Love and hugs.....Cindy
Hello!! I am back in the states. John has had knee replacement surgery. His recovery is going well. Sorry for the long delay in my last blog. I was having issues with getting on to Weebly while I am in China. I have no problem here. So it isn't my computer but the China internet. Hopefully, I can catch up some on my adventures in China. Meanwhile, I will search for a new company to blog with. Thanks for keeping up with me. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Basically, if I can access the company while in China and it is free, it is for me!
Love and hugs.....Cindy
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So why did we go to Seoul? Well, we wanted to see a few people there and since we have met a lot of Koreans here we wanted to see what the country they were from was like. Plus I found some reasonable prices to fly there. Therefore, we took our 40th anniversary trip to Korea. I have to say it was nice. The city was so clean! I mean it. You could hardly find trash on the street even in the poorer neighborhoods. The city has some good cleaner uppers. Or the people don't throw trash on the ground. Not even a cigarette butt. Maybe there are some stiff fines if you do but whatever, it was nice. I was also impressed by the metro system. It was so easy to get around the city. Although, the stairs were a killer for John and his knees. The elevators were so far from the area we were in and hardly any escalators. The pain is his knee slowed us down a bit. I will show you a picture of him struggling to get to the top of a hill, leaning on his cane in a bit. So here we are at the top of the highest point in Seoul........Welcome to Korea! We took a tour of our company. Met some lovely people there. But the ones we came to see had to leave back home so we missed them. But still had a nice tour and a wonderful lunch. Now lets go for a walk around town.....Palaces, markets, people and more.... Our favorite day was spent at the highest peak, N Seoul Tower. Interesting place. We took a bus ride most of the way but had to walk up a steep incline to get to the level area. That is where John struggled with reaching the top. His poor knee! Here are some photos of the eventful day. We ended the day exploring an area around the place we wanted to have dinner, Outback Steak house! There was an hour wait so we strolled around the neighborhood. So clean and well done. I felt perfectly safe. Even had Tourist Police? What's that about? Are the tourist that bad that they need their own police? Take a look..... Well, that's it! Our little trip to Korea. I really wanted to see more, explore more but poor John just couldn't go. I couldn't leave him behind. But what we did see was beautiful, clean and historical. Maybe one day I will go back. But there are so many other places to see...Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia....who knows where our next flight will take us. But we are booked for our flight to the USA this summer! We will arrive in Tampa on June 18th. So watch out people...
here we come! Love and hugs....Cindy PS. Thanks for the comments. I want to hear from you all! Hiding? From what? From the Seoul Police! No joke. I will tell you why in a minute. Our visit to Seoul was to see some friends who had relocated from our Hong Kong company to the Korean company. And we thought it might be a nice trip to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We arrived late Monday night and got up early to catch a bus for the 3 hour ride from the airport to the company. After a very nice tour and lunch arrangement we took a bus to the city center of Seoul. This ride was shorter but we were so tired from the late flight and early ride that we were ready to take a nap. I was soooo much looking forward to getting to our booked Airbnb home in Seoul. We found the building with no problem. The directions were spot on. We stood in the lobby as I flipped through my iPad notes looking for the email with the actual apartment number on it. Suddenly, we were approached by a woman who offered her assistance. She labeled herself as the host of the building. I tried to tell her we didn't need any help but she insisted. Soon she suggested we call the owner to get the apartment room number and even offered her phone. This was fine with me. I was ready to drop. We called and he met us at the door. He was a nice man, very helpful in showing us around. All was well....we thought.
