Taiwan Day 14 - Alishan (spring)

 Alishan today!!! It's also L's birthday today!!!! 

Breakfast was a Royal feast again. Mrs Lin was like "sorry the colour for the veges looks a bit ugly because I was worried it'd be too cold and I had to reheat it!". It's ok! It's delicious. 

After breakfast, I pooped again, and then we went down to the bus stop. M popped into 7-11 for an umbrella, and we took the 10:04am bus (it was a bit late) up the mountain. By the time the bus got to us, it was standing space. This bus driver didn't have the front windows open, it was raining intermittently lightly, so maybe that's why. The bus was also extremely warm, and the Airspot read 6976ppm, I saw it go up to 7000ppm though. Yikes!!!! M got a bit carsick and sat down. The driver took some corners pretty fast so the swing was pretty big. 

We finally made it, and I hurried everyone up to go through the entrance (pay $150 entry fee with bus voucher discount), and to go to the train station to get tickets before they go on lunch!! We were cutting it so close, at 11:24am we lined up with 3 other groups in front of us, and the staff was just going "here hurry up the train is leaving!" and stuffed us the tickets and gave change fast. The tickets were to Shenmu and not Zhaoping lol. We ran for the line, it was still moving, phew. But board the train fast. It was the cypress train! The special one with the windows that can go all the way down!!! YAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! 

The train was full but I managed to open some windows partway and then someone left their seat, so I bags it and opened up the windows near there. Phew. I got a bit nervous with just my KF94 on ears so I quickly took out my ear saver and re-tied my hair so it would sit on it. Phewwww. Better now. Enjoyed the rest of the ride. The train did smell faintly of cypress. 

Once out we tried to get photos and managed to get some when most of the crowd dissappated. 

Then we could finally do the toilet. After that we had a look through the little area to the left of the station with the shops. I got some Taiwan cut-out shaped postcards, and they also had a special stamp here! Win!!  The stamp was sooo cool! The shop gentleman was so busy though lol. 

Then we started to walk towards the sakura grove. FINALLY!!! The Sakura are in bloom here!! YAAAAAAAAAAHHH!! 

We took a while getting photos and stuff and then made our sweet way past the Alishan House/Hotel/Resort (not the Grand Hotel). The Police Station we saw from the train was here, with two magnificent sakura trees blooming. The old entrance of the House was cute and they had a wonderful blooming tree. 

We continued and made our way towards Shousan Temple for foods. Eventually we got there, and it was almost 1:30pm. 

I ended up getting a guabao, and a millet donut. The millet donuts from this stall was sold out, so I bought the ball version of it from the next stall over. 

This stall had a lady who was a great talker, and convinced me to try one ball with wasabi. They planted this wasabi themselves and the recipe won an award. I tried it, it was pretty good! They mixed it with some salt and pepper. The balls were a bit cold but still good. 

Then I bought a cup of oolong tea from next door. 

And then got a few photos with the trees at the Temple area. 

Toilet, and I also checked with the temple had a stamp - yes! Woot! 

We went along towards the Old Tree Walk and Museum. We ended up missing the Three Generation Tree (didn't quite get there, ran out of time). There was a tiny suspension bridge which was 90m from a walkway intersection so we had a look at it and it was a tiny little one. I didn't go on it thought haha but L did walk it. 

Then we went towards Cishen Temple, and passed a viewing deck with a nice view of the rolling clouds over mountain peaks. 

Past the temple we reached the Museum area and I finally could have a good look at the Museum. That said, it was about 3:30pm now so we didn't have that much time. I did take a lot of photos though for later. 

About 3:50pm I started heading towards Shenmu station. On the way past we saw the big Shenmu tree. Because the tree was too ugly it was not felled by the Japanese. A lot of the older, ancient trees were too ugly so they survived. Then back to Shenmu Station. 

Just as we arrived to the ticket office, they closed it. The staff came out to do the key exchange!!! Ahhh!! I managed to get it on video!!!! 

Once they were back I bought tickets and then we headed into the train, but not before a quick toilet break for M. 

We ended up getting on the last carriage and the train took 7 minutes back to Zhaoping. 

We only had 20 mins before we needed to head down to the Transfer Station for our bus that we already booked tickets for. I went into the first floor of the station and saw they had a tiny exhibit on salamander. I took photos as I didn't have time to read it. Then a quick walk down the shops area, not really having much time to buy anything. I did stop in front of the post office, but their postal services end at 4:30pm. Rip. It was 4:29pm. Then I walked towards the info centre thinking maybe they have stamps? But checked how long it takes us to walk to the Transfer station - 10 minutes. Uh oh. I aborted that decision and texted the others to let them know we gotta GOOOOOOO. 

