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.
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
1/26/2024: 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.
Checked in United flight UA871 at 1:42.
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.
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.
Swing by Carrefour Express and purchased one bottle 360ml Suntory Whisky, one cheese cake, and one pack Squid fish ball.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 #1“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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
4/30/2024: Woke up at 1:15, went back to bed at 2:30, got up at 7:00. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one hand banana, one pack small tomato on vines, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one lemon Blueberry loaf, one pack Tyson chicken breast tenderloins, two dozen pasture egg, one pack (x12) whole kernel corn, one beef Kebabs, one tub cream cheese, and one pack (x12) roast chicken drumsticks. Cut off a couple of Cherry tree branches and released most vines. Placed the old patio umbrella frame at the edge of the brick flat, sorted some (the ones not too intertwined) of the Passion Fruit vines, loosely placed them on top of the frame, also placed several of which that were closer to the deck on top of the steel wires to help deck covering.
5/1/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack blueberry, one pack (x6) sweet Pepper, one pack beef Kebabs, one pack BibiGo mini Wonton, and one bottle 2L Kirkland Extra Virgin Olive oil. Filled up RX300 at $4.799/gal. Cut off two more Cherry tree branches (the ones that were still manageable by my electrical chain saw), placed more vines over the patio umbrella frame, cleaned up vines that were blocking pathways.
Removed all rose bench coverings, cleaned most of them and threw away the old cloth dated way back. Walked 30 minutes in the backyard. Received Amazon basic C batteries at 4:24 (picked up at 4:56).
5/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Added all Turkey trip photos from my Pixel Pro to new album, for some reason the Google Timeline screen shots could not be sorted correctly, it appeared it treats 1:00am as if it was 11:00 am and sorted them as such, found a way to move them manually but need to finish processing photos from Anita’s iPhone first. Downloaded most Line Keep photos/videos to Google album “Line Keep” as they will stop Keep service in August. Changed feeder time to Day Light Saving, adjusted meal settings for 5-3-3 to 4-3-3. Uploaded (Apple Airdrop) Anita’s Turkey trip photos to MacBook Pro, they kept all original timestamps but still under Apple Photo, still do not know how to send them as is to Google photo. Had 25 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. There are more issues with the exported photos, not sure how to tackle them, yet.
5/3/2024: Got up at 7:00. Spent 35 minutes cleaning up leftover garden in the street, it wasn’t a large amount but most was small pieces of leaves, sand, plus a good amount was stuck on the ground. Cut off the main branch just above my waist, the old Harbor Freight Tools chain saw could barely finish the task, placed the loose branch next to the back door neighbor fence to rid off possible animal digging holes underneath.
5/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. It started raining around 8:30, this hasn’t happened at this time of the year a long long time. Updated iwt-0. Walked stairs 12 times (a total of 288 steps). Found out how to reclaim my Pixel Pro local storage, at Google Photo, select photo or video, select “delete from device” option, the photo or video will be removed from local storage right away (not put in the trash), but these photo or video has to be in Google cloud to work. Delete most videos on Pixel 6 Pro, reclaimed 15G storage.
5/5/2024: Got up at 7:00. Dug a hole near the end of central walkway near the Cherry tree trunk, placed one thick brick to expand walkable area. Prepared 10 Yogurt cups for cucumber planting. Mixed clay soil, old planter box soil and compost liquid, filled the 10 Yogurt cups, inserted one cucumber seed in each, there are 8 more seeds which will be the backups. Attended church choir with Anita, it’s an event per Sandra’s invitation, in effect it’s more like a preaching and it’s pretty long, fortunately the chorus part was nice. We stopped at Marukai first before going there, most meal packs were gone so we only purchased one Salmon Shioyaki&chicken, one Futomaki, one Hiyashi Chaka, one Pocky Koi Matcha, one pack carrot, one Cauliflower, two Broccoli crown, 5 organic Fuji Apple, and one hand organic banana. Got home at 7:46.
5/6/2024: Got up at 7:00. Tidy up some Passion Fruit vines on top of the old patio umbrella frame, raised the frame arms a little manually. Removed the warped front panel of the small planter box, over 2/3 of the lower part was infested by ants and their offspring. Made a replacement from one old fence board and the still usable part of the warped panel, should work for a few years.
Walked/run 15 minutes in the backyard. Finished making Turkey trip album with 1316 photos.
5/7/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, it usually opens earlier on Monday and Tuesday but it did not open until 8:58, purchased one pack small tomato on vines, one Cranberry Walnut bread, one pack cocktail shrimp, one bottle 750ml Kirkland Malbec (from Argentina), one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, two dozen pasture egg, one pack unsalted mixed nuts, and one bottle 1.7L Johnnie Walker Red. Started making a new lattice frame (with old materials) for upcoming cucumber plants. The backyard replacement hose (near the deck) was delivered by Amazon at 12:42 (picked up at 1:26). Tested the new expanding hose, it seemed to work but there were several loose outside cloth, not sure if it was a returned unit, will try a few more times to see if something is fishy. Had 40 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
5/8/2024: Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up backyard leaves (mostly from Oleanders), watered the small planter box, planning to have it wet thoroughly before planting cucumber seedlings. Moved the cups with cucumber seeds onto the windowsill just outside the kitchen to get more sunlight. Watered the small planter box again. Need to build a sunshade for the new expansion hose as the very location it sits gets a few hours of sun which the hose instruction cautions.
5/9/2024: Got up at 7:00. Made a sunshade for the new hose, a number of design ideas were debated, ended up using one short leftover frame from Stephanie’s green house, it’s flexible to accept larger or smaller shade as needed easily.
Had 10 minutes MB with legs, EJ.
5/10/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack Jalapeño, one pack Bok Choy, 3 Fuji Apple, 4 pear, one Celery, three Tomato, and one pack thick bean curd.
Painted the new sunshade panel and its base the same as the outside wall.
Filled up feeder.
5/11/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited IKEA with Anita, had a cup of coffee (free with IKEA family card) each and shared two bread scones after arriving, picked up two more scones for breakfast tomorrow. Strolled through the store casually and picked up one small/cute water can, one pack (x20) white candles, one minty closet hanger scent, two chair mates, one bag scent pouch, and one pack colored pencil. Applied Gorilla glue to Anita’s right shoe that’s still dis attached in a number of places, clamp and rubber banded it. Trimmed off front yard Oleander branches that blocked Grace’s driveway, trimmed off most dried and withered Birds of Paradise. Applied more Gorilla glue to Anita’s right shoe for more large dis attached area.
5/12/2024: Got up at 6:45. Trimmed off several low hanging Wisteria vines. Attached several cross wires to the Passion fruit vine support over the deck. There are now 4 cucumber seedlings showing their baby leaves. Trimmed off all new Oleander shoots near their roots. Trimmed off some Oleander branch tips and withered leaves.
5/13/2024: Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up trimmed off Oleander leaves and branches. Watered some roses with collected rain water. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-wow! Molly showed up around 6:50, Anita was so happy to see her.
5/14/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one bottle 1.7L Johnnie Walker Red, one pack (x2) Sweet Kale salad kit, one pack (x8) Danish, one bag Macadamia nut, one bag Brazil nut, one bottle Lee Kim Gee Oyster sauce, one pack (x2) Sriracha sauce, one pack small tomatoes on vines, and one pack organic Blueberry. Baked Brazil nuts for 6+3minutes-just right, added Macadamia nuts, Marcona Almond, and unsalted mixed nuts from Costco, completed Lin version mixed nuts. Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, no EJ.
5/15/2024: Got up at 7:00. Watered backyard roses with collected rain water. Trimmed off more yellow rose leaves, removed spider webs on the fence. Walked 35 minutes in the backyard.
Ordered one pack (x24) Fancy Feast Delights with Cheddar Grilled Tuna and Cheddar Cheese plus one box baking soda. Completely cleaned up all webs on the fence, between trees, and around everything else in the backyard, fixed the fence at the back of the shed and facing the street. Ordered one pack (12 0.02 oz) Neutrogena Bright illuminating Face Serum with Neoglucosamine & Turmeric Extract for Even Skin Tone for Anita.
5/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 132/78/83-134/74/83-124/74/81. Dismantled the old wooden frame (totally forgot where it came from though), the total area the combined wood pieces was too small for the ground (beneath the metal pot holder) I intended to cover/replace, decided to use two of the old book shelf boards found in the shed, need to do a good water proof job before placing them on the soil though. Made a small filler from one of the deck remnants, trimmed off the wood wedges from the dismantled wood frame. Walked 288 steps up and down the stairs. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
5/17/2024: Got up at 7:10. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/78/87-125/74/83-110/79/80. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, there wasn’t a large volume but most of it was small and fine pieces of leaves and mowed lawn making it time consuming, it took me over 35 minutes to finish the task. Received Fancy Feast cat food and baking soda from Amazon at 11:47 (picked up at 11:48). Made 4 rectangular fillers to complete the two particle boards, need to water proof them, with what-outside wall paint, yellow spray paint, or sealer?????? Found one youtube video showed me how to easily program Brother wireless printer WiFi, reprogrammed our HL-3140cdw to Google Sale AP, it went through smoothly, Anita and myself was able to print successfully, thank God-getting another printer wasn’t as easy as it appeared as reviews on any brand all carried negative ones, no way to guarantee a safe purchase.