About 5 minutes after we arrived, the doorbell rang. Through a security box on the wall we could see who was at the door. It was the police!! The owner quickly asked us not to talk, and not to answer the door. He started to shake. Uh oh! What is this all about? Here is the conversation that ensued: Owner: "Ssshhh! Don't talk! Don't answer the door!" Us: "Why?" Owner: "It's the police!" Us: "Okay. But why are we hiding from the police?" Owner: (Starting to shake) "They are looking for us." Us: (John wonders now if the man is a bad guy) "Looking for us? Why?" Owner: "They are looking for Airbnb rentals." Us: "Oh, they are looking for you. Why? Is it illegal to rent your home out using Airbnb?" Owner: "No, but you have to register with the government. I didn't. This month they are looking for Airbnb renters. I thought we would just be careful." Us: "I see. You didn't think to tell us that? "(So now they know we are here as renters because of the very helpful undercover cop we met in the lobby.) Owner: "We have to get our story straight." Us: "What story is that?" Owner: "If they come back, tell them we are friends and that we met while I was visiting in America and that you are just staying here in my home." Us: "Uh....that is lying. We can't lie to the police." Owner: "You have to! If you don't, they will fine me $2,700.USD" Us: "Sorry, we won't lie to the police. Right now, they are looking for you. If we lie, then they will be after us." Owner: (Still shaking and now sweating) "What are we going to do?" Us: "You are going to give us back our money and we are going to leave." After 15 minutes of making phone calls to his wife and friends he decided that was best. I hurriedly found a hotel using his wifi while he made a dash for the money and we bugged out of there. I can say, I have never experienced anything like that before. When we returned home to China, I sent a message to the Airbnb people informing them of our predicament in Seoul. I immediately got a response. They apologized and offered to reimburse us for the extra expense of the hotel and laundry bill. That was a nice surprise. I wrote the Owner one final note. "You shouldn't include other people in your illegal activities!" So that was our beginning of our days in Seoul. I can say, it got better after that. On my next blog I will share a few pictures. So stay tuned! Same time! Same station! (You have to be old to remember that line.) Love and hugs.....Cindy Finally! I was having such an issue getting on Weebly to blog. They updated as well and that caused me problems. But it seems that all is well right now so let me tell you about our trip to the WORLD'S LARGEST AQUARIUM! We traveled with a couple and their 6 yr old daughter, Daisy. They are so nice and seemed genuinely happy to be with us. Not sure why. We have many issues: frequent bathroom breaks, bad knees, overheat easily, get tired early, etc... But I guess when you have a 6 year old with you then it is almost the same. :-) Since the couple works during the week, we had to make the trip on a weekend. So, yes, it was a bit crowded. We arrived around noon time and went straight to the hotel. The couple's wife's name is Emily. Let me tell you how sweet she is! When we were planning this trip she offered to search for a hotel for us. I said, "Okay, let me know when you find one you like." Well, the next week she announces that she booked our hotel and bought the package deal that included tickets and a circus show nearby. I asked how much? She refused to let us pay! She said she wanted to do something nice for us because she appreciates all the time we spend with her and her husband Hank. Oh my! She picked the most expensive hotel, a 5 star hotel! It was connected to the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom that we were going to visit. We tried to fight her on this but for a little Chinese woman she has a lot of spunk. There was no changing her mind. So we were very grateful and accepted her gift. It was later that I told her that the weekend we went together was our 40th anniversary. I told her that she has made our trip very special. Emily has a face that can light up brighter than a 100 watt light bulb! Really! And she was thrilled that she got to spend our special day with us. Now let me share with you a few pictures from our weekend trip to the Chimelong Ocean World located in Zhuhai, China. Let's start with the hotel. It was the main one of 3 that are on the property. The lobby was quite impressive and probably the most crowded lobby I have ever been in! Pretty impressive, isn't it? Yes, you might have seen John walking with a neck brace on. Sadly he woke up a day before we left with a wicked stiff neck. So he wore his old brace to help stabilize it. So no worries. It was gone in a couple of weeks. Actually, I had the same issue about 4 weeks before he did. Is there a stiff neck virus? How did I pass it on to him? The rooms were very nice, not like the usual tiny rooms they have here in Asia. The bathroom had a shower and a tub! Nice! So let's go to Ocean Kingdom..... The entrance was amazing with this huge overhead screen that displayed beautiful pictures of sea life. I could have sat and watched that for hours. Now let's see what else the park offers... Actually, it was like Sea World with dolphins, seals, walruses, sharks, beluga whales and more. And as advertised, the WORLD'S LARGEST AQUARIUM was really large! Would you like to meet Emily and her family? Here they are.... Emily's daughter, Daisy, is very shy so many of my pictures with her in it look like this. Ha! But I did get one good photo of this cutie pie.... We spent the afternoon at the Aquarium then rushed to the circus. I am not a fan of circuses that have people risking their lives for my entertainment but this one was not like that, much. here are some sights from the Circus. Well, that is about it for our trip to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. We had a nice time. Emily's family is very nice and easy to travel with. Now Emily wants us to go to Xi'an together to see the terracotta soldiers! Hmm... this time I will book the hotel. :-) But we shall see first how John's knee does. He injured it a little while we were in Korea. Also may be suffering from a little gout but not sure about that. So hold off on that ticket to Xi'an! My next blog will be about our trip to Seoul, South Korea. It was our anniversary trip that we had planned.
