Healing...

Healing after an injury takes on new meaning when living in Taiwan.

First, seeing my doctor (or anyone medically) can be challenging because I don't speak Chinese other than numbers, several phrases and many words out of context. I can ask for a glass of water or beer, no problem. But telling a doctor what the pain is like is a whole other thing.

Second, acupuncture here is so much cheaper and easier to do. I go to see my Chinese medicine doctor every other day for acupuncture and it costs me about $3 US each time. I just walk in, have never waited more than 5 minutes and I'm usually out the door within 30 minutes. Hurts like a bitch but I do see some improvement. I cry each and every time because he doesn't stop pushing those needles until he hits that spot just right. Bingo!

Here's the conversation I had with him on Monday about the pain. (I'm red, he's blue.)

How do you know exactly where to put that needle? Is the point to inflict the most pain?

I know when I reach the pain I am doing it right. When I was a student, I had to practice on myself.

That's crazy! Do you know what the word "sadist" means?

No, what is this word?

It means someone who enjoys inflicting or giving pain.

The pain is part of the healing. I know BINGO I am doing it right. (he had a little smile on his face here and he really said "Bingo")

I understand that but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. If you are a sadist, then that makes me a masochist. That means that I take the pain you give and I keep coming back.

That makes us the perfect couple.

I have to say I'm looking forward to breaking up with you.

There is still inflammation in the muscles around my shoulder and not using those muscles for the past 8+ weeks has made motion a challenge but the acupuncture is releasing those muscles and the levels of pain have gone down. I'll suck it up and look forward to NOT crying when I visit him and to not having to go see him every other day.

Finally, I was introduced (thanks Linda and Maurice) to a Taiwanese man who is a healer. I can hear you right now. Acupuncture? Healer? What a bunch of hooey! Well, don't knock it til you try it. David, that's the healer, is this thin and gentle man that has healing powers. How do I know this? Well, the first time, all he did was cup his hands gently around my shoulder and I could feel the warmth. After a few seconds, his hands became hotter and hotter and then I could feel this pulsing of energy coming from his hands into my shoulder and down my arm. It was crazy! For the first time since this accident, I felt a release of pressure in my shoulder. He did this for about 20 minutes and I had less crazy pain for about 24 hours.

I saw him again 3 nights later because I was in lots of pain on Sunday. He spent about an hour working on me trying to balance my energy and releasing my chi gates. We have these energy centers in our body and an injury can block the flow of that energy. Some of this is actually painful. At one point he was pressing into my sternum while pressing into my spine and then he did the same on my wrists and fingertips. Ouchy but the relief after is amazing!

I know this might sound crazy to some of you but after spending about 90 minutes with David both with him working on me and us chatting, I felt better. The pain was less and I felt balanced somehow. Here's an example. I have this one spot on my back near my right shoulder blade that hurts pretty much all the time. It's where stress and tension live in my body. My daughters know that spot well because, since they were little, I have had them rub, press and elbow this spot to give me some relief.

Well, David found that spot and pressed on 2 places - my neck and the shoulder blade. He only pressed for a couple of minutes on each spot then cupped his crazy warm hands over both spots. I literally felt that spot release. I have spent hours in massage and yoga trying to do just that and he found it and dealt with it in less than 10 minutes. He said the release wouldn't last forever but that with time we could get it where it lasts for longer and longer periods of time. Yay to that!

I see him again tonight and will for the next few nights.  Here's hoping that those healing hands get me on my way to good health.  Western medicine was only doing so much and all I got in response to still having pain is, "Here, take some pain meds." Or, "You need to be patient." With acupuncture and David, I feel like the pain is less and I feel a little better every day. I'll do whatever it takes.

Time to go home me thinks...

I don't ever want to be that bitching and complaining person that we all know and don't love. I try, to the best of my ability, to be positive and to enjoy all that life presents me. Operative word...I try. I don't always accomplish this but overall I think I do a pretty good job.

Well, this post isn't going to be all roses and sunshine. For the first time since I moved to Taiwan almost 10 months ago, I want to go home (meaning the states). Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it here. The traffic and the heat & humidity, not so much, but everything else is incredible. I love the culture, food, people and my job here. But in the past few days I've gotten to the point of wanting to go home. Why? It's this damned broken collarbone. That's why!

Almost 8 weeks in and this damned thing is still incredibly painful and it is affecting absolutely everything in my life. Sleep, getting dressed, brushing my teeth, walking, getting groceries, pulling my pants up, cooking...everything is impacted and I cry UNCLE!!!

