1/1/2024: Got up at 8:17. Decided not to visit Macys today as it's already past 10:00 am, might run into a big crowd if we go. Trimmed off all Wisteria pods, there weren't too many as I had the tree down sized last year. Walked 62 minutes in the backyard.
Made an end table extension top.
1/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Valleyfair with Anita, She paid her Macys card balance at the casher counter just inside the entrance near the parking garage, stopped by Nordstrom, Macys, also strolled Santana Row a bit before heading back to Koja Kitchen and had our usual Umami fry and Tuna salad for dinner. The total walk was 76 minutes.
Cleaned up most Oak leaves on the driveway, in the street, and on the curbside of our across the street neighbors, as the wind picks up, blowing the remaining leaves in the street toward the opposite side of the street, I gave up the effort to finish them. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-great one!
1/3/2024: Got up at 7:31. Visited Costco by myself, got one pack organic grape tomato, one hand banana, one Cranberry Walnut bread, one pack Mediterranean salad, two dozen pasture egg, one Brie cheese, 10 Movefree Ultra (for Peilee), one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack unsalted mixed nuts, and one pack (x12) Jimmy Dean Delights English muffin. Also filled up RX300 at $3.989/gal. Received 2 of 3 24-count Fancy Feast cat food from Amazon at 2:42 (picked up at 2:43). Setup Line on my new iPad Air 5th generation.
1/4/2024: Got up at 7:18. The third batch of Fancy Feast cat food was delivered at 10:59 (picked up at 11:01) by Amazon. Need to find out where to take LS400 for smog test soon! Finished reading Amazon First Reads "The Spy Coast" by Tess Gerritsen.
1/5/2024: Got up at 7:18. Cleaned up Oak leaves on the driveway, lawn, and in the street.
Also cleaned up backup backyard fallen leaves (including ones from our backyard neighbor). Called Peilee at 6:48 for one minutes, did not chat much as he's in 板橋 visiting Ahfen's relatives.
1/6/2024: Got up at 7:38. Visited Marukai and purchased one Taiwan cabbage, two bunch green onion, two white onion, two Broccoli heads, one soft tofu, one pack lean ground pork, one Yakisoba, two hand banana, one pack carrot, 4 Satoimo (Japanese Taro), one Salmon Shioyaki&chicken, one Futomaki, one Karaage (fried chicken-to be used to make Yakisoba), one pack Salmon steak, and one pork cutlet. Decided not to go see March as I am really tired. Discovered that VPN has to be turned off in order for Airdrop to work!
1/7/2024: Got up at 7:36. Cleaned up leaves on the deck, but I am sure it will be covered with fallen leaves soon. Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.
1/8/2024: Got up at 7:15. Made Yakisoba with Marukai purchased 3 pack set plus cabbage, Karaage (fried chicken from Marukai), mushroom, the volume should provide at least two meals. Blood pressure tests after kitchen work were 125/85/80-132/82/82-125/83/83 (systolic/diastolic/heart rate). Decided not to have MB, postponing it to tomorrow instead. Anita brought back a Subway Classic America sandwich for lunch.
1/9/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic grape tomato, one pack (x8) Danish, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one pack (x16 cup) Smashed Avocado, one pack (x2) Skippy Super Chunky peanut butter, one can Natures Bounty Fish Oil, and one can Nature Made B-complex. Filled LS400 with Octane 91 at Costco gas station at $4.389/gal. Walked in the backyard while it sprinkled, had to quit after 37 minutes as it rained harder. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
1/10/2024: Got up at 7:14. The tree specialist Harvey who lives across the street came by and estimated $1800 to trim our Oaks, guaranteed to last 4 years. Visited City Sports with Anita, walked treadmill for 30 minutes plus 36 belly presses.
1/11/2024: Got up at 7:20. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one head Celery and two pear, also purchased one bento at their deli department.
Oak tree trimming work started around 10:20, it'll be a major shaping of them.
The Oak tree trimming was finished at 4:06, a total of 5 hours and 45 minutes.
1/12/2024: Got up at 7:10. Cleaned up leftover garden waste (including lots of Oak trimming chips) in the street, I had to pile up a good amount of them on the curbside, will wit for the garbage bin to be emptied before I can move them into the bin later. Trimmed off all damaged Birds of Paradise branches and flowers, nearly 50 of them, cut them into shorter pieces to fit the garbage bin. Blood pressure staied high around 150, 160.
1/13/2024: Got up at 7:10. Blood pressure was ok after breakfast at 132/80-119/74-120/76 but again raised to 151/82-141/83-144/88. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
1/14/2024: Got up at 7:24. Visited IKEA in East Palo Alto and purchased one pack (x2) small tongs, one deco (small wooden house assembly), 4 can cookie, and one door mat, had scone and free coffee at the cafeteria. Robert came back from Taiwan-earlier than he planned. Played 100 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage (6:40-8:15pm).
1/15/2024: Got up at 7:10. Filled feeder and changed meal setting from 6-4-4 to 5-3-3. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one hand banana, one Cauliflower, one bag carrot (small bag instead of the 2 lbs ones this time), one Taiwanese cabbage, and one pack Kiwi.
Called a couple of Star Smog test shops, one (Smog Check Plus) can test 1991 LS400, sent question to the other (TNT Smog) which did not answer.
1/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one pack grape tomato (could not find the organic ones with vines we liked), two dozen pasture egg, one bag Peet's coffee bean, and one pack (x16) Chobani Yogurt. Cleaned up (only piled them near the fence as the garbage bin was nearly full) backyard leaves with blower. Walked 41 minutes in the backyard.
Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Milly and Molly cuddle in the planter box below the Cherry tree.
1/17/2024: Got up at 7:10. Took LS400 to Smog Check Plus on Berryessa, I was the only customer there at 8:25. It took 30 minutes but the important thing was "PASS", although they charged $138, more than twice than South Bay Smog test center, I am still appreciate the "PASS" certificate since we had little choice, there were two more cars waiting when I left the place.
Walked 52 minutes in the backyard.
Paid LS400 renewal fee online $190 plus %1.9 credit card processing fee.
1/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Measured blood pressure during a break of my daily warmup, with Heatdish on and sitting on my lazy boy, the measurements were nice: 119/76/91-123/76/88-118/74/88, uncertain if it's early morning or the location and heater setup helped. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one loaf of bread and a Lotus Pastry, also got one bento from their deli department:rice noodle, pork chops, egg plant, and Gai Lan.
1/19/2024: Got up at 7:31. Blood pressure after 香功: 135/82/78-130/80/77-135/82/77-126/80/74. Cleaned up Oak leaves inside Birds of Paradise, also trimmed off some leftover branch lower stems.
1/20/2024: Got up at 7:00. First blood pressure measurement right after getting up was 150/84/67. After 香功: 120/82/87-119/74/87-116/74/79. Picked up one order each Xiu Mai and shrimp dumpling at King Eggroll. Played 99 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage-the rain was moderate so driving wasn't a big issue.
1/21/2024: Got up at 7:10. Blood pressure measurement after 香功 and first half of warming up: 134/78/77-122/74/77-127/74/78-116/75/76. Visited Marukai by myself, purchased one pack carrot, three head Bok Choy, one pack bean sprout, one Daikon, one bag Yamahide Katsuo pack (x5 Bonito thins), Oishii Dashi Konbl, one Wp Hijiki seaweed, two pack (x3 each) Maruchan Nama Yakisoba, one pork cutlet, one Chicken terriyaki don, one Unagi Futomaki, one Karaage, one Salmon Dhioyaki & Chicken and $5 donation. Swept the fallen leaves from our back neighbor away from walkways, will clean them up when the weather gets better. Cleaned up most if not all large weed bunches under the Oak trees, some were really deep and grand rooted, it's the best time to remove them as the soil is soft.
