DOMS in Taichung
Days 942 – 944
The last few days have been a bit of a washout in more ways than one. We travelled by train from Tainan to Taichung and found our accommodation easily enough. But what's DOMS in Taichung mean?
After unpacking, we unsuccessfully looked for somewhere to eat. The first cafe was only suitable for cockroaches, and the next place closed at 3 pm but only took orders before 2 pm. We arrived literally 3 minutes after 2 pm, and they wouldn’t serve us – how mean!
We ended up getting our trusted snack, an onigiri each from a 7 – 11 and returned to our accommodation for a while before Tim went off to a local gym and I had my weekly keep-fit session with my sisters and brother-in-law. Phew, our son John worked us hard!
That night, I kept waking up with severe pains in my lower abdomen. Well, at least I knew it wasn’t Appendicitis (See Stoned in Bangkok). I stayed put for the next two days and rested. In fact, in the first afternoon, I slept like a baby and continued for most of the night. Most unlike me.
Had I caught an infection? A virus? The second day I had more energy, but the pain was still there, not quite as sharp.
I read a good book (The Beekeeper’s Promise by Fiona Valpy) while Tim went out to find himself some lunch. And then the rain poured down – a right tropical storm! Poor Tim was hopping from one cover to the next and even sent me a video of the downpour. He eventually arrived back, his North Face rain jacket worked a treat, but his legs and shoes were dripping wet. At least he found a good place to eat.
Today, I managed to go out - hurrah, as the pain had reduced to a bearable level. The city is building a walkway by the river which will be fabulous to stroll along when it's finished. The egrets seemed to be enjoying some peace there searching for fish.
We arrived at the vegetarian buffet restaurant that Tim had found, but alas, most of the food had gone, at least it was cheap.
We carried on to the Painted Animation Lane. This was an alleyway covered in cartoon and anime murals. We recognised Super Mario, Sylvester and Tweetie Pie, but had to use google to establish who others were.
We expect our nephew, Alex knows Ichigo Kurosaki, Koro-sensei and Monkey D. “Straw Hat” Luffy. We were both surprised and pleased to see Popeye, Olive Oil and Mr Bean there!
Apparently, this artwork all started when a local guy painting a “One Piece” painting on the wall, the neighbours liked it and encouraged him to paint more.
I was feeling OK, just a few twinges, but our next destination to the Botanical Gardens was too far to walk, so a few minutes later we climbed into an Uber.
The garden is only small with narrow winding paths along the perimeter of the grounds. Lush green bushes and trees surround us, but ouch, what was that? A mosquito, and another one. Even Tim was getting bitten.
We were aiming for the intricate blue building looking stunning through the canopy of the trees. It reminds us of a beautiful version of the heavy-duty scaffolding that used to be around gas storage tanks in the old days. This building was the Tropical Rainforest Greenhouse Dome. It would have been great to wander around inside, to see the tropical plants and more of the architecture, but alas, it’s Monday, so the place was closed. Doh!
We didn’t fancy walking around and getting any more bites in the gardens so headed back the 30-minutes’ walk to our accommodation. We took it easy, not only because of my occasional pain but also the temperature was 33 degrees with high humidity, making it feel like 38 degrees, according to the weather app. It's fascinating what we see while we wander around different cities. It looks as if someone's Christmas tree has overgrown, and we were surprised to see Laurel and Hardy here!
After we recovered from our walk, we had a lovely chat with our son John and his girlfriend, Georgia. When I described my pain to him, in his professional opinion, he said it could be lower abdominal DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). What? Tim prodded my belly and grinned. “Ehm, I can’t feel much muscle there”. Oh dear. And I think he is right!
At least I have since read online that DOM’s are good! It means that I worked my muscles hard and caused micro-tears. These stimulate the muscles to grow back stronger. Yay - There’s hope for me yet!
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