Tainan Day 2

 Not long after my alarm woke me up (I was still snoozing), I heard drums and cymbals and then firecrackers at some point. I got up and peed etc, and opened the door to the balcony to find a procession??? Going through my street. Deffo from a temple, I think it's a Guangong miao. Since they had a person dressed as Guanggong (red face, officials robe) and then people carrying the jiaozhi (carriage) for many tiny figures, and some people following behind with incense. Well that's one way to start the day. After asking, I learnt that it's a temple custom called 建醀 Jiàn wéi. Upon googling apparently it happens like 5am for some people and 3am??? Thankfully only 7am for this lot. That was a first.

After breakfast and getting ready (gotta picaridin properly), I went to see if suijianbao was open but forgot they open after 2pm... ok. Let's head to Anpin then! On the way back I managed to loop into a differetn alley, it had a special named gate for this alley, so I went down. There is a temple... but close to the temple there is an ancient!!! city gate??? Remnants??? Next to the vicinty of the temple? I borrowd their toilet. This is so cool! 兌悅門 duiyuemen it's called. The city gate is well preserved and tiny. You can even walk up on it! Apparently it's the only remaning city gate. Interesting. Someone on google reviews said "One of the only remaining gate to the outer city wall of ancient Tainan city. Also a gate closely related to the old port of Tainan. The waterway split into to five branches. The pattern is barely visible now, but could still be hinted by buildings and alleyways and such."

I managed to find uBike but got a little confused on my way there. I found an Oyster Kiln and museum converted from the old storehouse/workshop, and spent some time looking at the info there. Fascinating! Love this history.

Then on my way. The dock closest was full, but I somehow wandered onto the bicycle track (goes all the way around the coast) and got off at the one further down that had docks. I passed the Anping treehouse on the way and was like !!!! 

I managed to find my way near the Fort but it was 11:30am and I was hungry. I walked around the streets and managed to find one with outdoor seats (not before being stopped by someone selling prawn biscuits, interesting. A bit too salty. Got given a taster). They were selling 蚵仔煎 so I ordered one and a erwa soup. $140. I ended up liking the soup quite a bit (pity they don't noodle), but the omelette, although rich in veges, is quite greasy. Two older ladies decided to sit on my table.... I wanted to be alone.... ok... at least it's breezier today but upwind has other diners. Yikes. If not for covid I wouldn't have minded at all. One of the ladies asked me questions and I told her I'm from NZ, the usual, and first time to Tainan. She told me that they used to be workmates, but now not working and whilst they can walk they go to places. They are from 西南區 iirc. I wished them happy playing as they left on their scooters. Took me a while to finish lunch cause it's pretty greasy. Once done I found somewhere selling dongguacha, purchased for $20 I headed to the Fort, paid $70 entry and spent... just over 3 hrs in it. WOW.

I loved the place!!! I can't belive there are remnants from 1624~ onwards, and then this is the actual place Zhen Chen Gong fought off the Dutch. You know the one general we always hear his story about as a kid, through the 中國童話故事? It's real. Holy shit. There's so much history here. The two exhibits at the top of the fort, and then the musuem at the bottom. The original Dutch walls. There's also some excavation pits. I spent time exploring and looking at things, and bought more postcards at the souvenir shop. Then stamped the very well used stamps at the drinks shop (the carvings were kinda worn). Took some more photos, checked out the lighthouse (inside, too, 5 floors), and looked around. Loved the many banyan trees. By the time I finished it was about 4pm. 

I asked the ticket lady if the Tait & Co Merchant House is do-able in 1.5 hrs. She said it depends.... yeah of course. 😅 Some people zip through it in 30mins but considering I spent 3 hrs here.... lol. I decided to go anyway, it's only 5 mins away. Paid $70 entry and asked the lady if I had enough time. She said the Anping Treehouse is mostly for photos, and there's a musuem and another (calligraphy) exhibit musuem. Aiyaaaah.

Speed to the Treehouse, and WOW amazeballs. Whilst deserted for 60 years, the ex-warehouse for the Tait & Co trading company has been taken over by the banyan tree roots. Like one of the roots grew around what would've been the walls of the rooms and even through a pillar??? Cause they reworked it and left it space in concrete. And just the silhouette of the house is left, with a couple of walls (strengthened to stay standing), mostly the outer walls. SO frikken cool. They also made a walkway out to the pond at the back. Amazing.

The fish pond has a fish feed vending machine - oh noooo the koi started jumping as soon as they saw me go near the water. Sorry bud, I ain't feeding you today. 

The storehouses are actually quite big, at least 3? 4? of them? and the roots are just, magnificent. Woooooow. Didn't really have time to read the info plaques so snapped photos of them. My poor Sony xz2 compact working so hard, even the powerbank can't keep up.

Next to the Tait & Co Merchant House musuem. I thought it only had 1 floor.... turned out it has 2. I only have an hour left.... uhhhh.... I wondered if I should go to the gift shop. The info inside is quite interesting. A lot of info plaques had English explanation so snap photos, hopefully for later. I think it was general history of Merchant Houses and such. After 2F, I discovered there is 1F.... and quickly ran to the gift shop first. Lol I watched them close. The shop staff were packing away the snacks and everything. Oh you have to do this every day??? Ah... they said they were closing so I said Oh, cool, didn't make it on time, I'll come back tomorrow. And said bye. Guess that means I should concentrate on finishing the House musuem today, so snap photos of 1F. It was more about the Dutch history.

I went to the calligraphy museum to see if they were open... probs not. It's pretty much 5:30pm. So I exit, sat down outside, wiped my sweat with wet wipe, and crossed into the park across the road. Figured it's been 8 hrs, so reapply picaridin as the mozzies be active now. Nasal spray. Decided to try and find somewhere to sort dinner. 

Walked around the outside of the Fort, and managed to see the remnants of the outer wall!! Ahhh!!!! And a really cool, 00's Western style house next to it. I didn't take a photo but I'm sure you can see on Google maps? Most of the stalls outside the Fort entrance were packing up. I walked further down and eventually came across a street next to a small temple with outdoor seats. Yus. They sold Yi-men. Alright, I wanted soupy ones and they had it.

三舅媽's broth still king. The kumara leaves they had had the mince on it. Ah well. I found a small green caterpillar in my soup... prob came with the veges in my soup. At least I didn't swallow it. Removed it and finished my soup and veges. Then sent 琳姐 my GPS cause I was thinking I might taxi home... but I have to change my mask.... felt OK to challenge the bike so I found the Youbike stop and from this stop it's just a straight line along the river until you hit the end. Which ended up being where the Youbike stop was. Nice. Before I found the stop I found 漁人碼頭 and at where they do boat rides, they had a speaker going advertising the rides but also boppy muic reminiscint of idolish 7 (no lyrics), that was really good to listen too. I also found a big whale structure, lit up at night, and a busker next to it. Might be a quiet night, buddy. Ganbare. Then Youbiked home.

Passed a bakery Pagan? on my way home after parking the bike so bought some break for breakfast. A savoury and sweet. Got home and the room across now has 3 young ladies, and one of them waved at me as I came up the stairs, I waved back and smiled with my eyes. Later they knocked on my door, and asked me if I wanted to go to "da ban ban" or was it "da yao yao"?. I explained I walked Anpin all day and my feet are tired. They asked me is I was Formosa round tour - yes, where from? - NZ - but Taiwanese - yeah - by yourself? - yeah - so cool~ wanna come with us to "da ban ban" (seriously what did they say? Didn't recognise the name)? Nah my feet so sore walked Anping all day. They told me to rest lol, yeah. I told them, please have fun~~~

They were real friendly, and I hope they have heaps of fun!

Just wrote my postcards (2 sets!), and chilled. Showered, put Pili channel on (showing Pili Heroes), and omg is that bare feet??? Did they film flesh feet??? Unsure but that answers my question lol. The characters are so cool~~

Did some exfoliation skincare, and now it's 10:20pm and I just finished blogging. Tomorrow is a free day, I think I'll head back to Anping again. There's so much to see there.... can't finish it all in one day! Might taxi there and save me some feet - easy to N95 in the morning. Hmmmm....

Tainan Day 1

 Got up nice and early, so can prep and pack last min things for Tainan. Uncle dropped me off at the bus stop, Ubus, at Chaoma, and then I bought a ticket to Tainan Transport Centre. $250. 

So probs because of the heat or something, I don't feel like eating too much in the mornings. So this means I will end up being hungry about 2 hrs later, and the bus journey takes around 3 hrs. I made sure I peed before I got on the bus but once on the bus not even 30 mins in I really needed to peeee nooooooo, I was busting 😭😭. I wasn't sure if there was a toilet on the bus and didn't wanna get up to look cause I will REALLY be busting even more. So begins the 2.5 hr journey where I am relly uncomfortable and also hungry.... why does it have to be so hard in this pandemic. I didn't wanna take off my mask to eat on the bus but I didn't wanna drink even more liquid to make my pee go more. bjlafjasfkas

When the bus hit Chiayi, you could really feel the difference in heat before the air con in the bus adjusted. WOW. No wonder people say Tainan is still hot even in autumn. 

FINALLY we arrived and I could get off the bus. After gettting my luggage the first thing I headed for was the toilet LOL Much better.