1/22/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 122/82/82-116/78/81-123/75/78. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one pack grape tomato, 18 uncaged egg (they did not have the usual pasture ones today, hopefully not a norm), one pack (x8) Danish, one Brie, and one pack (x10) organic golden Kiwi. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ, also tried makeshift tubing (not very comfortable with them). Blood pressure at 2:40: 143/88/63-138/86/61-128/86/59.
1/23/2024: Got up at 7:00. Accompanied Anita to the Social Security Office in Campbell, it took over 40 minutes to get there as the morning comute was really awful on the junction of 101 and 880, the office appeared to have moved from their old location on Hamilton as we remembered. Waited one hour and 25 minutes for our turn but was asked to return later when called again as the lady needed to ask other work to help, Anita turned impatient as we waited over 15 more minutes just to get a statement of her own benefit which was lower than the spousal payment from me, oh well but at least we do not need to worry about it any more. Walked 44 minutes in the backyard.
Blood pressure after backyard walk: 127/76/65-126/79/67-124/79/64.
1/24/2024: Got up at 7:08. Blood pressure after 香功: 121/83/77-123/80/80-115/81/77. Played one hour and 50 minutes table tennis in Robert's garage.
Had haircut in the bathroom. Finished reading Kindle book "Lights Out" by Elise Hart Kipnes
1/25/2024: Got up at 7:04.
Blood pressure after 香功: 115/72/81-113/70/80-123/74/78. Cleaned up some backyard leaves, also blew the leaves near the fence into piles for Francisco. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-not bad.
1/26/2024: Got up at 7:15. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/86/78-131/78/78-132/76/76. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street. Walked 43 minutes in the backyard.
1/27/2024: Got up at 7:42. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/79/80-114/71/79-114/72/76-112/74/75 (first time with majority low systolic numbers). Received LS400 registration card. Visited Marshalls with Anita, she purchased one cashmere sweater, swing by Target and got threeFancy Feast gravy cans for Milly, also got one 15 oz Cheetos Crunchy. Called Peilee at 7:36 for 24 minutes, they will visit 阿里山 during the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year.
1/28/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/80/83-114/75/82-120/74/82-108/74/82. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market, purchased one bento at their deli department, the first time I wasn't able to close the lid as it was too full:-). Played 85 minutes table tennis with Robert at his garage.
Tried iMac to do my IRA transfer to Fidelity but Safari failed to establish a secure connection to the website and other browser such as Google Chrome only support MacOs 10.15 and later (we are stuck at 10.10), instead tried using my Macbook Pro and it worked, finished uploading Mainstar Trust document pages (x2) and signed (awkwardly) and submitted, pending completion between one and 2 weeks.
1/29/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功 and small portion of warm-up: 128/81/80-116/77/78-124/74/77. Trimmed some Wisteria withered branches. Had 25 minutes MB with mini and legs, EJ-nice. Finished trimming the entire Wisteria, the branches too close to neighbors as well as withered leaf stems, put all trimmings into the garbage bin. Ordered three different Fancy Feast gravy (x24 each order) cat food for Milly-chicken grilled (scheduled delivery on 2/1), chicken minced (scheduled delivery on 2/1), and turkey grilled (scheduled delivery on 1/30).
1/30/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/79/76-113/70/78-117/74/77-111/72/76. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased two bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (-$6 per bottle if purchasing two), one hand banana, one pack Mediterranean salad, two dozen pasture egg, one pack skirt beef, one tub cream cheese, one dozen 2021 Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack (x12) Artisan roll, and one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, filled up RX300 with Octane 89 gas at $3.899/gal. Swing by 99 ranch Market, purchased one愛玉, one pack carrot, one head Taiwanese cabbage, 3 green Bell Pepper, one string garlic, one pack green onion, two brown onion, one cauliflower, one bottle Sriracha, and one Celery. Received table tennis rubber and Fancy Feast turkey gravy grilled at 6:40 (picked up at 6:55).
1/31/2024: Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up backyard leaves. Forecasted rain did not materialize until (was first forecasted at 3:00pm) 7:00. There was water leak in the study and laundry room after about one hour, they were considered major as we had to use large towel to keep the water from spreading. Suspecting the roof maybe compromised...... Will check the attic tomorrow morning.
2/1/2024: Got up at 7:00. The water leak in the study and laundry room seemed to be under control (or the rain may have died down somewhat). Checked attic, there wasn't any sign of water from the roof, suspecting the leaks still came from the cracks on the wall outside of the window frames-possibly over the topsides. Checked both study and laundry room for leak, appeared dry for now. Received Fancy Feast chicken gravy minced, chicken gravy grilled, Lipton Orange/Passionfruit/Jasmine green tea, Bigelow Mint Medley, and Bigelow Cinnamon Apple Herbal tea bags from Amazon at 3:07 (picked up at 3:10).
2/2/2024: Got up at 7:08. Blood pressure after 香功: 143/82/80-133/82/78-121/81/79-143/79/74-120/81/72. Played one hour and 47 minutes table tennis with Robert at his garage.
Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-good one!
2/3/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after half way through my warmup session: 133/82/72-129/81/71-129/79/71. Visited Valleyfair with Anita, while checking Koja Kitchen opening hour, Anita felt hungry and needed something so she went and purchased 3 pastries in the food court, it turned out to be really expensive at $27 and she swore not to visit it ever, stopped by Anthropologie where she bought a knitted wool pineapple, visited Nordstrom where she bought two pairs of UGG boots, she wanted to take them home before deciding which one to return, got our usual Umami fries for lunch and Tuna salad for dinner. With Anita's assistance, I was able to seal (kind of) the top outside window frame of the study with old sealer (had to cut open the tube to access the still useable sealer), a couple of spatulas were used and had to switch to a long chopstick to reach the far side of the window, not sure how effective this will be as I could not see every inch of the top side, pray that it helps. Received Nature Made Potassium and Bausch+Lomb contact lens cleaner from Amazon at 5:21 (picked up at 5:24).
2/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. Straighten the blew over old patio umbrella frame.
Blood pressure after 香功: 119/77/74-116/78/76-123/72/72. Had to let the patio umbrella frame lie down since it simply got knocked off easily by the gusty winds. The window seal I applied yesterday still holds.
2/5/2024: Got up at 7:08. Blood pressure after 香功: 129/74/72-126/74/76-127/72/72. Attempt to clean the deck at the lower level with faucet water setting "clean" did not work, as the dirt sits pretty deep in the small lined groves, real cleaner may have to be used. Cleaned up a lot of leaves (mostly from our backdoor neighbor), in the backyard, had to hand pick up much of them in between the roses.
2/6/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased two bottle (-$6 each only if two are purchased) 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one hand banana, one pack Artisan Lettuce, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Noosa Yogurt, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack honey apple, one banana nut loaf, one pack (x2) Dungeness crab, one pack (x2) Delafaille Chocolate, and one pack grape tomato. Cleaned up all leaves on the brick flap in the backyard, a lot of them had to be hand picked, took nearly one hour. Trimmed off all Passion fruit vines on or near the old patio umbrella frame, will likely get rid off the frame soon. Blood pressure at 2:40 pm: 131/77/71-131/77/71-131/78/71. Received broomstick from Amazon at 6:33 (picked up at 6:47). Reserved UberX rides for Taiwan trip.
2/7/2024: Got up at 7:08. Stopped by Chevron to have RX300 engine oil changed, I got there at 8:45, the shop owner got there at 9:05, the process took about 30 minutes, I asked him to check the right front tire which he did and no problem was found, there were a couple of time after I paid $75 and proceeded to leave but could not start the car several times (start then stop, start and stop), he told me to step on the accelerate paddle which I did and was able to start the car-this never happened before, need to pay close attention.
Changed seats on my trip to Taiwan, from 22K to 22L-both flights. Played 2 hour table tennis with Robert at his garage.
