The Inmate, Episode Four.

April 8^th Well my week started again with a puncture in my arm. I asked Huan not to take yet another photograph of the ‘operation’ and she reluctantly agreed. After Dr. Liáng’s rounds we set off to catch a bus for the day’s touristy things. We failed, again, the bus stop we chose did not have the two required buses running, they had been diverted elsewhere. We had waited so long that I suggested a walk instead. Here we are heading north up the side of hépínglù.

In anticipation I’ll start the collages early this week. The second photo is the better one but you can see the bird’s eye in the first one.

Huan took this one. I am not sure if it was before or after one of the fish nibbled my finger.

It didn’t take Huan long to find a little lizard, we think he may have just shed his old skin.

We came across a place called Jiangnan City, it is an apartment and villa complex.

We didn’t go in and visit, partly because of the security gates but mostly because of the prices. For Hainan they were astronomical! We stuck to water features outside the tea shop.

We’ll just be thankful for the birds! How many are there in the fourth photo?

Along the beach road Huan was in her element.

I was wondering why we can’t live here.

And then Madame was off again!

Time for a quiz question, this one from Huan. What are those ‘hairy trees’ over there?

And then she did it again, I’d be lost without her eyes.

We seem to have seen a greater variety of birds on this visit than on any other one. Here’s another of those black collared starlings.

That one was taken as we walked back through Baishmen Park, following the tourist trail.

And this one was under a tree on the main street as we headed for lunch. I think it is a Red Whiskered Bulbul. What came to my mind when I read that? Well, the first thing is not suitable for tender young folks such as you, it has to do a certain dialect in the Philippines. The second thing was “Abdul Abulbul Amir”. If you want to know more search Peter Skellern on Youtube.

Despite our plan not working out this morning, our timing was not bad, we arrived at a suitable place for lunch just after half past eleven.

Only mine is shown here, somehow we forgot Huan’s.

Right outside our building Huan looked for, and found, her friend from a previous sighting.

No naps, just a treatment in the afternoon, followed by completing this day’s post and then out for a shorter walk for dinner. We didn’t take photos; it was just something simple from the street market. It filled a space. Back to our suite we went for a nice relaxing evening!

April 9^th This morning’s news from Dr. Liáng, my blood tests show that I am now a little bit anaemic. He tells me that it is nothing to worry about yet and that I should eat more! I dare say that I may be able to follow his orders.

Once we were free again Huan had us go on another magical mystery tour, taking a number 71 bus over the third bridge off Haidian Island. Getting off we found a bird.

She then decided that we would go back to the second bridge and look at the clock tower. That meant a walk along the bank of the channel.

The tide was not very high so we were able to see what Huan calls ‘one armed crabs’.

Soon enough we were at the clock tower. This first photo is the information sign, in both Chinese and English. You will need to ‘click to enlarge’, once you do that it is legible.

And here are some views of the tower.

From there it was a hop, skip and a jump across the road to 骑楼老街, Qílóu lǎo jiē, Qilou Old Street, more info can be found here - https://www.tropicalhainan.com/haikous-qilou-old-street. Our ‘way in’ was not the one we remembered.

We saw a sign for Xian Tai Lady Memorial Hall, so decided to pay a visit. There was a lack of knowledge inside, the lady directed us to the doorway!

To avoid too many collages here are some pics from the inside.

And here is one that I don’t like, of me coming down the stairs looking a little distorted.

We then found ourselves in a warren of small alleys that we had never seen before. In there we found another temple but I will skip that, except for the dragons on its roof.

Eventually we found ourselves in streets that we knew. We will try and do a specific visit to take some photos there. For today, it’s another collage.

Before looking for a bus stop, I had a chat with two things that were not dogs!

Back at the hospital we had another simple lunch, pork bread and boiled egg.

Before going downstairs for the afternoon’s zapping, Huan decided to do some washing. That meant the clothes from the bathroom had to be moved to the window. They have to be hidden away before the doctor’s rounds in the morning though.

Today I was #5 in the queue so I sat outside for a while and then sat inside with Huan.

Back upstairs it was time to finish the photo editing and start the Blog writing. I thought there would have been less to do up here, being in hospital and all, but I seem to have even more!

All that was left for the evening was dinner. The noodle thing was Huan’s, the braised pork was mine, the vegetables were to share and of course a bowl of rice each.

April 10^th This morning I asked Dr. Liáng if the radiotherapy operators could ‘see’ what they were doing inside my body, it seems the answer is no. I hope they targeted well! I also asked him why they shield my chest when I am in there but they don’t shield my back. It seems I am being zapped mostly from above whereas I thought it was coming from below.

He also brought my paperwork to visit the ENT doctor again this morning. Huan sneaked a photo through the door, she’s a little devil at times.