5/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 137/81/79-129/79/79-130/79/77. Visited 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack green onion, one pack garlic, one pack golden Kiwi, one pack pork tenderloin, one pack pork spare rib, one Mackerel, one pack ocean perch, one bag brown sugar, and two soft tofu, also got one bento from their deli department. Painted the metal pot holder with outside wall paint, it covered every surface nicely, the original idea spray painting it with yellow paint did not work as it could not cover parts with bare metal.
5/19/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/82/86-128/8085-128/77/78. Started applying water seal to the two particle boards with “Solid color wood sealer-Natural Cedar”. Visited Valley Fair with Anita, online info stated opening hour was 11:00 but the mail was already open when we got there at 10:40, although almost all stores were still closed, several food establishment were open though. Had Umami for lunch after strolling through Eataly, eit’s nice to see so many different food items once in while even without buying. Applied sealer to the back side of the particle boards twice with 2 hours in between.
5/20/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/86/79-134/79/73-132/80/75. Placed the two particle boards in their designated place, found one spare board of the same width but a little short on depth, decided to use it anyway, applied water seal on it. Had 25 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-really good. Applied a second water seal to the third board. Placed the third board behind the first two, seemed good enough but the center of the soil is lower which requires some leveling to make the whole platform flat.
MovedOleander trimmings to garbage bin and garden waste bin, will clean up other leaves tomorrow as there will be two of Anita’s church friends visiting Wednesday.
5/21/2024: Got up at 6:55. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/83/81-133/79/81-117/80/94-118/80/83. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack small tomatoes on vines, one hand banana, one pack La Boulangêre Pains au Chocolate, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one bottle 750 ml Pyramid Scheme Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, one bottle 750 ml Vinha Da Coutada Vella Red Blend 2020 from Portugal, one pack Beef Chuck short ribs boneless, one bag organic crispy Coconut rolls, one pack Cherries, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Eggwich, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bunch deluxe bunch, one pack Chocolate Croissant, one Brie cheese, and one Cheetos Flamin Hot. Had a haircut and bath, Anita help trimming off some hair at the bottom edge. Received Neutrogena Bright Boost Illuminating Face Serum from Amazon at 1:49 (Anita picked up at 2:07-this order was delayed for 3 days. Watered backyard roses as well as dry soil, the expandable hose served nicely, hope it lasts.
5/22/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 138/84/82-116/74/82-125/76/80. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves, cleaned up the cucumber seedling tray. Stopped by King Eggroll and purchased 2 orders of shrimp dumplings, 2 orders of Xiu Mai and 4 shrimp balls. Helen and Judy arrived at 10:45 (45 minutes late) and stayed until 12:40. Trimmed off several Wisteria new shoots.
5/23/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one dozen Pyramid Scheme Cabernet Sauvignon, and two bag organic crispy coconut rolls. Moved cucumber seedling tray to the top of feeder shield to get more sunlight.
5/24/2024: Got up at 7:00. Trimmed most small tree branches and rose stems to smaller pieces and leafs them in the emptied garbage bin to free up the garden waste bucket.
5/252024: Got up at 7:10, felt light headed. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/87/64-134/86/63-123/85/65-137/83/67. Visited Marukai (it’s now Tokyo Central) with Anita after lunch, will probably do it in the morning the next time as the traffic was bad), purchased two bag carrot, one small Kabocha (black pumpkin), two pack (x3 each) Yikisoba, one tube Wasabi, two pack (x5 each) bonito flakes, one box Pocky Koi Matcha, one pack Salmon Shioyaki & chicken, one pork cutlet, one pack lean ground pork, one Nama sake Kirimi, one Karaage (fried chicken), and one Hamachi Kama (Yellow Collar).
5/26/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 140/80/82-143/77/79-124/77/78-116/76/79. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves, 70% into the garbage bin 30% in the compost bin. Made Yikisoba with Karaage and scrambled ground pork with sweet turnip, placed them in 6 bowls for 3 lunches. Had another hair cut to thin the lower back. Had 20 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.
5/27/2024: Got up at 7:08. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/79/77-125/82/78-129/78/73. Trimmed front yard Lavender branches to make it smaller, also trimmed off a lot of dead/dry branches underneath.
Spent 2 and half an hour replacing the whole toilet flash system in the laundry room, it took some maneuver on a number of details to dismantle and configure a quite different system. The water shut off valve under the toilet could not shut off the water completely so I had to turn off the main line in the front yard.
Received Fancy Feast Turkey flavor cat food from Amazon at 12:21 (picked up at 12:27 when I went out to shut off the main water line).
5/28/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/79/87-118/74/83-106/75/86-110/74/82. Visited Costco by myself, the Automation Parkway was 80% closed for road maintenance, took me 15 minutes to get to Costco parking lot, purchased one dozen Pyramid Scheme Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack Asparagus, one pack sweet Bell Pepper, one Keto Teriyaki cashew salad, one dozen muffin (6 chocolate top and 6 corn), one hand banana, one pack pear, and two dozen pasture egg. The water leak from the new flash system appeared to be at the water intake, after a couple of tries, I decided to tightened the nut holding the control module just below the tank, this seemed to stop the leak, will check later for sure. Checked a couple of times and confirmed the leak had been stopped. Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.
5/29/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/75/85-126/78/83-115/74/83. Visited Walmart with Anita, picked up 2 Fancy Feast can cat food, two bag Cheetos Cheddar Jalapeño, one bottle 750 ml Stella Rosa Tropical Mango wine, two bottle 1.5L Barefoot Moscato, and 4 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling. Stopped by Marina Grocery, purchased one bag dry shrimp, one fried fish cake, one Daikon cake, one pack (x5) 出前一丁fast noodle, two box powder for steamed meat, two box spice pouch, two pack beef tendon, two pack boneless beef shank, one celery, one bag potato starch, one pack (x6) preserved duck egg (皮蛋), and one pack vermicelli, Anita got a half roast duck from their deli department. Walked 50 minutes in the backyard, it’s getting a bit too hot to walk long.
5/30/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功 and in the middle of warmup routine: 135/85/72-132/85/72-122/86/71-130/86/72. Made stewed beef (one hour 15 minutes) and tendon (3 hour and 15 minutes). Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs before bath, EJ.
5/31/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/78/73-120/79/71-130/74/74. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street including some Birds of Paradise trimmings in front of our Filipino neighbor-they could be from their own plant but heck. Rode 20 minutes bike in the garage. Watered front lawn for one hour, plus 20 minutes flower plants.
6/1/2024: Got up at 7:00. Extracted some ready soil from our compost bin, spread 2/3 on the small planter box, left 1/3 in the large pot for alternate cucumber planting, also extract enough compost soil and put them in a white bucket saving for future fertilizing cucumber plants. Transplanted 8 mature cucumber seedlings, 5 to the small planter box, 3 to the pot, 2 more seedlings, pending their maturity, will be moved to a small pot later.
Trimmed off yellow rose leaves and withered flowers.
6/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/83/85-129/83/80-124/81/78. Walked 60 minutes in the backyard in sandals.
6/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 116/82/79-110/76/78-121/85/83. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack grape tomatoes, one pack cherry, one pack Sunkist orange, one hand banana, two dozen pasture egg, one Cinnamon Apple raisin bread, one pack Egg Wich, and one bottle 64oz Hazelnut creamer. Made a fertilizer stir stick for Anita from one Oleander branch.
6/5/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 128/79/74-117/77/73-132/74/73-129/78/75. Watered cucumber plants and some roses that appeared desperate for water, trimmed some withered roses.
Called Peilee at 6:04 for 12 minutes.
Harvested 2 more cucumbers-making the total 15.
8/3/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after香功: 141/85/66-125/82/65-127/71/65. Harvested one cucumber-a total of 27. Walked 54 minutes in the backyard.
Filled up gas for RX300 at $3.979/gal.
this cabin was very long and narrow but the overall size was much bigger as it has a large sofa which can be transformed into a double bed, there are two TVs plus a lot of drawers and three closets, designed to serve a family of 4 people. Forgot how to to get on the Internet using the free 150 minutes with NCL app?????? Checked with Internet Cafe expert and discovered that I need to use “pei” instead of “peichen” or “pei-chen” as my first name (not sure why though) when logging in, the rest was OK. Cancelled both Los Lobos reservation as we decided to visit “Food Republic” tomorrow instead. Joined Latitude welcome reception held in “The Social Club” from 6:00-7:00 but it only lasted 15 minutes, guess this event is gradually becoming a casual routine. Attended “The Beatles Experience” in the theatre, very energetic. Two (one for each of us gift baskets were delivered to thank us being a loyal NCL cruiser, each contain a scarf, an annual Latitude Rewards Members Cruise pin, one poncho, one Starbucks voucher, and one head warmer.
Bliss docked at Juneau at 1:20, but we did not get off ship until 1:53. It was windy but no rain when we got on shore, since the temperature was below 40°F, we decided not to go anywhere else (Mendenhall glacier or tramway ride), instead simply stroll the stores near the pier, Anita got several magnets she liked before heading back to NCL Bliss around 3:15. Had dinner at Le Bistro at 6:00 with Latitude coupon, the compliment bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Badger Washington was pretty good even though it’s a 2022 brewing. Watched Alaskan Yaaw Tri Yi Dance group performance. Turned in at 10:15.