I truly am trying to keep a positive attitude and a "suck it up and deal" frame of mind but I admit, it's getting to me. Yesterday I needed to get groceries and things like toilet paper, detergent, etc. Normally, in the states, I'd make one trip, bring things to my car, drive it home and make a few trips to carry things into my house. Oh no! Not here. I am a walking fool so I made 4 trips to the market to get what I needed. 4!!! Why, because I can only carry things with one arm and if it's too heavy it makes my shoulder and collarbone feel like it's being stabbed. I even made a trip, by cab, to a bigger supermarket to buy a new iron and a few things for my kitchen. Now it would normally be great to take a cab to this amazing store, get absolutely everything I need and take a cab home. But nooooooo! I can't do that either. Sure, I can take a cab there and back (even though it just pisses me off to have to pay for a taxi when I could normally just ride my bike there) but the problem is I can't carry everything I need to the cab and from the cab to the apartment. So I spent 4 1/2 hours of my day going back and forth to the market instead. IT SUCKS!

I know, complain complain! You can stop reading if you want. I understand.

On Monday I saw both my "regular" doctor and my Chinese medicine doctor (acupuncture). The first one told me I have to wear the damned sling for another 4 to 6 weeks and can lift my arm no higher than 60 degrees and to slowly work up to 90. Absolutely NO LIFTING MY ARM UP ABOVE THAT! The bone is healing but not quite healed yet and, yes, I know, it's close to the freakin' joint and it complicates things. Blah, blah, blah. Also, my messed up body has made the healing a bit more challenging. I totally cried in front of him and I don't think he knew what to do. Four to six more weeks! Are you kidding me! That will bring me to over 3 months in the damned sling. Then my acupuncture guy (who's adorable by the way) told me I need to be patient and "No pain no gain". The guy speaks passable English but this is what he know how to say!? Really?!

Anyway, I walked home and on my way I bought a really good bottle of bourbon, some vermouth and bitters and made myself a very cold, very tasty Manhattan (the first since I got to Taiwan). I had a good cry and pity party and let myself wallow it all of it. Then I gave myself a good talking to - "Get over it!"

Yes this sucks but I do know it will get better and the acupuncture is actually helping, thank god! I have less than 5 weeks left in Taiwan and I'm flying home to spend time with my daughters and besties. I can let go and let myself be taken care of and pampered for a few weeks before I return. I love you Taiwan but it's time to go home. I need some TLC!

First acupuncture in Taiwan!

I've had acupuncture in the states but had not experienced that here until just yesterday. As you all know I had a run-in with a scooter 6 weeks ago that resulted in a broken collarbone and hurt shoulder. The break isn't terrible but it's so close to the shoulder joint that it still is incredibly painful and makes healing a bit more complicated. Having a messed up skeletal system to begin with isn't helping any.

Anyway, I've been experiencing a lot of pain in the shoulder and I'm sick and tired of taking pain meds, muscle relaxants and ibuprofen. Enough already! I feel like my whole body, inside and out, is out of whack. I've always been a believer in holistic medicine and that we need to treat the whole body, not just the symptoms so I decided to visit a local Chinese Medicine Doctor. I went to the Ming-Dao Clinic, which is located right across from the hospital I was treated at. I've walked by this place many times and heard, through several friends and locals, that this is a great place and the doctor there speaks perfect English. That's a major plus because the language barrier has definitely made this process more challenging.

My friend Annie drove me there (she's been there before and highly recommends it) and all I had to do was give them my insurance card, pay $100 (about $3 US) and I waited for less than 5 minutes to be seen by the doctor. He thought acupuncture would help with the healing and after looking at my xray and checking out my arm, he walked me to a table, I layed down and within minutes I was sporting at least a dozen little needles from head to toe.

Now, from what I understand about acupuncture, it's all about creating balance in the body...yin and yang.  We all have a natural flow of qi (pronounced chee) that travels through the pathways of our body. When this is unbalanced or interrupted, it creates illness or pain. The placing of tiny needles influences the functioning of the body. There are 365 acupoints on the body and he knew exactly where to go. It's truly amazing!

He started out with my left leg and when he inserted the first one,  a current of electricity shot right through my body. My left foot contracted and I could feel it travel up my body right to my shoulder. Crazy! He then put in about 6 or 7 more down my leg and in my foot. Each one was more intense than the last but I could deal. No problem. Then he moved up to my shoulder. The first one he put right where I still have bruising and the most shoulder pain. This is a tiny needle but it felt like stabbing fire. Tears started flowing and each subsequent needle was almost as painful as the first. I knew this wasn't going to be easy. I'm a hurting puppy and I need something to happen to get this healing process jumpstarted.

The last needle he placed on the left side of my skull. You wouldn't believe how much I felt that travel through my body. It just shows how much our body systems are connected.

So I go back every two days for a while and I'm hoping that some of this pain gets under control. I see the "regular" doctor on Monday and I'm hoping to hear that the bone is well on it's way to being healed so I can start moving my arm up a little and use my shoulder. Between traditional Chinese Medicine, massage and western medicine, my goal is to be out of this damned sling, able to raise my arm and be in less pain by the time I return to the states in June. Wish me luck!

