
Due to water on the road and Huan wearing her ‘dancing’ shoes we had to take a slight detour. I wanted to see the back of the army camp anyway; someone told us there were Greeks camping there. Huan was happy, her feet stayed dry and she found a lizard.
Meanwhile, up in the sky, the moon was almost blue.
Huan saw an egret so I had to try. It was too far away really but here you go.
Now if any of you have very long memories you might recall seeing a lizard putting his hand on my finger. That was on 3rd May 2023 when this path was all undergrowth.
Now look closely at the first tree in the picture and you may see something sticking out behind the tree. Could it possibly be the same lizard, or one of its babies?
Huan was a happy little teddy bear today, I found her a squirrel. Here it is rotated through 90⁰ so that you don’t have to struggle to see it. Can’t have you getting cricks in your necks now, can we.
We could hear busy birds in the trees so I had a go. You can certainly see what they were after.
Just a little further down the road we found another squirrel, must be fruit in this tree too. He, or she, is very cute and obviously has one eye on me.
With the weather seeming to change for the better, for the cooler drier season, we thought we would check out the ‘lido’. Repairs are in progress.
Coming back into town, and for a change we thought we would try the
bakery for lunch, the one with a
Drinks were not so easy. If you wanted a drink then to know what was available you were forced to scan the QR code. We took the easy way out and skipped the drinks. If we visit again, (not this week of course), we will buy the snacks and take them to sit by the riverside or in the town square with some nice cold drinks. Video here - https://youtu.be/hkFu5zD8aF4
Naps were very necessary today; we had walked over eleven kilometres. The rest of the time was taken up with uploading and editing photos and videos.
Evening time meant that we had to rouse our weary bones and get back to the grindstone again. Who would have thought that going out every day to eat could take so much out of you. These clouds took my fancy but I couldn’t get a better picture of them.
Our route took us via the lottery ticket shop and thence past this new bar. I think #1 son might fancy a beer or two in there although I’m not sure if he would be comfortable in the tiny chairs they have. Available beers look fine.
Because it was Huan’s birthday she chose the location today, they serve fresh meat!
I think we scrub up quite well, don’t you agree?
The food was hot-pot style but the pot comes with some meat and vegetables already cooked. There was some more meat and some shredded potatoes to add if we so wished. We also ordered two bowls of rice. Alcohol was available; Huan didn’t want any so I stayed dry too.
Most unusually, I finished off all my rice and then ate some of Huan’s too. I think she may have gone overboard on the soup. The ‘set’ price for this meal was ¥79.00 making today’s total the first to be over ¥100.00, worth every penny though - https://youtu.be/aw468KOYjUs
September 26th Who would have thought that not cooking for a week could be so tiring? Well, we’ve started, so we’ll finish! Breakfast was smaller than I wanted. I wanted a big baozi with a meat filling; I had to settle for a medium. Huan was happy with her rice soup.
I added an egg; you can see it in the video - https://youtu.be/WcKIWEOoD6s
After breakfast we kept to town because the forecast was for a cloudy day and we had been a long way yesterday. The first thing I saw was my favourite coloured car and it was a model that I would not say no to. However, check the colour of the car under the spoiler, I think he has added a cheap “go-faster” accessory.
We headed off behind the old
hospital today to see if we could find a way to where we think there may be
squirrels. There wasn’t. I did see a lot of students doing their military training
but I thought it was better not to take snaps of them. Instead I created a
panorama of the front of the hospital; it looks a nicer place to stay than
where we did in
Poor Huan needed the ladies room,
twice. The second time we went to the one in
When I rejoined the boss she had found me a lizard to snap.
We explored a path that we haven’t been down for a long time. All we remembered is that it was a cul-de-sac. Nothing had changed there of course but we did find a lonely pomelo and a not so lonely bunch of squashes. (I do miss my pomelos, I hate taking statins!)
Walking along the riverside we could hear lots of little birds in the trees. Huan left me trying to take photos of them; she couldn’t see them very well. To be honest neither could I but I took loads of pictures anyway. Only two were worth keeping, and they have been heavily cropped.
Soon we had walked long enough to take us up to lunch time, time to find another place to eat. One of our stipulations for this week is that we must not visit the same restaurant more than once. This was another cheap and cheerful choice.
Huan chose wonton soup and I chose fried rice. I had to leave some!
It may have been cheap and cheerful but it did the job for us - https://youtu.be/K03YknIwtRM Huan had to take a nap, I could have done with one too but there was too much to do!