Google map timeline is becoming less useful now that it restrict timeline to a single device (phone for example), timelines used to be available on all devices login the same account making it convenient to watch, now each device has its own timeline which made the timeline feature less useful, timeline detail on phone is also limited with useless info.
6/6/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/75/78-114/70/78-113/70/76. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, left them in the garbage bin. Cut up the old recycle bin into 5 flats, may serve many purpose with the new shape.
Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-getting more challenging again.
6/7/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功 and half through warming up exercise: 125/76/77-114/78/78-126/78/77. Had brunch at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) in ValleyFair at 10:00, 5 dishes plus one cocktail for Anita, service and atmosphere were nice but the food was just ok for its price-added 20% tip at the end.
Anita got a summer pant as her birthday gift at Anthropologie. Finished the rest of our brunch as afternoon snack with Riesling. Cleaned the fake flower plus vase with water and bleach, looks much better now.
Watered front lawn and all flower/plants for one hour and 10 minutes.
6/8/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/82/69-123/76/70-117/79/70. Walked to 99 Ranch Market and purchased one Mackerel, one pack fried crab meat, one pack Gailan, one pack carrot, one Taiwanese cabbage, one pack green onion, and one pack fried mini tofu pod (豆泡).
Rearranged several Passion fruit vines to expose more area of the planter box near the center walkway, I plan to transfer 2 maybe 3 cucumber seedlings there. Trimmed off over shooting Wisteria new shoots and low hanging branches.
6/9/2024: Got up at 7:00. Trimmed down several Oleander branches-some were low hanging and a couple were infested by ants, still pondering how to tackle the ones that are intruding our Korean neighbor’s backyard……decided I should focus on one at most two branches and work on them only. Got rid of all remaining intruding Oleander branches from the Oleander closer to the backdoor neighbor, now I can focus on the other Oleander which is more challenging though.
6/10/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 129/79/82-122/70/79-125/75/86. Had 15 minutes MB with mini and legs, EJ-good one (good stimulation helped). Trimmed off several dry and/or overlapping Wisteria Oleander branches. Trimmed off one large Oleander branch to our Korean neighbor, the trimming pile is getting big. Trimmed off another big Oleander branch reaching over Korean neighbor.
6/11/2024: Got up at 6:35. Blood pressure after 香功: 129/75/76-110/73/72-125/73/72. Visited Costco by myself, filled up RX300 before heading in, purchased one hand banana, one pack organic grape tomato, one pack sweet Kale salad kit, one can iron tablet, one pack organic Polish sausage, one pack Noosa yogurt, two bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (on sale at $27-$6 each when purchased 2), one Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack (x24) Michelle Ultra beer, and one pack (x10) Gold Kiwi. Transplanted the remaining cucumber seedlings, one to the small pot and two to the planter box near the Passion fruit, since I wasn’t able to separate the two seedlings as their roots appeared to be intertwined tightly so instead I planted them as is in the same hole. Trimmed off the last two main branches to Korean neighbor, a couple of smaller branches may still need work though. Cut up the new trimmings directly onto the wheel barrel so that I don’t have to reload (from the ground)when taking them out Thursday morning, with blower I somewhat moved the leaves and flowers into one area. Anita is having dinner with her gym friends. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 15 minutes. Received portion/food scoop from Amazon at 6:33.
6/12/2024: Got up at 6:41. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/79/71-118/77/71-123/75/66. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, left them in the garbage bin, trimmed off withered rose flowers and leaves. Walked 40 minutes in the backyard.
6/13/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/84/74-128/74/1-128/78/71. Moved all backyard trimmings (mostly from Oleanders) to curbside, so that Francisco won’t need to. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
6/14/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 108/72/74-110/74/73-116/71/72. Moved the garbage bin of our neighbor across the street to just outside of their side gate, they are taking vacation in Las Vegas. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, took half an hour. Trimmed the white Oleander next to the driveway to give D-l camera a better view of our neighbor across the street. Rode 20 minutes bike in the garage. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour.
6/15/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/83/73-116/77/69-118/79/65. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and purchased two red onion, one whole Mackerel, and two Korean sweet melons, also purchased one bento from their deli department. Made a replacement board for the utility hutch outside the sliding door, needed to drill three holes to adapt two conduits and the umbrella frame post.
Applied one long piece veneer strip to left edge of the board, accidentally drop the board and damaged one of the corners🙁.
6/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 121/79/83-116/75/82-116/73/78. Trimmed off several extruding Wisteria vines, they grew so fast……. Installed garden hose splitter so I can still get water from the faucet without having to turn on the expandable garden hose.
Talked with IShin for 20 minutes, he’s here in Sunnyvale preparing his son’s Airbnb for the next guest.
6/17/2024: Got up at 6:35. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/81/80-125/77/77-123/79/78. Made a shelf board for the utility hutch, drilled holes (6 total) on the drywall and installed two shelf support brackets, all carefully measured and completed, remaining task is paint selection and application.
6/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic grape tomato, one hand banana, one pack Sunkist orange, one pack Bok Choy, one pack mini sweet chili, two dozen pasture egg, one bag unsalted mixed nut, one pouch Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, two bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (on sale $27-$6 each when two are purchased), one can seaweed salad, one pack (x8) danish, and one tub cream cheese. Decided to use a different board for the upper shelf, one that’s the same as the bottom one only several inches narrower, drilled holes and applied veneer to outer edges. Applied wood glue to the upper shelf board edges instead of Flex Seal as it’s quite messy plus Wall paint will be used to cover the entire board. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs-EJ.
6/19/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 134/84/73-125/79/73-135/79/72. Got a call from Jason Chang, asking if I could loan him 10 or 20 grand saying he had been conned nearly one million dollars, with the help of an online company, the money was intercepted, but in order to claim the money wasn’t a money laundry scheme, the online company asked for $20,000 deposit in order to get through this hurdle, the info Jason forwarded to me seemed legit but can also be easily created and in my opinion most likely another con scheme, I tried to explain this to him but he seemed disappointed and hung up, I felt really bad for him. Drilled 4 holes on the lower side of the upper shelf board, painted both shelf boards with outside wall paint. Filled feeder, need to get more as no more inventory. Finished remodeling utility hutch.
Walked 61 minutes in the backyard.
6/20/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/83/81-107/75/78-116/79/77. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, trimmed off all new shoots at their roots, put all in the garbage bin. Applied clear spray paint on both utility hutch boards (only on the top side and edges) as the bare wall paint could be scraped off and/or smudged easily. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-laborious. Received Sunmaid Golden Raisins from Amazon at 6:49. Watered front awn and flowers for one hour and 20 minutes.
6/21/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/77/85-124/79/83-124/74/83. Attached one ~1”x1” wood under the patio bench, tried but failed to add screws underneath the 1”x1”, the boards were simply too old to hold only a small portion of the screws, reverted to plan B by applying some glue to the long end and drill holes from the top, not very pretty but it at least secured the boards and should hold them for sometime.
6/22/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/75/78-114/73/79-119/74/77. Trimmed off some yellow rose leaves. Anita went to a luncheon with her Arms Computer colleges. Visited H Mart and purchased 4 Tomato, two Korean melon, one pack carrot and one Bibimbap meal box. Finished reading Amazon Kindle book “Complete Detective Sophie Allen” book 2 “Deadly Crimes”.
6/23/2024: Got up at 7:00. Watered front yard porch flowers, trimmed off withered flower stems and dead leaves. Received 3 silicone soap dish from Amazon at 10:47 while I was working in the front yard. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 40 minutes.
6/24/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 128/78/82-121/74/80-129/76/79. Trimmed off two large Oleander branches kind of over hanging Korean neighbor’s fence, loaded all shortened trimming onto the wheel barrel for easy handing on Thursday, cleaned up Oleander leaves and flowers-loaded them in the garbage bin. Pollinated about 30 Passion fruit flowers, even though I followed online instructions in the pollination process but I have only seen one new fruit so far, most were withered and gone…….
6/25/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 130/74/78-123/73/80-117/67/78. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack organic grape tomato, one pack royal Cherry, one pack Strawberry, one hand banana, two dozen pasture egg, one pack (x12) Noosa yogurt, one bottle 2018 750 ml Federalist Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 2020 750 ml Château Canteloup Lestage Blake Côtes De Bordeaux, one pack (x2) sweet Kale salad kit, one pack mixed green, and one all butter pound cake. Trimmed one sub-branch off the largest branch closely leaning against the fence to our Korean neighbor, cut out several smaller branches off the loose sub-branch. Finished removing hanging Oleander branches, cut up thick portion of some branches, will shorten all trimmings tomorrow. Had 30 minutes MB with RM, hands, and legs-EJ. Left a box of old motors I collected through old appliances on the curbside for pickup tomorrow. Made an appointment at Apple Store in Valleyfair as Anita’s iPhone 13 Pro is expericing WiFi connection issues.
6/26/2024: Got up at 7:00. Backed up Anita’s iPhone 13 Pro on MacBook Pro, photo copied Apple IDs on my Pixel, saved appointment QR code, ready for the appointment. Stopped by Safeway on Sierra road and purchased 20 Fancy Feast cat food before heading to Valleyfair. Arriving Apple Store at 10:15, was immediately connected with the reception, the technician came at 10:30 and within 5 minutes found out the Google VPN was causing the problem, it all worked well after he disabled VPN. I later found out Google stopped Google One VPN service on 6/20/2024, all data traffic stopped working as Anita’s iPhone still have VPN enabled, need to find a replacement. Cut all Oleander trimmings into short and manageable size for tomorrow.