Next was to sort out my tummy, but the only seats near the breezy entrance was taken but others and outside was so hot under the sun, and no seats, I couldn't even snack. I went up and down the station but didn't find anyplace suitable to unmask and eat. I did take some quick swigs of water outside at least. I ended up going to the taxi stand and trying to figure out if the taxis waiting there were 55688, and trying to work out the app. The app asked if I wanted a yellow taxi or a flexible white one.... I was too hungry to figure out what they meant with the explanation cause it's all in Mando. I ended up taking the taxi at the stand cause there's cameras there and there seems to be a concierge person too. I was so hungry.... taxi costed $105 but I didn't have $5 and the driver said $100 was ok. Aww thanks bud. Drive safe.

I managed to find my homestay (the blue door) and LINE'd the housekeeper. I changed my mask to KF94 while waiting. Too hot. The lady was really nice and made good convo haha and asked about me having no accent (bless) but I explained I might have a bit of a canto accent. She recommended me what to eat around here. And then took payment. It as $4440 but I didn't have exact change or $40 in change, and she was missing $10, and in the end she said $4400 is OK after looking for some change (unsuccessful). Awww thank you. 

Since no one was staying in the room I booked yesterday, I got to check in early. I forgot it's on floor 3... and I had to lug my suitcase up 2 flights of stairs whilst still being very hungry... After 1 flight the lady helped one end while I carried the other end. Thank you. Phew. My room is so nice and cute. Explained the key and how the lock worked and then left. I put my stuff down and had some liquids and snacks whilst checking out what to get nearby for lunch. I ended up getting boxed bento nearby, and went down to buy it. But I was over hungry (it as like 1:40pm when I purchased it), by the time I settled back down, and started eating, I didn't feel like eating much at all. I had to turn the aircon on to cool down, after windows and fan wasn't working enough. Regrettably, I had to fridge half of the bentou (there were saucy black beans which was so delicious), and there's no microwave here to heat it up... oh no...

I had to rest for quite a while, and then finally felt recovered enough to go out just after 3pm. First off, to the post office to grab some stamps, to send the postcards from Lukang off.

Then, headed to Shen'nong Jie. I thought the street would be very busy? But it ended up just being a historical street with many old buildings, and a lot of them art shops for artisans. Which is cool! I didn't know what to expect. There's QR codes for the buildings that explain the history. https://wenhuadiyun.cc/fiveport-sh/%E7%A5%9E%E8%BE%B2%E8%A1%97qrc/ 

I didn't get to read it until after I got home. It's so fascinating. Anyways, I had a good time browsing the various shops and at a second hand bookstore I ended up buying postcards. Browsed one or two shops I missed on the way back and then headed to Snail Alley - it's just before 5pm now so I reckon I could get some pics before sundown.

Snail Alley was neat, it's really quiet and quaint. There's a cafe called Escargot LOL. Very like, european classy vibe. I tried to find the big mural, that blogger showed, but I think since then (2017 I think her blog was), a lot of the artwork has either broken, disrepair, or not been replaced. So it's a real shame. Still really cute to see the various snails and neat door fronts. There's so many homestays in this block, wow.

Around 5:30pm I headed back. My legs are tired and I was getting hungry. I decided I had no energy left to go out for dinner so bought instant noodles (ones that I don't get to eat before!), for dinner, and tomorrow's breakfast. Since I only have a jug I bought a miso soup to make with hot water. Reminiscint of Japan, hehe.

Got home, ate noodles, discovered I splotched the sauce on my shirt, so took that off to wash the spots.

Chilled, and flicked through the TV channels to see what anime was on at 7pm. There's soooo many channels, about 450, but 200+ doesn't seem to have programmes all the time on the programme menu? Ended up watching Pili channel, man the OP for Pili Heroes is so cool, and the costume details... the craftsmanship... bro...

Took a shower, the shower head holder on the wall ended up being broken :( which no one told them about, as the shower head won't stay on unless you hang it backwards. 

After I got out I LINEd the housekeeper to let them know. They say they'll buy the part and be here in 10 mins to fix it. Wow. I mean IDM but I'm not in a hurry tonight. They went ahead anyway. A different lady showed up unmasked - glad I masked up. KF94 earsaver though. She was only in for like 5 mins. Now I'm flushing the room for an hour with the open windows (can't open the balcony door cause mosquitoes and dengue), before I can unmask and relax.

It's already like 10pm RIP. I'm pretty tired. I'll see if I can get the postcards written tonight or tomorrow morning.

Took a shower, disc

Taichung Day 15

 Not much today - just organise my luggage, admit defeat that I can't fit everything into a carry on... and ended up having to take the big suitcase. 

After lunch we went to Grandma's. There was a true crime and occult/weird stories programme on channel 57. The true crime are ones that happened in Taiwan and hoooly shit that's so scary. One was that a 20 yr old girl was hit by a white Benz in the morning, dragged into the boot unconscious, and taken somewhere, and found 3 hrs later with 176 stab wounds in her body. Holy fuck. The murderer was a 20ish year old guy who couldn't take a rejection. Rich boy, no remorse. The girl must've been alive when she was stabbed... that's truly aweful.

Grandma was falling asleep in her chair around 3pm. We had some dragon fruit and apple before that. We told grandma to take her nap, and we'll leave. She was wearing a waist support today. See you in 2 weeks ish grandma.

賢伯 went with his friends to Taitung today, due back tonight? They went overnight and wow that's hardcore since the travel time is so long.

小智 was busy on the computer. I had a good time with Maiya and Hu'nuio. They went gently cray cray over a dried fruit - similar to catnip. Adorable kitties.

After I got home I just had some snacks and finished the rest of my luggage, and spent a good hour or two doing homework on trains from Guanshan to Taipei. I think I can get close enough to Yima's house via MRT to call a taxi closer to then so I don't have to carry my luggage as far.

After dinner, watched ep4 Faraway Paladin on CR, load times were so slow I had to keep stopping in the middle to let it load... let's see if it will let me watch S3 pt 2 of Dr. Stone now. Then bed, early rise tomorrow.

Ended up watching ShanFro ep 5 as CR taking too long to load...

Taichung Day 14 (Lukang)

 Uncle wanted to take me to Lukang today so OK let's go....!

It's about a 45 min drive. First we stopped at Wenwu Temple - a 3-in-1. The first worships Guangong and Red Hare. Second, Wenchang Dijun. Together they are Wenwu. The third is Wenkai Academy. A lot of plaques asking for good grades and academic success. This is what the temple's deities are known for! There's a little Lukang govt cultural assoc. office on the side in between Wenchang and Wenkai, and they sold some merchandise. I purchased a Not-Lego kit of the Wenwu temple, it's really cute. It's a gift for a friend. $890! Worth it though.

Next, Longshan-shi. It's another temple known for the inner roof awning architecture, but it was under maintenane and fenced off. I think I recall the back yard. It has a pond with a waterfall, koi fish, and HEAPS of turtles!! Some of them are reall big!! And have algae on their shells!! They're sooooo cute. A lot of them were sunbathing on the rocks, but several were in the water. 🥰 It's quieter at this temple compared to others. And the inside isn't smoked black (yet). When we were leaving I saw a bicycle vendor lady selling maiyabing, barley malt biscuits. Ohhh yess please.... I got one without coriander. Yum yum. The sad thing about the passage of time is, now the malt, when it gets stuck on my gumline, hurts from sensitivity. :') This didn't happen when I was a kid. There's a set-up outside where you throw coins into the gongs and try and hit it to acheive what you'd like to pray for (written on there). Kinda  a neat way to get donations. I didn't manage to hit the antivirus one though.

We looped back to Wenwu Temple for me to purchase the not-Lego kit as my friend has responded yes, so that happened. Uncle dropped me off and I went in, and did the paperwork, and then went back to the carpark.

Next stop is Tianhou Gong, worshipping Mazu. One of the oldest ones. It's located within the Old Street. First we found a park next to the 100+ year old Primary School (lucky!), and then ate lunch at a roadside shop. It's a triangle shape and both sides were open doors, so it's not the worst open in terms of clean air. The noodles were quite good! But there's no bone broth. The side dishes weren't bad too. One fo the staff accidentally split some hot liquid over a customer and they were so sorry and apologetic. I hope the customer wasn't too badly hurt, I saw the staff applying some salve dressing to a lady's waist. The staff was understandably in a sad mood, and I felt really sorry. I hope they're both OK.

Once done, a short walk to Mazu miao. Uncle wanted to take a photo of me... he always tells me to unmask... it's outdoors so not as bad, but there is a lot of people. I held my breathe where I can and put my mask back on. Make him happy I guess. The smell of incense is really strong. The carvings/statues of the various deities were really awesome. There's a side room with a row of them, and it's so pretty. But I saw how slow the incense smoke dissapated so I tried to make it really quick as the room has really stagant air. The little statues on the bottom are really cute. They are doing various activities. The carvings and architeture is awesome as usually. There's a small part of the inner roof which is similar to the Longshan-shi one, so I got to see what it is like. It's assembled in a hexagon shape like a jigsaw. Amazing. There's also a small pond with fish, and a dragon spouting water in the middle.

I was done with photos and had enough of the people and the incense, I went out. We started exploring down the Old Street. There's so many people... on a Saturday, of course, but ya'know.  I stopped by a shop that looks souveniry and managed to find postcards. Yusss. $40 for these special ones, they have a transparent cut out fo Taiwan with photos printed on it. So, $200 for the 5. 

They had heaps of old houses still pretty much in the same design, and lots of vendors selling various foods and toys/souvenirs. Lot of them were traditional snacks and eats, and traditional kids toys. I bought a wooden comb in the shape of Taiwan. $80. The vendor let me pick from a bacg, so I picked one with the wood grain as parallel to the teeth as possible. I only realised after I came back home (cause I was wearing my hat) that the teeth are kinda sharp so I will sand it down when I get back to NZ and make it nicer. Eh. It was a cheapie. It's cute.