2/8/2024: Got up at 7:08. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/76/81-128/73/82-125/76/79. Visited Walmart with Anita, purchased 2 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, 4 bag 8.5 oz Cheetos Cheddar Jalapeño crunchy, one bag 15 oz Cheetos crunchy, 3 can Fancy Feast cat food in gravy, and 4 bottle Aloe Vera. Swing by Marina Grocery, got one fried fish cake, one bag sweet pickled radish, 4 Roma tomato, one Coconut jelly, one Juan's Mex Gelatinas, one pack spicy sausage, 4 bag fast noodle, two soft tofu, one pack (x8) thick bean curd, one pack carrot, and one Napa cabbage. also purchased half a roast duck. Applied remaining rubber seal to study window top outside frame, with extended long chopstick and small spatula I was able to reach the edge of the frame, how effective it is can only be verified after the next big storm. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs-EJ.
2/9/2024: got up at 7:17. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/80/83-109/76/80-112/69/77. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street. Removed weeds in between bricks and sidewalk. Started preparing Lunar News Eve dinner with Dungeness crab as the main dish, plus cold dish (kelp, beef, cured pork, bean curd, mushroom, and sausage) and lettuce pork wrap.
2/10/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/75/80-114/74/80-111/71/79. Hand picked up a lot leaves when broomstick could not do the job in the backyard.
2/11/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/81/77-125/78/74-129/77/75. Walked 51 minutes in the backyard.
Updated Google One app, the problem of Wi-Fi disconnecting seemed better afterward, also updated Google Mail, Drive, .....
2/12/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/75/81-124/77/81-117/79/81. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
2/13/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 140/84/88-129/79/82-120/70/86. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one pack (12) Muffin (blue berry and puppy seed), two dozen pasture egg, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack (x2 bag) Kirkland garlic butter shrimp, one 2 lbs Peets coffee bean, one Nature's Bounty fish oil, and one bag Macadamia nut. Swing by 99 Ranch Market, got 4 sugar bee apple, one beef shank, and one pack (x8) thick bean curd. Stewed beef shank and thick bean curd, also cooked 14 茶葉蛋-these will be Anita's dinner and breakfast supplements. Relayed 玉明的Line messages to Jason, also sent him the bus info we used visiting Jerome in 2020.
2/14/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 134/75/79-117/79/79-117/78/78. Recooked the beef shank and thick bean curd to absorb more flavor. Hand picked some leaves (mostly from neighbor) in the backyard. Made 3 dishes with Napa cabbage.
2/15/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 141/89/75-140/84/72-132/81/71-127/84/70. Examined luggage contents, added a baseball cap, a pair of convertible pants, one table tennis pad, and one pair short socks. Cleaned up backyard leaves, not too many but had to hand pick some of them. Had 15 minutes MB with RM and legs, EJ.
2/16/2024: Got up at 7:08. Blood pressure after 香功: 134/78/81-131/76/79-115/78/77. Played one hour and 45 minutes table tennis with Robert at his garage.
Received Preparation H from Amazon at 1:22 (picked up at 1:34).
2/17/2024: Got up at 7:15. Blood pressure after 香功: 126/79/76-116/79/75-125/77/75. Filled feeder and checked battery level showing 2 bars. Rode 25 minutes bike in the garage.
2/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 141/77/83-121/75/82-125/74/78. Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.
Checked in United flight UA871 at 1:42.
Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Decided to bring my indoor slippers with me to wear at 內湖, finished packing, locked the luggage and moved it downstairs.
2/19/2024-2/21/2024: Got up at 7:00. Uber driver arrived at 9:50, 10 minutes earlier, set out to SFO at 9:54, got to SFO at 10:30, left him $10 tip and found out he dropped me off at domestic terminal, it took me a while to comprehend, took Airtrain to International terminal, went through security check in just 6 minutes as it wasn’t crowded. Settled down in United Club, had one sandwich and a cup of lemonade, called Anita at 11:18.
Headed out to gate G10 at 12:30. Boarded flight 871 at 12:48. There was an announcement around 1:20 saying this flight is cancelled due to bad weather, everyone has to get off the plane, an update was broadcasted at the gate G10, informing all passengers that the flight is NOT cancelled but only delayed till 8:00pm. Found a charging area and had my Pixel 6 Pro as well as iPad Air 4 fully charged at 2:52. Called Anita at 3:00. Purchased 2 box meal, finished one in the restaurant, will consume the other around 6:00pm.
They were pretty expensive……. Finsished the second bento except the rice, I don’t want to be to stuffed. called Anita again at 5:40. walked around the concourse a couple of times to help digest the meal before sitting down at gate G10 waiting. Boarded the flight, again, at 7:15, got another welcome bag-a bonus for our trouble. After further delay of 47 minutes we finally took off at 8:47. We landed at Taoyuan airport at 2:05, arriving gate at 2:11. Went through passport control in a jiffy as UA871 was the only flight at the hour plus I was in seat 22L which allowed my early exit. The luggage did not start showing up on the carrousel until 2:25 but mine came out shortly after. Got on a taxi at 2:40, got to 成功路四段55號at 3:25.
2/21/2024: Got up at 7:15. Blood pressure at 8:15: 139/77/78-131/76/75-137/77/74. Called Anita at 10:00 for 17 minutes. Napped for 2 hours. Turned in at 9:00 after dinner.
2/22/2024: Woke up at 1:20, went back to sleep at 3:50. Got up at 7:00. Called Anita at 7:16 for 25 minutes. Visited the Post Office to check balance, transfer NT3000 to 玉明, and withdraw NT10,000, walked one circle around Bihu park, called Anita during the walk. Purchased 4 buns from 一之軒after dinner. Turned in at 10:00.
2/23/2024: Woke up at 1:30, went back to bed around 3:00. Got up at 6:50. Called Anita at 9:49 for 10 minutes. Visited 慈恩園 with Peilee and Ahfen. Had lunch at Sushi Express Neihu (爭鮮回轉壽司)-NT520for 3 people. Reserved Uber for 3/12.
2/24/2024: Woke up at 3:30, when back to bed at 4:30, woke again nd called Anita for 7 minutes at 5:16, went back to bed again and got up at 6:00. Visited RX Mart at 10:15 and called Anita for 5 minutes on my way there, purchased one pack small cucumber, one beef heel muscle one pack dry kelp, and one pack (x3) pure soap (南僑水晶). Turned in at 9:00.
2/25/2024: Woke up at 1:00 and 3:30, called Anita at 4:18 for 19 minutes. Got up at 6:00. Visited Costco with Peilee and his whole family, I got two pack (x30 each) 米菓. Walked one circle Bihu before stopping by Carrefour Express and purchased two green Pepper, one pack pork loin (豬腰內肉), one bottle 300 ml Kingman liquor, one pack cream cheese, one bottle 750 ml Barefoot Merlot, and half loaf of bread. Total walk today (including Costco) was 83 minutes.
Turned in at 9:00.
2/26/2024: Woke up at 2:20, went back to bed at 2:30. Got up at 6:00. Called Anita at 8:57 for 17 minutes. Took Metro (with one transfer) to 新光三越 A11 欣葉日式自助料理. Spent about one hour consuming mostly Sashimi and wine (both white and red), well over fed. Tina showed us her working building at Taipei City also the exhibits (about the history of Taipei city) on 2nd to 4th floors but I had to go to the restroom and relieve myself barely into the tour, the Wasabi I took plus too much food most likely contributed to this, felt much better afterwards and finished touring the museum.
Turned in at 9:00.
2/27/2024: Woke up at 4:30. Called Anita at 5:57 for 18 minutes. Got up at 6:30. Walked one circle in Bihu park.
Stopped by RX Mart and purchased one pack cucumber, one bottle (with a small bonus bottle) 375 ml Jose Cuervo Agave Azul Tequila, three buns, 4 bag spice pouch for tea egg, and one can 鰹魚味康寶鮮味炒手. Turned in at 8:50.
2/28/2024: Woke up at 3:00, called Anita at 3:57 for 17 minutes. Got up at 6:00. Walked one circle in Bihu park it’s Peilee and Tina.