6/27/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 126/81/83-122/79/79-135/80/83. Visited Marina Grocery by myself, purchased one pack pickled sweet Radish, one can Chestnut, one can baby corn, one can threaded bamboo shoot, one bag dried Date, one bag dried Goji berry, one bag dried Logan, one pack ginger, one string garlic, one pack thick bean curd, one Celery, one pack On Choy, one pack frozen squid tube, one bag crystal sugar, three white onion, one pack boneless beef shank, two pack beef tendon, one pack carrot, one hand banana, and one pack bitter melon. Also got half a roast duck from their deli department. Moved all Oleander trimmings to curbside, trimmed off several chunks of the main Oleander trunk that were brushing the fence (damaged a couple of fence boards bad).
6/28/2024: Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, for some reason there was a lot of dust/sand/dirt in it, took longer to clean. Elena and husband Philip visited with three pots of flowers, we chatted for about one and half hour before they continued with their busy life. Pollinated ~10 Passion fruit flowers.
6/29/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/77/78-116/79/76-116/75/75. Very busy day in the kitchen-cocked one dozen egg and stewed them, boiled one dozen organic grape tomato and pickled them, thin sliced 6 bitter melon and pickled them, stewed two boneless beef shank, 4 beef tendon, and 8 thick bean curd. Had a sore throat throughout the day but not too bad.
6/30/2024: Got up at 7:00. My sore throat’s getting worse, Covid-19 test after breakfast proved my suspicion, I am infected most likely by Anita’s friend Elena and husband Philip, even though it was only about an hour’s visit but the only other possibility was Marina Grocery visit on Thursday, there was no close contact with anyone in the store so it was ruled out as the cause.
Watered backyard roses, cucumbers, and Oleanders. Turned in at 8:00 as I wasn’t feeling well.
7/1/2024: Applied my “Chi” to my throat to easy down the urge to cough, it seemed to work. Got up at 7:00. Sore throat was better, the urge to cough remained low. Rested in bed from 12:30-1:30. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 20 minutes. Turned in at 9:30, coughed frequently throughout the night.
7/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself (it did not open until 8:58 which is abnormally late for Tuesdays), purchased one pack Orange, one pack organic grape tomato, one hand banana, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one Cinnamon Apple Raisin nut Batard, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Bibigo beef Mandu, two bag Peet’s Dark roast coffee bean, one bottle Nature Bounty fish oil, and one bottle AREDS 2. Received Netgear 8-port switch from Amazon at 3:25, reconnected Vonage Ethernet cable to the new switch (the old ATT 2Wire510 switch ports were unreliable and I decided to ditch the device completely), connected ssc1746asus to the new switch and placed the AP near the folding desk, the performance was greatly improved at 66.4/67.3, even better when it’s placed in the study, maybe, a long term solution for our WiFi issues, one thing for sure was that the WiFi performance from the Google router was terrible when trying to connect from downstairs.
7/3/2024: Got up at 6:30. Blood pressure after 香功: 133/81/71-124/83/71-132/82/67-127/84/71. Added several support stake for the, now appeared to be too many, cucumber plants. The second day of high temperature, the outside temperature just outside the kitchen window reached 105.9°F by 10:30 am.
Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 30 minutes.
7/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, pollinated one (maybe two) cucumber flowers, repositioned one of the cucumber plant vines farther away from the wall.
7/5/2024: Got up at 6:35. Applied home made fertilizer (which Anita kept for a number of years) to cucumber plants. Walked 54 minutes in the backyard.
Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Covid antigen tested negative.
Called Peilee at 6:04 for 12 minutes.
7/6/2024: Got up at 6:40. Harvested first cucumber of 2024.
Visited Marukai by myself, purchased one bag Edamame, one Napa cabbage, one Daikon, one bag green bean sprouts, two soft tofu, one Unagi Futomaki, one cauliflower, one Karaage, one pork cutlet, Buri Kirimi, two pack Myojo Yakisoba kits, and one Salmon Shioyaki & chicken, stopped by Daiso and got two mid size bowls. Trimmed fake Cherry tree shoots through master bedroom window. Trimmed some Wisteria vines including one mid sized branch that was blocking my walk path.
7/7/2024: Got up at 6:20. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack (2 lbs) carrots and two Korean Melons.
The garage door remote opener (the app on smart phone) does not work, need to fix it soon! Internet had been pathetic since yesterday, a temporary fix by Sail Internet did not last, more down time is expected throughout tomorrow.
7/8/2024: Got up at 6:40. Trimmed off all new shoot from the Oleanders, they were the result of massive trimming of many large branches last week, the new shoots were not healthy as most had Aphis. Had 20 minutes MB with legs, EJ-great one! Reposition the cucumber pots a little, hung several over growing vines, also trimmed a couple young vines to focus growth.
7/9/2024: Got up at 6:40. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack Kiwi, one pack organic small tomato, one pack Cherry, two dozen pasture egg, one bottle 64 oz Hazelnut creamer, one pair size 10 lady’s flippers (they are out of my old and shrinking one), one dozen mixed muffin, one pack beef chuck short rib bone in sliced, and two dozen Michelin Ultra beer. Reset garage door opener remote function (smart phone app MyQ). Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 40 minutes.
7/10/2024: Woke up at 3:00, had one can of Michelob Ultra with a touch of Johnnie Walker before going back to bed at 3:30. Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, loaded them in the garbage bin, loaded Wisteria trimmings onto the wheel barrel. Harvested one cucumber.
7/11/2024: Got up at 6:50. Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin. Hauled Wisteria trimmings to curbside, did the same for our garden waste bucket. BBQ the whole bag of beef chuck short rib (should be enough for 3 meals). Watered cucumber plants. Watered backyard flowers AND cucumber plants.
7/12/2024: Got up at 7:00. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, a lot of dust and fine sand, took
Half an hour. Watered front porch flowers. Received Brother printer cartridges from Amazon (delivered by FedEx) at 2:40 (picked up at 2:46). Per Social Security office’s request, I created new login.gov accounts to replace the old username/password/authentication ones, we now have two authentication methods text message and Google Authenticator app.
7/13/2024: Got up at 6:40. Harvested 4 more cucumbers, a total of 7 so far.
Walked in the backyard for 52 minutes.
Changed my DMV password from xxxxMonica!? To yyyyMonica!?, also activated paperless notification.
7/14/2024: Got up at 7:00. Harvested 2 cumbres, they have a odd shape-short an curved, possibly due to lack of direct sun light, trimmed off several large cucumber plant leaves to allow more sunshine through. Had lunch at In-N-Out on Newhall drive/Coleman Ave, visited Marshall and purchased one Manuka honey, swing by Target and got 15 can Fancy Feast cat food of variety’s, one half gallon whole milk, and 3-head garlic.
7/15/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/74/83-128/76/81-116/78/80. Played one hour table tennis at Robert’s garage, this is the first time since he injured his knee 5 months ago, tried placing the ball back to the center of the table on his side so that he would not need to move much.
Made 4 dishes from the materials I prepared over the last few days, they were delayed because we purchased lunch bento from 99 Ranch Market.
7/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, filled 5 gallon Octane 91 gas for LS400, waited 5 minutes before the store opens, purchased one pack organic Cherry tomato, one hand banana, one pack baby Spinach, one pack Noosa yogurt, one jar soy sauce, one pouch Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, and two Nature’s Bounty Probiotic. Harvested two more cucumbers.
Watered cucumber plants and all backyard roses. Received Rojirushi rice cooker/steamer from Amazon at 1:51 (picked up at 2:11). Received Sunmaid raisin from Amazon at 5:25.Watered front lawn and porch flowers for one hour, had to skip curbside and fence flowers as it was too windy.
7/17/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 117/77/82-114/73/82-115/74/81. Processed 3 more Aloe Vera stems to create gel or liquid for easy application.
7/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/78/75-128/74/74-131/81/75. Trimmed off all Oleander new shoots as they were all infested with aphids, cleaned up Oleander leaves and flowers, loaded them and Wisteria trimmings into the garbage bin.
7/19/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/77/74-125/76/71-118/79/73. Filled up RX300 at Costco gas station at $3.859/gal. Cleaned up spilled Oleander leaves/flowers in the street. Anita has a luncheon with her FTGH Shoot classmates today, I had 8 Bibigo Beef Mandi. Had a haircut by myself, made a mistake while changing cutter spacer and screwed up the rear side of my left ear, not sure what to do, have to wait for Anita to fix it. Received 40 AA, 36 AAA batteries and one 12 outlets extender from Amazon at 5:58.
7/20/2024: Got up at 6:33. Harvested two more cucumbers, current total is 13. Harvested one (maybe the only of the year) Pumpkin.
The delivery of iRobot Zoomba ordered on Amazon was expected on Monday, was later changed to Sunday, then changed to today before 9 pm, I waited nearly half a day until 9:00 pm but nothing even the status “out for delivery” appeared since 6:00 am.
7/21/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 129/78/74-125/78/79-118/79/79. Processed the whole Saba, cut up remnants and buried them at cucumber plant roots to serve as fertilizers. Amazon app claiming the iRobot Zoomba will be delivered today but an email from UPS informed me the scheduled delivery will be tomorrow (Monday) between 2 and 4 pm. Watered backyard roses and cucumber plants, trimmed off withered roses.
