2nd to 8th February

2^nd to 8^th February

Nicholas will arrive back to Taiwan from Canada so it will be nice to catch up with him at some point.  

UPDATE:  Nicholas just called and has arrived.  He will now go back to Jocelyn’s home and crash and catch up on some sleep.  Other than receiving a call from him, nothing out of the ordinary took place today. 

Tuesday

Nicholas called and we will go to the licence bureau and to where the scooter was purchased to see what they have to say about part of the fender that fell off.

UPDATE:  Nicholas arrived around 10:30 so then we drove to the scooter dealer.  They had never seen anything like this before where this fender had broken off like this.  I’m wondering if the accident had anything to do with it by weakening the structure of it etc.  Not sure but anyway, I’ve ordered a new one and that will be put on once the part arrives in stock.  Also there is a recall on some internal part that controls the speedometer.  It will be replaced with a better component free of charge so that will also be done the same time the fender is put on.  They told us that it will be about two hours for the procedure as they have to take apart the entire front end to gain entry to the area they need to work on.

We then picked up Jocelyn (she only worked half day) and we went for wonton soup.  I hadn’t seen Jocelyn since the day that Nicholas left for Canada back last September so was nice to see her again.  Lunch was good (how can freshly made wonton soup not be).  I then came back to the apartment and Nicholas and Jocelyn were going to see his parents.  He had not seen them yet and he’s a little worried due to the fact he has returned to Taiwan soon than he was suppose to so now he needs to explain to his parents why.  He said he was a little nervous knowing they won’t be very happy. 

In the evening Lee and I went to the Thai place for dinner and once again it was closed.  Lee decided to walk to the front door and see if there was any posting as to why since this was the second time it had been closed and that is very unusual.  He returned saying they had closed and there is another Thai restaurant not far away so off we went.  This Thai eatery is across the street from the Han Sin department store (very high end and expensive).  When we entered I immediately noticed the people inside were not the ones who ran the other eatery.  Lee asked about this and we were told that this is a chain and simply the other store had closed down.  This particular eatery we were now at has been there for a few years.  Very close to my place but I had never noticed it before.  The food was ok but not good enough for me to go back anytime soon.  I prefer now the Thai eatery that we went to a couple weeks ago by Pier 2.  That will be the one I take my sister and brother-in-law to.

Wednesday

Nicholas texted me and said probably this afternoon we will go for a coffee so I will have to ask how his meeting with his parents went.

UPDATE

I went over to Nicholas’ home and picked him up around 11:00am.  We went to a new place called “Do Good” as I have passed it many times but have never gone inside.  As soon as we walked in we were immediately greeted and then the one young man spoke English.  It wasn’t very busy at the time (3 patrons) and and young man and girl who seemed to be the focus of running the café.

We had lattes and two different types of sweet bread (one was lemon and the other I’m not quite sure but they were somewhat tasty and went well with latte).

They told us that they have only been opened for a month but I’ve seen the signage longer than that.  You can see by the photos it has a rustic and natural look to it and it’s quite comfortable and relaxing.  The only thing is that there was construction taking place immediately outside the front door so of course it was somewhat noisy during our time there.

I will probably visit it again at some later time since the people were very friendly and it’s cool inside. 

When I asked Nicholas about all the burning of the money I observed in the morning in many places he told me that today was the beginning of the Lunar New Year so many people will do this procedure to begin the New Year with good luck and get rid of any bad.  Even though this procedure has been declared by the government to stop, there are still those die hards who continue to do so. 

I guess old habits die-hard.

After latte we of course had to go for shaved ice.  This would be the first time since Nicholas left last August that we will have shaved ice again.  I stopped at my favourite place and of course the same place I go to all the time and yes the same girl was there working.  She greeted me as always and then another woman who was also working there (never saw her before) began speaking English to me and saying oh you are from Canada blah blah blah.  I’m in amazement and thinking to myself ‘wow’.

It turns out that this woman is always there but working in the back doing all the prep hence why I’ve never seen her.  Her brother owns this particular shop and she I guess runs it for him.  He also owns a similar shop in Vancouver where this woman was for the past five years and only returned to Kaoshiung last year.

Once again we received free ice cream on top of the shaved ice…hahaha this seems to becoming a habit but I enjoy it.  We only got a small shaved ice so it was manageable.

It was now mid afternoon so I took Nicholas back home.  He still had not seen his parents since they were not at home so he is thinking they probably spent the evening and the day at their farm in Pingtung.

Thursday

My God it’s cold this morning. (13C) as I rode the scooter to 7-11 for my latte then back to the breakfast eatery.  My eyes were watering and my nose was runny by time I arrived.  I now wish I had gloves.  What really I ask?  Hmmm I think I’m becoming too weak now..hahaha  I love the cold weather and snow so why am I so cold here at 13C?

It’s now 4:00pm and I went for a walk to the library and sit for a short time.  I am wearing jacket and long pants and I am still cold but when I sat on the granite seating pieces at the library they gave a feeling of warmth from the sun’s heat.  That felt good!

Tomorrow is back to the hospital again for another x-ray and Doctor visit.  I’m curious to see what has taken place inside my leg since the last visit 8 weeks ago.

Friday

Today marked 5 months since the accident so it was back to the hospital for another follow-up x-ray.

I arrived at the hospital around 8:45am and was finished around 10:00. 

The Doctor was pleased with the healing progression and showed me where more bone tissue had developed and the opening gap at the bone joint was narrowing since last visit.  He told me that this would be the last time he would see me as he was leaving soon for Minnesota to further his studies.  His replacement will continue to follow-up and see me on my progression.  We both said good-bye and wished each other a Happy New Year.

I will continue using a cane and crutch for a while still or until I can walk without the use of either. 

Visited a couple new places during the weekend with Nicholas but I would say the ‘Caffaina Coffee’ place Nicholas took me too was the highlight of the weekend.  Somewhat similar to Starbucks but I would say at a higher end.  To me it was like a dessert and coffee café.

Sunday

My sister and I were communicating some last minute text messages before they left for the airport.  She was saying the weather was becoming nasty but the flight was only forty-five minutes late departing.

I have a free app on my phone for tracking flights so I can see where the flight is located via the app and at this time of writing (10:15pm) the flight is approaching Siberia and then will continue south over China then eventually into Hong Kong arriving at 6:20am local time.

Peter will take me to the airport around 9 tomorrow morning and providing no delays in their flight from Hong Kong, should arrive here 9:20am.  Nicholas and I have the day planned out for them but I’m sure they will feel like to sleep at some point within the first 15 hours.