Swing by Carrefour Express and purchased one bottle 360ml Suntory Whisky, one cheese cake, and one pack Squid fish ball.
2/29/2024: Woke up at 3:30, got up at 5:15. Called Anita at 7:42 for 13 minutes. walked to Dahu park, took several photos but did not walk its walkways. Since there are a bout 10° slope toward Dahu park which made walking more strenuous, I was near cramp on my left lower leg and right toe areas on my way back, had to stop and rest frequently to avoid that.
Stopped by 百利金and got two small bottle to take Aloe Vera with me to 花蓮, no need to bring the large its original bottle. My pclin200 account on Google had been removed even though I sent email from it each month, not sure what impact it would have as I no longer remember how I used it-curses. Swing by PX Mart and purchased two soft tofu, one bag dry 柴魚片, two bag dry kelps, one bottle 鰹魚味烹大師, and one pack garlic, swing by 楓彩bakery and purchased 4 buns. Took a bath and had 4 pieces of dirty clothes machine washed. Turned in at 9:15.
3/1/2024: Woke up at 5:15. Called Anita at 6:37 for 12 minutes. Attempt to register on 台鐵 failed but turned out I did not need to login to get ticket transfer from Tina (she bought the tickets for everyone), got he ticket in just 5 minutes.
Visited 碧湖Post Office and withdrew NT$20,000. Purchased 12 (2 free with purchase of 10) vegetables buns from 歡田. Called 光華 regarding dinner tonight, she said her sister-in-law seems to be ok with her body discomfort so we are still going with the plan.
Had lunch at Chicken Nugget (小棧), a huge bowl of combination of chicken, squid, and pork over mung bean starch noodle.
Called Anita at 1:24 for 3 minutes. Headed out to 內湖㨗運站at 2:55 with an umbrella. After two transfers I got to 頂溪站 at 3:40 pm, 光華 showed up at 3:50. Met 大嫂 and 小妹 at 光耀’s house, 志偉and his two daughter came a little later, 光耀 came back from acupuncture appointment to treat his balance issue due to ear infection. Re-installed 光耀’s Echo Dot so that Anita can drop-in on 大嫂 to chat. Walked to 瓦城泰國料理in 10 minutes, 堪慶arrived before the dishes were served while 堪序 got there almost half through the meal, 小妹brought one bottle 59.5°玉山大曲, the food was good and the liquor was even better. Got back to Neihu around 8:50.
3/2/2024: Woke up at 4:20. Called Anita at 4:50 for 10 minutes. Got to Taipei Train station at 9:40, got to our train platform at 10:10, boarded 普悠瑪at 10:20, seat #21 on car 3.
Arriving Hualien station at 12:53, 13 minutes behind schedule. Got to Mini Voyage Inn (小旅行迷你旅店) at 1:30, checked in first but had to leave luggages in the foyer until 3:00 or later, had lunch at 王記茶舖人文茶堂, all there dishes were tea flavored.
Visited 花蓮文化創意產業園區, not impressed because there wasn’t much to see.
Got back to the hostel at 5:50. Tina ordered Uber Eats from 花蓮周家蒸餃, everyone joined at the table in the foyer for dinner. Went back to the room around 7:50. For a hostel room, this isn’t too shabby.
Stopped by 7-11 and got some buns for breakfast tomorrow, also got two can Sapporo beer. Turned in at 10:00.
3/3/2024: Woke up at 4:00. Called Anita at 4:23for 23 minutes. Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Heated up the coffee I saved last night (only available between 8:30 am and 10:00pm) in the kitchen, also baked the toasts, consumed them in my room (214). Thought I’d go to the lobby earlier to wait for them at 7:35, they were already waiting for me. Dropped off luggages at Hotel Day (承憶文旅) just across the street from 花蓮轉運站. Boarded bus #310 to Taroko (太魯閣) at 8:25. Got off at 砂卡礑步道, it’s an old walkway used by workers of a hydraulic power plant, it’s only 1.5 Km but photo taking took us about one hour and 45 minutes round trip.
Wait and got on another bus to 九曲洞, this is part of the old 中橫公路 that was repaired and strengthened, it’s now a pure vista point.
Had a good time at石梯坪, a costal rock formation area famous for its landscapes.
Got to 天祥 at 1:20, finished lunch within 40 minutes, decided to take the 2:30 310 bus back. Got back to Hualien Transport station at 2:59. Got to my room 303 at 3:30.
Met everyone in the lobby at 5:30 and walked to Accademia Pizzaioli (秀綠), a combination of pizza, baked dishes for dinner. Stopped by 曾記麻糬 and purchased two bag small 麻糬-purple rice and green tea flavored each. Turned in at 9:50.
3/4/2024: Woke up at 4:00, got up at 5:00. Called Anita at 5:13 for 14 minutes. Had free breakfast on second floor, it’s a combination of western and local food, a lot of them but nothing special. Checked out at 8:00. Got on tour bus at 8:20, there were 9 tourists with 4 empty seats-4 more seats were taken out to accommodate wheel chairs. Of all the stops (about 10), only two of them (大石鼻山步道 and 石梯坪) worth visiting. Got back to Hualien Transfer station at 5:05. Our train back to Taipei was scheduled at 7:10pm but Tina managed to changed to an earlier (5 minutes) train and we can get off at 南港車站, it’ll be a little easier to get home from there. Got back to Neihu around 9:30.
3/5/2024: Woke up at 5:15. Called Anita at 6:30 for 12 minutes. Got up at 7:00. Stopped by Carrefour Express and purchased one pack (x3) small cucumber, one Celery, one pack (sweet Pepper), one can Long Island Iced beer, one Cheetos crunchy, one pack fish tempura and one bottle 1.0L King Robert II blended Costco Whisky.
3/6/2024: Woke up at 5:15, got up at 6:30. Walked in the neighbor (all the way to 三軍總醫院內湖院區).
Picked up one pack small Asparagus and one piece fried pork chop. Discarded liquor bottles in the recycle bin downstairs near the sidewalk. Turned in at 9:30.
3/7/2024: Woke up at 5:30. Called Anita at 5:44 for 16 minutes. got up at 6:30. Amazon delivered the two Fancy Feast cat meal packs at 5:46 pm San Jose time, called Anita to pick up at 5:58. Stopped by PX Mart and picked up one beef shank, two bootle 16 oz Taiwan classic beer, 4 bag spice pouch for tea flavored egg, two pack kitchen cloth, and two soft tofu. Walked in Bihu park for 91 minutes, a good part of it was challenging the stairs going up to the top then back, had to stop several times before reaching the summit.
Stopped by 麥香bakery and got 5 buns. Had dinner at 農耕車石頭火鍋, I ordered oyster as the main ingredient, there were at least 30 of them, probably more than all I ever had, I was way over stuffed, walked tow Bihu park before coming back to relieve my overly burdened stomach.
Photos above are missing the Oyster bowl.
3/8/2024: Woke up at 5:30, called Anita at 5:47 for 16 minutes. got up at 6:20. Peilee wanted to see if Taoyuan airport has adequate space to rest for their early morning flight to Japan in April-they may want to get to the airport the night before and sleep until check in-so I canceled my Uber ride to the airport on 3/12, no cancellation charge. Had 10 minutes MB, EJ.
3/9/2024: woke up at 5:30. Called Anita at 5:46 for 16 minutes. Got up at 6:30. Peilee drove everyone to Wu family’s cemetery, it was a long and winding hill route, took over one hour and 20 minutes. Met sis and Tigerlet there (龍巖 Cemetery). Stopped by sis’s home in 石牌 before heading to 旭集日式自助料理 (Sunrise-all you can eat Japanese cruise), this restaurant, in my opinion, isn’t as good as the one we visited (欣葉)-the price for afternoon snack time meal cost about NT$1300 plus 10% service fee. Got home around 5:10. Turned in at 9:50.