Thanks for sharing our adventure! Happy 40th Anniversary, John. Hello! Wow, I just realized it has been over 2 months since my last blog. Time flies when you are busy! I have been having issues with Weebly log in. Sometimes all I get is words down the left side of the page. WHY? I was told to go to an Incognito Window which I did. It works, sometimes. Today I had to clear the browsing data and do a search on Bing for Weebly then I was able to log in. Mafan!! (That's means trouble in Chinese.) Well, I am finally on so here are some sights around town. I am amused by the t-shirts. So I often snap a picture of the more interesting ones. Some are offensive and I am not sure I want to show you those. But here are a few..... That one has been my motto since moving to China. John doesn't like it, though. :-) Now try to figure out what the next 2 mean..... How about a one that makes you look twice.... That last one was being worn by all the women working in a shoe shop. The next one is hard to live by since there are so many of them walking around! Okay, I am just kidding.... But these shirts are not so bad. Some are just a bunch of words or letters put together with no meaning. I get caught trying to read them sometimes and it embarrasses the wearer. Sometimes they ask me to tell them what it says! So this teaches me to check the words on a shirt in any language I am not familiar with. About a month ago we woke up to a situation that was more than mafan. The lock on the only door out of our home was broken. It wouldn't unlock! So we were trapped inside the house! Since we had a metal outside security door and a metal inside door, no one could have opened it for us. Except maybe the fire department. So we got the tool box out and proceeded to tear the lock apart. After much sweat we got it open. The lock was in pieces though. So John and a friend went down to the local hardware store to buy a new one. Not real expensive. Here is John with our Chinese son holding a flashlight while they put on the new lock. Life is full of surprises but I could do without being locked in my home.
Well, that is it for now. I will try to blog in a few days about our trip the the Chimelong Aquarium. We went there on Aug 22, our 40th anniversary! Can you believe it has been that long since John and I got married!!! Oh my, oh my, oh dear, oh dear. So many moments, days and years. Life goes so quickly, like a shooting star. Our hope is forever, our future is not afar. Thanks for checking on me. Would love to hear from you. Let me know if your are having issues with this website. When I open my website some of the pictures don't show up. Maybe it is my old computer? Love you guys!! Love and hugs....Cindy Safety is NOT a priority for many here in China. Check out what they have to do to install an A/C unit..... This worker is approximately 13 stories high with concrete below. He does have a harness with a rope tied to the bars but it still is a terrible way to have to get the job done. The little guy gets the dangerous job. They do this all the time. We recently went on a shopping spree to IKEA with our friends from America. This is what it looks like between 12:00-2:00 in many furniture stores. Every chair, sofa, bed and anything horizontal practically is occupied with napping people. It is so different than what we see in the USA. Chinese love their naps! I still refuse to comply with my afternoon drowsiness but recently my husband who is 66 yrs old said he is considering it. I found a place to get my pedicures done nearby our new home. (At my age, crusty feet and toes are normal annoyances.) It just opened and offers a 40 minute foot massage for $5.00 and pedicure for $8.00. Well, on my first visit I said, "Give me the works!" after all, at those prices, I can afford to be a big spender! I did make her wash her tools with alcohol since my bout with a nail fungus 2 years ago. I cured it with hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. But I don't want to go thru that again. I also bring my own polish. Just to be safe. I had a little surprised during the foot massage. The usual is, your feet soak in hot water while the masseuse works on your neck and shoulders. Then comes the feet. This time after a vigorous pressure point massage (OUCH!) the masseuse does this.... (Sorry about the short shorts. Showing your legs is very popular in China.)) She takes a small cupping cup and inserts the fire to create a vacuum and proceeds to apply to my foot. After several tries she gets a good suction. They are left on for about 5 minutes. I have never had cupping done since it creates a bunch of bruises on your body but some swear it makes them feel better. But I had never seen it done on the bottom of a foot! Oh, well, it didn't hurt and didn't leave a bruise. None of the ladies working here spoke English so my time with them was spent smiling and gesturing. Another young lady with a guy came in for a nail polish and just laughed and laughed at everything I said to her. She was funny to me as well. I think some are so nervous around me they react this way. Well, we have been here a month and I have had a little cold and John is dealing with a flu like virus. Fever, coughing and other unpleasant things. Our friends who were here this past weekend got it as well. I didn't, so they must of made contact with the virus when I was not with them. Which is fine with me! Here is a little message I thought worthy of sharing... And I will end my blog on that note!
