Jan 30
At night, we went to Walmart.
Jan 31
We were up at 7:00 in the morning and out the door by 7:30 for Nan'ao Island. The road was almost empty, so the drive was smooth all the way. By 8:15 we were already on the Nan'ao Bridge. We stopped whenever we saw a nice view and took photos along the way.
What annoyed me most was the parking lots that charged fees without any clear signs. I couldn’t even tell whether they were officially authorized. There was no visible notice at all, and the whole thing felt badly managed.
By a little after 9, we had reached Nan'ao county town. We went as far as the Wuguitou area and then decided to head back. In the end, we took a long detour and returned the way we came.
The sea on the return trip was mostly wild coastline, with not much worth looking at, and the road itself wasn’t easy to drive. Next time, it’s probably better to take the route on the right side. The water today wasn’t that clear blue you hope for either—it was dark, almost black, and not beautiful at all.
The best part of the return trip was that the road was still moving freely. Seeing the other direction jammed up like a snail made me quietly glad we had left early. It seems clear that going earlier is still the right choice.
In the afternoon, we watched Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.
Feb 1
In the morning, Little Bear’s grandparents went out to buy groceries and didn’t get back until 11:30. Jasmine and I took Little Bear out to play.
At noon, Grandma said it was the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and that we should eat dumplings. So the whole family started making them together. Jasmine wrapped dumplings for a long time and got tired, so Grandma took over. She had barely started when she suddenly said she felt unwell, then slowly lost feeling. Grandpa rushed over and kept pinching and pressing for several minutes before she gradually came around.
No one really knew what caused it. Everyone just said it was a sudden spell.
In the afternoon, we took Grandma to the hospital to see a doctor, but the outpatient clinic wasn’t open.
Feb 2
We went to the hospital again at 10:00 a.m., but only a few departments were open. In internal medicine, only the general clinic was seeing patients. After waiting in line for half an hour, the consultation itself took only two minutes. In the end, they still didn’t really say what the cause was.
We had originally planned to go hiking in the afternoon. Little Melon got up at 3:00 and went out for a walk; she hadn’t been out for a whole month before that. We looked for her for quite a while and didn’t get her back until 4:30, which was too late for hiking. So we changed plans and went to the vegetable market instead.
Feb 3
Today was the first official workday after the holiday. Jasmine went to work in the morning, left around 12:30, and got home after 1:00.
I took Little Bear’s grandma to the hospital for a full checkup. She had an ultrasound of the heart, carotid arteries, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, and portal vein, plus blood tests and an electrocardiogram. It cost nearly 1,000 yuan in total, and the results didn’t come out until the afternoon.
Jasmine had been feeling dizzy these past few days, so in the afternoon I took her to see a doctor. The doctor suspected anemia and sent her for a blood test, but the results were fine. In the end, the doctor said she probably just hadn’t slept well. We could only take a few boxes of blood-tonifying medicine home.
At night we went to the supermarket and bought pork trotters and lamb.
Feb 4
In the evening, Little Melon took Little Bear out to play.
Feb 5
It was Sunday, and we got up at 9:00 with plans to go out and have some fun. Little Bear took more than half an hour to finish eating, so we didn’t leave until 10:00.
We arrived at the Agricultural Science and Technology Park at 10:40. Right after parking, someone came over to collect a 5-yuan parking fee. At the ticket office, we also found that the Bank of China credit card promotion was no longer available. In the end, we had to pay for five tickets ourselves, 50 yuan in total.
Once inside, the park turned out to be more interesting than I expected. There were fruit gardens, flower gardens, tree gardens, cactus areas, and even a section with ostriches and geese.
We left around 1:00. By the time we got home and finished eating, it was already after 2:00. The neighborhood was hosting a performance that day, and the loudspeakers were blasting songs, so there was no way to get any rest.
We didn’t go anywhere else at night. After showering, we were in bed before 8:00.