We half ran down to he transfer station and arrived at 4:35pm. The bus driver was an Ah-bei and said "Why you arrive so late? Everyone is waiting for you (rerved tickets)." I apologised and quickly went to get seated on the bus but someone was sitting in our reserved seat - uuhhh no matter the other side is still free and we are still in the front row. 

The bus driver did leave the door side window open. Fantastic. The bus filled up to standing space at the door steps. This driver is so Taiwanese, he's wearing the classic beige jacket with a gingham print lapel, Drives with mostly one hand turning on the wheel, and leans over on one side, and was chatting in Taiwanese to another passenger sitting on the steps.  He did open his driver side window slightly. The breeze coming through really helped and felt really nice. 

After Shizichun, he turned the bus stop announcement off. I played Pokemon Go and made a remote trade with Mipo-san.

After my incense ran out, I checked the map and we were close to Shizuo. Once I saw the familiar street, I undid the seat belt and stood up to hit the bus stopping bell. We got off and the driver was like "tap your card" to L and M as they walked off, so I followed up and said "we bought tickets". And made sure to thank the driver for his hard work. 

This driver took the turns much more gently and M did not get as sick. 

Once off, we saw the black dog mum in the corner of the bus stop. Later M saw them shivering and wanted to give them a blanket. We could buy one from the conbini but then it would be littering as the dog leaves the blanket... 

We decided to get dinner at Ping'an Quick Fry. The English speaking dude was there with a t-shirt that said "帥哥" on the front in red. He said he went to NZ not long ago after asking us where we are from, He said he went to Hobbiton and Auckland. 

We got Mapo tofu again, kungpao chicken, mountain pig, and sizzle plate oyster. 

The oyster was really tender and juicy, I had two, but not too much in case I get allergic. The Mapo tofu, mmmmm yummy. The pork was nice and tender and on the lighter flavouring side, which was nice. And then the kungpao chicken had a bit of a pineapple sweetness to it (without pineapple??), and was great. Yummy. 

Then we went to the conbini and I picked up another yellow watermelon for dessert. There was a lot more people in the store today.... 

We did stop by Hi-Life but they didn't have what I wanted! 

Back home. It's about 6:20pm now.  When we got back the front door was open and a bunch of Europeans were having dinner served on the side room to the reception. Mr Lin was there and I asked him if it was convenient for him for us to ask a question, or shall I wait until tomorrow? He said to wait until the last 2 trays are served, 

We hung out around for a bit and looked at the cats. 

Then when he was free we asked about the tea leaves. 

M and L ended up getting 3 diff boxes, and I got the black tea with the honey taste (2x 150g packs) for $800.

The honey black tea has been bitten and eaten by a larvae, and their spit left on the leave creates the honey flavour when undergoing the fermentation process. The tea leaves are left thin and loose, and the leaves are thinner so it's easier to crush. The packets inside are half-vacuumed as to not crush it. Not kneading it into a ball shape means that you can seep it for 10-15 mins and the tea won't become bitter, whereas the ball shape means the bitterness comes out more after seeping for a long time. 

The high mountain oolong pack (150g) is $400 I think, and the black tea (ball shape 150g) is also $400.

The other high mountain oolong tea has been roasted twice, so the fragrance and aroma is stronger, along with a stronger sweet aftertaste. That one is $600 (I think it was). They sold out of Jinshuan tea, which was L's favourite from the tea ceremony. M's was the black tea with the honey taste. Mine was, of course, high mountain oolong haha. 

Because L and M bought 3 packs? Mrs Lin gifted a set of the tea pourer and cup to us. She also wanted to gift me one but I said my dad loves tea so we have everything at home! So then it because L and M both got one each. 

I asked Mr Lin what was happening with the dinner, and he said that they booked a dinner experience. Ohhh thank you, I understand. It felt a bit awkward asking but then later I thought about it and it made sense. Initially when I booked last year, they also had a dinner service. But because the Taipei Tea Expo was on, it wasn't available. 

Once back in my room, I relaxed for a bit (it was 7pm), showered, wrote postcards, I blog, and now I will sleep. It is almost 10pm.

Taiwan Day 13, Shizuo day 2 (spring)

 Breakfast is served and we are fed like royalty. Mrs Lin cooked and there is congee instead of weili zhajan men... Sad lol. 