Love and hugs....Cindy Well, we had a nice time visiting family and friends these past 2 month. It was exhausting! What can I say? It seems like it was a non-stop party. But how nice to see old friends. Like the song says..."Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold!" It was difficult to see my mother in her situation, though. She fell and broke her hip the day after we arrived. Not good for someone who is 85 yrs old. I had to spend my time with her at the rehab facility. It was difficult to see how much she has changed from just a year ago. So thin and frail looking. It was very hard to leave this time because I wanted to stay longer with her. I still call every other day but it isn't the same.... I am such a bad blogger! I started this blog a month ago and haven't finished! I had such a hard time getting back onto Weebly's website. Bad internet? I don't know but I got it now. Also, I think that now that we use our laptop more to watch something at night (the TV in the new home is very old and small) I don't get a chance to blog on it like before. I will try to do better. Life here is interesting! I love to sit and just look at the many faces and wonder about the people. Are they sad? happy? Do they have a family? The older ones have such a hard time taking care of their grandkids. It would wear me out! I love to give them a smile and see their faces light up like the sky on the 4th of July! Such a small thing, a smile, but it sure does a lot for the heart. So smile, smile, smile! We will be heading to the airport on Saturday to welcome some friends who have not been here before. They are from America, living in China, and need to visit Hong Kong for their Visa requirements so they are stopping by for a visit. I have only met them once before back in the states so it will be nice to get to know them again. We plan on going to Hong Kong with them on Sunday to see some of our English speaking friends and do some shopping. I hope they enjoy our city. Guess what!! We are planning to go to Korea in September! Our 40th anniversary is this year so we decided to go somewhere special. We have friends who recently moved to Korea so we shall go see them and explore the city of Seoul (Suh ol). I have already booked the flights...now I have to find a job to pay for them. I do get offers almost every week to teach. Recently I was asked to teach a 1 year old! Oh, my! I love babies so maybe I will try this. I think it will be mostly just play time. So that was the good news....the bad news is that I had my mini iPad stolen. So sad. It was a gift from my boys so I especially was upset. It was stolen from my backpack while I had it on my back. I think the thief saw me using it earlier and followed me until he saw his chance. I stopped into a store since it had started to rain but didn't move my backpack off my back. Usually, I hold it in front of me when I am around people. This time I didn't. :-( A clerk told me my backpack was unzipped which told me something was wrong. I searched my bag...begging for it to be there but, alas, it was gone. Only 2 days back from America and it was gone. Yes, it is only a thing but it was special to me plus I use it so much here, it is like my right arm! The wonderful thing is, my husband had bought a new mini iPad before we left so he graciously gave it to me. So, I am back to work, keeping my nose to the grindstone, making up for lost time, making hay while the sun is shining, and doing all I can to keep on the watch.
Thanks for reading my blog. Keep in touch! Love and hugs....Cindy Hello friends. We are having a good time with family and friends. It is tiring, though. It seems like party after party and I am not a party person. John could be. He is planning something every night! Our trip back will soon come to an end. We leave Tampa on May 6th and head to Utah to see our youngest son. Then a few days later back to China. It gets harder to leave my parents each year. This year my poor mom suffered a fractured hip but she is recovering well. Dad is doing a super job of keeping her going. I don't know for how much longer he can do this so my days in China may be numbered. I have a few interesting pictures from China I haven't shared with you yet so here they are.... We are making last minutes plans and packing the suitcases. I hope we can take all the stuff we bought back with us. It is so much cheaper to get things here. But there is a weight limit on suitcases so we need to be practical.
