Sick.

The first few days in Taiwan haven't been that great so far. Grace has been a wonderful host, taking care of us and bringing us to eat delicious taiwanese food but I haven't been able to enjoy it.

It started on the plane from Toronto to Taipei, I felt a strange soreness in my muscles. By the night of our first day in Taiwan, while we were walking around the area near our hotel looking for 臭豆腐 (well, A was, not me) I was feeling feverish chills and my muscles felt like I just ran 10km without warming up properly. In other words, I felt like shit. When we came back to our room, a full blown fever was raging. I thought I'd be better after a night's sleep but no, my immune system was just getting ready to collapse.

The next day, I felt even worse. My stomach was painfully bloated and my lower back ached like crazy. I could barely stand. It hurt to stand and it hurt to sit.

Grace brought us to Sanyi where we were supposed to go for a short hike to view aluerites montana, a seasonal flower in Taiwan which blooms around this time of the year. Before we drove there, Grace made a stop at a medicine dispensing store and got me some panadol. There is some weak ass panadol here in Taiwan. Didn't make a dent.

We had lunch almost immediately so we had a place to sit and drink some hot tea because I was feeling so terrible. The food in the place could've been AMAZING. It was Hakka cuisine and I wish I were in a better condition to enjoy it. My favourite was 雷茶, a thick comforting mixture of green tea and peanut powder served with mua chee. A enjoyed the food a lot and Grace and I could only watch her eat. Slow and steady. By this time, I was ready to die. Grace very kindly decided to scrap the rest of the day and concluded that sending me back to the hotel to rest was a better idea.

Back at the hotel, A discovered that she had this ginger and cumin powder mix which helps to relieve any digestive problems. I downed a packet and I could feel the effects 15 minutes later. The rest of the day I kept passing water (not pretty, extreme discomfort wrought unto my entire being) and I finally was able to sleep at 4pm. My whole body was crying out for sleep but my stomach wouldn't let it.

Anyway, this is the first time I've suffered this illness. My stomach felt like someone was twisting and wringing it dry. I thought I'd be fine after resting but it wasn't done with me yet.

We had to cut short our itinerary again. This time, in 日月潭 (Sun Moon Lake), my stomach began to act up again. The fact that it was foggy and rainy didn't help either. On the drive back, A determined that I should just go to a doctor and get it sorted once and for all. It turned out to be a good decision, I got meds and while it took a while to work, it helped. 

Doctor Liu, who saw me, had a semi Beethoven gray poof for a hairstyle and was quite the joker, however, I was in no mood to entertain him so I just gave him several strained smiles for responses.

At dinner I felt like death warmed over and something in the doctor's office caused my eyes and nose to run like crazy so I just took the meds, drank some soup and sat quietly.

This is the first time I've ever been to a doctor while travelling in another country so here come the pictures:

Look how they scribbled my mandarin name! 

Medicine is packed neatly for each consumption. They really do everything for you here. 

A, unfortunately had to suffer the scrapped day with me and she spent time hanging out in the hotel reading and checking out the Haagen Daaz Bar in the lobby. Sorry!