Still delicious... This time my appetite was better??? I managed to finish everything without being too stuffed. 

Then we had tea ceremony and the sister came along and did it in English. M asked why she chose to learn tea ceremony, and Ms Lin realistically replied that it's because to et a job after she graduated from uni and couldn't find a job in Taipei lol. So real. I feel her. 

This time tea ceremony was in front of the main house of the sanheyuan, I asked why and it's because they're currently doing construction work on the upper level just above where we live. They're wanting to redo the rooms and the restaurant there, and the noise and dust was too much. 

At the end of the ceremony, I asked Ms Lin if we could do a factory tour? She said to ask Mr Lin, as he knows more about the tea making process. Dejavu lol. 

After the ceremony was finished, we got ready to go walk some trails. Mr Lin was still around so I asked him if today we good, a dn if he was available to be OK to do a factory tour? He said yes, can do now if needed, and said that the new building over there (with the black netting) is almost complete. Since they are in process of building the new factory some equipment aren't moved to the new factory yet. The weather has been quite dry this season, and the tea leaves are growing quite slowly. It's almost a drought. Usually they would expect to start harvesting work around the beginning of April, but this season they expect it to be 20th of April. We walked to the new building. 

M asked if the workers that come to harvest are all employees, or? 

Mr Lin said that there is an agency that arranges shifus to come and pick for them, and some are employees. Because we harvest 4 months oout of 12 months (4 seasons), one month per season, the shifus need to find work in between. And not everyone lives up the mountain so they come from down the mountain. 

The new factory for the sunbathing process for tea leaves has climate control. The black shade cloth goes over so the leaves don't get sunburn. The morning harvest will have dew drops on the leaves, due to Shizuo's misty climate, so that also needs to be evaporated. They want to ecaoprate about 40% of the moisture in the tea leaf, from the edges of the leaf. The moisture concentrates into he stem. The sides of the building has vents for good weather, and for rainy weather they close it up and use the dehumidifier. This process takes about 4 hours. 

Once the sunbathing is done, the tea leaves are brought down to the bottom level, where it begins a fermentation process. The leaves are spread out on the big trays - they are building large trays on an machine that can move the trays out and down the side for tossing. 

The leaves get spread out and tossed. Through the tossing process it breaks the protective barrier on the tea leaves and oxidises the leaf. This starts the fermentation. I forgot how many hours, maybe 5 hours? The leaves also get cold air blown on them to open up the pores and let the moisture spread out from the stem. The tossing and resting/oxidisation process gets repeated, I think about 4 times? Then Mr Lin took us to the old factory with the really old elevator doors (like in Titanic) to see the machines. 

Once this process is done, the leaves get taken down to the big tumble machines for further fermentation. The tumblers are made from woven bamboo. Through the tossing motion, the leaves rub against each other and cause bruising, which also causes further fermentation. It is now 1am. I think the leaves are given rest and tunbled again, or it may be once. They are going to buy newer models of tumbling machines which are bigger. 

Next the leaves are taken to the roasting room. The big barrel roasters go up to 300-350°C, and the roasting brings out the aroma and increases the sweet after taste. The roasting will depend on the batch, and the shift will judge. Can't be too cooked, can't be undercooked. A bit like stiry frying. The time taken depends. Then it gets taken out and kneaded. The leaves get put into the cloth bags and balled up and rolled for about 10-15 mins?, rested and repeated 8-10 times.  The total time takes about 7-8 hours. 

Once the leaves are kneaded and formed, they get taken for packaging, and it is now about 7-8am. The leaves are packed into big bulk bags weighing 18kgs each. 

On a good harvest they make about 10-18 bags a day, I think he said. 18kgs each. The ranking of tea quality goes from best: winter, spring, autumn, summer. Summer and Sutumn harvests are shorter, and take only about 1 week. The summer tea is lesser quality in flavour and also cheaper. They rank their teas themselves and also send it off to an official competition for an official quality ranking (and win awards). One jin 一斤 (4x 150g pack) of summer tea is $1200. 

After the tea tour we got ready to walk trails. 

We started off walking up the road to the Sunset Trail, so we could take the Sakura trail down. M decided to wait for us at the start of the Sunset Trail... Stairs are eveil, she said. Lol L and I went up and we made it but our legs suffered.