Thanks to all for the kindnesses they have shown to us. Thanks to Jim Kripas in Texas for helping us with our Visa. We got a 10 year! So now we can plan our trips back to coincide with the RC or other important events. We would love to see more friends but there just isn't enough time. Love you all! Love and hugs....Cindy Well, a year has about past since our last trip back to the states and it just seems like it has been a few months. We are to leave here on March 18th and arrive in Tampa in the evening of March 19th. John's knee is recovering well. He moans and groans about some pain but what can you expect? It was six weeks ago that he had his bones screwed into and his knee all stitched up so a little pain is normal. I looked back and saw a few pictures I left out so I thought I would add them in this blog. Here is our journey from the hospital home We had to buy the wheelchair but couldn't get one that allowed John to keep his leg straight. I noticed that others were using a crutch so that is what we did. We used a luggage strap to keep his leg from falling off. In China, you just have to make do with what you have. We will sell the wheelchair and the walker when we get back. John says he is keeping the cane. It is a requirement for those sitting to get up for those who have special needs. He uses the cane to get a seat on the buses and subway. He is so bad! Well, I think I am through with the surgery story. Here are some random pictures of things I see around town.... Hello friends! Long time no see! It has been a crazy month or more. Yes, John had surgery. He was coming down some wet stairs and slipped. There was no railing to hold on to. His knee hit a metal beam on the side of the wall and injured it. He had 3 tendons come off. So here I am just arriving home from an expensive trip to the dentist and I get a phone call from a friend. "John has fallen!! Come quick!" I grabbed all the cash we had in the house and ran out the door. This is a cash only country. He wasn't far from home so I was able to get to him in 5 minutes. Our friends and the manager of the place where he fell (called Wake Up) had carried him out to the curb on a chair. Thankfully one of our friends was a big guy from Texas. He could have done it alone! Now comes the fun part. Flagging down a red taxi that can make the trip to the hospital and getting John's very painful leg into the car. We have red and green taxis here and only red ones can cover the whole city. The green have to stay in the northern part where we live. After about 20 minutes we were able to get one and, after a few screams from John as we loaded him into the taxi, we were off to the hospital. This is our first experience going to the hospital in an emergency situation. I considered it an emergency but our insurance didn't so we had to pay cash up front. After a confusing hunt for the emergency entrance (they are doing construction work at the hospital) we ended up in the parking garage. One friend ran to get a wheelchair. You actually have to leave a deposit for it. That was 400.00 RMB. Then after a few more screams from John as we try to get him in it, we head for the registration office which was closed due to the lunch break. Finally it opened and we ask to see a doctor. We pay another 100.00 RMB. He sees a doctor who decides he needs an xray. Pay first, 128.00 RMB. The technician ask him to straighten his knee. NO! John says. Yes! the technician says and John lets out a few more screams. Back to the doctor who informs us that John has severed his tendon. I think the word "severed" almost made John faint. The good news is that it can be reattached. The bad news is that there may be more damage so an MRI is ordered and John is admitted to the hospital. Now a deposit of 3000.00 RMB is required. I am short on cash now and they wouldn't take my credit card as credit, so our friends all start to check their pockets. The Texan had his rent money so we borrowed part of it to make the deposit. The hospital is considered one of the nicer ones in this city. Glad to hear that. But they don't spend money on decorations. Plain walls that need painting, beds that need cranking, and moldy tile in bathroom. But the toilet had a neat contraption that allowed a user to have a clean seat to sit on each visit. Plus it was a heated seat! Wahoo! John's room was decent. Not much mold and China clean. I grabbed the broom on our second day and did a little more cleaning. I would have brought in some bleach for the shower but thought they might get offended. So here is John, not much in pain unless he had to move his leg, in a Chinese hospital waiting for his MRI. One day passes, and surgery has been ordered for Thursday. John is getting antsy because there has been no MRI but surgery day is coming. He isn't good at waiting. They finally do the MRI and it is determined that not just one tendon is severed but 3 have come off. Now we have to come up with more money. Remember, no pay no service. Our dear friend Brigette offers her bank card with enough to cover 30,000 RMB. What would we do with out friends?! Even though, with the extra tendons, the cost will probably be closer to 40,000. So another sweetheart of a friends loans us another 10,000. We are so blessed to