I also saw 3 vendors selling Babu - well, first I saw one vendor as we came back having walked in a circle, selling Babu, and I picked taro. It was kinda creamy. A big ball though. $30.
And then we kept walking, to the old Govt building, with a courtyard, and I saw 2 more. LOL. Okay I will go have them both. The second vendor had really small balls, so I got 2 balls for $20. I picked lemon and peanut. This vendor's one is heavier on the tapioca so it leaves a bit of a starchy taste. Not the best IMO. The last vendor, had the horn, babu babuuu, and I picked plum, passionfruit, and combo (cause it could be a bit of a surprise). $30 for 3 balls. The vendor asked me where I was from - I saw NZ. He was interested in knowing how much the salary and living costs is like there compared to Taiwan. I tried to convert the numbers and my brain not working, sorry... I also had to explain that it's a 3 hr plane ride from Aus, it's not that close, lol. He thought we have alligators - I said that's Aus, our animals aren't that scary. Lots of sheep and cow for agriculture. He then got more customers coming so I left and said bye~ The babu started melting as I was talking to him so I had to lick it up. I chose a wafer cone. This one had better flavour! The passonfruit was really nice. I still think the one I got on Jazz night was the best so far.

We sat in the courtyard as I ate my 3 babus. Then headed off to explore the rest of the old street. There's some really cool pottery and replica swords. And a cute little alley - gueihua alley. No gueihua tree 桂花 in the alley but there was a painting of one on the wall. Maybe there used to be one. I loved the old houses, the door frames, and architecture is all just, tasteful. And the door frames on the floor where you can trip over. Yeeeaaah. Near the end we saw a vendor doing blow-candy, with malt - ahhh!! So cool! The malt is pulled until it's got the shiny strings, and then moulded/balled with a dip? and placed into the wooden moulds, with some starch powder, I think, and the artisan gets the kid/customer to blow gently and fill up the mould. He them cuts the blowing tube and seals off the hole (tail of the animal) and puts it onto a stick. It's sooo coool. I wanted to try but I didn't really wanna line up or unmask. Ahh.... well.... still neat as to see. He had so man moulds. They would be hard to replace, I reckon. I hope this art form continues and never dies. That said, I wonder where the Turkish icecream vendor is at, the one that used to go around Fengchia nightmarket?

We finished browsing the Old Street and it's around time to go home. Back to the 100+ year old plus primary school, and car ride home. Wrote my postcards, dinner, and clean up.

Then I tried to organise some of my luggage into a box so it'll be easier when I come back. I will have to organise the rest tomorrow, what I'm taking with me.

三舅媽 asked me to send photos. She then called me and said she wanted to take me to another Mazu temple up northern Taichung when I'm back from my round-island trip. I felt a bit stressed cause of my covid cautiousness, so I had to make it clear that I won't eat indoors. Hopefully we stick to roadside places and outdoor. I will worry about it when I get back. Set a reminder in my calendar to contact her about it.

Taichung Day 13

 二叔 said he will give me a ride to 三舅媽's noodle stall so I wanted until 11"15am and then he was ready to go.

三舅媽 was busier today and there's a new mister helping out. 三舅 isn't very talkative but I thik thats just how he is? I got to watch 三舅媽 make the seasame sauce for majanmen at the back in a super big wok and saucer. Wow. How do you even wash the big wok?. We chatted for a bit and Honey was happy to see me when I arrived, came up to me wanting attention. You are so cute.

Then around 12pm they were less busy and 三舅媽 made me lunch, and told me to take some tofu noodle salad home. Thanks 三舅媽. Lots of veges with meant in bone broth and small dishes (bamboo shoots, 1 braised tofu, tofugan), and some white rice. Damn why is everything so good? There's some intestines with stuff inside which was quite intersting. I saw her cut some up yesterday. I couldn't finish it all and 三舅媽 took it and cut the meat pieces up (only meat and rice left) and mixed it with my rice and added some bone broth for Honey. Honey hasn't eaten for 2 days (picky) but the vet says it's OK, because she will eat when she's really hungry. Thanks for eating my leftovers, Honey. There were these tiny sweetcorn and 三舅媽 cooked 2 for me to eat. It was like baby corn, crunch and sweet. Very interesting. Liked it. It would go great in soup.

They were tidying up the stall around 12:30-12:45pm and that's around when I went home. I didn't really visit my old neighbourhood, I just headed home (took a Ubike at Jin'der Primary) but took a small bicycle detour around the big empty lots (ex-Juanchun) and wondered exactly how many of these were Juanchun? It's so big. Then parked the Ubike and sat around Dapong Shingchun cause there's a breeze there. I received a text that my sandals were ready and went home to drop off the tofoodle salad in the fridge, then headed out again. 

Stopped by Carrefour and decided to check the Quanja Shoes  鞋全家福 in B1. Oh cool, I found Mizunos. I think a lot of the soles are kinda softer?? For NB and Adidas and Mizuno??? I got Mizuno in half a size up from my current pair and asked for half insoles. Sweet I think these won't run into the problem of my toes hitting the front and making a hole. Ended up signing up for their membership to get the 25% off and then a 5% off and also bought 2 socks to make up the amount $1000 needed for discount. 

Then quick trip to Carrefour (they don't really have tenuguis?) for some sandwich bags for my used N95s and picked up the Dalli laundry colour catcher sheets to try.

Then to pick up my shoes, they are interesting work. Removed the back soles and stuck a new one on, Very odd. But interesting. $550. And dropped by 四叔's. Zhili 叔叔 ended up called Jaga and sourcing me my watch strap, but they only have black. Well, can't be picky now. Thanks so much Zhili 叔叔 for your effors. Chatted with 四叔 and he talked about how he's been to almost every area in China except 3, including Tibet. He used to go every year. That's so cool.

It was just past 5pm and I headed home cause they'll be finishing soon. Dinner was dumplings and I just chilled. I should go pick up a hoodie for a gift soon, as it's down in 50%, a brand shop at the nightmarket.

Oh, the power supply ended up being loose at the plug point at the converter plug LOL. SO thankfully, no issue.

Taichung Day 12

 I can't believe my 2 weeks in Taichung is almost up....!

Today I just went to pick up the brown suagr I ordered, it has arrived at Family Mart. They ask for your full name and last 3 digits of your phone number. I thought they would wanna see ID but didn't.

Touched the hanshouchao on my way out and went back up. Did laundry and took it upstairs to hang dry.

Really just mucked around for most of today. Then after lunch went to 新利賀專業藥局 to buy a better mosquito repellant. Got the Mentholatum Picaridin one. $280.

Then headed home but decided to stop by the lingerie shop on the corner, EMR 伊媚兒客製化內衣 and asked if they had bralettes. Oh I had to take my hat off to try the bras on... so I didn't have my mask ear saver'd. I hope that's ok.... ended up getting 1 that's kinda similar and cost $980, in black.

On the way back I bought 2 more lemon cakes at FM Station bakery across the road. Headed back and decided to check out the Casio Watch Store next to Fengchia uni on Wenhua Rd. The boss phoned the manufacturer, I assume, and there's no replacement watch strap :') I'm so sad. All the new watches don't look that great imo. Maybe I keep an eye out in Taipei. But there's a purple and white one of Jaga's that looks OK.

Just bummed around and ate some snacks, then at 4:55pm I headed out to 四叔店 to catch a ride with 五叔 back to grandma's house. He rides the scooter a bit more maniacally, esp on Taiwan Bouvelard. Stopped for petrol at CPC and it was about 3.3L but only $100?? Are scooter tanks that small?

Then stopped at McD's to pick up dinner. Oh no, I didn't have time to put my hat on for the ear saver and went inside with just ear looped mask... fingers crossed... I did Flo spray before I left...

Dinner picked up, went home. Grandma :) :) :) she ate quite a bit today, so it's good to see she still has appetite. Maybe because I came home? And we watched some of the soap operas on TV, the 7pm one is less soapy and more normal drama. The 8pm one is SO DRAMATIC. Lmao. Also had some 柚子 the skin is very strong (and bitter) but the flesh is juicy and sweet. Grandma had a little bit, but she'll need to take her blood pressure meds a little later. The cats were around and Huniou came and rubbed her neck against me IVE BEEN CLAIMED lol. That's nice. Maiya is still a bt skittish but less so today. I actually saw 賢伯 today when he came out for a little bit to grab his dinner. Then back to LOL. 

五嬸 came home around 8:08pm, and got KFC LOL. Just spent some time with grandma before I had to leave for the bus at 8:40pm. 小智 walked me to the bus stop (thanks bro) and I made sure to N95 up. 

Got home, showered, and bed soon.

My laptop charger isn't working when I come to blog. ???? Unplugged it and left it along for 20 mins and then replug but no dosh?? Yikes come on not just before my trip... I will troubleshoot a bit.

Taichung Day 11

 Nothing new today.

Just head to 三舅媽's shop and sat for a bit whilst playing with Honey. Honey let me hug them! Then had lunch, a bowl of yam leaves and a dry sauce noodle, mince with shallots. And some pork liver. Very yummy as always. Both 三舅媽 and 三舅 smoke, too.... 三舅媽 treated me to some sugar cane juice!! Yuuuuss. Then 三舅媽 added me on LINE, lol. All G! Dunno what I would talk about though.

Afterwards, I headed towards my old house, and took a small detour and ended up at my old Primary school. Ren Ai Primary. Opps. It's lunch time and all the students are going home. I crossed the street to try and jog my memory of the month I spent lwaking home the same route... Kind of? Unsure.