3/10/2024: Woke up at 6:25, called Anita at 6:32 for 19 minutes. Got up at 6:55. Anita notified me about her City Sports membership being cancelled, I tried to login to silver and fit to verify but their website timed out on all my attempts, also checked Kaiser website, it still claim “no additional cost to members”, will try later. Bought 12 vegetables buns (6 椒麻雪菜包 and 6 蘿蔔絲包) from 歡田包子, will bring some or all of them in my check-in luggage if there are spaces.
Peilee drove Tina and myself to Jangoo Flower Market at noon time, Tina got off and quickly ran to 鼎泰豐 to get a number which showed waiting time to be 140 minutes, the large amount of weekend crowd made it impossible to find a parking space nearby, so Peilee let us off to visit the market first while he looked for parking space a little farther away, this market was so big, we barely covered a quarter of it after half an hour. Peilee joined us after 20 minutes. Walked over to 鼎泰豐 just in time to get in, ordered 8 dishes and consumed 80% of them with some leftover for Sharon and Ahfen.
紹興醉雞
香辣牛肚
小籠包
糯米燒賣
香酥蝦餅
蝦肉蒸餃
蝦肉煎餃
公開麵食製作
3/11/2024: Woke up at 5:20. Called Anita at 5:40 for 24 minutes. Got up at 6:30. Checked in at 11:00.
Swing by Carrefour Express and purchased several buns. Prepared a portion of them to take along for breakfast at the airport tomorrow morning. Turned in at 10:00.
3/12/2024: Woke up (by Alexa) at 5:00, called Anita at 5:10 on drop-in briefly. Got everything ready and finished packing at 6:00. Peilee and myself left for the airport at 7:10, got there at 7:55, checked in and passed security and passport check at 8:22. Delayed boarding for 20 minutes, got on my seat 22L at 10:00. Flight 872 finally took off at 11:17, 57 minutes behind schedule. Watched “Indiana Jones: The Last crusade” and “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I”, the food (except the sandwich snack) for Premium Plus was terrible-chicken (1st meal) and sausage (2nd meal) was made rubber-like, very challenging to cut through, not to mention tasting. We landed at SFO at 6:59, 24 minutes behind schedule which wasn’t too bad but customs took nearly one hour to get through, by the time I got out, my UBER reservation (which I already confirmed pickup pending notification of ready for pickup) was cancelled by the driver, luckily I made a request and one driver was only 3 minutes away and picked me up, got home at 8:58.
Changed seats to Premium Plus for our flight from Amsterdam to San Francisco, there where no two seaters on the San Francisco to Frankfurt flight-keep the isle and window seats and hopefully the middle seat will remain unoccupied.
3/13/2024: Got up at 6:15. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack grape Tomato, two pack Cauliflower pizza, one pack Trident fish stick, one Brie cheese, and one Natures Bounty hair growth pill.
3/14/2024: Got up at 4:30. A gout reducing juice recipe.
Went back to bed at 5:30. Got up at 7:25.
Blood pressure after 香功: 131/78/71-129/80/71-125/80/71. Discovered that US citizens do not need visa to enter Turkey for up to 90 days for tourism-appeared to be a new rule starting 1/1/2024.
3/15/2024: Woke up at 3:20. Went back to bed at 5:00. Got up at .7:40. Cleaned up backyard leaves and in-between brick weeds. Received 2 pack (x24 each) Fancy Feast cat food from Amazon at 3:00.
3/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/79/79-116/78/78-116/72/75. Visited Marukai by myself, purchased half a loaf of thick sliced toast, one bag mung bean sprout, one Shimesaba (Mackerel), one pack Nama Sake Kirimi,, two pack Yakisoba, 4 red potato, 4 Fuji apple, one soft tofu, one pack lean ground pork, one Salmon Shioyaki & chicken, one pork cutlet, one Yakisoba, and one Karaage (fried chicken). Walked 40 minutes in the backyard-had to cut short as dinner time came up.
鹿鼎記-2: 23:11.
3/17/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/83/74-136/81/73-141/79/70-120/78/68-130/79/69 (turned on the heater after the third measurement). Ordered one TP-Link outdoor camera and one 256G microSD card from Amazon. The feeder camera no longer responds, it started behaving strangely a few months ago, restored functionality after power cycles a few times but became totally non-responsive now, removed it from control panel, cleaned the camera a bit, attempted adding camera from scratch and it worked, not sure why but it appeared normal now. Removed PBS app then reinstalled it, this action did not resolve our PBS “Passport” status-rats! Edited unpw by removing useless ones and adding new ones.
3/18/2024: Woke up at 4:00, got up at 5:00, received TP-Link C520WS outdoor camera from Amazon at 5:12-delivered by individual small/private car driver, not the usual Amazon truck. Blood pressure after 香功: 130/79/72-125/78/73-131/75/72. Received 256G microSD card from Amazon at 12:08. Walked 44 minutes in the backyard.
Opened up the light covers of the garage door control system to allow more light getting out to the garage (it was so dark when coming back from outside), also moved the motion sensor of the right side hanging light bulb closer to the inside garage door, see if this also help brighten up.
3/19/2024: Woke up and got up at 4:15, went back to bed around 5:30. Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one bunch Tulip, one pack Kale salad, one hand banana, one Cranberry Walnut bread, two dozen pasture egg, one bottle 750ml red blend from Spain, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bag Kirkland unsalted mixed nut, one can Marcona Almond, one jar soy sauce, one bag large raw shrimp, one bg fish stick, and one pack Noosa yogurt. Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Decided to bring some fast noodle (this requires the large silicone bowl) and cooked bean curd and eggs with us, also some mixed nuts as well as 米菓.
3/20/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/81/76-115/79/76-122/81/74. Stopped by Lowe’s and picked up one Gorilla glue to fix Anita’s slippers. swing by 99 Ranch market, purchased 5 Fuji apple. Spent over 5 hours installing new Tapo camera to replace the old Arlo on the left side of the driveway, tried but failed to enlarge the hole through the bottom of the window as there were metal parts fro the double pan window, had to leave bulk of the wires (Ethernet and power cables) outside, also needed to enhance/strengthen the weather shield by extending it with scrap metal sheet and bar, it seemed to be working so far.
Anita changed our economy seats to premium Plus 22K and 22L after I informed her the sudden availability of these two which were occupied previously. Reserved Uber ride to SFO for our Turkey trip on 4/8/2024, pick up time is 10:15.
3/21/2024: Got up at 7:00. Re-tied the new camera cables to make them less vulnerable to rain. Washed the window screen for the new camera access window.
3/22/2024: Got up at 7:30. Blood pressure after 香功: 137/80/72-130/80/73-122/77/71-125/76/69. Visited Walmart with Anita, purchased 3 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, 4 bottle Aloe Vera, two bag family pack Cheetos Crunchy, 2 bag Cheetos Cheddar& Jalapeño crunchy, one bag Cheetos Mexican Street Corn, and one box Sun-Maid Golden Raisins. Trimmed off ALL invading flowers in the cement circle near the street light post as they expand aggressively even thought there isn’t any space left making an ugly bunch, Lily of the Niles will have more space (and water) to better themselves. Created Turkey trip route map, had issue making it on iPad (wasn’t able to move text blocks), instead made it on my MacBook Pro with ease.
3/23/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/82/69-114/83/71-116/79/67. During the process of making newunpw available on new iPad, discovered Notes and Open Office use similar but slightly different pw, the latter has “pcl” follow. Open Office requires Pro version ($19.99) for iOS devices, I’ll think about it, for now the on Notes will do.
3/24/2024: Got up at 7:10. Blood pressure after 香功: 138/81/75-135/80/73-117/74/69-124/75/71. Cleaned up backyard leaves.
3/25/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked to 99 Ranch Market and purchased one pack small Gai Choy, one pack green bean, 5 Fuji apple one pack carrot, one pack pork spare rib, and one Celery.