have our friends. Of course, if we didn't have insurance to cover this, I might be a little panicky. We were going to be heading back to the US on February 9th so our funds were low. I am so thankful for everyone's assistance here. After John was admitted we all went home for the night thinking that the nurses on duty would be able to help John get to and from the bathroom. NOT! They never responded to his calls so the little Chinese man in the next bed would jump out of his bed and help John get his leg down off the bed. We got a walker for him to use. After the first night, John was never left alone. He had 24 hour care from our friends. Someone brought a cot so those staying overnight could lie down. The chairs they provide are small and not comfortable. Like a table chair. Lunch was provided everyday, not by the hospital, but by our friends. John didn't want dinner. He thought this was a good time to work on losing weight. And he did! At the hospital, you have to pay for everything. The food, the towels, the bed pan, the water mat that John sat on, the dressings, etc, etc, etc.... I guess it is the same in the USA but it is put on your bill. Some of the things were here, too, others I had to pay first. Here are a few pictures of the event up to this point... On the day of the surgery, John was informed that he was 5th in line so it wasn't until the afternoon when they finally took him to the operating room. There was a discussion between him and the anesthesiologist about what kind of stuff he would use during the surgery. Because of John's bad back he turned down an epidural and took a general knock out stuff. No paperwork to sign just talk. Kind of simple. The doctor was skillful and took a lot of time to explain his procedure. The procedure took about 2 1/2 hours. I waited for him in a big room, sitting on a metal chair with about 50 other people waiting for their loved ones. It was kind of amusing. When the big doors to the operating area opened, half the crowd would rush to the opening to check who is coming. The poor patient would be rolled through the crowd to an elevator. Soon it was John who emerged. He was in pain! The doctor was there, the anesthesiologist was there, and a slew of other attendants all looking after him. I got a few instructions and off we go to his room. No recovery room, they didn't even change his clothes before and after surgery. As we got to the room John was not a happy camper. He was begging for drugs. The nurse asked him what his level of pain was on a scale of 1-10. He said, "20!" She laughed. Drugs were administered and after an hour he was feeling better. Not out of pain but better. All in all, I would say things were going well. Now comes the hard part. The recovery time. John cannot bend his knee on his own for 1 month. So it was up to us to do it for him during his exercise time. He also needed a brace which was a pain to put on and off. I am glad to say he was diligent in doing his exercises and following doctor's orders. Now, how long do you think he would have stayed in the hospital in the states? A day or two? Well here, you can stay as long as you think you should. Because it was difficult for John to get in and out of bed and it was easier at the hospital, John stayed for 13 days. The cost of a day's stay is about 114.00 RMB a day. That is cheap! I may book a room at a hospital the next time I need a hotel stay in China! Here are some pictures of our time at the hospital. The nurses were so attentive to John. Maybe because he always told them thank you for their care. Or because he had so much loving care given to him they thought he was a celebrity. :-) So that is what we have been busy with this last month. Sorry it took me so long to update my blog. We were suppose to be back in the states on February 9th but because it would have been extremely difficult for John to travel we decided to postpone our trip. I had to re-book, cancel, and change all our flights which was not cheap. We will be leaving here on March 18th. I am happy to say that at this moment John is walking with cane. He still has to be careful and continues to exercise his knee but it is looking much better. We leave in about a month. He should be dancing a jig by then!
We didn't expect to be dealing with this before we headed back but our friends have made it bearable. Thank you so much!! This isn't John's first injury here. Back in September he fell over on a bicycle and scrapped his leg. It got infected and he had issues walking on it. That took about a month to get over and he has a nice scar to share with people. Now he has 2 scars. Did I tell you the final bill on this surgery? Almost 40,000 RMB. The 3 screws and the stitching kit (imported from America) were over half the bill. Incredible. How much is 40,000 RMB? It is $6,400.00 USD. Now that is CHEAP compared to what a US hospital surgery would have cost. I just hope the insurance pays it. We just learned that the insurance is no longer covering new clients in China so I don't know what we will do when it comes time to renew. Oh well...things usually work out. Thanks for keeping up with us. We look forward to seeing you all if possible when we return. Love and hug.....Cindy |
AuthorJust two old souls Categories |