And this is me looking grumpy, asking Huan not to take so many photos.

In the photo above my treatment had finished and I was waiting for the print-out to take back with me. This is that, we think the left picture is the beginning, the middle somewhere in between and the right the treatment completion. I don’t have to go back again, good news.

My route back to the ward turned out to be longer than expected, Huan had another express delivery from Pinduoduo. I took a photo of the canal on the way.

And then Huan took another one of me, walking the streets, in my jammies. I am curious as to whether or not the streets around UK hospitals are full of PJ wearing patients.

Back in the ward I did my Chinese lessons, Huan fetched lunch, she had a nap, I didn’t. We had a shortish walk to find dinner, finding breakfast for Huan on the way, lamb filled naan bread. I hasten to add she is only having one!

On Haidian Third Street we found somewhere to eat.

Huan listened to her phone while waiting.

I grinned because she was paying the bill, cheap though, less than eight quid for the two of us.

And here is our lovely grub, no complaints from either of us. Both dishes came with a free soup, Huan changed hers for a soy milk drink.

Someone had a rest on the way home.

While I wondered if I would be strong enough to use this old thing!

Finally for today, can you spot the deliberate error?

April 11^th Here we are, at the end of another week, fifteen treatments finished, eighteen still to go. Today we took a bus again, #71, but got off before the bridge. There are quite a few collages again today, Huan has got me busier here than I was in Wuzhishan. Here’s one that she didn’t see at all though, I had to take it when Huan and I inadvertently went in opposite directions!

We were on the northern side of the channel, “oh I do like to be beside the seaside”!

This is the place where we have previously eaten in the evening, some years ago. Hopefully it is still in operation so that we can try it again. There are a lot of closed businesses around though, the Covid years did a lot of damage.

Here’s me back at the seaside again, perhaps I should have been a sailor and not a soldier!

Remember that I mentioned collages? Well, here we go. This is a tree that we have in Wuzhishan too, it puzzles us that there seems to be no real season for flowering. Compare the two photos here, almost side by side, one bare and one in full bloom.

We must include birds.

Some of the fishermen’s families were selling their wares along the edge of the path. I suspect that the boats have offloaded the main catch and that this is for a little extra cash.

I found more birds! Mind you it was easy; they were all in cages awaiting new owners. As you can see there are also turtles, fish and everything for your garden.

I particularly liked this section.

Finally, Huan found her daily lizard, I think she was getting worried.

We walked back through some small side streets again, something I quite enjoy.

Almost back at the hospital we found two more birdies, they don’t deserve a collage.

Today’s lunch was boiled sweet potatoes, boiled eggs and for me some olive leaf. As usual I had no time for a nap and Huan kept herself busy with sorting laundry. After my treatment we went to the payment office, our nurses had asked us to put more money down. I guess I must have gone way over the initial deposit some time ago. Today I waved goodbye to a substantial part of my yearly pension! It’s time to go and cry in my beer, except Huan won’t let me have any!

In the evening we braved the traffic lights again and went towards the street market for dinner. We took a rather roundabout route, finding a BYD and a Porsche on the way. Huan is still waiting for a win on the lottery!

On our ramble we stumbled across this restaurant.

All I can find on the internet is that it is a Shanghai based franchise and on another site complaints that the pure beef is actually mostly duck. What can I say? Huan had the beef/cheese roll, I had rice with a meat, tomato and cheese topping. I also had a handful of sweet potato fries with some kind of sweet powder on them. Huan was perfectly happy with her choice, if we go back again I will also have a cheese roll with maybe a different meat.

April 12^th Huan planned a day out for us today, had I known where I might well have argued! We were going to the Volcano Park, about a forty-five minute drive from the hospital. Tourist signposts were successfully navigated and we found our way there with no problems. On our way around I found this signboard. It doesn’t have much to do with volcanoes but it is very interesting. All the fifty-six ethnic groups of China are listed here, with a QR code for each one. If you scan the code with WeChat you will find all the info for that particular group. If, like me, you cannot read Chinese, never fear, good old WeChat will translate it for you.

We had parked outside because the signs for the car park were not so easy to find. Far too many photographs were taken so there will be collages today. The official park name is “Leiqiong UNESCO Global Geopark and its total area is 3,050 square kilometres. The park extends across the sea to mainland China. The Haikou section is about 186 square kilometres, still a little too much for me to explore today!

That information came from this tourist notice board. I have broken it down into sections so if you need any further info just let me know and I will send it to you.

Before entering the park proper, we had a little walk around to check the restaurants, cafes and such like. Despite being a weekend, it was not too crowded. Like most tourist venues in China though I would suggest you avoid them during holiday periods. Some of the photos we saw showed long queues up the mountain stairs.