3/26/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack grape tomato, one Cranberry Walnut bread, one pouch 3.0 L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle (64 oz) Coffee Mate Hazelnut creamer, one tub cream cheese, two dozen pasture egg, one hand banana, and one can Marcona almond. Received Niga’s resistance bands from Amazon at 10:59. Changed my yahoo account password, also updated new ups file. Had 15 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.
3/27/2024: Got up at 7:15. Received Goodaaa Solar power bank (36,000mAh) from Amazon at 8:30am. Skipped my regular Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon before bed and turned in at 10:10.
3/28/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 138/85/72-134/81/71-128/81/70-125/82/71. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Received Purina tender selects blend with chicken just for Milly at 3:09. Tried some for her but she walked away after sniffing it, oh well. Charging the new power bank took nearly 5 hours to complete around 50% of the level I used to charge iPad and Pixel-both were about half full before charging. Finished reading Kindle Book series “Dark Crimes” by Michael Hambling-7 more in the series.
3/29/2024: Got up at 7:15. Blood pressure after 香功: 128/80/78-124/83/80-125/79/77. Backed up both iPads to my MacBook Pro, mine took over an hour while Anita’s took less than 30 seconds. Backed up MacBook Pro on 1 TB Seagate drive. Reserved Istanbul IST airport shuttle to hotel (€50, €10 more than taxi).
Anita found cheaper (much) transportation on bookings.com, I sent cancellation letter to reservation.safeairporttransfer.com at 8:24pm, waiting for response. Got cancellation response from SafeAirportTransfer at 11:09.
3/30/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 126/81/79-127/80/82-116/79/76. Received Purina Friskies Gravy Swirlers cat food from Amazon at 11:44. Ordered one pack Bic ballpoint pen and 6 notebook from Amazon, to be brought along to Turkey for school students. Anita booked transportation from IST airport to Millennium Golden Horn Hotel through booking.com (bookings.com already charged the fare, we’ll tip the driver at destination-even though it’s not required).
Hide two Seagate backup disks in the Keurig box in the attic.
3/31/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 143/87/78-120/82/76-130/79/75-124/79/74. Visited 99 Ranch Market by myself, purchased 3 Bell Pepper, 6 Fuji apple, one pack small Oyster mushroom, two egg plant, one pack thick bean curd, one pack Bok Choy (青江菜), one bag soy bean sprout, intended to buy a bento from the deli department but there were too many people, decided to go to King Egg Roll anyway even though it’s still early (9:35) before they open (10:00), waited in my car until 10:00-bad idea-before go in and there were 10 people before me waiting, took nearly 10 minutes for my turn to order. Their shrimp dumpling had cut corner, it used to be two full shrimp in one dumpling but now chopped shrimp with some unknown mixture is the stuffing instead, I estimate that the chopped shrimp is probably just one whole one, half of what it used to be. Cleaned up backyard leaves, not as much as yesterday possibly from long gusty winds the day before yesterday. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Walked 51 minutes in the backyard.
Missed Peilee’s call, I called back at 5:46 for 10 minutes, he had some questions about boarding pass as Eva Air sent him everyone’s to him. Put away iMac in the attic.
4/1/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 138/80/76-135/84/75-134/83/74-131/79/70-126/81/70-125/80/69. Cleaned up a lot of dry leaves in between bushes and underneath flowers. Received 6 notepad and one box (x36) Bic ballpoint pen from Amazon at 5:07.
4/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/87/79-122/82/77-125/81/77. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one dozen muffin, one pouch Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one Seaweed salad, two dozen pasture egg, and one pack (x12) Polish sausage. Swing by 99 Ranch Market and got one pack (x4) Neoguri spicy seafood udon. Processed another dismantled mouse on the side walkway.
4/3/2024: Got up at 7:00. Replaced the Chad bushes root area with a piece of granite near the wall, filled the vacant area with white rocks. Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.
4/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 120/78/85-118/74/85-116/69/83. Received Fancy Fancy Turkey in Gravy car food at 1:47 (picked up at 1:51). Rode 25 minutes bike in the garage. Had 30 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
4/5/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/80/82-126/77/81-126/74/79. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, finished it in 15 minutes. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and purchased one bento from their deli department, two tofu skin, two pork chop, two chicken steak, two fried fish, 4 Ganlan, and some 合粉, nearly overflowed the box :-), also saved with $2 coupon. Filled feeder with three different cat food, hopefully Milly will somehow eat some of them while we are away traveling in Turkey😇。
4/6/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 142/80/91-116/75/85-116/79/85. Disconnect LS400 battery, lock the car and put the key next to the dryer. Stewed eggs and bean curd, will take along with us to our Turkey trip, most of them will be consumed along with fast noodle on the first two nights at Millennium Golden Horn Hotel. downloaded and installed Uber on my new iPad Air, took awhile as it required 2-stage verification (codes sent to both my phone and Yahoo mail), it seemed to work on it now.Anita was unhappy (actually mad) when I informed her the sliding door wasn’t locked, I slept on my lazy chair.
4/7/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 144/89/80-132/86/78-123/84/76-132/79/75. Finished packing, with two bottles of wine and massage gun, it’s nearly 45 lbs. Locked RX300 and put key next to the dryer. Checked in UA flight 58, the app no longer provides boarding pass as it did, the only option was e-mail and we print, hopefully we can still get boarding passes when we drop off the luggages. Cancelled and rebooked an earlier (9:45 am instead of 10:15 am) Uber to SFO tomorrow as the boarding pass warned security staff shortage may delay processing time, suggested arriving at least 3 hours before flight.
Blocked garage side door with table saw. Turned down water heater setting, turned off heater, switched off gas.
4/8/2024-4/9/2024: Got up at 6:30 as bedroom Alexa alarmed. Finished final packing of the luggage after storing egg/bean curd/fruits. Blood pressure after 香功: 142/84/88-137/81/86-125/83/87-127/79/86. Uber driver (Osmin) arrived at 9:33 (12 minutes ahead schedule), we got to SFO at 10:10. Security check took about 20 minutes, United Club at G gates were all filled (flight delays-I hope our flight won’t delay too much to safely connect the next flight) with standing room remaining so we walked to domestic one (there were two there) instead, it’s about 10 minutes walk but was worth it as there wasn’t a crowd. I had one plate salad and one sandwich less one of the buns. Walked back to International terminal gate G2 at 12:35-boarding starts at 1:55. We settled in our seats 22L and 22K around 2:10. Flight UA58 took off pretty much on time. First meal on the flight was a BBQ chicken, unlike my two previous Premium Plus experience, this was surprisingly tasty, for a change. We landed at Frankfurt at 9:30, 15 minutes ahead of schedule, however this is at a remote location of Frankfurt airport, the plane had to taxi nearly 15 minutes to get to shuttle stop and then we had to wait over 15 minutes for mobile airport stairs (it’s now 10:00 am) plus 10 minutes bus ride to get to terminal A, was then told to walk to B44 for our connecting flight, turned out we still need to take another shuttle after 5 minutes walk to Busgate, the wait for bus and ride took another 10 minutes to get to terminal B, then another 15 minutes walk to get to B44. Flight TK1588 was late to take off nearly 40 minutes, but we actually landed at Istanbul IST airport pretty much on time, after walking about 20 minutes in IST without any passport or custom check, we got to luggage claim, after a long wait for our luggage, we found out they were not coming, in fact there were 3 more couples originating at SFO did not see their luggages as well, after one hour of frustrating check and enquiries, we finished filing report and hope they can somehow find our luggages and send to us at Millennium Golden Horn Hotel, since the taxi we booked was long gone, we had to take (through a person waiting for Gate One transfer service (which we did not book) a bigger and more expensive ($50 x 2 plus €10 tip) to get to our hotel, it is likely that this ride was arranged by the driver and whoever in charge of Gate One service to make some money on the side. Had one egg and half of bean curd before turning in around 8:30.