We made it and the view from top was pretty good. There was a lady in a red dress and a parasol, walked past as I was getting nui photos and she thought Juan Juan was Xavier and she said she plays Love & Deepspace. How rude lol. I said they were from Thunderbolt Fantasy and she replied sounding like she knew the series??? We will never know. Her perfume was so strong... She had come from the Mist Trail. 

Then we had to come back down... The info centre at the start of the two trails was undergoing construction and closed until the 5th of April. Poo. I bought my stamp book for nothing lol. 

We did the Sakura trail but the sakura had finished blooming... We were about a week too late. Nooooooooo.... 

At the end of the trail, we unexpectedly found a stamp for a stamp rally?!?! Well I'm glad I hailed my stamp book with me!!! Never will I be caught out again!! 

 Then we followed the trail and back down to town. 

It was about 1:30pm and we decided to go to 平安快炒 across the road from Tong-Xin. They had outdoor seats too. We got mapo tofu, bamboo shoots, beef stir-fry noodle, and a plate of 水蓮. The mapo tofu was exquisite. Silken tofu... Just right spicy... Full of flavour!!! The breed noodles had a satay flavour base, it was good too. Bamboo shoots were nice and crunchy and not tough. 水蓮 was crunchy too. Everything was awesome. A hit. We finished eating around 2:20pm and the auntie came to get the bill as they close at 2pm, Woops. Lunch was $590, I paid L&M $200.

Inside I could spot that they had a corner with some manga and books, and many figures including a big one of the 3 Yu-gi-oh Egyptian Gods. They also had a blackboard out the front with DBZ Freeza screaming something. 

And near the end of our meal a local guy wearing a DBZ t-shirt walked out and spoke in perfect American English, if the taste was good. And two more sentences after our reply. Lmao that was unexpected. 

After we paid we left and went for a walk around town. I noticed a lot of shops close in the middle of the day. A backpacking European couple was peering into shops to see if they were open - so I told them that the shop is closed. 

We came to a drinks shop with aiyu jelly and we sat and had some aiyu drinks. This place ended up having the poster for the stamp rally, and we finally found out what it was. It runs until September... 

And the boss came out when I looked at the poster. Said he had 3 stamp sheets left, would we like to do it? I had a chat and said we saw the sakura trail one earlier today but the sign there didn't say what it was. 

I ended up taking one stamp sheet and then looked up the three trails (as you can redeem your stamps for prizes in 3 tiers of collection, and need a photo with you in it at the stamp point). The other one was mist Trail, and the one was Cloud Trail. The Cloud Trail was an hour's walk.... And uphill with that many steps? Nooooo. We could do the mist trail one though. So I went to put the sheet back. 

I borrowed the shop's toilet and L and I decided to challenge the Mist Trail and suffer, whilst M went back to rest. 

Off we go. I realised I walked the Mist Trail last year, and started the beginning of the Tea Trail (which links in with Mist Trail and then connects to Cloud Trail on the other end) but didn't finish it was the sun was setting. 

The steps were brutal lol. And the stamp was at the other end of the trail entry/exit, which mean we climbed all the way up to the end... L and I took a selfie showing how unimpressed we were. Haha. I was thinking the stamp may be in the middle so that you'd had to walk part of the trail either way. 

We headed back down via the road, and on the way at the Sakura Trail entrance I met a couple who were trying to take a photo and I offered to take for them. I got a few shots and they were happy. They asked about how far the trail goes up, and I said be prepared for a lot of steps. When asked where we were from, I said NZ. And she said her son spent 3 months there on exchange when 10 years old and was so happy about it. I commented that the schooling there has less pressure and the approach to education is different. 

Then we got back to the entrance driveway of Lin Family house, with the red small shrine and the single blooming sakura tree. We started taking photos and one English speaking lady offered to take photos for us. 

It was hard because of the angle of the tree and the slope. 

L managed to get a selfie with his phone case stand, and I helped do a series of photos where I placed him and pressed the shutter button so him and the tree were in frame with him doing various poses. 

Then I tried some nui photos, and home we go. 

Time for dinner, quick break and pee and then off to dinner. We are going to try hotpot at Tong-Xin tonight haha. M decided to skip dinner and rest. 

We walked down and got hotpot of classic bone broth and the crispy high mountain stream fish L had eyed up the previous night. 

It was just right. The fish was a bit dry for me, kinda like the crispy tiny prawn. 

The hot pot had the jelly fuel and it was pretty good! I think my 酸白菜炒豬肉 is still the best though. Mmmm. 