7/22/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/79/81-111/72/80-116/74/77. Had 20 minutes MB with mini, hands, and legs, no EJ. Receivered iRobot Zoomba Q011 from Amazon, delivered by UPS at 1:53, activating it took some challenge as the verification codes sent to my yahoo email took more than 3 minutes which I found out after many tries. This model was not very smart even it can be controlled from my iPad but it wasn’t able to go home as directed, kept stuck in the same location until I could not stand and manual sent it home, oh well. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour.
7/23/2024: Got up at 6:45. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic Cherry tomato, one pack orange, one pack sweet Kale salad kit, two dozen pasture egg, one Rosemary Parmesan bread, and one pouch 3.0 L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-a bit forced, not really enjoyable. Temperature broke another record.
7/24/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack carrot, one pack Oyster mushroom, one Taiwanese cabbage, 3 green Bell Pepper, one pack chicken wings, one pack pork baby back rib, and one pack pork loin roast.
Ordered 6.8 lbs Meow Mix from Amazon, the feeder appeared to need replenishing.
7/25/2024: Got up at 6:50. Harvested one odd shaped cucumber-counting 16.
Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, also cleaned up (somewhat) old leaves tucked away next to many fence base covers (placed there to deter animals from digging through), loaded them all in the garbage bin. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Tried activating Anita’s social security login.gov account but it appeared that her phone is needed, will try it later. Activated Anita’s new social security login.gov account-must select phone text to receive authentication code to continue.
7/26/2024: Got up at 6:45. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/74/77-120/70/77-118;70/76. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, a once again there was lots of dust and sands making it more challenging to sweep. Anita has a facial appointment at 10:00. 2024 Olympics starts today in Paris. Received Meow Mix from Amazon at 11:53. Watered front lawn and flowers for 90 minutes. Filled feeder with the newly purchased Meow Mix, only a small portion remained, didn’t realize how big the feeder was.
7/27/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/77/75-118/74/74-117/71/73. Harvested 3 more cucumbers, current count is 18.
Decided to make the cordless phone hanger. Bit simpler as the hanging mechanism was partially built-in, all I need is a piece of wood with two screws to attach it to the folding desk. Spent one hour and 10 minutes trimming withered leaves and flowers on front yard roses, also trimmed off all non-Lily of the Niles plants in the curbside planting lot. Finished cordless phone hanger.
7/28/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited H Mart after dropping Anita off at City Sports, purchased two Celery, two Korean melon, one pack fried fish cake, one Beef Kimbap (Sushi), and one Bibimbap. Waited in City Sports parking lot before picking up Anita at 10:20. The washer stopped working moments after Anita started wash cycle, looks like we’ll need new washer/dryer finally after 43 plus years. Finished washing the clothes manually in the backyard, very tiresome.
7/29/2024: Got up at 7:00. Brought 2 cucumbers to Robert, only to learn that he also planted the same, oh well. Played 90 minutes table tennis at Robert’s garage, sweated like rain.
Harvested 3 more cucumber, making total 21.
7/30/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 112/74/81-113/71/79-125/70/82. Trimmed Birds of Paradise for one hour, its leaves were getting way too dense. Trimmed Passion fruit vines under the eaves near the kitchen sliding door, also trimmed off some fake Cherry tree high shoots over the deck. Had 30 minutes MB, no EJ-even tried with June, could nor perform.
7/31/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 135/77/69-125/80/70-125/77/69. Harvested 3 more cucumbers, making the total 24.
Visited IKEA with Anita, one of our few local outings in recent years, we probably arrived a bit late as they ran out of Scones, had to settle with the only pastry available. Purchased one set (x3) pink candles and one paper based napkin holder. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, no EJ-couldn’t get stimulated at all. Replaced batteries for iMac keyboard and trackpad, need to monitor this as I remember changing them not long ago plus they were rarely used.
8/1/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/82/76-136/82/77-124/74/74. Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack organic Cherry tomatoes, one hand banana, one pack Asparagus, one Raisin Parmesan cheese, one Brie, two dozen pasture egg, one box Hacao, one pack goat cheese, one tub cream cheese, one pack Charmin bathroom tissue, one pack Cherry, one pack Pear, one pack chicken melt, one bag unsalted mixed nut, one box Pocky, and one pouch Kirkland 3.0L Cabernet Sauvignon. Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs-EJ.
8/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Harvested 2 more cucumbers, making the total 26. Visited Walmart with Anita, purchased 17 Fancy Feast cat can food, one bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, 3 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Moscato, one bottle Frank RedHot Wings sauce, and one box Sunmaid Raisin, swing by Marina Grocery and got one pack thin noodle, one can braised gluten, one can mushroom, two pack beef shank, 2 pack beef tendon, one pack thick bean curd, one pack small Gai Choy, one pack carrot, one bottle sesame oil, one bottle soy sauce dark one bottle soy sauce light, one bag Jasmine rice, two box spicy steam mix, Watered backyard roses and cucumbers. Researched replacement washer from Costco, after discussing with Anita, placed ordered Whirlpool 4.6 c.u. Top load Impeller washer with built-in faucet, scheduled delivery is Tuesday 8/6/2024.
Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 20 minutes.
Stewed beef shank, beef tendon, and thick bean curd.
8/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. Harvested 3 more cucumbers, trimmed off some withered and/or sun blocking leaves.
Trimmed some Wisteria vines (intruding to backdoor neighbor as well as low hanging ones).
8/5/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked 61 minutes in the backyard.
Trimmed off a couple of cucumber plant vines as they were simply blocking the sun and not productive. Costco called to inform us washer delivery will be scheduled for 2:00pm-4:00pm tomorrow. Moved the washer out and cleaned up the floor, the accumulated dirt/dust and grease over 27 years, the washer was so heavy I could only move it one inch at a time, not sure if this will be a problem for the delivery guys tomorrow.
8/6/2024: Got up at 6:45. Harvested 3 more cucumbers (big ones), making the total 32.
Removed the door to the garage to make washer transport easier.
The Costco washer arrived at 12:57, haul away and installation was done by 1:05, partly thanks to my disconnecting power and water lines beforehand, test run at Normal cycle, was ok, will need to use quick cycle and cold water for our habit.. Reinstalled two doors except the one to the laundry room because the new washer is a bit deep which kind of obstruct the path of the door closing.
Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs-EJ. Register new washer online with Whirlpool, did not select monthly payment protection!
8/7/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/73/75-121/74/75-115/73/74. Trimmed off front porch Iris leaves and withered Garlic flower leaves as well as flower stems. Anita has a body massage appointment at 2:00 at Tranquility Day Spa for one hour charging $65 plus $20 tip.
8/8/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 126/83/74-110/79/72-124/74/72. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack carrot, one pack Gailan, two Korean Melon, one string garlic, two red Onion, one pack beef tendon ball, one pack clam meat, one pack Oyster mushroom, one bag dried Chile, and one pack green Onion.
Had 15 minutes MB with mini, no EJ.
8/9/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 133/79/70-119/76/67-126/79/67. Visited Valleyfair with Anita, left the house at 10:04 and returned at 11:53, total time spent at Valleyfair is less than one hour and 10 minutes, our routines were still remain as usual: Nordstrom->Macy’s->Anthropologie->Koja Kitchen. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street. Watered backyard roses and cucumber plants.
8/10/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 115/74/76-115/73/76-108/70/72. Harvested 3 more cucumbers, now a total of 35.
Trimmed withered rose buds and yellow leaves. Received Bigelow Cinnamon Apple Herbal tea bag and Dungarees New Belted Wyoming cargo shorts from Amazon at 12:11 (picked up at 12:48). Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
8/11/2024: Got up at 6:45. Visited H Mart by myself, purchased 4 Fuji Apple, one Ham Bibimbap (Sushi), and one Nr Nanazuke. Swing by 99 Ranch Market and got one Raisin Pound cake. It appeared that my cucumber plants are coming close to the end of their life span as there were only a couple of new cucumbers.
8/12/2024: Got up at 6:45. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased three packs of clam meat and one pack fish balls.
Harvested two more cucumbers, making the total 37.
8/13/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic grape tomatoes, one pack Pear, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Hagao, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (they changed back to glass bottle-very heavy), and one Cinnamon Apple bread. Processed all harvested cucumbers as many of them were going bad, made more pickled ones, also salt washed the remaining and drained before packing them for scramble dishes later.
8/14/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 111/67/76-115/73/75-106/68/72. Trimmed off several front yard low hanging Myrtle tree branches, will work on upper layers some other days. Double checked and confirmed US citizens do not need visa to enter Canada per Norwegian Cruise Lines request.
8/15/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 117/81/70-113/69/71-117/78/68. There are several new cucumber growths when I thought the end is near.
8/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Trimmed withered roses and yellowed leaves, cleaned up Oak leaves. Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Watered backyard roses (also the ones just outside the gate) and cucumber plants. Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 15 minutes.
8/17/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack small Gai Choy, one pack Bok Choy, 4 peach, one pack fish ball with Roe, one Norwegian Saba (Mackerel), and one Taiwenese cabbage.
8/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/76/80-115/74/82-111/74/81. The Epiphyllum in the backyard bloomed.
8/19/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 126/74/76-118/76/73-110/75/73. Walked 44 minutes in the backyard.