Then I headed back to the old house and to see if the 雜貨店 良友購物中心 was open - they were!!! Ahhhh!!! I was overjoyed!!! The boss was there, but I can't remember if it's the same boss. The layout is still the same. The eggs are by the counter. The toys are in the outside shelf. $20 for a drink - Supau or Pocari (got Pocari today), and candies... are all the classics. $20 for a Vit C, and $14 for Morinaga's milk caramel. I think the counter top was the same too - the thick vinyl with a green under. Vinyl yellow with age. Paid $54 in exact change, and told the boss I used to live up 大連北街 as a kid and is still very happy too see him still open with shop. He just nodded and acknowledged but didn't day anything. That's okay! I tried to snap photos without being too conspicuous when I was in the shop.

Next, I walked up my old street - today there weren't anyone outside but I didn't wanna be creepy, I just walked really slowly past our old house. It doesn't feel like our old house any more... then went up to where the rice paddies used to be. It's all just empty grass space now. The old 榕樹 that was next to the 福德宮 is still there, but the temple is not. There's a lot of recycling items gathered there. And seats for the oldies to gather and sit. I kept walking down, past 台電, and at least the right side with the concrete slat fence still looks the same. I remember the barbed fence being higher though... and then ended upv at Ren Ai Park. Omg. I kinda remember the park being bigger though? The rocks are still there! The ones where I stood on and the one where I played mermaid. I don't remember the rocks being this big though? The playground looks new, similar set up? But the ground green sponge tiles are the same. The pillars, I think they are the same. There's a little pagoda where I sat and wrote a review for 良友購物中心 and got all emotional I removed my mask snotty inside, and cried. 

There's a Youbike station next to the kouen and I rode back home, taking the same route as if I were going to Laolao's house. The building with the white tiles, and was-red now yellow pillars for the balcony fence is still there. I think that's my only landmark. And once you reach the guarded gates (where you turn left to go to Laolao's), it's all just grassland/empty lots. Took Dapend Road home. 

Once home, I picked up my sandals and headed to 四叔's. Sat for a bit and chatted, and the tea made me laxative so I had to wait for it to come before I could go anywhere lol. He now has added stickers of the names of the beetles now. It looks very much like a musuem exhibition. xD
After that, I headed to see if the shoe shop can fix my sandal soles. It's $550 for both shoes. That's fine! It'll cost at least that much in NZ, and it's hard to buy sandals that has support. They were able to rush it out for pick up Friday.

Then I headed to Cais 巧藝社 for some shopping. They didn't have that much sewing stuff, so I just bought a pencil that you can draw on paper and transfer via iron, apparently you can wash it off. Would be useful for nui faces. And just 1 chalk pen, incase I find better in Taipei. Cause it was $99... And also some hook attachments for the pegs I bought for the hanger rack.

Then headed to 大遠百 for the Pili shop cause I wanted to try the gacha... only had enough coin for 3 turns. I didn't get Shang Bu Huan. :( Oh well.

Took Youbike and rode all the way along the river home. There was a crossing on Hernan Rd that the lights weren't working for... and I thought I culd cross cause there's no cars? And you can't see the otehr half of the road.... so I ended up having to awkwardly wait in the middle of the road until it was clear to cross. Gosh. Never again. Too scary!

Home, had dinner, and just relaxed.

Taichung Day 10

 Just headed out to 三舅媽's stall today. Stopped at 大石公園 on the way, and sprayed myself with citronella and wore long pants, lol. With all teh scrub it was hard to get close to the tree to check if the branches are the same, but the stones in a circular shape around one side looks to be the same as what was there initially. I think it's the same tree! Didn't manage to see the rock with the swirly pattern though.

At 三舅媽's stall, 三舅 was there too. 三舅 is 70 but he doesn't look like it! 三舅媽 fed me so much, the bone broth soup warms the soul. Hits the spot. Everything is yummy! A regular at the stall gave a bottle of drink to share, which was a fruit based one. I drank most of it lol. 三舅媽 added more 小菜 to the bag that I couldn't finish, to take home. Thank you for feeding me. 三舅媽 runs the stall from 2-3am for prep, and opens early, and closes around noon. Bless her! Such hard work.

They have a dog called Honey. They are very well behaved and doesn't bark. When 三舅 comes near they want to be held by him. So sweet.

After lunch, I went to the tea shop on Wenshin Rd to grab mum's mushrooms. The teashop boss lady treated me to lots of tea and we chatted for like 2 hrs. She also gave me teacups in a coloured series. You didn't have too, awwww. 😭 She offered to drop me off as she was needing to deliver some wares near my house. Thanks for the scooter ride!!!

When I got home I had the sushi Meilin ayi bought for lunch, it was Taiwanese style flavour (didn't need soy sauce, really... as I found out lol). Unique flavour profile.

I just rested and did some planning and homework for Tainan.

Taichung Day 9

 Slept in today untl almost 10am. Went down to buy stamps for postcards, and then headed to 久久大賣場 to see if I could find the clothing hanger pegs for dad. I found one, it wasn't as good as our existing one, so I bought some pegs to hook on ourselves in the middle bar which was blank. Also bought a spray bottle for wig styling, and a mist bottle cause they didn't have other travel bottles... stopped by Mr Q, a mobile repair shop, for a charging cable but they didn't have 2m.

Then went home, time for lunch, and then I just rested and watched anime. When t was 3pm I headed out again to sort out mum's ear dros medicine at a ENT clinic near Carrefour. Sooo many people, made me nervous since I was only KF94 on ear saver... nasal sprayed as soon as I got outside. Then to 全國電子 to find my cable and success. This cable charges just as fast as in NZ?!?! My prev experience was that same set up, charging is slower on 110v but apparently modern electronics all have a regulator inside so it doesn't matter. I'm so confused. Maybe it's my powerboard? IDK bro.

I came home and just mostly rested, watched anime, and chilled. Quiet day today.

Taichung Day 8

So uncle and ayi wanted to go to Costco. They also picked up uncle's daughter's auntie (ex-wife's sister). Cool! I'm so tired though. Being a Sunday I wore my N95 - and I was right, Place was busy and it's only around 10am. Thankfully it was cool enough for the N95. 
Hah I just wanted to see what Costco was like. They had quite a bit of Japanese imported foods and snacks. It's so easy to lose people in there though.

We got back and at the door into the apartment building we met 四叔's whole family getting ready to go to 好事多 - Costco LOL. They asked if I wanted to go - I told them we just went xD

After lunch they didn't tell me when we were going to Grandma's house - causing me to panic cause I will still trying to sort out how to shop the brown sugar, and what's happened to my watch strap I ordered (no movement). And I needed to prep nasal spray, forgot to CPC in the rush... ugh. Let me know so I can organise my time! Didn't even get to my postcards!

I tried to order on my phone but the website keeps kicking me out whenever I want to go back or change apps. Ugh.

Grandma was just about to go nap when I arrived. Oh no, sorry Grandma. That's okay, she'll nap a little later. 二叔 and Meilin ayi left, and I said I will stay so I can shop the stores around here. My cuz 小智 was OK to go with me - thanks 五叔 lol. It'll make navigating easier - I didn't want to take up his time if he didn't want to but he was okay! Thanks Cuz. So we went to Animate and JB, there was SOOOO MANY VTUBER AND HOLOLIVE AND NIJISANJI, GOD it's like Genshin but, Genshin also exists it just overwhelms. They had a doujin area where they had gacha with doujin goods. I found that pretty cool. Animate didn't really have stuff I wanted... not even Golden Kamuy... I found in a corner some Vampire Sugu Shinu blind box acrylics. Lol. Lots of nuis though. That's cute. Then 小智 took me to a toy store that had gunpla - I found some stuff on Lennon's wishlist but not his priority kits. 

On the way I found a gacha machine with World Trigger figurines... ahhh I can see a Yuuma... they're so cute... but it costs $120... a little pricey...

Next we headed to the 3-rensei, the 3 stores next to each other. The first store was pretty much as I remember. The little store on 2F was closed today. 2F had some old gems in there, and anime from ages past.

The second store expanded and they now have 3F and 4F, mostly melonbooks doujin goods and AV lol. 2F had some old gems in there, and anime from ages past. The bottom floors had 2nd hand boxes, and a lot of figures.

The third store... I remember being a lot smaller, but wow. Okay. It's like, figure mountain. There is only enough space to walk in the store.... how does the boss lady get to the counter? How to toilet???? It's a mystery?? Like there's enough room to spin around but not enough for 2 people, you have to go into the y-fork to let them pass. Amazing. Also a little claustraphobic. Yikes. Lol.

On the way back I stopped at JB to buy a jigsaw as a gift for friends. 

Once home 五嬸 made dinner and it was yummy. Thanks Auntie. I tasted some coconut water. Very odd taste. Not bad though. Grandma likes to keep saying things and repeat some things... such as "leave it I'll do the dishes" whilst auntie is already washing and auntie would reply a little short - "I am already doing the dishes, so you can't do them, I do them after cooking as natural" etc. Same she told my 小智 that my other cuz hasn't eaten yet (playing League of Legends) and he goes "I know" and did the body language where he opens his eyes wide and puts his hand on his forehead. I felt a little sad. I know it's because they live with her and it happens all the time, so it's understandably frustrating for them, but I think grandma has spent all her life looking after others and putting their needs above hers, she doesn't know how not to do that. She's also hard of hearing (got hearing aids lately) and old so her memory isn't great. 

Wish I knew how to make this a little better for her, but I don't really have a right to do that. :'(

Took bus 25 or 35 to get home - missed the 35 as we got to the stop so I took the 25 that came not long after. The bus stops have this machine where you punch in the bus route number and press "confirm" and it'll display the number and the bell so the driver knows someone wants to get on that bus. But it's best to signal as well. That's s cool. Cus showed me. Thanks for walking me to the bus stop, cuz 小智.

Wrote some postcards on the bus, got home, managed to order the brown sugar online, and then finished writing postcards after shower. I plan to rest tomorrow.

Bed now.

Taichung Day 7 (Yunlin Huwei)

 TIME FOR BUDAIXI MUSUEM!!! I say, and planned to get there just after opening. But the bus was about 30 mins late so by the time I arrived it was almost 11am. Ok I guess I'll have a look at the park with the old trees and have an early lunch. But first!! The bus passed the roundabout with the big puppet statue. Ohhhh of course I had to go and grab a photo. The bus went by too fast and my camera took to long to load up for me to snap a pic whilst on the bus. Awww yeaaaah bruh so good!!

Okay, once that's done I looked at the old water tower next to the park. Omg there are black goats inside!!! Nice!!! Aww no, look at that Japanese style building, so pretty. Oh, I think it's open to the public?? Ohhh went inside and there are heaps of traditional watercolour paintings done by the same teacher. The staff at the house got me to sign a guestbook (lol my kids handwriting) and then gifted me a bookmark once the staff that went to print it came back. The artist teacher was so nice and one of the staff commented how they had a relative in Auckland (lol I don't know them though) and then teh teacher had someone living in Melbourne.

I had a look around and the house whilst waiting for the bookmark, the house had a really good vibe. I didn't take photos of the artwork cause I'm not sure if that's okay as they are for sale too. They had an outdoors area with seats but since the house has only been open to public shortly, they haven't found a suitable caterer yet. I would've loved to dine there. Just about when I'm done the staff came back with teh bookmarks and I got gifted one. Thank you very much. I said m goodbye and then headed out to look for lunch.

Cool, let's go grab some lunch shall we? I found a place next block down that sold goose meat meals. Okay! Let's try. Takeaway and eat at the park. It wasn't bad. I sat in a pagoda that was ereted in 1984 by the 14th president of something? and the sign had a Rotary logo. Coolios. It was really lovely if not for the older men down by the pond smoking. The park had really old and lovely trees, wished I could stay longer and enjoy their presence. 

Once done, (where are the bins?? Seriously I can't find any), I headed to the puppet museum. Entry is free. In the courtyard there's a stall with heaps of clay figurines. Soooo cute, and awe at the craftwork.

Into the museum! Bruuuuhhhh This is great!! I just wish I could read Mandarin as fast though. The building is an old historical police station from Japanese colonisation period. They have a detention room and a toilet for the police in the corner, lol. What about the prisoners? I guess they pissed on the floor or in a potty. xD The jail cells were empty (no inbuilt toilet). The permanent exhibition area had an interactive photo booth, haha, I took 2 for fun. And a small puppet theatre which I took some selfie photos (and 1 far away) since only Lang could stand independently without much fuss. 

There are documentaries there and I wish I had time to watch the whole thing. The building was kinda stuffy cause old and no ventilation. Fingers crossed I'm OK, it was way too humid to swap to an N95. So KF94 ear saver, come through for me pls. Nasal sprayed in the courtyard when I had a break too.

The feature exhibition area had a really cool series displayed by a troupe from Taichung. Shinergy Puppet Show. Long story short, after the troupe leader's father passed away, a lot of the clients didn't use them anymore. So they had to find a way to innovate, and I guess they ended up using projector stage imagery as part of it. The puppets were so cool though. Ahhhhhhhh.

Outside, they had a little courtyard. One side had a shop just like Laolao's Gammy/odd goods shop. With the childhood candy and toys. Even the lotto! I wanted to do a lotto box but the shop people were busy elsewhere and I forgot. I wonder what the prizes were. This shop was most nostalgic.

Next door room had more souveniry and puppet realted stuff. More traditional forms of artwork. I think I forgot to photo. There's mugs too, for the musuem. It was really cute, but not suitable for me to buy. 

Upstairs 2F there's a classroom for clay sculpting. And 3F there was a puppet performance at 2:30pm. This was really cool! The story was juuuust a little bit not that engaging for me, but I suspect half of it is because they spoke daiyu, but also guoyu so those who can't understand can still get the story. At the start of the show they explained and demo'd the different types of puppets, the traditional ones are small and have a small head, but are very nimble and can even act out wiping sweat when walking, or combing one lady's hair. They can martial arts and swap hands during a fight and do backflips. 

The other type is a jinguang type, where the puppets are bigger in size, with more glitzy costumes, and a bigger head so audiences far away can see, and draw passerbys when performing in front of temples. This type is less nimble and can't backflip. For fights it's like, I punch and then the other puppet "explodes" and dies. So not much excitement.

And finally, the TV/movie size are the ones we know, where they're big enough to sit on your shoulder. 

The show ended with a bang (3 bangs, actually), complete with white confetti and smoke. It was very loud and the villain died like that lol. Took me by surprise. I think it scared a young kid, who had his own puppets and took it around the musuem. I think he must be very into puppets - maybe a future artisan?

After the show there's photo op and the parents took photos of the kids (but removed their masks....), but I managed to get a selfie (bad one though) with a traditional glove puppet. So cute. 

Next, I went to the Story Museum next door. Oh no it's a koha box for entry fee. I didn't have $50 coin so googled nearest conbini (OK Mart) and bought a drink there. Seriously, where are the bins? I wanted to throw away my empty bottle... Okay, change got, let's go in! They had some displays around too, and the staff would explain how some of the tools used by storytellers (travelling ones too) worked. There's a wooden puppet with joints, and a thin board, where you sit on it and tap the board to make the puppet dance to a tune. That was very cute and strangely charming. I think they sold postcard - I asked and they had 3 books FULL of postcards to pick from. Wow. Oh, they're illustrations from all over Taiwan so I just picked the Yunlin ones to save time. They were $30 each. Spent some time taking photos of the carious nostalgic bamboo stools and wooden chairs whilst waiting for the staff to fetch the postcards. There's stamps near the little refreshment stall unmanned when I came) and I put some on the postcards. Soz friends that got the badly stamped ones.  Then went outside into the yard where there's seating, and sat for a break and ate some snacks to keep me going. Back inside to use the toilet before the bus. The toilet had an open window and was very small, so I took my mask off quickly to wipe my sweaty face down so wearing the n95 for the bus wouldn't feel as horrible. Tried to breathe very little. Fingers crossed. 

After I left, I sat down and also nasal sprayed to be sure.

Ran out of time to buy taiyaki as souvenirs before the bus, and managed to get the last second to last seat. Otherwise I had to wait another hour....

I wanted to visit the Eslite bookstore, where it's also in a historical building. And also the Starbucks where it used to be the fire fighter station, I believe. There's also an old street? But I didn't get time to go there. 

Onto the bus, and about 1 hr 15 mins I'm back in Taichung. 

After dinner, I went to Carrefour to buy plates as a gift for B - theyre pretty but not great quality. Sorry B, but I think it'll be something to have at least 4 matching plates. xD

Then off to QuanLianSerh, but they didn't have the peg frames that dad wanted... but I found mum's active oxygen. I think we have to go to a bigger one.

Back home, 9:30pm. My left calf tendon is jumping. 

Apparently they wanna go Costco tomorrow... hopefully not too long. I will have to make it clear that I will not dine in Costco. Guess I should eat more for breakfast.

Taichung Day 6

Woke up and realised I've been a mozzy buffet - probably from my hanshouchao search. Noooooooo.

Sent off some postcards today and also a bag of masks for fit testing to Jon in Australia.

I forgot to sign the parcel declaration form and the post office lady rang me to come back. Oh nooo how embarassing! I wasn't too far so I walked back. After that was sorted, back to going to Carrefour.

Man everything is so confusing? I was trying to find the stuff my parents wanted me to buy. I spent ages just trying to find things... I did see some lovely plates that I think I will buy as a gift for a friend. I hope they don't get smashed in my checked luggage....

When parents want me to get stuff they don't give me precise locations or name of the place and it's like, please, can you do this cause it's hard for me to find it when my Mando ain't that great...

Came back for lunch around 1pm and Meilin ayi had made some saucy noodles. Thank you auntie.

I just rested in the afternoon and it was quite humid and hot I napped for about 45 mins...

Then when it was almost 4pm I went out to try get in early for the kumara balls - they weren't open yet so I headed towards to New Balance to get the socks for mum. On the way I found a stall selling all sorts of childhood candy! to the right hand side of the Uni entrance gate. Ahhhh they had the strawberry lollipops!! YOOOOO!!!! and the chocolate tubes, and the choc toothpaste tubes, and jelly tubes!! Lipstick candy! Also jumping/popping candy and heaps! They didn't have Flower's Kiss and it's likely they don't make it any more. So sad. I spent $208 there. 

Off to NB now. The name mum gave me the store clerk didn't recognise, and they spent ages trying to figure out what size the socks she got was. It was buy 2 get 1 free, total $320.

4:40pm now, Kumara balls store still not open. So I just sat there and waited until about 5:20pm when I finally got mah balls. 37 balls for $100 (big size). Niceee.

There were 2 black stray dogs there, and one of the stall owners popped a plastic bag down full of offals, I think, and the dog carried the bag by the handle and moved away to the nearby grass patch to eat it. Smart dog!

Home, and Uncle and Ayi bought dinner. They also got dohua (tofu flower) from a famous shop, it is very silky. I'm so full.

Just rest tonight and hopefully Yunlin tomorrow without hiccups. I wanna see the puppet museum! My feet are still so sore.

Taichung Day 5 (Shuinan neighbourhood)

 I got dropped off at Huang Ming Hai Dentist for a clean. He didn't take any xrays though, and commented that I had no carries, which is good. The rinse cup is very cute. I asked for 9am first appt but there was 2 other people and a baby there aready... :E I think they may have misremebered me as 9:30am instead... I wanted to be first to reduce covid risk. The whole time I was praying for me to be safe. At 9:15am I got on the chair, and arpund 9:45am they were done. Fingers crossed.... Gave them ynuts as gifts, too.

Then I walked around 水湳市場, which was sooooo busy. I forgot 三舅媽's noodle stall was closed today.

I found a candy shop which sold the M&M pistols, yay! But no strawberry candy, shop lady said they don't make it in summer because the ants come.... but like... isn't it the same for the other lollipops?

Off we go, to the shop that sells incense. Called mum but the video call made my phon absolutely hot??? So I hung up and told them to do normal call not video. Confirmed what they wanted and off I go.

Next, decided to go to 大展文具行 where we've been buying stationary from since childhood. Seems like the boss usually sits on his stool next to the door. He greeted me as I came in today. Stil feels mostly the same, though the stuff outside on the shelves have lessened quite a bit. It used to be stocked full! Now it's just 2 shelves... The inside is more or less the same, I think. Some shelves have changed like for the stickers? And seeing the stamps for good job made me happy. I haven't seen them in a long time. But my hands were full and I forgot to take a photo.

My total came to $761, I bought quite a lot. I managed to find my stamp collecting book! They only had 1 though. I wanted two... ah well. I guess it's not a very popular item. There was a bit of dust on it so I guess it's been sitting for quite some time. The boss thanked me 謝謝，小姐 once I finished paying. The store always has 30% off.

I took the old route down 中清路二段 towards my old house. The 雜貨店 that sold sweets and various goodies is now... am empty lot. It's so sad. And a section along the road near the creek used to be all juan chun houses were knocked down too. A lot has changed. The corner where the 雞蛋糕 is now a 7-11. So I'm not sure if he sells there any more. It used to be a noodle store on that corner.

Then down to the 福德宮 near my house. It used to have a 110+ year old tree 榕樹, but it's no longer there. Looking at google maps I think it died in 2020. So sad. I spent some time here, they've remodellled the place too. Looking at Google Maps it was afer 2009. Across from this 福德宮 used to be a budaixi cart where I remember watching as a kid. I sat on the seats and had some snacks and drink. Then I walked down to the street where our old house was. Things have changed, so it doesn't feel as 'right' or nostalgic. I see the Ama next door is still well - I saw her sitting in her yard. There was Agong someone trimming the pot plant tree outside in between our old house and ama's. Becuase they were there I didn't stop and just kept walking... wish I could've have some time to stand and look.

Then down to the breakfast store and old 雜貨店. It was closed today.... shutters down. Sign is still new though. It's about 12pm now so it should be open. Ahh....

Breakfast store still there but obviously done for the day.

I continue towards the Versailles bedding shop, as I need to get some sheets ordered. It's a long walk... I ended up stopping at a 7-11 and bought two onigiri to eat whilst walking, and then sat at a nearby park. This park is actually Folklore Park, and they have a historic building! The part with the water feature is closed for maintenance which is a shame, but I got to see the building. Very flavour.

Anyways I had to go to the bedding store first and picked 2 cute printed sheet sets to be made. I got 10% off for picking 2 sets which came to $5004 for the both of them. The store lady counted as $5000. It's about the same price as if I were to buy in NZ so... gimme. Sheet sets in NZ are so boring.

The store lady is so nice, she even checked the bus for me! Very very friendly. I ended up looking at the museum in Folklore park and then walking halfway and getting the Ubike to register and then biked home... I passed by the park where Laolao's old Juanchun house used to be. I had to go into some long grass - and to me delight, I found Hanshouchao!! YOOO!!! There's so many of them!!! I couldn't really get to the big 榕樹 which was 2 houses down from her's as the noticed sooo many mosquitos came out and were ready to feed - so I quickly offed and got out of the grass. Yikes!!!

Anyway, very happy about that - I'll come with repellant next time and see if I can get in further.

Parked the ubike and went to the postshop to grab some stamps for the postcards. An an envelope for sending masks to someone in Aus to test it.

Meilin ayi cooked dinner and it was very yummy. After clean up I just pooped and wrote my postcards. My feet are so dead!

Taichung Day 4 (Sun Moon Lake)

 Walkies ouch my feet hurty.

So 二叔 decided we go to 日月潭 today. OKAY! I mean that saves me working out the bus and stuff, but boy it makes me so nervous on staying covid-safe. Thankfully they were willing to co-operate with me on no indoor dining. We got take out and ate it buy the Lake for lunch. I wanted to go to the gondola/Aboroginal village but I guess they didn't wanna take me there... I mentioned it but I think cause it costs they didn't go. 二叔 drove us, Meilin ayi came too, and I guess since it's cooler today and I mentioned recirculate doesn't let in fresh air/CO2 buildup, I don't think they used it. Phew. And the moutain air was cooler and fresher so we had the windows down once we reached Nantou.

It's about a 1.5 hr drive from Taichung. First we stopped at 日月潭文武廟 which was very very grand. The carvings were so pretty! If I took photos for each on it would've taken me forever and too many photos. We drew a lot for divination but I need help for it lol. And we also burnt some incense for the deities. They have a Koi pond at the top and a feed vending machine. I fed the fish and had a grand time. Looking around was so cool too. There were a couple of buskers outside the temple and I gave them $50. They were pretty good! I believe they have native hertiage.

Off we go to Ita Thao shopping district. There were so many stores selling juices, vinegars, and 小米酒. We found a store and I had Ruzofan. Uncle and Ayi picked Zoginmen soup as well. It was very yummy. I had a quick look at the souvenir shop on the corner before the pier and bought more postcards, a magnet, and a keyring. I picked/shopped fast becuase I didn't want them to wait too long for me.

Once done, back to the car (we parked a ways out), and saw two bats fly by one after the other on the street we parked the car. Next we went to Xuan Zhan temple where half the relics of Tang San Zhan are enshrined on the third floor. The relics were taken by the Japanese during colonisation? and enshrined somewhere, and then half of it was returned to Taiwan later. The temple was expanded to house the relics. There was a small museum building detailing the history of Buddhism and his journey to the West for the scriptures. It was really cool but I didn't have the time to absorb the info. The statues of the buddhas are all very pretty and detailed. There was a pair of guardian dieties at the gate. I didn't take a photo becuase I'm unsure if it's disrespectful or not. 

Next the Pagoda!!!! Ci'en Pagoda. I thought it was very tall, but when you climb it, it's only like 8 floors? Very vyer pretty. Probs because it's so small it doesn't take as long as I thought. It's open from 9am to 4:30pm every day. Great view on the top!

Next we went to the pier near another temple to buy the tea eggs there. Apparently very famous - they were flavourful and yummy! There was another band of buskers here - Aboroginal I believe. Ayi and Uncle rested here and I went to take some selfies. You can see Lalu Island from here. 

Last stop, the Bicycle and Tourism centre. There's a smal gift shop here and I bought some tea as gifts for friends, some local salt, and a sakura latte (which costed $450 - I didn't realise! I must have looked at the wrong price tag) as a gift too.

Back home we go now - my feet is so sore.

Quick trip to Fengjia nightmarket, bought the Kose masks mum wanted in the colour she wanted. Then had a look at the 地瓜球 but there's such a long line.... saw some more socks at a different store and bought some more. Saw Pokemon socks at another store!! And bought Kyogre and Rukario.

Walked around, got a bit lost, headed home. Stopped at 7-11, bought 4 bottles of Supau (on special for $88) and a pack of tissues (you need them for public toilets). Now I finally know what the mascots are all called lol.

二叔 told me to take 4 tea eggs to 四叔 once he's home - which I did. Understandably it takes him a little longer to get to the door. He just lives int he opposite building on this building lot. That's why he bought 20 eggs! Living without family this doesn't click so I will take note for next time.

Shower and bed now. I wil write the postcards tomorrow - early day tomorrow. Dental appointment - first appt of the day at 9am. Sadly I don't think I can request the staff to mask up in anything better than a surgical, so I didn't ask.... but I will take my CR box. Hopefully I don't wimp out from using it. Wish me luck. Amitofou.

Taichung Day 3

 I'm so tiredddddd.

Meilin ayi arrived back from Winconstin? Canada early today. Tomorrow I will have to be extra careful... infection risk.

Grandma has an appt at the Veteran's hospital so it was arranged for 五叔 to drive to hospital, drop grandma off with 二叔 whilst 五叔 took me to 大度山 where the family graves are. He gave me a sprig of 芙草 which is said to ward off evil, and to put it in my pocket. Today I learnt. And then get rid of it discretly afterwards. Why everyone use recirculate in the cars here. I felt ill with 4 ppl in the car. The toilets at the mountain provided toilet paper! Wow! Squat toilets. 

We burnt some incense for the 土地公, a pair each side for Laoyeh and Laolao and Yehyeh. Then 3 sticks each for each side of the grave. I got emotional since it's been 10 years since last, and I missed both dayjiou and Laolao's funeral. 五叔 got a rag from his car and we cleaned off the trimmings of the shrubs off the gravestone. Then sat for a while whilst waiting for the incense to burn. Laolao's family grave was written that their home origin was 河南道口 and Yueyue's was 隴口.

We waited nearby the hospital and disposed of the 芙草. Once grandma was done we went home. Bye bye grandma. 

For lunch I had baked kumara... and finally got some supao and liquid yoghurt.

Later today I got give a ride to 四叔's shop so my laptop screen can be fixed. It wasn't centered properly. Also to grab shenfenzhen so we could get mum and dad's hong bao from the 福德宮 nearby - for a Sept 9th on the lunar calender event where you pay respect to elders. This year you need direct offspring, so it works out while I am here. $600 each. The initiative isn't govt for Fengjia area, it's coming from the treasury of the 福德宮. 四叔 says the 福德宮 is owned by a family and apparently they used to own a lot of land around here, so they may be fuller in donations to be able to do this.

二叔 went to Poya homewares and I followed to have a look. They sell Kao Attack detergent here... I might buy one.

I also gave 四叔 my watch since it ran out of battery before the flight. They managed to change the battery with Zhili uncle, but because the watch is older the strap cracked under the pressure whilst they opened it up. Nooooooo. There's dust inside and I think they scuffed the acrylic a bit more. So I'll have to clean that once I'm back. I managed to find a replacement strap online - Jaga doesn't make much watches any more. The strap was added to the online listing in 2015 lol. While that happened an uncle laoshi (good friend of their's) came and bought the cylinderical pastries with fillings inside. I had one! Not as good as the childhood shop, but. He had a doggy who was sooo excited and kept licking my legs haha.

Home now, on the way we went to Yi-shin stinky tofu but they were closed until Friday. 二叔 took me to somewhere else (scooter ride!) and bought stinky tofu for us 3. 

After dinner I went to walk around Fenjia nightmarket. I sure hope my KF94 on ear saver is enough. Bought some socks, some as gifts. There's a lot of small figure and gacha stores now. And lots of crane machines. Went to New Balance but mum didn't tell me what size for her socks. Found the Koze mask stall. I will send some to the Australian covider that tests masks.

Looked at Daiso. Got another Gundam Aerial. Then looked as Cosmed. I felt really suffocating there, don't think I'll go there again. Waited aaaaages in queue for check out. Watsons after, managed to get a cheapy body moisturiser. Much more spacious here. They ran out of eyelid glue....

Had enough, time to go home. I'm exhausted. Shower, CPC mouthwash, Flo spray. Bedtime now.

Taichung Day 2

 Today I had those famous sandwiches 二叔 bought last night and the Tw toast is what makes it mmm mmm.

Then down I go to the post office to get some stamps sorted - they have a screen for grabbing a number now. I was a but confused cause I was looking for a traditional machine, lol. The screen has it separated to banking needs and postal needs. I was 759. There was a free counter straight away so I managed to get the stamps for the postcards and send them off. I hope I put them into the right mailbox - red box Airmail slot.

Next, I went to 四叔 shop to get my laptop sorted - and ended up staying for lunch. 四嬸 bought obentou for everyone. And gave me a cute bobby banana!!! Soooo cute. Tart and yummy. Texture was kinda pillowy/fluffy. 四叔 gave me tea and showed me his beetle collection in the various resins he tried setting them in. It was really cool. And after lunch he let me taste a little bit of coffee. I was full so I went out to the nearby mini park and had a look around. Bouganvillae were in full bloom so got sme pretty photos.... and accidentally stepped on a really big snail? under a tree. I'm so sorry. :( Google tells me it was probably an African snail. I was looking for Hanshouchao...

Back to the company and chatted with one of 四叔's friends. I forgot their name... and then went off to Shinkonmitsukoshi. I was looking for the Pili store (which is actually in the builfing Big City next door). They had a uniqlo on 11th? floor though so I shopped for a bit and bought another waffle top in black, and another tracky in grey marle. And ayellow tshirt cause I didn' bring quite enough.

Once done I headed over to Big City 大遠百 and found the Pili store finally! WOW! LOVE the puppets on display aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh I spent ages looking at the details. During this time there was another lady there who was a Pili oshi, and had a small black itabag with various Pili badges. She spun the gacha and got the person she wanted, though I didn't catch the name. She also did blind boxes and got me to pick one for her after getting 2 of the ones she didn't really want. My gacha luck only works when I do it for other people - annnd she got Lang Wu Yao LOL the one she wanted. I was gonna offer to buy it off her if it was one from TBF she didn't want. She actually asked me earlier when I was browsing the merch side if I was looking at Touri (TBF) and asked me where I was from - I answered from NZ who came backt Taiwan for this LOL. From the sounds of her chatter with the store staff she must come quite often, since the store people seemed to know her.

I ended up getting the Lang I was missing from the set and my friend Lennon Ling Zue Ya since he only wanted him. Between us (I have Shang) xD we have a whole set LOL.

On my way home 四叔 actually Line'd me and said my laptop is ready (screen was borked) and I had just passed his store. Double back a bit to pick up my laptop and then head home. I got a bit lost navigating back but managed.

二叔 made dinner - dumplings and chicken soup and sausages. 3 course meal! Thank you uncle.

Afterwards we went out to see the 爵士樂 which is like a live performance outdoors. First though, since we parked at the eslite bookstore building, we had a look around. BIG BOOK STORE like bigger than Kino? And heaps of other stuff too since it's also department store. Also a stationary eslite section.

Headed out to the park space, where teh event was. There were various stalls around, a lot of artisans selling jewellery and other crafts. Kanzashi too. SO PRETTY. 

But the highlight was spotting babu. BABU!!!!!!! I can eat traditional ice cream! YO!!!!!!!!!!! So so happy!!! $50 for 2 balls but soooo worth it.

Then sat down and had a look at the show, intermission has kiss cam, muscle cam, an Lion King cam (where they chose mostly parents to lift up their kids haha). The next performance started, jazzy classical, the musicians are really good! It was about 9pm so headed home, took a photo at the event display lights on the way.

My feeet so sore. Tomorrow the plan is to go visit the family grave.

Hsinchu to Taichung

 Today I leave Hsinchu.

I went down a little later than the last 2 days to go to breakfast. And oh... There's a lot more people.... Okay... Oh no.... Two kids sick coughing from a family that decided to sit near the seat I've been taking past 2 days. Nooo don't sit near me.... The other half of the dining area was full so... I tried to eat as fast as I could and then finished and went up.

The hotel staff is so nice. I think they appreciated me brining my plate to them to save them going over to tidy up. I think.

I had to condense my luggage - see if I could fit the carry on suitcase into the checked. After much tetris I managed to do it but it was kinda heavy.

Just on time too, 11am checkout. I asked the hotel staff to call me a taxi.

The taxi driver was really nice. Helped him lift my suitcase up into the boot. Talked about NZ and how the Mãori have similarity to TW aboriginals. He knew about Chch (earthquake) and Fiordland (the glaciers). Fare to the 轉運站 was $135.

The station was very small. And it was 11:20am, bought a ticket to 台中 and next bus was at 12pm.

Oh no, I could feel myself going up end up being really hungry with a blood sugar crash... So left my luggage at no. 5 platform and quickly went out the front to eat my 素竹塹餅。it was quite nice, had Mandarin peel inside and very sweet. It held me for the length I needed.

Once on the bus I fell asleep after some pokemon go. The SIP mask carrying me. 

Took 1.5hr to get to 朝馬站, and 二叔 was waiting to pick me up.

After we got home 二叔 had bought 涼麵 for me. So good. This is the flavour! He says the owner came from Pingtung and was also from a 卷春 so the flavour profile is 外省味waishenwei.

Nothing much, had afternoon tea and talked with him, and then ran to the post office to get stamps for postcards and forgot it was closed.

Went to visit Grandma and 五叔 was home as well as 三嬸 with baby 凡凡（？）. Watched some videos of him and older sis, another baby (name I forgot...) with grandma. Grandma reacted as if the baby was real which was really cute. 賢駿 was playing LOL. So didn't see him until dinner. 五嬸 bought teppanyaki takeaway and 小智 also came home too.

Dinner was yummy. 五叔 bought 一中 ice, which had a pineapple and plum syrup flavour in the crushed ice. Very yummy.

Stayed until 8:30pm and went home. Did laundry and sleep now. 

Hsinchu Day 2

Boy am I sore. Blisters on the bottom of my left foot toes.

Woke up, went downstairs for breakfast. Other half of the dining area was empty as well today, so I did the same as yesterday. The staff at this hotel are all so nice!

Up we go, make sure we poop. Waiting for 小D and Knuckles to meet up with me.

Zoo and Flower market 花市 today!! Ayyeeeee!! First we walked around to see what's at the 花市。 There were actually people selling various orchid and plants like succs at one end. Herbs and other edibles. Even saw bala, fig, kumquat and basil plants!

Then the food stalls... So good. And pinball and games stalls which are nostalgic. Nice...

Zoo first though. You can pay with Toto card. So good! Only $50 entry fee like whaaaat? so cheap?

The zoo is pretty small, but it's really cosy and cute. The animals are older too, probably because due to the space constraints they don't really get new animals any more. But that's okay.

We saw lots. There used to be an elephant but it passed due to old age. We saw the tiger's paw! Hehe. And sun bears! Monkeys. Raccoons. A hippo's back!

And homo sapiens... LOL in the old aviary that is now some sort of playground. Knuckles cracked this joke it's pretty funny hahaha.

On the way out the we browsed the gift shop - there was so much variety and goods with such cute designs! Sasuga Taiwan! Ahhhh I bought postcards to post and a clothing patch I think would be good as a gift for Bridget. 

The zoo has an old entrance, with really particular design. I love it. It's got a cute charm.

We walked past the glass museum, but didn't go inside. It has the furnace for glass so it's gonna be hot. You can see inside from the big glass panes.

We went into the aquarium and insect house building. Saw a frog!! And some big fish... Manta rays... Turtles... So cute... The insects were a little scary though. Lots of herc beetles hehe reminded me of 四叔, and there were lots of taxidermy ones on the wall. 

Huashi for lunch now. I ate so many various. 

Even dofuru chicken. Mountain yam mochi cake. Fried dumplings. The hot dog that I craved a year back but couldn't find!!

And a particular drink 桂花？ tea which tastes a little sour plum like with a smoky note to it. Interesting. I had donggua tea and it's so much better here??

After we full, I played on a pinball machine. It's a pretty well used one and the spring was a bit stuck. I paid first and didn't know how to use it so I put all 10 balls in the feeder at once and then pressed the button to release the pinball. 🤣 LOL one shot only. Okay I pay again. This time I kept winning balls every couple of shots and I couldn't end lol. The stuck spring handle was a bit of a struggle. I ended up leaving it and told a mum and young kid nearby that I had balls left but I'm just tired so they can play if they want.

After the flower market we went to a bakery across the street from Hsinchu Park. They keep feeding me... They bought me pudding... Bruh I'm being so spoilt!! Very creme Brulee flavour! Nice nice. Saved half for later as I couldn't finish it.

On our way to Police dorm building! It had a really strong Cypress smell inside. Very beautiful. Restored nicely. Love the architecture. Had hints of old TW buildings like the glass panes with patterns.

After that we sat down outside s Café next door after Knuckles bought a drink and tested our feet and talked a lot.

Then decided what to do next - dinner at the duck rice place. On the way we visited another temple where the street has street lamps made to match, they looked like lanterns. This miao was less "dirty"/"aged" or dusty, and the carvings were beautiful. So coooool.

Off we go, duck rice. Managed to score a seat outside and just before the crowds came to line up.

Meal done, we went to pick up a drink. They had a pot full of tiny fish inside and a quirky lotus type plant on top. 

Then they took me to eat crepe, but like it's crispy. This market is also old but it's really quiet now. Most shops are concentrated on the outside, clothing stores. There's heaps of closed store fronts. It's a little sad. There's a barber shop down the back that had some neat interior design with various knock knack decorations. Quirky charming. 

Across the road from this market, is a theatre that was one of the last ones to still paint movie posters on by hand. Now they use printed canvas. The masters that paint are probably retired. A bit of a shame.  We stopped by a game shop and had a browse inside. A lot of titles now have Mando versions. Upstairs is a TCG area. Lmao. Lots of guys, the vibe is the same in every country. 😂

On the way back to the hotel we passed by the oldest street in Hsinchu. What a vibe. There's also a lot of really old buildings in this city. Retro charm. 

This time I didn't forget to give 小D and Knuckles their souvenirs and snacks. 小D came up with me and grabbed the bags. She said the room was pretty nice! Yes, I agree.

Went back downstairs and said goodbye. Hugged them both and thanked them for giving me such a wonderful time! 

Hsinchu Day 1

Okay, so technically it's day 2 because yesterday I arrived, got into the hotel, and basically crashed.

Today, I woke up with the time difference around 6am. I took my sweet time to get ready, munched some cheese and crackers from the plane, and went out for a walk.

Today we did so much. 

Ohhhhh boy. 7:15am and I'm already sweating. I was wearing long pants and a jumper. My KF94 was pooling with sweat and any thing tighter that ear looping it was nah-ah. Help. 

I headed to the temple market, the target this time being 牛舌餅 shop thay opens like 6:30am but gets sold out so fast. People line up around 5am apparently, and buy in bulk. Once sold out the owner closes for the day. Wow. It feels like a fairy food.

Well, I didn't have internet and I got lost, lol. Managed to find my way. Had a really neat walk. Got there, and was looking for people lining up but didn't see... So I went around the block. The market had a few stalls/stores open early for 菜市場 style and several getting ready for the day. I passed a shop that looked like a 雜貨店 with eggs and odd bits out in the front, and was very happy that they still exist. 

I passed a place where I noticed the asphalt that had letters painted on the road, broken up but a tree root underneath and the paint slightly cracked. 

I ended up coming round the block and finally found the store... It was already closed LOL. 

Ah well, nvm. Time to head back. Mmm lovely, the green walking man is on at the pedestrian crossing but cars still turn. Good to see this hasn't changed LOL. 

Passed a 7-11 on the way back and hopped in to check my Yoyo Card balance. One was - $5 lol, and other had $529 on it. Cool! Thanks 10 yrs ago me. 

Went back to the hotel and immediately better with no humidity.

Changed into t-shirt and went downstairs for breakfast. I wanted to take my plate up but the other half of B1, where the restaurant was, was empty. So I opted to go and sit there. 

Soy milk, watermelon, dragonfruit, 米粉，a taro flavour baozhi was my choice. The 米粉 was really good, I went back for seconds. Once done, mask back on, and up to my room. 

I checked the TV, they used Mod TV and not Channel 4. They had a new anime channel called i-Fun and they were playing the recently airing? Magician Yohane anime. 

Waiting for Dark H and Knuckles. 

They biked here and offered for me to ride on the back of Knuckles bike. Thank you, I appreciate your muscle power...

First we went to I visit the local govt building. It's a red brick building with historical significance. Then to the really old market place that had NAKANO Broadway vibes. It was really cool, just sad to see it becoming unused. Lots of little stores with personality. Great for photoshoots?

 

Then into Hsinchu old city gate. Wow! It was much smaller than I imagined LOL. The photos make it look bigger. But it's really cute. They also have the moat (guarding river) there as well. Some original brick/construction wall remains. The gate is really small. So cool. But also so hot and humid. Lol. My palms kept sweating. 

The entrance to the city gate is like on the other side, and you walk through underground to access the inner area. 

There used to be 4 gates but only 1 remains. They all had different names. 

There were fish by the river!! And TURTLES! AH! SO BLESSED! 3 of them too. They must be loving the heat.

Train station next, and it's so small and so cute. Very rural vibes, largely unchanged from original. Apparently in the top 5 of most used stations by passengers in Taiwan. Ohhhhh.

雞蛋糕 time!! This vendor usually has a line but the boss was eating bentou and asked us to self serve... Including payment. Wow! How special. XD 小D used to eat from this stall often.

Then we went for lunch at Fish Balls

I forgot to take a photo. I had to sit inside. They had fans going and the doors open, which isn't the worst but. Man. Not much choice. Interesting to note on the wall there's a UV light, most likely for mozzies. But I wonder if it acts as virus killing too.

Very good stuff, the soup was it. Like bone broth flavour. Hot the spot. The  貢丸was pretty good. Very nice.

Off we go. The local popo station has scooters with the lights on the back. How cute. Distinctively Taiwan.

Fox & Cone Café. They're Aus themed. No scones today but they had carrot cake. Also had Melbourne breakfast tea.

Carrot cake tasted authentic. Tea was nice too. Had a really nice chat on the outdoor camping chairs with 小D and Knuckles. The rubbish truck came around too! How fortunate!! Love that tune.

An old bank building that's still operational today was close. I liked the carvings on the stone accent.

Next we went for ice block. Traditional type. Very old store. I chose plum. 小D got 桂圓糕 and Knuckles got peanut. He eats ice so fast... They had benches outside which was lovely. And a cute retro bike with the horns on it.

Next, was the newly (quite a few months now) opened mall Big City. Omg they had i7 cut-outs. Lots to see. Even a little train which would be full of kids in the weekends I bet.

They had Lego shop... 

And afterwards we walked/biked out to the peanut butter shop 福源 and I got some PB and various types of traditional candy.

We passed an area that used to have old houses, one of which the tree grew into the wall and through a grid of whatever was part of the roof? Of the house. So cool. Sad about the old houses lose. 

Spotted a brick wall further down with cool configuration on the way back to the hotel.

Dropped stuff off and then to the Temple and markets we go. Saw the temple, so old, so cool, the walls and carvings were cakes in ash smoke and dust. Didn't take any photos of the dirtied because it might be rude. But beautiful crafts work... The tables in front all had some candy as offerings. 

Had Hsinchu 螞丸 in the markets which had dried skin instead of being steamed. I don't think the air circulation was  great, but not much choice (it's covered). There were fans but obviously no Hepa.

The mawan was quite rich. I'm not sure if it's my thing. Served in soup of tianlajan. Had Hsinchu sausage. That was nice with the sauce.

Then dessert at another shop further down.

Very lovely, sugar syrup nice.

Then browsed a store with traditional gift cakes for weddings, etc.

I bought some stuff.

Then looked at a figure store. It wad small and cute. Lots of gunpla. On the old street that had historical buildings torn and replaced with new buildings that's built to imitate the style, but has no soul.

Passed by a fabric shop that had mostly printed fabrics. The variety was soooooo much I think I wouldn't stayed longer if it wasn't for being tired and sore now.

Back to the hotel, said bye to Knuckles and 小D but forgot to give them their snacks and gifts...

Tomorrow must give xD

Went back to room, CPC mouthwash and nasal spray. Shower and took liberty of the bathtub to soak my legs for a bit. Blog, but so tired now. Bed.