Sanmin Market - Kaohsiung

The city of Kaohsiung is broken up into several districts. I used to live in the Gushan District (near the mountain that borders Kaohsiung to the west) and now live in the Zuoying District. Last Saturday my friends Kei and Leyang took me to the Sanmin District to do a little shopping. This district is one of the oldest so you get a feel of what this city was like many years ago.

They took me to this huge market that is completely covered and offers items from meats to produce to clothing and shoes. Sanmin market is known for having many different butchers and for making dumplings. As you walk around the market, you see butchers hard at work slicing, dicing and breaking down huge pieces of meat. I find this completely fascinating.

 Pork is the way to go in this country...it outnumbered every other type of meat.

 When you order chicken here you get the whole thing - head, insides, feet. You get the whole thing when you order duck too, even the head with bill intact.

 There is a type of chicken here with black skin. Tastes pretty much the same as the other guy next to it.

 Some of these fish were still jumping and moving...

...but obviously not this guy.

 Mixed in with all of these butchers were several stalls where they were making dumplings of all kinds...pork, veggie, cabbage, etc. They are so fast! This one woman? A dumpling in less than 10 seconds!

 Little pork trotters hanging out waiting to be picked out.

There are rows upon rows of stalls including the produce stand below. Everything is washed, trimmed and presented so beautifully. I got many things here and he got a kick of me trying out my Chinese. He added a few extras like hot peppers, scallions and cilantro for my efforts.

 This was the only stand selling beef. You don't see a lot of beef here and many people don't eat it. I'm not sure if it's for religious reasons or out of respect for the animal. One story I heard is that cows were used in farming fields and that they don't feel right eating beef. Who knows?

As with all of the markets I've gone to during my 10 months in Taiwan, I am always impressed with how beautifully everything is presented and how inexpensive it all is. For example, I bought a box of 20 dumplings for $50 NT, which is about $1.50 US. It makes for some good eating at a great price!

Food, Food and More Food

As you may have realized by now, I love me some good food and living here is a great way to try things I wouldn't get to try in the states. I've had a few wonderful food experiences in the past few weeks that I thought I'd share with you.

First of all, with all the incredible fruits and vegetables here in Taiwan, you would think it would be easy to find vegetarian restaurants. They aren't that easy to find. You can get vegetarian food but usually, when you order what they call a vegetable dish, there's often some meat thrown in there - ground pork, little dried shrimp or tiny silver dried fish. I think they are missing that concept here. One place you find vegetarian food is in buddhist temples. Many of them serve food and a friend of mine and I decided to try one out.

The walkway into the building is just beautiful. The whole building (which is several stories tall) is dedicated to this one particular group and you feel the serenity and calmness the minute you walk in the door. How do they do that!?

 I love the happy buddhas. Don't you just smile when you see one?

The place was simple but beautiful. Although I'm only able to use my left hand, we decided on vegetable hot pot. I got the miso broth (which was delish!) and this is the selection that was put before me.

 This is my own personal pot and burner to control as I cook my assorted veggies.

 The sauce above is what you dip your cooked veggies in before you eat. It was a garlic basil pesto like sauce. I got seconds! The whole meal was fresh, flavorful and fantastic! YUM!

The next day I decided to get a massage even though they aren't allowed to touch my shoulder area. The rest of my body isn't dealing with this whole trauma thing so I needed some help. After 90 very painful minutes I was treated to this little meal. I'll start with the tea...it's a fragrant lemongrass tea that feels like it's healing as it's going down. The bowl is a local yogurt that is sprinkled with brown sugar and millet. I absolutely love this stuff. The yogurt isn't thick but it's tangy and combined with the toppings is a wonderful treat. Those are two little freshly baked muffins - both with fruit, and the last part is a fresh vegetable spring roll. I get a little nosh like this every time I get a massage. Come on! I know you're jealous!

Next, milk tea. This has become my new food (well drink) obsession. Often this is served with the tapioca pearls (bubble tea) but I'm happy with it on it's own. I LOVE this stuff. Basically it's just three ingredients...really strong black tea, milk and sugar. That's it and it's delightful. Sometimes you get it with some condensed milk but I find those too sweet, but still oh so good.  I usually go with little to no sugar. I don't drink coffee and have always been a tea drinker. Can I just say that I now, finally, live in the right country. Double YUM!

And...finally....Din Tai Fung. This is the most famous dumpling restaurant chain in all of Taiwan and there is one located about a 5 minute walk from my new apartment. The day I moved I strolled down to savor the amazing food there.

 The place is usually jammed packed but I was there early so had the place mostly to myself. That's a good thing because eating these "soup" dumplings with only my left hand was a bit challenging. Oh, don't you worry, I didn't drop one thing.