Then we headed to Hi-Life/7-11 for dessert/drink. 

Hi-Life didn't have any fruit for me, so I went to 7-11. They had yellow watermelon. 

When I went to pay, another customer was checking out the pudding and asked the young lad at the counter if they had the no-caramel-pudding-only flavour. He said ti was sold out. The other customer lamented it and the lad laughed. I asked if it was a new flavour? He said yup, this time it's all pudding no caramel, and we got stock today and it sold out fast. I said, oh, I remember seeing a thing of it online. He said, last time it was all caramel no pudding, right? Hahaha. Not sure why people are so crazy about it, rofl. We laughed, I thanked and left. 

I went out and couldn't see L, as I left him behind when I saw no fruit at Hi-Life. He wasn't in Hi-Life anymore, so I texted him. Apparently he arrived just as I left. Lmao I just missed him. Oh well I'll start walking back first. 

I got home and gave him $250 for dinner (dinner was $500). Then I just winded down for a bit and then went for a shower. Also decided to wash my pants and see if they dry cause I've been sweating so bad. 

Now I blog, and finish. Sleep. The weather so rude, it's forecasted to rain at 6am tomorrow, heaviest at noon, and then clear up around 6pm. Poo!!!!! 

Taiwan Day 12 - Shizuo (spring)

 There was hardly anyone at breakfast today, except for 1 person. But I took my breakfast up with me anyway. A lot of items were out yesterday but today they had croissant so I took one, a brown sugar mantou, and nikuman, along with the choco cereal and oats. 

After breakfast, I went back down to return my plate and also borrowed their toilet to poop. 

Then I went up to gran my laundry that was still damp and headed to the laundromat around the corner, but all machines were in use. So I sat for 5 mins, as one machine had 10 mins left, then decided I will go back to the hotel and see if they will let me use the machine early.. I arrived back at 9:38am, and asked reception if they could? 

They let me! I put my clothes in for 30 mins, then popped back upstairs and took my postcards out to he post office with me. 

I decided to head to the post office that was a little further as they held 3 風景戳. That was worth it - I sent 9 postcards in total and Nadi/Archer got all 3 of them. The rest got 2 - the two temples. The guy who served me was so nice and patient. 

Then back to the hotel, It was about 10:08am and my laundry should be done. I asked L to check on my laundry, and he put it on for a couple more mins. I got back and went and grabbed me laundry bag, headed back down, and collected my now dry laundry. Yay! 

Back upstairs and finish packing. It was just after 11am now once we all finished sorting our stuff out. 

We checked out and asked the reception to call a taxi that could fit 3 luggage for us. 

A plain white hatchback came and they could juuuust fit all 3 of our luggage into the boot. Woo! The driver was dressed in a shirt, tie and waistcoat. Fancy! Fare was about $200.

Whilst in the car I reserved train tickets and then collected it at the self-service machine. We went into the platform and hung around. The train that came was a push-pull train, the one with weird baggage holding areas that had the foot rests on it.... 

Welp, looks like we're baby sitting our luggage. I had to manspread but it worked. Thankfully the train is only 45 mins journey. 

Tainan Station had a signboard up about the renewal of the station. It looks like they are under grounding the train lines, which is a real pity. I like open air stations way more. And seems like they are putting a new building out the front? So the train station would be covered.... That's sad man. 

Once at Chiayi we exited the station, and Chiayi station is also an open air station like Tainan. We headed to the TRA info desk for the stamps, and then I popped to the tourist info desk to ask if they had stamps. They had 11! Wow! 9 of them were all uniform circles of the same size, which was satisfying. Two were square/rectangle. 

The auntie at the info desk asked me to spray my hands with alcohol to disinfect before stamping. Very fair. 

I thanked the lady and said bye. 

We headed to the FamiMart just to the left of the station and got lunch. I ate an onigiri combo of salmon and tuna. 

And then ate the bean tea cakes (the kind that drys your mouth out but melts instantly with enough water) left over, and then drank the oolong tea from last night. 

We had about an hour until the bus, so we just hung out under shade and then moved to the bus stop about 20 mins before. 

There were two lines, the reserved and non-reserved. Like no one else was in the reserved tickets line??? Everyone else was lining up in the non-tickets. 

Though, after we got on, two ladies came on near at the end with their tickets. 

The bus driver opened up the bottom cavity for us. Initially we put our suitcases in first but there was another 2 passengers that were getting off at Alishan, so took ours out and reordered them as we were getting off at Shizuo. 