4/10/2024: Got up at 2:15. Had breakfast at 5:30, since we did not have most of our food with us, we had to ration what we have for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which was not much. Went to hotel reception desk and had our Gate One continuing stay took care of where they reissued room keys for two more nights, also ask them to let us know when our luggages come in. strolled around a little bit but did not stay out long as it was before 7:00 and chilly. We intended to check/pay for breakfast but the host waved us in the I we were with the Gate One group already there, oh well. We each put a little food in our stomachs and went back to our room. Slept until phone rang, our luggages had arrived, thank God! Notice that several additional labels were attached to the luggage-“Late Delivery”, and “Rush”, they were sent yesterday by TK1592, a 3:05 pm flight.
Went out with Anita to check out the river side, did not stay long as the wind was a bit chilly. This bridge connect Europe (left) and Asia (right side).
Had Gate One group pre-trip meeting at 7:30 pm, there are 37 people in the group.
4/11/2024: Woke up at 2:00. Got up at 6:00. Had breakfast at 7:00, there were two Gate 1 groups in the cafeteria at the same time, one to leave Istanbul to the next stop, we will tour Istanbul and do the same as they tomorrow. Got on the bus at 8:20, seating assignments will start tomorrow, we can sit anywhere today. Set out to see the old town plus, watched where Europe and Asian were separated by Sea of Marmara, Bosporus Strait, and Black Sea, Visited Topkapi Palace Museum, Hagia Sophia, and Blue Mosque, there wasn’t many people when we started at Topkapi Palace Museum, but when we started Hagia Sophia, you can’t move around without touching people, apparently it was the end of Ramadan and the beginning of 3-7 day vacation for everyone, plus Turkey citizens get to enjoy the exhibitions free of charge which made it even more so crowded. We had a break for lunch after Hagia Sophia, we decided to have one at McDonald’s, but the order wasn’t what we expected-large everything and not tasty at all, left 1/2 unfinished. Continued with Blue Mosque after wards. We tried heading back to the hotel after Blue Mosque visit, 15 minutes walk to where our bus, expecting to be back in 30 minutes, it lasted 2 hour and 30 minutes, turned out the traffic jam wsn’t caused by any accident on the road but by cars and huge crowd blocking the road-vehicles wanted to get on the ferry on the road side then backed up into the road as there is no available parking space which turned two-lane road into one, the huge crowds trying to get on to ferries but could s the ferry low wasn’t fast enough, the crowd overflow into the road as well causing additional blockage at different locations, once the bus crawled through the jammed areas, it took only 20 minutes to get us back to Millennium Golden Horn Hotel. The 7:00 welcome dinner was postponed to 7:30. The dinner was kind of cheap, a full plates of variety pastes were to be used to eat bread with, a few of them were ok but not really tasty, everyone got a small portion of wine and refill request isn’t free, the main dish, beef over mashed potato, looked nice but the meat was overcooked and dried, the mashed potato was, nonetheless, pretty tasty.
Exercise tally of the day.
4/12/2024: Woke up at 2:30. Went back to bed at 5:15, got up at 6:00. Had breakfast at 7:00, finished in 20 minutes and went back for major events, I was ok but Anita wasn’t able to. Leaving Millennium Golden Horn Hotel at 8:05, heading toward Gelibolu. This will be a leisure day, the only main stop will be Troy. Had a restroom break at Tekirdag after 2 hours, arriving Gelibolu and had lunch at Gelibolu Balk Restaurant, ordered two fishes-one grilled, one fried plus two bottle beer-1400 Lira. Visited Troy/Troia/Troya to see what was Troy might look like 3500 years ago. Headed to Çanakkale for Kollin Hotel, got there and entered our room 2207 at 4:38. Anita tried to get clothes for this hot weather but failed to see any she liked. Had dinner at 7:00. Knoll in Hotel, in our opinion, is at most a 3 instead of the claimed 5 star hotel, except for its appearance, the contents of their room was a shame-none of the bathroom necessities such as shampoo, body lotion, soap were present, nearly no hooks in the bathroom or bedroom.
4/13/2024: Woke up at 5:00. Got up at 5:30. Had breakfast at 6:20. Anita still have difficulty relieving, I was ok. Boarded our bus at 7:47. The main vista point is Bergama, the Roman ruin. This site is much pleasant and enjoyable than what we had yesterday.
Had lunch at Badaban Lezzetler in Bergama, fairly nice place nd the food was good.
Purchased two bottle Shiraz at a Carrefour nearby. Headed to our hotel at 1:45, got to Korumar Hotel at 5:00, got to our room 226 at 5:16. Had dinner at 7:00, much much better food with many many guests from different tour groups, Gate 1 alone had 4.
4/14/2024: Woke up at 2:00. Got up at 5:45. Had breakfast at 6:45. Boarded the bus at 8:20. Visited House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus Greek/Roman ruins, and Ephesus Muesum. Stopped by a leather jacket fatory, Anita purchased a baby lamb leather jacket for $500, down from $650. Got back to Korumar Hotel at 4:50. Had a mostly salad dinner at 7:00. Took elevator and strolled the “beach” after dinner.
4/15/2024: Woke up at 4:30, got up at 5:30. All Arlo cameras are offline, but for for some reason I was still able to access recorded videos which were last dated 4;14;2024 in the morning, there was a few with Milly appearing in them, of course disappointed with no food for her. had breakfast at 6:55, it did not open as early as yesterday. Grabbed a few items to save for lunch as there won’t be any restaurant near where we’ll be at the time. Stopped by Nakia’s, a carpet manufacturer, learnt how silk was collected from cocoon, how carpets are made, and the varieties of carpets based on material and the number of knots.
Visited UNESCO site Hierapolis, a large Greek/Roman city.
Colossal Hotel appeared to have everything a 5-star hotel has, but careful examination revealed: no paper tissue, no clothes hooks, no glass cup (or any cup beside coffee cups), the power outlet next to the night stand does not work, and the air conditioning displayed error message and would not do anything (with error code prompts calling service, but phone does not work either). Had dinner at 7:00, it’s probably the best up until now-abundant choices, tasty plus pleasant, I had a Long Island Ice Tea while Anita had one Blue Hawain. Anita went to their Spa and had a 25 minutes scrabble for €40 plus €10 tip. Another negative marks Anita made three trips to the front desk to settle the drinks we ordered at dinner time, each time she was told to come back later, she’s mad and gave them the taste they deserved, finally they made the effort to simply calculate the charge and finalized the payment.
4/16/2024: Woke up at 4:30, got up at 5:20. Had breakfast at 6:05. Their so-called Orange juice was nothing but colored sugar water, and breakfast choices wasn’t nice. Boarded the bus at 7:45. Stopped by the thermal spring natural formations of Hierapolis on the roadside at 8:15 for photo session. We stopped at Bi Mola Anatolia for restroom break at 9:45, it was crowded-there were at least 10 tour buses in the parking at any given time, Visited Mevlâna Museum after lunch break. Got to our Novotel hotel room 508 at at 5:00. Anita and myself each had a Corona beer along with our dinner, the dinner is the best we had so far.
4/17/2024: Woke up at 5:50, got up at 6:00. Had breakfast at 6:45, the restaurant opened earlier than we expected (7:00). Final complaints about this Novotel hotel: no cup except two coffee mugs, no body lotion, tiny night stands, awkward position of safety locker and mini refrigerator, and the air conditioner seemed but not quite functional as an 18°C setting barely cool down the room. Boarded the bus at 7:55. Visited Sultanhani Caranvanserai.
Stopped by a local school to present some stationeries before heading for lunch at a cave based village house-bread, lentil soup, rice with chickpea.
Visited Venessa Seramik Pottery and learnt how a certain ceramic canteen was made, Anita purchased one bird shape hanging figure. Arriving Mustafa Cappadocia Resort room 203, short comings of this hotel: no facial tissue, no shower room door (impossible to take a shower without spilling water onto the floor outside), and terrible Wi-Fi (wasn’t able to connect and download anything).