On the way to dinner we saw some beautiful skies, and also my latest new pair of sandals.
For tonight’s dinner we chose a new(ish) place that we have walked past a few times.
Huan had another rice soup, a white rice soup this time and I had a sausage.
It was another cheap and cheerful meal, one that I enjoyed far more than I thought I would. I was still quite full from lunch - https://youtu.be/zBtyqNm13EM
September 27th Success, we were up early enough for a ‘bus and walk’ day. That will keep Huan happy until next month when we will have to try and ‘use her OAP card before the end of the month’ again. Instead of just a food picture, here I am showing my thanks for having a spoon with the free soup - https://youtu.be/4Vf_ckj_-s8
Breakfast over we hopped on to the number five bus and went to the Nansheng intersection where we got off to cross the river.
Some exploring was done today, a road that we didn’t believe would take us anywhere but we needed some countryside vibes. Huan found some, sitting in a tree.
When we reached the spot at which I realised that there was no way over the mountain in front of us, I climbed a little hill and took a panorama behind us instead.
Huan then found me a multicoloured spider and I found myself a black and white bird.
The reason I had chosen to walk
back along the main road from Sanya today, (after our sojourn in the
countryside) was that I wanted to see what was going on here. Someone had told
us that
I realise that the angle of the photograph is not right so the partial letters at the back don’t align with the ones at the front. If they did it would say AOYI CAMP. This is the Chinese - 奥义营地,
Àoyì yíngdì which translates as ‘Secret Camp’. On the Chinese internet I found out that “On the afternoon of July 27, more than 60
contestants of the 2024 National Youth Sports Federation Youth Taekwondo Tour
and City Competition (Wuzhishan Station) entered the Wuzhishan Aoyi Camp to
experience colourful and unique intangible cultural heritage activities such as
Li brocade sachets making and Li bamboo and wood instrumental performances,
helping to inherit and spread intangible cultural heritage in an entertaining
way.” As far as I can see, there is no connection to
Not much further down the road and Huan was doing her best to find anything she could for me to take even more photos of. As if I haven’t enough work to do this week anyway. Mind you, I can’t complain at these two finds, one going up and one going down.
Reaching the riverside turn off we stopped for refreshments but then declined what the sales lady was offering. All she had was ‘expensive water’, no need for that rubbish! We skipped the riverside and continued straight on into town stopping just after the bank for that much needed drink. Huan said that this looked as though the dog in the photo was actually mine.
Next up was the spot where there are always dragonflies quenching their thirst. I haven’t taken any for a while so here are three for you today, all different.
We found more birds and squirrels but the photos were not up to much. We headed off for lunch where we kept ourselves warm by the fire!
To see what we had go here - https://youtu.be/oY3RrQJkres Back home it was time for a little shower before getting down to work. I spotted this out of the window, a little nearer than this. However, all my shouting did not get Huan to react so by the time I was clean it had moved a little. When I showed Huan the photo, she was happy that the birds are coming back. PS I guess we are lucky having views like this from our shower window!
Today’s dinner was somewhere we had wanted to try for a long time, the riverside food street. Our Xinjiang bread man had returned so we went to his BBQ stall.
While our dinner was being prepared we had a little walk up and down, the food stalls are mostly still empty. Maybe it will pick up again as the snowbirds start returning. Back at our location I had a Xinjiang beer while we waited, Huan didn’t like it.
This was our plateful when it arrived, cooked to perfection.
Did we enjoy it? Go here to find out - https://youtu.be/t0XUsna8yy0
September 28th It's hard work this three times a day eating out business. Well, it's mostly all the walking and then the work at home I suppose. This morning I didn't want to leave dream world again but 豆腐脑, dòufu nǎo was calling me. There are a few ladies who go around the town with their three wheeled little trucks delivering dòufu nǎo to anyone and everyone so I suggested that one of our breakfasts should be just that. Now tofu is something that I can take or leave, not overly fond of it, but don’t dislike it either.
In the case of this version my preference would be to leave it. In fact I didn’t finish all of mine but the ‘extras’ filled me up enough - https://youtu.be/ve2OP0n5wNY
Today being market day we still had a leisurely stroll through there despite not wanting to buy anything this week. Business seems to be picking up, I guess the snowbird return migration has now begun in earnest.
With having a late(ish) breakfast we had to waste time by wandering all around the town. By lunch time we were both still full so we just had ice cream instead.