8/20/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic grape tomato, one Rosemary and cheese bread, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 750ml Château Canteloup Lestage, one pack roasted chicken drum, one bag Brazil nut, one bag Macadamia nut, one bottle 3.0L Kirkland virgin olive oil, and two dozen pasture egg. Received meat rub (x2), Wasabi sauce (x2), and Epsom salt from Amazon at 11:51 (picked up at 12:00). Not feeling too well with my stomach, turned in at 9:15.
8/21/2024: Got up at 7:00. Unable to finish my breakfast as my stomach’s still iffy. Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin. Harvested one cucumber (making the total 38), not sure if it’s the end of the season or simply malnutrition, it has been growing over a week but on have 2/3 of their normal length. Added some compost to cucumber plants, hope this can improve cucumber growing during the end of the season. Finished reading Amazon Kindle book “Complete Detective Sophie Allen” book 3 “Secret Crimes”. Turned in at 10:00.
8/22/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 129/75/73-116/74/73-108/76/73. Cleaned up most hidden fallen leaves of all kind in the backyard. Added Epsom salt to all cucumber plants, not sure if it would do any good since they were at the end of growing season. Had 10 minutes MB with mini, EJ.
8/23/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 121/74/73-108/74/74-119/74/74. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, lots of dirt and small debris, took me 35 minutes to do it. Gave Milly 5 minutes massage, she looked miserable. After one week checking summon status, Anita was finally relieved of her jury duty by noon today. Harvested 3 more cucumbers (making the total 41), smaller and not as pretty as the end of season is near. Cucumber on the top was harvested a couple of days ago.
8/24/2024: Got up at 7:00. Played one hour and 34 minutes table tennis with Robert at his garage.
8/25/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 110/75/71-117/73/67-108/75/65. Trimmed off several cucumber plant vines to save nutrition for new cucumbers. Molly started (?) eating dry food from the feeder, this was after I applied liquid band aid to her bleeding mouth, it probably helped healing somewhat, hopefully this is not temporary. Ordered 4 Amazon basic soda biscuit and two lanterns from Amazon to be delivered tomorrow between 7:00am and 11:00am, the lanterns helped the total climb over $25 for this overnight delivery.
8/26/2024: Got up at 6:40. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/78/67-127/75/67-118/79/67. Received Paul Mitchell shampoo from Amazon (delivered by USPS) at 2:08 (which I only picked up at 6:24 since it was scheduled for the 29th). Watered front lawn for one hour and 15 minutes, will water flowers tomorrow!
8/27/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack gold Kiwi, one pack crisp apple, and one crunch salad kit, swing by 99 Ranch Market and got one pack carrot, 3 green bell pepper, one hand banana, and one slice winter melon. Steam cooked 4 stired eggs (with equal amount of water) in the new rice cooker, the result was not bad but more water for the mix will make it smoother. Had 10 minutes MB with cut RMs, EJ. Watered all front yard flowers, also ripped off crab grass shoots.
8/28/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 122/71/75-112/70/75-118/73/73. Cleaned up bloods on the deck left by Milly, her wound on the mouth was getting bigger, not sure how long she could endure, helped Anita applying some medication and liquid bandaid on her wound, hopefully ease some pain for her. My stomach felt bad after a big rice paper wrapped chicken plus cucumber, possibly exacerbated the symptom. Even though I only took a few bites for dinner but the uncomfortable feeling was worse.
8/29/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 135/82/72-119/74/67-114/77/67. Harvested 3 more cucumbers (small) making the total 44. Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin. Cancelled lanterns and soda crackers on Amazon app, the link was very difficult to find, and each item had to be processed separately, I had rediscover where to cancel after finishing the first item, need to check if the cancellation was really processed.
8/30/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 117/79/74-118/76/75-112/73/71. Visited Costco by myself, arriving early to get gas for the RX but there was a LONG line already, most likely getting ready for long weekend driving, gave up the idea and wait for Store to open, it opened 5 minutes before scheduled time, purchased two dozen pasture egg, two can Nature’s Bounty Fish Oil, one all butter pound cake, one box Japanese Gyoza (pork and chicken), one box Jimmy Dean Croissant, and one bag organic pumpkin seed, walked around several time but could not fine Crest 3D teeth whiting strips. Cancelled lantern and Saltine cracker order through chatting with a real Amazon associate, my previous chat was with an automated computer message and obviously did not do anything related to my desire to cancel the order. Ordered 8 boxes of the same Saltine crackers at $1.59 each comparing to $2.51 when I ordered last week, and this order will be delivered tomorrow-hopefully.
8/31/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/74/74-124/73/74-112/70/73. Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.
Done BBQ Korean style beef for dinner. Received 8 boxes. Saltine crackers from Amazon at 12:55 (picked up at 1:01). Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Received Amazon refund info.
9/1/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 122/73/74-122/72/73-118/72/72. Removed all but one cucumber plants, the last cucumber is thriving.
9/2/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/82/73-121/77/69-116/76/67. Returned Yolly’s from yesterday, she’s struggling with gifts bringing with her back to Taiwan. Trimmed off some Wisteria vines that were intruding backdoor neighbor, also removed several seed buds.
9/3/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 130/79/77-116/72/74-122/74/72. Visited Costco by myself, even though this is Tuesday but also the first day after long weekend, the crowd for gas and store was similar to regular Monday, purchased two bottle 750 ml Johnnie Walker Red, a sale (-$6 each) again with two bottle purchase, one pack organic Cherry Tomato, one pack Japanese style pork&chicken Gyoza,
9/28/2024: Had problem falling asleep all night, got up at 6:05. Had breakfast down stairs, it was pretty simple (coffee, sausage, poached egg, bread) but did its job. Checked out at 9:25, waited for our cruise terminal bus in the lobby. Seattle express picked us up at 10:08, arriving pier 66 at 10:53. Went through security check and registration smoothly, got our key cards and got on NCL Bliss at 11:25. Had a light lunch at Garden Cafe at deck 16, not sure when our cabin will be ready. We finally got to our cabin 5152 around 2:30,
One tub cream cheese, one pouch Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one Kirkland vitamin D3, one pack Crest 3D whitestrips, and one can Nature’s Bounty Hair Growth. Molly’s condition is getting worse, pretty much near end of life, Anita checked with nearby cremation store for info, preparing for Molly’s likely eminent passing. Checked Molly several times, it’s sad seeing her getting weaker. Walked 25 minutes in the backyard.
Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Molly passes away at 5:20 while Anita was caring for her last moment. Wrapped her in two plastic bag and temporarily put her in the freezer, will take her to the cremation place to her final farewell.
9/4/2024: Got up at 7:00. Decided to bury Molly in the backyard instead of sending her for cremation.
Filled feeder with leftover Meow Mix, need to order more from Amazon, changed batteries, reprogrammed meal setting from 4-3-3 to 3-3-2. Ordered 2 bag 6.3 lbs Meow Mix original dry cat food, two Cerave vitamin C serum and one Cerave Skin Renewing Night Cream from Amazon.
9/5/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure in the middle of warmup: 133/76/86-131/74/81-126/74/82. Cleaned up backyard Oleander as well as Wisteria flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin, harvested last cucumber and 2 pumpkins, removed the entire plants. The pumpkin on the right was harvested on 7/20/2024. Grand total of 2024: 45 cucumbers and 4 pumpkins.
Received all orders (2 Cerave vitamin C serum, one Cerave Skin Renewing Night Cream, and two 6.3 lbs Meow Mix original dry cat food) from Amazon at 12:39.
9/6/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 120/78/85-112/70/82-117/68/81. Played two hour table tennis with Robert at Berryessa Community Center, $1to play, they are open to the public on Fridays between 1:00-3:00pm, 8 tables with lots of table tennis balls, set up and return the tables are the responsibility of all players, by the way, Robert’s wife also showed s is the first time in a long while that I played freely with little concert for space behind me, but two hours was just a bit long, I most likely will have sore muscles all over the next few days.
9/7/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/78/74-119/81/76-119/79/73. Visited H Mart by myself, purchased one pack soy bean sprout, one pack string bean, two Korean melon, one beef Kimbap, two Kimchi fried rice, one string garlic, one hand banana, and one pack Okra. Checked in NCL Alaska cruise with one ugly photo.
9/8/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/76/79-113/71/80-116/75/76.
9/9/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 121/79/73-136/76/74-118/72/69-121/74/69. Fast walked 20 minutes in the backyard.
Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
9/10/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, waited near the entrance for 10 minutes before getting, purchased one pack organic Cherry tomato, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, two bottles 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (still -$6 each when buying two), one pack (x20) Chobani Yogurt, one pack (x5) Avocado, one Italian Panettone, two dozen pasture egg, one bottle Hazelnut creamer, and one Rosemary Parmesan cheese loaf. Reserved Uber ride to SJC.
Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
9/11/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one hand banana, one pack Gailan, one pack green onion, two red onion, two pack clam meat, one pack pork baby back rib, one pack imitation crab meat, one bag brown sugar, one bag candy sugar, one pack chicken wing, and one can iodized salt. Watered backyard roses with the remaining (about 3/5 tank full) rain water, cleaned up the bucket for next season.
9/12/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 133/79/72-123/76/73-129/75/71. Cleaned up backyard Oleander and Wisteria flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin, also loaded garden waste in the round bucket in the garbage bin.
9/13/2024: Got up at 6:50. Cleaned up garden waste in the street, I found out (from security video clips) it was dumped by some gardener (not our or next door) from somewhere else did the act on 9/10 around 2:10pm-shame!