4/18/2024: Woke up at 5:00, got up at 5:50, had breakfast at 6:30. Hot air balloon ride was cancelled. Joined optional full day Cappadocia tour including Göreme Museum plus several rock formations, under ground city, it was exhausting. Went back to Mustafa Cappadocia Resort at 5:00. Had dinner at 7:00, stopped by a grocery store (~5 minutes walk) and purchased one outlet Cabernet Sauvignon for 520 Lira.
took a group photo during one of the stops.
4/19/2024: Woke up at 3:45, got up at 6:00. Had breakfast at 6:45. Took 2 boiled eggs and one pear with me since there will not have lunch or dinner today. Got on the bus at 8:08. Anita could not find the blue/white glass souvenirs for her City Sports friends, checked the bus but no luck. Visited Anatolian Civilization Museum and Mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk before arriving Divan Ankara at 3:55. Went out and strolled the neighborhood a bit, purchased a 3-pack Cheetos for 18 Lira but wasn’t able to produce exact amount but the cashier let us off with one Lira short. Had 3 eggs (from Mustafa hotel) and two pack Neoguri fast noodle for dinner with one bottle 2022 Turkey Cabernet Sauvignon.
4/20/2024: Woke up at 4:45, got up at 5:00 (5:30 morning call, 6:00 luggage out, 6:00 breakfast <5:50 opening>, 6:45 departure). Got on the bus at 6:40, bus left Hotel Divan at 6:45. Restroom break at 8:45 at Bolu. Lunch break at İKBAL RESTAURANT (Çetin Üregil), Anita purchased two pack Pomegranate flavored Turkish delight which exacted the cash amount of our remaining Lira, will see if the white version is available at Spice Bazzar when we get to Istanbul. It started pouring on our way to Istanbul, our fellow travelers boat cruise will greatly impacted if this continues. Arriving Spice Bazaar at 1:35, we quickly walked in and pick one store selling Turkish Delights, bought about 4 lbs variety of them for 710 Lira, even cheaper than the one about one lb during our lunch break, this kind of put a dent on our perfect impression of Ender, he suggested buying there which turned out much more expensive. We, along with one other couple and the help of another Ender’s helper, took the same bus to Doubletree by Hilton after 25 minutes in the Spice Bazaar, got to our room (608) at 2:30. Walked around near the hotel and discovered that this hotel is not in a very nice neighborhood-narrow streets jammed with cars and garbage, plus the hotel’s main entrance is on the side of the building. Tried to check in but Turkish Airlines wouldn’t allow online checkin without e-ticket number, we’ll have to be at the airport earlier tomorrow morning to do it. Attended farewell dinner by Gate 1 at Monte Terrace & Bar at 7:30 on 7th floor.
4/21/2024: Woke up at 5:00, got up at 5:30, relieved 3 times with a lot of blood. Checked out at 6:35, front desk ordered taxi for us, they did not have breakfast box there, Anita had to get one from the cafeteria herself, taxi came almost right away, headed out to IST at 6:40, the taxi fly at over 70 mile/hour and got us to IST at 7:05, gave him $30 + $3 tip. Passed security first before waiting at Turkish Airlines counter J for check in. We were told at 7:40 that J was for direct flight to SFO, she directed us to counter F for our flight, the person handling our check-in told us we needed to pay for our luggages, after nearly 10 minutes on the phone she finally informed us no payment was needed, but we only get boarding pass to Amsterdam, will need to get the boarding pass for our second leg of flight at Amsterdam, while waiting for a second security and passport check, I found out from United app that we are already checked in for Amsterdam to SFO flight with boarding pass ready, thank God. Waited at the big screen for gate info at 8:35. Walked to gate A1A at 9:25 after it was displayed at 9:10. Started boarding shuttle at 9:30 without announcement. Boarded shuttle at 9:58, got to remote tarmac at 10:08, it’s a full flight where we have 35D and E of a four seat row. Flight 1957 took off at 10:55, 15 minutes behind schedule. There was a simple meal after taking off, I avoided everything else except the egg and salad. The plane landed at Amsterdam at 12:50, 30 minutes ahead of schedule but took 8 minutes to get to the gate, another 15 minutes to get off, no passport check but both Anita and myself were hand frisked going through security check, possibly because Turkey is not an EU member?!?!?! It was a long walk going to gate E22, which happens to be the last and final gate of ABCDE ones, estimated to be at least 15 minutes. Boarded flight UA969 at 2:10, seats 22A and 22B. Flight UA 969 was delayed due to a passenger seat issue, it finally took off at 3:24, 34 minutes behind schedule. We landed at SFO at 5:06, 11 minutes behind schedule, again a long wait at Customs and Boarder Protection, got through at 5:50, got our luggages and went to departure level center island, ordered UberX which arrived within 3 minutes and we got home at 6:41. Based on the past two experience, no reservation is necessary, in fact it’s probably a better option-nearly immediate availability and no worry for our late exit. The garage door opener is offline, I used the hidden key under the deck and enter from the front door, opened the garage and towed the luggages in. Had fish stick for dinner, no other ready meals available. Reset the switch/hub Arlo connected and the cameras are back online, power cycled the garage door opener and MyQ is back online, the switch/hub and garage door opener requires constant monitoring. Turned in at 12:00.
4/22/2024: Got up at 4:50. Still saw a lot of blood in my stool, need to do something about it. Cleaned up backyard and front yard weeds in between bricks, trimmed off intruding Wisteria vines to our back door neighbors, also trimmed off several Oleander branches that were too low or tangled with Wisteria branches. Visited 9 Ranch Market, purchased one pack carrot, one Taiwan Cabbage, one Celery, two brown onion, 7 Fuji apple, two hand banana, one pack green onion, two tomato, and one pack cucumber seeds, also get one bento from their deli department.
4/23/2024: Got up at 7:25. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one bottle 750ml Complicated Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack small tomato with vines, one Cranberry Walnut bread, one pack Kale salad kit, two dozen Kirkland egg (they are out of the two dozen pasture ones), one pack BibiGo Wonton, one can Areds 2, one Brie cheese, and one pack (x12) Noosa yogurt. Replaced toilet flapper in the laundry room.
Old one:
New one:
The water inflow control floater may need adjustment. Had 25 minutes MB with RM and legs, EJ-not as pleasant.
4/24/2024: Got up at 4:00. Dry cleaned both cars and their wheels. Liquid and stuff started leaking while I squatted cleaning the wheels, it’s more serious than I thought……. Trimmed off most yellow rose leaves.
4/25/2024: Got up at 5:01. Cleaned up backyard Wisteria flowers and dry Oleander stems, had to hand scrape a good amount Wisteria flowers that were stuck (rain water helped) on the bricks and tiles.
4/26/2024: Got up at 5:30. Blood pressure after 香功: 122/84/76-130/79/81-125/76/76. Cleaned up leftover garden waste from last week, mostly dried weeds from last week (weed trimmer work).
4/27/2024: Got up at 7:05. Trimmed off most low hanging Wisteria vines and flower stems, I should be able to walk in the backyard a little easier now. Visited Marina Grocery with Anita, the weather was nice but the temperature still hang around 60°F, purchased one pack (x4) Neoguri spicy seafood noodle, one pack thin noodle, 6 varieties of 出前一丁noodle, one pack unsalted butter, one pack bacon, one fried fish cake, one pack spare rib, one pack thick bean curd, one pack beef shank, two pack beef tendon, 3 pear, 3 Fuji apple, one pack Gavilán, one pack 油菜, one pack sugar pea, and one pack green bean, Anita got half an roast duck (price hike again). Had 25 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-no fun any more. Discovered Google Map timeline has more info than I thought, it’s trip routes appear to be very informative, I’ll use them in my photo album.
4/28/2024: Got up at 5:45. Trimmed off some bush branches that were blocking my walking route. Fixed the broken/loose broomstick.
4/29/2024: Got up at 7:00-back to normal?! Trimmed off three main branches from the “bushes” near the back door neighbor, this presented better walking space for me, however there’s one “bush” that has both of its main branches intruding, no better way trimming it except complete removal.