All the ice cream shop were too full so we just bought from a little shop and sat on a couple of plastic stools outside the shop - https://youtu.be/KgBX9e3erro
As you know Huan is a fish eater, normally at least three times a week. This week has been a little different so we treated her to a fish restaurant this evening. We have visited it before, a long time ago though, not long after it first opened.
The video has a couple of errors; you could say errors of omission. I forgot to press record, twice! Hopefully you will still enjoy it - https://youtu.be/0X-0VCa6O3I
September 29th We were struggling this morning, for two reasons. The first was just tiredness. I saw Huan’s eyes and decided we would go out, have breakfast and then come home, no long walks. The second was trying to find something different. We walked around in circles for a while; it was a nice day for it.
In the end we chose a small hole-in-the-wall place where Huan was able to choose something she hasn’t had this week yet. She chose 拌面, Bàn miàn which is still noodles but different to any others from this week. The shop lady offered me a couple of fried eggs so I put a piece of fried chicken breast with them.
And here are a couple of photos of our walk home. I do like this street. Down at the end we spotted an unusual plant, unusual for me anyway. It turns out that the common name for it is very apt - https://worldofsucculents.com/cleistocactus-winteri-colademononis-monkeys-tail/
Back home all that remained to do was – https://youtu.be/YD_RdtmNAj0
Once again we tried for some pork bread, without success. The first place that may have had it would not serve us because they were too busy with making up orders for 美团外卖Měi tuán wàimài, Meituan takeaway. This is a service similar to Uber Eats I suppose.
We gave up on the quest for pork bread and went on another quest for
The observant among you may have noticed that the two dishes are not identical. I like to mess things around - https://youtu.be/-ab_DIzGFQ8
Dinner was easy today, fast food by Wallace’s.
Our choice was a whole chicken! Mind you, it was to share between us and they are not very big chickens. We added chips and some spicy bits for me.
It was cheap and it was lovely - https://youtu.be/Wtfh10rrDZU
September 30th Maggi Smith (R.I.P.) said that Noel Coward had told her getting old meant having breakfast every half an hour. (The illusion of time speeding up.) For us we have Mondays every half an hour! It came around again today which meant shopping day. Although no cooking will be done today we decided to get back into the routine, after first having breakfast of course. Last night Huan had spotted one we hadn’t tried yet, 肠粉 Cháng fěn which turns out to be steamed vermicelli rolls.
Ignore all references to flour, cabbage and tofu - https://youtu.be/fC8hDXCF7i4
From the restaurant we went off and did our shopping, where normally you
never see any photos. Now I am an old fashioned man in many ways, a fuddy duddy
you might say. My idea of crisps is normal or ‘ready salted’ with possibly the
occasional ‘cheese and onion’. It seems that in
Huan did it again for lunch and found something we had not yet eaten this week. She had 鸡蛋饼 Jīdàn bǐng which translates as egg pancake and I had 手抓饼 shǒu zhuā bǐng, that translates as hand pulled pancake. Neither translation does them justice.
Huan even got a free drink with hers. I could have had one too but the fridge was not switched on so I declined. See more - https://youtu.be/Zht1Y2i46sI
Shopping had not been 100% successful this morning so after lunch we had to walk around to the market. No naps today, no time!
There were no worries about where to go this evening, we had already decided, a western style restaurant would be a nice way to finish the week off. It turned out to be a great idea. We had what we both considered the best meal we have had all week. To my surprise Huan agreed with me. It was of course also the most expensive meal we had all week.
I had the black pepper steak and
Huan had the rib-eye pork chop.
Anything else you see us eating or drinking in the video came included in the price. Not only included but self service so we could have as much as we wanted. My self restraint was put to the test but I overcame the temptations. Huan was not quite as strong as me and ate a bit too much. Finishing the weeks challenge felt like the last night of a show, happy that it was all over and life could return to normal, but also sad that it was all over.
Did we do what we set out to do? We think so. We showed that our little town has enough variety to please most people, it certainly satisfied us two. As to the costs, well we spent more than we had expected to, ¥772.00. It is possible however to eat well and spend much less than ¥500.00 if you want to.
Finally, to add to the celebrations, they put the street lights on for us.
You can find today’s video here - https://youtu.be/wx01G6YtL2M
And the link for the “Dining Out In Wuzhishan” playlist is here –
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrm74YBD3qG6WRzrtEde3XTNtqpYFE0bZ
We hope you enjoyed this different week, we are now going to relax and slowly get back to normal with both of us cooking and taking walks in the countryside. See you next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment