8th to 14th December

8^th to 14^th December

Monday

Weather this morning on the cool side – 17C and slightly overcast.

When your Monday morning class finishes on a high note that carries through for the remainder of the week.  I truly enjoy my Monday class, as they are attentive and enthusiastic about their class.  These students are in Paul’s program and their first practical class in baking and pastry.

After arriving back at the apartment in the early afternoon, Lee and I ventured over to the library and had lunch.  He had already been to his sister’s café and she prepared a delicious salad and sandwich for us along with a latte.  We had some fruits in the fridge so Lee cut them up and brought along.  Temperature was perfect and we simply people watched as we were enjoying lunch.

Wednesday

Tomorrow is Lee’s birthday so tonight I will join him and his family for a Korean dinner at a nearby restaurant that Lee’s sister knows well.

Today is my non-contact day at school so spent it once again relaxing and doing more vigorous exercising of my leg to try and get the muscle built back to where it should be.

I’ve never experienced this feel before whereby the muscle has been reduced due to the regular use of it and how important it is for physio during the healing.

When I try walking, I always thought the uncomforting of what I was experiencing was due to the injury of the bone but it’s not.  The pain from lack of muscle is what I’m feeling and it’s very uncomfortable to say the least.  I can tell that it’s going to take time to be back to normal.  The use of a walking support is absolutely necessary at this point in time because I simply cannot free stand on my leg.

Just returned from a great dinner at the Korean restaurant. (see photos of food)

There were 6 of us and yes we had reservations.  It was a good thing because it was full plus people waiting for a table.

Not sure of what much of the dishes were but one thing I did know was the tofu and kimchi.  Lee’s sister knows how much I enjoy tofu so she specifically ordered a special tofu dish just for me….it was like a curried tofu – very good.

After dinner we went back to Café Bird to have cake and drinks.  It was strange being in the café with on one except us.  Lee’s sister and husband close the café around 5pm.

We had tiramisu cake and it was quite tasty but I only had one small piece just to taste since I’m not much of a cake/dessert eater. 

All of us were full by this time so it was a good ending to the night.  Just one more food item I needed before retiring for the night and for those who probably can already guess…yes, a latte!  Good Night.

Thursday

Today is Lee’s birthday and he said he wanted ‘tzai bau’ – which is a type of bread dumpling the size of an apple and can be filled with cabbage or meat.  They are usually steamed.  We had the ones filled with cabbage.  They are very tasty and filling. 

He went to get some and also some apples and dragon fruit and of course lattes.  That was our breakfast this morning before I left for school.

Peter was to pick me up around 11 but of course he’s always early and so am I so we left around 10:50.

As we were getting close to the school there was a small truck with a man selling something that caught my attention.  There were 2 somewhat large plastic containers with water inside so I asked Peter to pull over so we could see what was being sold.

He was selling fresh scampi at $100NTD ($3CDN) per kilo.  Now I’m not up to date on the price of fresh scampi but is that not quite inexpensive?

Just next to him was another person selling shoes.  Everything from running shoes to casual dress looking shoes lined the sidewalk. The magic price was - $100NTD ($3CDN) per pair.  Hmmmm perhaps these two sellers were working together but a $3 pair of shoes would be good enough just for someone needing a fast pair simply because they needed some shoes..hahaha

Peter said oh they’re no good, they’re from China..hahahaha

Friday

Just came back from dinner and I’m freezing…it’s around 17C but there’s a wind and making it feel colder than it is.  I heard it’s to go to a low of 10C tonight; hummmm I will believe it when I feel it.

Well I found out today that there’s a 4 day government holiday (including schools) at the beginning of January.  From 1^st January to 4^th January, which means that my Thursday and Friday classes will not take place.

My teaching assistant at the beginning of class this morning approached me and she said that the Director of baking and pastry mentioned that we could make up the class on Saturday 27^th December.  She also pointed out that the Director said that most teachers just tell the students to have a free day and they won’t come in. 

I thought about that for a while thinking oh it would be nice to have some extra days off but then I began thinking about the classes my students missed due to my injury and other reasons.  In total, the students lost 4 classes.  Now for a practical course that is a total of 16 hours of lab time and that’s a hell of a lot of missed time.

I made the decision during class and told the students we would have a class on Saturday morning of the 27^th.  To my astounding amazement, they cheered and said they’re happy.  Was I dreaming?  Was this reaction normal from students?  Were they simply acting nice to my decision and giving me the impression they wanted to come to school on a Saturday?  Whatever reason, it still astounded me.

This afternoon Kevin (Yaletown Bistro owner) and I were to meet up for some brainstorming of items he could possibly put on his menu.  He prepared a nice pumpkin spice latte and it went down great since the weather was already cooler.

I was there for maybe 1 ½ hours at which time I met Lee at the Mega21 department store nearby and we went for dinner up on the 11^th floor. (Food court area)

There are many choices and sometimes its difficult to choose but we decided on Korean.  Food was tasty and spicy.  Lee brought me a drink and said to try it, it was something new and only made during this time of year.  After having a couple sips and I was thinking that it tasted very similar to hot chai tea.  He said it was a hot ginger milk tea and boy it was good.  A strong ginger flavour and it certainly went down quite easily.  I will be ordering one of those again in the near future.

After dinner, took a few photo shots of some outdoor Christmas set-ups and then ventured back to the apartment.  By this time I can say I was very cold and I’m sure the locals were laughing me at simply because I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts while 99.9% of the people around me had winter clothing on, including Lee. 

Oh well, just another day walking about and yes, I’m trying to walk more and put pressure on my leg.  Ten weeks tomorrow since the accident.

Saturday

Well it’s 10 weeks today that the accident occurred and I’m feeling much better than 10 weeks ago at this time.

I made a decision today to ride the scooter to the nearby department/grocery store (Carrefour) and was hesitant at first but I felt good and my leg wasn’t hurting so thought what the hell.  Now, I’m not sure if I’ll tell the Doctor about this but anyway, I did it and nothing happened but most of all I feel mobile now.  This is what is driving me crazy, not being mobile as everyone around me.

We took my scooter against Lee’s suggestion as he thought it was a bit too big for me to try and get onto.  I drove, as it seemed easier getting on from the front than trying to hop myself up onto the back seat area.

Lee was on the back with his leg brace on and holding my crutches, yes it was quite the sight.

We got there and back with no issues and we have food in the apartment that I can cook breakfast tomorrow.

I think a sign that I’m improving steadily. (at least I think it’s a sign)

Cut up some fruit and we walked over to the library and sat outside eating it and enjoying people watching.  OH yeah…first went to the 7-11 for our 2 for 1-latte specials.  For the month of December, the 7-11 stores are offering 2 lattes at a $28 discount. 

I changed my eating habits about a week ago since my physical exercise is almost non-existent due to my injury but my eating habits have not changed since the accident.  If you can read between the lines you will see what I’m getting to.  Weight gain!!  Not good.

One more thing…today is the 13^th December.  Twelve days before Christmas.  Doesn’t the song go ‘on the 12^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me – ‘12 drummers drumming’?