Hijinks in JhuShan

So I ended up spending my weekend in JhuShan however I didn't stay cooped up all day. After spending a good couple of hours catching up on news and stuff Sunday morning I decided I'd had enough of being inside and I wanted to go for a swim. I heard thunder in the distance but as I knew there was no typhoon this week I figured I'd risk it, after all Melbourne has thunderstorms too so it couldn't be that bad...right.

So I went downstairs and there was a few spits, grabbed my bike a few more, made it out the gate it started to drizzle, about 10 metres from there the rain droplets got bigger, by the time I was a block away I my entire front was soaked and as I was passing a long shelter I decided to just stop there and wait it out. Yes I could have just admitted defeat and gone home but dammit I didn't want to. Unfortunate the thunderstorm was still not overhead. So I waited. It seems the Gods were bring the pool to me. Yes the irony wasn't lost on me and at one stage I wondered how crazy I would seem if I just stripped down to my bathing suit and rode around....I fought that urge however.

Next to the shelter I was standing under was a supermarket, unfortunately the shelter didn't go straight to the supermarket leaving a short but significant run needed if I wanted to take shelter in the supermarket instead. I opted to stay with my shelter. The rain got heavier and heavier to the point where it was just a huge blanket of water, the wind was slight at first, just enough to help the droplets form little clusters as they travelled down the street. I took my ipod out at one stage and it just randomly selected some india song by the John Butler Trio. The moment was almost perfect, the beauty and movement of the rain blended perfectly with the stylings of JBT. Then the rain became torrential. The wind picked up and small plants got blown over and the shelter become less sheltering as the wind blew the falling rain somewhat horizontally. My ipod went away as I found myself getting wetter and wetter despite being under shelter.

Eventually the rain slowed down enough for me to escape that shelter and make for a different shelter (this time an electrical/computer store) where I waited out the storm in the warmth and comfort of the store.

After the storm passed my desire to go swimming was just not there. So instead I decided to just ride around exploring non-central JhuShan. I found myself heading towards the mountains. The area was beautiful (I have no pictures because i didn't venture out with my camera that day). I started on an uphill ascent, nothing too steep. After a while my body was hurting, I wasn't expecting to be doing any major riding that day so I didn't bring any water. I decided to head back towards town and try again another day when I was more prepared. Thankfully the ride back was all downhill (although it made me realise if I do go riding there again I'm gonna need a helmet as the downhill speed can get crazy). So then I just travelled around more, I found a cycleway but it was flooded from the recent storm. Then I came across the main street which lead back into central JhuShan. It was quite cool. I think the mountains will make a great day or so riding at least, I can't wait to try them again.

Today I got inspired to do some baking. The inspiration has passed but not before I hit the shops in search of what I needed. The idea I had was Anzac biscuits...simple right. Apparently not so. Trying to find the ingredients was a challenge. While most things are cheaper here than at home there are things that are a lot more expensive. Things such as honey, butter and most of all cheese are just things that you can get (sort of) but the quality and price are well less than desirable. The cheese they have here is the processed cheese slices crap and for that you have to shell out at least $8AUD. Gormet cheese just doesn't exist here. Butter is slightly better although just as expensive.

So after getting most of the ingredients I needed I headed home only to realised I'd forgotten to find the rolled oats. So much for cooking. Not that it matters as the likelihood of me attempting to cook anything tonight was slim to none anyway as it is nightmarket night and after missing out last week due to the typhoon I'm definitely going and getting me a steak tonight.

Ok almost garbage time, gotta run.