Played one hour and 30 minutes table tennis with 4 different people at Berryessa Community Center, Anita also played some.
9/14/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 123/70/75-125/76/78-115/74/77. Stopped by H Mart by myself, purchased 4 Sugarbee Apple, 4 white Nectarine, one Bibimbap, one Fishcake Maki, and one fried rice. Started trimming front yard Jasmine vines.
9/15/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 127/81/70-128/79/71-125/79/69. Trimmed ALL front yard flowers, Durante Erecta (金露花), and the withered long timer flower tree with thorns.
Painted the ceramic flower bowl metal cover as Anita informed me it left rusty marring on the bowl, also applied Flex Seal on both side of the cover to seal off any moisture. Filled feeder, changed meal setting from 3-3-2 to 4-3-2, also changed morning dispensing time from 8:00 to 7:00.
9/16/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 131/83/73-124/79/72-121/81/73. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, no EJ-the residue of hot pepper affected lb’s head so much it could not sustain er.
9/17/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 112/82/82-114/70/82-107/69/82. Visited Costco by myself (it was, surprisingly, already open when I arrived at 8:50), purchased one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 750 ml Embroidery Pinot Noir (to see if more purchase is warranted), two bottle 750 ml Johnnie Walker Red (still on sale-$6 off each), one set Moon cake (x4 at $17.99), one pack Amylu chicken sausage, one pack organic grape tomato, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Tyson chicken strip, and one pack raw frozen small shrimp. Trimmed the front yard Jasmine-finishing up the remnant vines as well as flower stems-there were tons of them, I can probably skip trimming them several years. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ. Network was down possibly since 8:30, not resolved by rebooting routers as well as switches, sent a request ticket to Sail Internet at 9:40. Internet access was restored around 11:20.
9/18/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/73/82-111/72/82-111/72/82. Stopped by Costco by myself, got one dozen 750ml Embroidery Pinot Noir, but could not find the double egg yolks with mixed nut moon cake, swing by 99 Ranch Market, purchased one hand banana, 3 tomatoes, one Korean Radish, one pack one pound carrot, one pack cooked clam meat, and one pack Basa fillet. Contemplating the i of replacing and/or adding one camera on the porch with a Tapo C210, found out the hole I drilled for the Arlo camera power wire was too small to pass through the traditional/old big Tapo wire plug head, enlarging the existing hole or create another hole were not a easy solution but after pondering it for an hour I decided to retract the Arlo wire to free up the hole, I was able to thread the Tapo wire head through then retract the Arlo wire alongside the relatively thin Tapo wire, installed the new camera, resolved an unknown error-we have a better view of the front porch and then some.
9/19/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 128/78/73-125/79/73-119/77/72. Moved all Jasmine and Durante Erecta (金露花) trimmings to curbside, will work on backyard Oleander flowers and leaves later. Visited Walmart, purchased 2 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, three bottle 1.5L Barefoot Moscato, two family size Cheetos Crunchy, and 3 small bag Cheetos Cheddar Jalapeño Crunchy, there were only two checkout lines, I picked one that proved to be a mistake because after waiting for 5 minutes, the cash register was experiencing problem, after 5 more minutes it was declared unfixable, we had to switch to a different line, 5 minutes later I was the next in line, only to realize that the guy ahead of me had a full cart of items, and he was buying in two separate purchases, he alone took over 10 minutes to checkout, this is the worst Walmart visit ever, taking up over 30 minutes of my time waiting. Swing by Marina Grocery and got one bag HFH spicy and crunchy Pepper/peanut, one fried fish cake, one pack Sesame pancake, one pack boneless beef D shank, two pack beef tendon, one pack thick bean curd, and one pack On Choy-Rau Muong (翁菜), one bag sweet radish, and one bag pickled Mustard. Ordered Shore excursion for Skagway.
9/20/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 130/79/73-124/79/75-132/75/76. Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street. Just realized we have a free shore excursion from NCL Alaska cruise at Ketchikan.
Cleaned up some blood stains on the front porch, possibly from birds killed and eaten there, also water washed the entire porch. Went to Berryessa Community Center with Anita, played one hour and 15 minutes table tennis, one uniformed employee there wanted us to fill out forms for liability reason but while we were doing the form, one of the people waiting to get in told her the signup sheet is the “liability” agreement, we were able to get in without the forms.
9/21/2024: Got up at 7:05. Blood pressure after 香功: 126/77/68-124/74/69-122/77/69. Visited H Mart by myself, purchased 3 Sugarbee Apple, 4 white Nectarine, one bag carrot, one Bibimbap, and one Fishcake Maki (Sushi). Had 30 minutes MB with mini and legs, EJ. Adjusted and secured the Tapo power wire on the porch ceiling beam, applied some outside wall paint to conceal its presence. Sealed the hole inside the house which tunneled the power wires, also secured the power extension cord near the curtain trod.
9/22/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 128/79/69-125/79/70-123/76/66. Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.
Had 15 minutes MB with mini, no EJ.
9/23/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 128/77/68-125/75/65-119/75/63. Watered front lawn and flowers for 2 hours.
9/24/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 122/77/70-110/73/71-115/74/71. Stopped by Costco by myself, purchased two dozen pasture egg, swing by 99 Ranch Market and got one hand banana, two pack Swai Basa fillet, and one pack cooked clam meat. Watered backyard roses and Oleanders. Had 20 minutes MB with mini and legs, EJ.
9/25/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 111/77/75-117/79/79-112/74/55. Disconnected LS400 battery after locking the doors.
9/26/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 133/77/71-133/76/71-118/77/70-120/77/71. Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, loaded them in the garbage bin. Ordered 4 free Covid test kits.
Locked RX300, hid keys next to dryer. Put both wallets under the attic floor door. Put Apple AirPods and Pixel Buds on top of master bedroom closet cabinets. Prepared all fruit and stewed food to bring along in sandwich bags. Lower water heater temperature setting.
9/27/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/83/71-117/77/71-116/79/72. Uber arrived at 9:50, he took a complete different route (101, 880, 1st street…) to the airport which is not what we are used to the more straight one (Murphy, Brokaw, Airport blvd…), we got to SJC at 10:04, this airport is not as technology advanced, we still need to take off our shoes and place iPads in the bin but was able to get through in about 20 minutes including waiting time before check point. Boarding started at 11:36, we are “Priority” first class seats (1D and 1f) and boarded at 11:30. Flight 1227 took off at 12:38, 22 minutes behind schedule. We landed at Seattle airport at 2:17, 17 minutes ahead of schedule.
Took airport connection train to “Ground Transportation” garage level 3 where all hotel/off site parking shuttles pick up their respective customers, found two courtesy phones that we can call hotel with specific codes (two digits each) were all temporarily out of service, I called the actual phone number listed next to “Coast Gateway Hotel” and got through as requested shuttle, called a second time after waiting nearly 20 minutes, the shuttle finally came after 5 minutes, hotel is only several minutes away. Checked in around 3:30 (room 212), decided to book cruise terminal bus for tomorrow at 10:05 for ~$28 ($58 for two after tax) per person after finding out Uber will cost ~$110 for a SUV (no Uber X or other options to choose from).
this cabin was very long and narrow but the overall size was much bigger as it has a large sofa which can be transformed into a double bed, there are two TVs plus a lot of drawers and three closets, designed to serve a family of 4 people. Forgot how to to get on the Internet using the free 150 minutes with NCL app?????? Checked with Internet Cafe expert and discovered that I need to use “pei” instead of “peichen” or “pei-chen” as my first name (not sure why though) when logging in, the rest was OK. Cancelled both Los Lobos reservation as we decided to visit “Food Republic” tomorrow instead. Joined Latitude welcome reception held in “The Social Club” from 6:00-7:00 but it only lasted 15 minutes, guess this event is gradually becoming a casual routine. Attended “The Beatles Experience” in the theatre, very energetic. Two (one for each of us gift baskets were delivered to thank us being a loyal NCL cruiser, each contain a scarf, an annual Latitude Rewards Members Cruise pin, one poncho, one Starbucks voucher, and one head warmer.
9/29/2024: Got up at 8:00. Had breakfast at Garden Cafe at 8:30, there was a crowd as expected at this hour. Since this is At Sea day, we walked around the ship a lot to get familiar with it. Had lunch at Garden Cafe around 11:30. Watched a couple of movies and portion of a NFL game in the stateroom. Had dinner at Food Republic, we ordered the 8 items (max allowed before additional charge) which proved a bit much for us, we also ordered cocktails to go with, brought back to our stateroom remaining of our cocktails. Enjoyed ICONs show in Theatre at 7:30, even though reservations are required but we were let in 10 minutes before the show starts. Set time one hour back to Anchorage zone.
9/30/2024: Got up at 5:50. Had breakfast in Garden Cafe at 7:00. Had a good and big relief after breakfast. A note on accessing Intranet and/or Internet: Turn on Air plane mode and connect to shipboard WiFi to access Intranet (all onboard info), with the same settings, click “Internet” on the app and enter “pei”+”lin”+birthday info to access Internet, remember to logout after usage. Had lunch at Garden Cafe at 11:30.