 First, I had a Taiwan beer to wash everything down. You make a little concoction of fresh ginger, soy sauce and vinegar to dip your dumplings in. The dumplings are called xiao long bao and I like the pork ones the best.

 I order local greens and edamame with slices of tofu skin on top. Sounds strange but it's so good!

 These are spicy pickled cucumbers. They are savory, a little sweet and have some good spice. I get these pretty much every time!

 And here are the famous xiao long bao. They are all made exactly the same way with the same number of folds. Inside is about a teaspoon of savory broth that you let seep out in your spoon before you dip and inhale. You do this to not only enjoy the broth on its own but to prevent yourself from scalding your mouth with the broth. I got 10 dumplings (5 on each layer).

Here's the link to check out their website. This will definitely be a place I bring people if and when they come to visit.    dintaifung

So, more of my food adventures in Taiwan. It sure is one of my favorite parts of living here!

It's About Time!

I know! I know! It's been awhile since my last blog. Even with being able to use dictation, the whole one-armed life has put a real dent in my style! It's not like I haven't been living during my recovery but it's been hard to sit and type it out. Well, I have to get over it and just do it.

First of all, my recovery....

It's been just over 5 weeks and I still can't lift my right arm at all without a good amount of pain. I can take the sling off here and there but overall I keep it on as much to let people know that they need to be careful not to bump into me as to help my arm heal. It's a tough break near the shoulder so the doctor said this isn't only a really painful place to break the collarbone but a harder healing process. Gee, thanks! But the pain is down from the 10's it was at for over 4 weeks to a dull roar of 5-6. I'll take it.

Anyway, this put me out of commission for 3 weeks but then I started to go back out on some adventures. There is only so much sitting on the couch I can do before I lose my mind. So, last weekend, a group of us went to see a baseball game in Kaohsiung.

The Cheng-Ching Lake Baseball Field is where the EDA Rhinos (one of the four Chinese Professional Baseball League teams) plays and this is their home stadium. It is located about a 25 minute taxi ride east of Kaohsiung. This is the team Manny Ramirez played for that year he played in Taiwan.

As per usual there were thousands of people waiting in line and milling around but it is so easy to get tickets. They cost only about $13 each and we were sitting right behind home plate.

The capacity is 20,000 and I'd say it was about half full but you would never know it from the noise the crowd makes. Team fans are dressed in team colors and sit in separate sections to cheer their team. The cheering is led by trumpets, drummers and an MC that leads the crowd through chants, yelling and noise-making. It NEVER STOPS! This goes on every time there is a player at bat, which is pretty much 90% of the game.

A rhino mascot and the cheerleaders warming up the crowd. We're aren't clear on the other mascot...a horse? Donkey? Ass? Who knows?

 Here's what the crowd sounds like during the game. It NEVER STOPS! Just in case you don't get the idea, there's a bit more below.

 Purple on my right (Rhinos) and yellow on my left (opposing team).

Even with all of the noise it was a really great experience and I can't wait to go back. I love me some baseball and if I can only watch my Red Sox on-line, I can enjoy the game easily (and much more cheaply) right here in Kaohsiung. Play ball!

Weekend Flower Market near Labor Park

On Saturday morning, my friends Kei and Leyang took me to the weekend flower market located near Labor Park. It's located in the southern part of the city not too far from the harbor area. This market was AMAZING! My apologies for the many photos but you know I can't help myself. The market is set up every Saturday and Sunday along the outer edge of the park so you can easily get around. This was by far the best flower/plant market I have ever seen...and SO inexpensive!

 The variety of plants was incredible! It's considered "spring" here so there are some plants that are in season - orchids and amaryllis in particular.

 I have never seen so many orchids in one place! What is even more incredible is that you can purchase most of them for about 100 NTD (about $3).

 I bought one of the plants in the front from this gentleman.

 You can also purchase fish for an aquarium or for your pond/water display in your garden.

 Orchids, orchids and more orchids!

 These hanging plants are also in season. They are planted in burlap bags or driftwood and they bloom for only a week or two each year.

 Look at the number of blossoms on these plants! How is that even possible?

 This may be hard to see but these "berries" grow on the trunk of the plant. It's called a jabuticaba and it comes from Brazil. 

The photo above is an image I found online of a fully grown tree.

The fruit is thick skinned and purple. The skin is really tart and the fruit inside is sweet and delicious. The shelf-life is really short (only about 4 days) so you will rarely seen outside of the areas where they are grown. You can eat them raw but because they don't last a long time, they are often used to make jam, tarts and liquors.

 I bought one of these cool plants!

 Cactus in bloom...

 See the sign, 12 orchid plants for 600 (that's less than $20)!

I bought a few plants that are now residing on my balcony and I plan on going back to get a few more. Next time, I'll concentrate on fresh herbs!