We found a snack place for our lunch; sustenance was definitely needed before walking up stairs. One was good, vegetables and meat, the other was not so good, possible red bean. Forgive the lack of a smile, I was still a little grumpy!

Then it was time to arrange for us to enter the park itself, Huan got a half price ticket due to her age. To prove that she showed her Hukou card. I got free entry due to my being even older, I had to show my passport. Huan had to show the staff my D.O.B. in the passport, I guess they do not see a great many old British tourists. Just inside the entrance was a snake, a bull, a small spring fountain and a big wall.

Here’s a closer view of the ‘writing on the wall’ and a passerby.

Inside, even before going up, the scenery was good.

Huan was certainly enjoying herself.

More scenery and a small lava tunnel with me inside it somewhere.

Here’s an old stone house, just big enough for Huan and I. Mind you, we would need some extras, like drainage, plumbing, electricity and an internet connection etc.

And how do you think they made their juice in days gone by. Well, for sugar cane and other ‘long’ things they would have used one of these, possibly operated by a water buffalo?

Of course, to see volcanoes you have to go up.

And right in the middle of that photo, hidden by the plants, is a golden chicken. We didn’t have to climb a beanstalk but there were quite a few steps.

More steps had to be climbed necessitating a rest for me on the way.

The next level had us in the holy temple of the volcano, built about two hundred years ago.

From here the views were pretty good.

Then there were more stairs leading up to what we assume was the edge of the crater.

However, by this time not only was Huan struggling a little but I was thinking that it might just be too much too soon for me as well. We didn’t go any further! On the way down the views were still great, and we saw a signpost that we hadn’t seen on the other stairs on our way up.

Halfway down we met a stone dragon. There must be a pantomime script in here somewhere. In his little pool we could hear a frog but we couldn’t find him. It would appear that this pool is also used as a ‘wishing well’, Huan did her bit and added a coin.

And here she is herself, outside the ‘Stone Gate’.

Closer to the exit of this part of the park we found a bird and some of the children’s entertainment. There is a lot more for the children than just this though.

As for me, I was quite glad to see the homeward stretch.

Even better was the ice cream!

As you can see, we are both a bit hot and tired in that photo. After some cool, clear water we took a long route back arriving at the hospital late enough to find a car park. Dinner was in the greasy spoon, no photos needed today!

Back in the ward. I worked on the photographs, nearly two hundred of them. That’s the perils of modern camera technology. If I was still using films, I would probably only have had half as many. It took quite some time, Huan even dropped off now and then with a little snoring before eight o’clock! Once the photos were mostly done, I ‘switched off’, myself and not the computer, and watched some Australian TV, ‘Total Control’.

April 13th After morning coffee the first task of the day was vetting of the edited photos by the director. Following that I did the final editing, compiling and writing of this post. Nothing else was planned for today which was just as well as I didn’t finish until lunch time. Also, the weather had reverted to British again, wet and miserable.

Lunch was a takeaway from the hospital ‘food street’. Shopping was our evening task before dinner with me being the pack mule as usual. I do volunteer mind you. Here I am telling Huan to watch for the sun but her phone seems to do a much better job than mine.

Dinner was taken in a small restaurant, Huan had wonton soup and I had the other.

That was our Sunday, a definite day of rest and one which we both very needed and enjoyed!

April 14^th “All I see, is just another Monday morning”. I was looking for a Monday song and found this one from “Mike Wray Oak Road music”. You can find their channel on YouTube. My Monday morning was another trip to the ENT department, this time to see the doctor who had first checked me out in the ward. On the way Huan was happy, she found a lizard.

We found out that the doctor actually works on a ward, right above the one where I spent some time six years ago. This view brought back memories.

This time the doctor didn’t only check my ear she also checked my throat. Have you ever tried saying ‘eeee’ or ‘oooo’ or ‘aaaa’ while someone has a hold of your tongue and is pulling it out. You might feel sick was the translation, meaning you will probably retch! From her observations I will now have to have a camera down my throat and if that is clear then another scan. If that is also clear then I must have no salty, no spicy, no tasty food, just bland boring stuff!

That was most of our morning gone. Huan had a snooze after lunch and then it was treatment time again. After the daily treatment it is always coffee time, relax a little before setting out into the world again. Today we went to the Fu Lian Shun Supermarket to buy tomorrow’s lunch, for a change we will not go out for anything. Following that, after failing at KFC, we visited the 18 Bowls restaurant in the same centre. This was dinner.

And so another week comes to an end, now I am at #16, only 17 more to go. I should add that it is in no way difficult or painful, it’s just a few minutes out of the day five times a week. We are both missing our ‘real’ home back in Wuzhishan now though, only another month or so and we’ll be back there again. Keep your eyes on this space for more news. Bieeeeee!