10/1/2024: Bliss docked at Skagway at 5:45. Got up at 7:15, had breakfast at Garden Cafe at 7:50. Walked to Skagway and went through several gift shops, came back to Bliss to have lunch. Headed out again at 12:05 and got on “White Pass Railway, Klondike Gold Fields & Panning” excursion bus at 12:10, had to wait for all participating guests before the bus took off at 12:46. Our first stop was a gold fields story and panning experience, got back to the bus at 1:55. Got to Tormented Valley around 2:30, this Canadian territory presented special landscapes that are drastically different, got to Fraser (at elevation 2,767 ft) to ride our train but had to be passport checked by Canadian boarder officer, boarded our train car #388, the train maintained its original sittings which wasn’t designed to be comfortable but works. Arriving Skagway station at 4:56, rode the same bus back to our ship at 5:10, got back to our room at 5:18. Had dinner at Garden Cafe at 5:25. uSPS notified that the Covid test kits will be delivered on 9/30/2024, this is verified by Tapo video clips, Anita sent a text message to Grace asking her to check it out, the message, however, could not be sent after two tries
10/2/2024: Got up at 6:15. Had breakfast at The Local Bar and Grill, the service was fast but the coffee wasn’t hot and taste plain compared to Garden Cafe, went up to Garden Cafe and had a cup of hot coffee, two pork sausages, and a couple of pastries. Watched the sceneries in the stateroom-the window as well as channel 2, went up to deck 17 trying to viewed the John’s Hopkins Glacier when we arrived, most of the views were blocked, we discovered a better place to view when we went to Garden Cafe to have a cup of hot chocolate, the Observation Lounge on deck 15 was the designated place for viewing anything in front of the ship head, got there and took several nice photos. Had lunch at Garden Cafe, the sour and sweet shrimp tastes good with Singapore rice. Garden Cafe opened earlier at 5:00, while we were there, ship captain announced that due to strong winds and unsafe conditions, the port of call at Ketchikan was cancelled, we’ll be at sea tomorrow. Watched “Jersey Boys”, the best show we’ve watched on NCL ever even though it runs one hours and 43 minutes (6:30-8:13)-“Jersey Boys” was a Tony award winning Broadway blockbuster.
10/3/2024: Got up at 6:15. Had breakfast at Garden Cafe at 7:10. Rested a bit before getting a free (voucher) coffee from Starbuck, walked deck 6, 7, 15, 16, and 5 before going back to the cabin. Had lunch at Taste (one of the three Main restaurants on Bliss), Anita ordered Scallop Crouton and Beef Mousaka, I had Bistro Salad and St. Louis BBQ Pork, they were delightfully tasty, contrary to my general conception that food from main dinning restaurants on NCL are so so, will come back. Walked several decks after lunch to help digestion. Anita went to CruiseNext and booked a 17-Day Lima to San Diego cruise for 2026 on Norwegian Jade, stateroom 5016.
Had dinner at Le Bistro at 7:45 which is the only slot we could get. Anita ordered Escargots and Napoleon of Portobello while I had Escargots, Cream of Mushroom Soup, and Braised Shank & roasted lamb chop, all were as tasty as they could be, also ordered one bottle of East West Red Blend ($51+20% charge), we finished everything in the plates and bottle (this is a first).
10/4/2024: Got up at 8:15 (back to Los Angeles time zone). Had breakfast at Garden Cafe. Anita checked in Alaska Airlines, I managed to get boarding passes on to our respective phones. Handed $50 to Arnold, our stateroom steward for his service. As we approaching Victoria, BC, my Pixel Cellular totally dropped 5G/LTE connection similar to the last time we went on NCL New England cruise and entered Canadian territories, need to investigate it after getting home. Bliss docked at Victoria, BC at 4:15, but we could not get off until the Canadian boarder control’s OK around 4:36, walked around Victoria downtown, getting back to Bliss at 6:36. Had dinner at Garden Cafe. Started packing afterward.
10/5/2024: Got up a 4:20. Got everything ready by 5:10. Waited at exit gate (the one near the stairs) at 5:50 until a ship worker told us where the real line was, we thanked her and went over to the bowling lane area to wait, Got off NCL Bliss at 6:12, got on a taxi just outside the exit gate at 6:20, got to Tacoma airport at 6:39. Went through security check at 7:06, got to gate N9 (after a short train ride) at 7:15. Finished everything I prepared last night from Garden Cafe for breakfast. Boarded flight 1080 at 8:25, seats 1A and 1C. Flight 1080 took off at 9:14, 9 minutes behind schedule, the “snack” for 1st class passengers was nice. We landed at San Jose airport at 11:00, 19 minutes ahead schedule. After a lengthy walk to get to Ground Transportation, our Uber arrived at 11:17 after 4 minutes of requesting it, got back to home at 11:35, home sweet home. Searched online for iPhone data access issues, it appeared that some Google Fi specific settings were erased, after reconfiguring it and remove/reinsert Google Fi SIM card and reboot the iPhone, it seemed to work now with Wi-Fi turned off.
10/6/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited H Mart by myself, purchased one Fried rice, one beef Kimbap, two bunch Spinach, one pack organic rainbow carrot, two bunch green onion, one pack Strawberry, 5 Sugarbee apple, and one hand banana, swing by 99 Ranch Market and got one bento. Watered backyard roses, Oleanders, and other flowers. Watered front yard lawn and flowers for two hours and 15 minutes.
10/7/2024: Got up at 7:05. Blood pressure after 香功: 117/79/73-113/75/75-114/74/72. Trimmed off several low hanging Oleander branches. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-no fun even though skipping 10 days, possibly lack of better and new stimulation. AirDrop iPhone photos to MacBook Pro (they are in “Download” under “Finder”, open Google photo to the specific album, click “+Add photo” there and select from “Computer”, all photos selected from “Download” will be added.
10/8/2024: Got up at 7:00. Visited Costco by myself, filled up RX300 for SFO ride next Tuesday, purchased one pack organic grape Tomato, one Cranberry Walnut Loaf, two dozen 750ml Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon, two dozen pasture egg, two bottle Areds2, one bottle Kirkland Calcium+D3, one bottle Nature Made B-complex, and one Cauliflower vegetable pizza. Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
10/9/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 134/81/66-123/79/65-122/74/67. Spent 45 minutes cleaning up backyard flowers and leaves-the garbage bin is filled to the rim. Ordered one more Tapó 2K QHD outdoor camera from Amazon, it’s on Prime Big Deal discount but shipping will be 2 to 3 weeks away.
10/10/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 140/68/76-118/73/73-118/75/72-116/76/72. Cleaned up backyard Wisteria as well as Oleander flowers and leaves, dumped them in the compost bin as the garbage bin was totally full. Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-not bad!
10/11/2024: Got up at 7:00. Walked 56 minutes in the backyard.
10/12/2024: Got up at 5:08. The Google Nest router AC2200 was delivered at 5:03 which I picked up at 5:09, it was delivered by someone in a small sedan not the regular Amazon truck.
Cleaned up backyard Oleander as well as Wisteria leaves and flowers, loaded them in compost bin and garbage bin. Paid RX300 DMV registration fee online.
Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.
10/13/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 129/74/80-126/76/79-111/74/77-110/72/77. Drove Anita to SFO for her trip back to Taiwan at 11:02 (got there at 11:44), I left after seeing her off at the security check point. Called Anita at 1:03, she’s resting in United Club (the domestic one). Anita called at 1:48, it’s almost her turn to board UA871.
10/14/2024: Woke up at 2:30, UA871 will arrive TPE 5 minutes late. Anita called at 5:40. Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 125/77/76-125/74/75-114/76/76. Visited H Mart and purchased two Bibimap, one Cauliflower, three Sugarbee Apple (it appeared it’s their last few), one pack Bok Choy, and one hand banana. Called John and will have lunch with him 11:30, Wednesday at May Flowers. Trimmed off more Oleander branches. Broadcasted new NCIS season premiere on “Line” for Anita to watch on her iPad, worked well.
10/15/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 136/79/72-124/77/72-116/76/73-117/77/71. Visited Costco, added 6 gallon for LS400 at $4.539/gal, purchased two dozen 2021 Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 2.0L Kirkland organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and one pack beef Loin Flap Meat Steak. Trimmed one more Oleander branch and lots of their withered flower buds and dead branches. Received TP-link Tapo camera from Amazon at (picked up at 1:40). Called Anita at 5:55, she slept for. 8:00pm till 4:00am Taipei time, she, her sisters, and their sister-in-law are to meet at MRT station at 2:00, leaving for 淡水 and spend the night there.
10/16/2024: Got up at 6:50. Blood pressure after 香功: 134/80/70-134/79/72-128/77/69-133/79/78. Anita’s iPad Air showed where she is at the moment.
Decided to visit Marina Grocery before lunch with John, left the house at 10:12, purchased two pack beef shank, one pack thick bean curd, one pack carrot, one red cabbage, two pack sweet sesame pancake, one pack beef tendon ball, two red onion, one pack square rice paper, one pack Yakisoba, and one pack (x5) 出前一丁fast noodle. Anita called home home at 6:08, their breakfast scheduled for 8:30 was done earlier at 8:00, she then Lined me at 6:11 for 8 minutes, added video to see everyone their. Had one hour MB with minis and RM, no EJ-not enough stimulation to keep up the hard on, rats.
10/17/2024: Got up at 7:00. Blood pressure after 香功: 124/74/75-122/75/75-116/76/76. Moved all Oleander trimmings to curbside, also loaded visible flowers and leaves into the garbage bin. Had 30 minutes MB with minis, RMs, hands and legs, EJ. Called Anita at 5:55.
