SICK - yech!

Been out sick for four days and I do not deal well with this. It is hard to do work from home due to lack of focus and being sick. It is hard not to do anything either.

Now on my third antibiotic in a month. Three weeks ago, I had a couple of insect bites that really swelled up on me. I asked our secretary about whether I should see the nurse, and before you could say boo, both of them had shipped me off to the clinic in the Science Park. This is a government run facility for simple things that operates as part of the infrastructure of the Science Park, including things like a grocery store, a bank, a travel agency, an employment agency, etc. So I go to the clinic, they check me out and give me an antihistamine for the swelling and an antibiotic in case there is some infection.

One week later, I am feeling like I have a urinary infection. This I think I can handle with lots of extra fluids, normal exercise, and rest. Fine for the weekend, then Monday starts the chills and fever. So Tuesday, back to the clinic, this time for another antibiotic. Oh - and I should note for my US friends, that the cost of the clinic visit, exam, and drugs, is about $15.

Home sick - fever abates with the antibiotic but urinary infection continues. So today, we travel to China Medical University Hospital where the system is pretty amazing. Teresa has been here before so we know some of the ropes. You have an appointment, sign in on the first floor in registration (or let the English speaking information desk people help you sign in), then go to the doctor's office listed in the email with your appointment and wait for your number to come up (on a board outside his/her door). Almost all doctors speak English by the way. A nurse helps shuttle patients in and out as well as manage the flow of files and orders. Physical exam, laboratory tests (where you take an order form to the lab, leave your sample, and then return to the doctor for the results - all data is kept electronically), lunch break, doctor consultation, longer dose of antibiotics, return visit scheduled (and paid for) to the doctor with followup testing (all included in the original bill). All this costs about $75. And they are apologizing for having to charge me so much because I do not have the National Health Insurance card which would drop that by about 90%. I'll talk more about being sick, but man, do we ever need health care reform and now!

So still sick, on more antibiotics, but feeling not too bad all considering. I certainly have nothing to complain about. The system works. And with my brother-in-law recovering from radiation and chemo (light), I thank God for all the miracles small and large.

Weekend walks in Taichung (3)

Our next weekend walk was again on a very hot Saturday afternoon. Trying to wait until things cooled down to go out, but this is simply not possible in Taichung in the summer.

Some signs caught my eye.

From Several weekend walks

We like this restaurant and have been there a couple time. It is very close to our apartment.

From Several weekend walks

This is a breakfast place that has recently had a make over. The sign and the restaurant facade is new. It is one of the few places open at 5:30 or 6:00AM when I go out jogging.

This sign was hanging on a corner along the parkway to the Art Museum. It promotes the "last available corner commercial lot".

From Several weekend walks

It is not quite the last available corner, as the next one is also empty.

These flowers have interested Teresa for a while. They hang by a thin stem from the tree

From Several weekend walks

From Several weekend walks

and sometimes can be found littering the ground after a wind storm or a rain storm.

This bird was sitting on the ground and bulging out his neck. We did not know if he was trying to attract a mate or trying to keep cool.

From Several weekend walks

And this temple which is along the parkway caught my eye in the evening sunlight. When I jog by in the morning, there is often someone there lighting incense which wafts out to the street. I try to acknowledge the gods as I run by.

From Several weekend walks

Weekend walks in Taichung (2)

Our next weekend walk took place after we got back from the US. We actually went out for a walk on Saturday morning and then did some sightseeing on Sunday afternoon (more on that in a minute).

Our morning walk allowed me to catch up on construction on the "National Museum" building.

From Several weekend walks

Good progress is being made but I cannot tell yet if they have topped it off.

There were some beautiful flowers out in the park by Moonlight Basin and HotelOne.

From Several weekend walks

From Several weekend walks

You can see from the pictures that the weather was threatening rain.

I took a couple pictures of this building on a corner lot on the parkway heading towards the Art Museum. It has always interested me in how much glass there is on the building. The lower floor (or two floors) look like they will eventually be a commercial space and the upper three floors and the roof are housing, though I cannot tell if it is one or multiple apartments.

From Several weekend walks

From Several weekend walks

You can tell from the plants that people are living in the upper floors now.

We walked past the Taichung Cultural Center to see the corner which had been in construction for a while. Neither of us could remember if this sculpture was new or old.