I chose front row seats... Because the bus drivers tend to open up the window when we start ascending the mountain and the air is way better. It was quite hot in Chiayi. 

As soon as we started climbing, the bus driver opened up the window on his side. 

On the way up, we had 2 monkey sightings. We also ran into a truck that was carrying stone pavers/concrete bricks load, that didn't take a turn properly and got their right rear wheel stuck into the gutter on the side of the road... Thankfully their wares were tied down - the stones glad wrapped and on forklift pallets, and secured in place onto the truck. One person was helping spot the bus as they made the turn, the space was soooo tight in between the edge of the road and the head of the truck that had the accident. We made it! The driver thanked the spotter and we headed on. 

One bus coming down in the opposite lane was taking the corner too fast and our driver had to brake to make sure we didn't crash. One passenger behind us said why they turning so fast... And the driver was like 搞什麼. 

We made it safely to Shizuo and I let Mr Lin know we were here. Less than like 3 mins later he arrived and I was in the middle of typing a message cause I remember his little black SUV, might not fit all our luggage, and said I was willing to walk if no room for luggage lmao. 

Turns out he was driving a van! A van so old, it didn't have seat belts on the back seats. And the windows were manual roll down ones. Nostalgic... Cause dad's Ford in Taiwan was like this. 

Once we checked in, Mr Lin went through the briefing and I translated for L and M. 

We settled in quickly, L and M went to look around, and I unpacked a few things. Then I followed them to the observation deck. 

The mist was coming down really hard now and you can't see anything. Real Silent Hill hours! We took a few photos and observed a stray dog family. 

And then when we came down from the observation deck it started raining. Like real rain not misty drizzle. 

Mrs Lin was coming out front the front and asked us if we needed umbrellas. She gave us two. 

And we were gonna head out but observed the cats as it was feeding time... I crept closer to the back door of the kitchen and Mrs Lin was getting their food ready. 

I ended up asking about the cats and she was happy to talk. 
The cat dad was on the stool and the mum has already passed away. She got them neutered and commented about 3 cats hasn't been cause they weren't old/heavy enough yet, and skittish. 

One cat saw the other get put into the cage and taken so is extra wary now, Mrs Lin wants to get them neutered as they are a girl. 

She also commented the stray dogs had puppies recently and they may be a bit noisier at night. And not to put our shoes outside as the dogs come to eat the leftover cat feed, and sometimes if they don't get any leftovers they get a but grumpy and take a shoe.

Mrs Lin also said to go to the restaurant a little earlier as they may shut early if no business on a weekday. And offered to pick us up if the rain is too heavy - but I think we should be alright. Also to be careful of the cars in the mist and they may not see us, and if I am wearing white it's easier to spot me. M went to change a white jacker. We thanked her and headed to dinner! 

We went to Tong-Xin, the same quickly fry shop I liked a lot last time. 

We ended up getting a lot of food lol. I made sure to get my 酸菜炒羊肉 that I wanted but didn't get to last time.

We got... To share... Pineapple fried shrimp (which came with a sweet mayo??? And sprinkles), crispy tiny shrimp with garlic and herbs, Makao sausage, fried rice, 龍鬚菜, and a small pot of chicken and mushroom soup (which also had some cockles in it!) which was not small at all! We managed to finish 90% of the food, the soup we left half... I couldn't even fit a piece of chicken from it inside... Total was $1350 and we split it into 3.

Then we went to Hi-Life and 7-11 for some drinks that L and M wanted. No bandages in Hi-Life for M but I found my vita C candy for $25! The staff who served me said there's a pharmacy 5 mins up the road. I think this lady may be Indigenous. I thanked her and left. 

Then at 7-11 L and M found everything they needed. 

I hopped outside as I could hear coughing. One staff was changing the banner over the main entrance. They used magnets to fix it in place, the banner scroll itself is that plastic material. 

And then back home. When we headed back, the sky cleared up quite a lot.  We could faintly see the rest of the sunset. Just chill now. I get to have oolong tea... And boiled the jug for it. Then I checked Pokemon and realised one gym was empty, just up at the observation deck at the start of the mist trail, and an egg hatching in 5 mins. So off I go!! Climbing those stairs in quick succession was oof. I got there with a min to spare. 

Like 3 cars passed me by. 

Then back and finally some tea, and relax. Decided to shower first after flicking through the TV - only the basic channels here. 

Showered and now blog, then bed. Breakfast and tea ceremony tomorrow! I am quite tired.