From Several weekend walks

The construction is complete and the corner is back and usable which is good for the fall when I start running outside again. The construction complicated my favorite route.

We walked around the Art Museum and along a street of restaurants, several of which we have visited. This one, Le Mout, we had not and that turned out to be our plan for Saturday night. It was our best and most expensive dinner in Taichung. And will need to be the subject of a full entry later.

From Several weekend walks

Weekend walks in Taichung

I took several walks in the late afternoon over the past month or so. The first was one Sunday while Teresa was in the U.S. and I was still in Taiwan. Walking from home, I was struck with the construction ongoing with this building.

From Afternoon in Taichung

They were working hard on a Sunday afternoon. The small structure in the foreground with the odd angles is the "apartment palace" or sales office for the building going up. It is somehow called the "National Museum of Natural Science DC". The National Museum is several blocks away. Perhaps there will views of it from the upper floors? I don't know.

On the opposite corner, the National Hotel is being renovated. To do that, it is common to wrap the building as you see here.

From Afternoon in Taichung

The sales office does a nice job reflecting the other structures

From Afternoon in Taichung

and the sign for the building is here

From Afternoon in Taichung

This sculpture sits at Taichung Gong Rd - a major artery - where it crosses the strip of park land that runs between the Science Museum and the Art Museum.

From Afternoon in Taichung

A store front walking past Taichung Gong Rd. and towards the museum caught my eye.

From Afternoon in Taichung

I hope they sell very fancy candies!

And as always, scooters are everywhere. This is a row of parking on the far side of the museum.

From Afternoon in Taichung

I was also struck with a (new?) bit of graffiti on the canal under a bridge.

From Afternoon in Taichung

I am never sure what the sense of the graffiti is - that is a conversation I have not had yet with a Taiwan friend.

Returning hope, the mist was rising from the atrium (mist nozzles were running)

From Afternoon in Taichung

and then I decided to check out the view from the roof.

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

From Afternoon in Taichung

All in all a pretty nice afternoon!

Typhoon Morakot

Well, it is Friday and this is our first "Typhoon Day" of 2009. Morakot is planning to cross the island near the north on Saturday and yesterday it was quite rainy. All the local governments called off work and school for the day today, so we got to sleep in and stay in. It was a chance to watch mostly the wind today, and to hear it shake the frame of the sliding doors every once in a while. All in all, a nice quiet day.

Back in Taichung

We have been back in Taichung for a week now after time in Meiguo (the United States). It really was nice coming back and feeling like home after a short visit in Danville (for me) and a week in Corning (to teach class). More on those later.

Coming back to all the folks here and feeling welcomed back is great. We connected with some of our AmCham group on Tuesday at our monthly Happy Hour, today at church with our group there, and of course at work.

It is definitely summer here. I remember last year running inside only until about October or November. I don't think I had an outside route till then. Now, in July, even at 6AM it is very hot and humid and best to switch back to running in the gym. I tried once or twice outside, once when we were up early with jet lag. Hen la (very hot).

I also got Teresa to try the pool (one year here and we have never used it!). She had a good workout swimming laps.

Balcony garden

It is a common thing on almost all the apartment buildings to see plants, trees, and all kinds of growing things on people's balconies. The weather is hot and tropical so many things grow crazy. The apartments are smaller and the air conditioning runs most of the time, so indoor plants do not do as well. And winter... well, there is not much that really feels like winter.

So we decided last year, almost as soon as we were settled in, to gather some plants. We visited the Floral Market as I mentioned in an earlier post and began our collection. I do not know if many things from that purchase still exist. But our cleaning lady, Flora, adopted our balcony and us, and we have grown and grown in our collection.

We also bought some pots along the way and repotted things as they grew. I say we, but I really mean Teresa who does all the heavy lifting and tracking of the plants. Her green thumb, not a characteristic she uses much in the US, is evident here.

And new things seem to appear every few weeks from Flora - as well as some old things disappearing. It all makes for a great display and a nice place to hang out albeit briefly. As a Corning colleague was leaving for the US, I also bought a small gas grill for the balcony, and some hangers for plants on the railings. It is looking more and more like a living space.

From Taiwan 2009

From Taiwan 2009

From Taiwan 2009

From Taiwan 2009

From Taiwan 2009

Now we can look like the apartments where things grow out over the balconies and a little forest like environment comes into the city.