Summer Vacation Day 14: Bike and Park

Hello, Tim!

Let’s just get right to the frenzied day I had!

7/12, Thursday

With a strong determination and an alarm loud enough, I woke up at roughly five thirty in the morning, breakfasted, and set off for the bike rental. The sun has long risen, slowly adding the strength of its sunbeams. As early as six in the morning, the bike route was still more or less scattered with people (most of them were the elderly), strolling at their own ease.

Nice.

Nice view, was it not?

I rode along the path I became acquainted with two days ago, passing basketball courts that were still half empty; baseball fields with people who seemed to be high school students, doing warm-ups; tennis courts with many people already at game and competing. This is not at all like the kind of liveliness seen in the city; it was active, but in a slower pace, more leisure and tranquil, like the river we had for company along the way.

And then there was this bizarre flock of pigeons.

This time, I biked eight more kilometers than last time, and on my way back, I was really worn out; I peddled like rocks were tied to my ankles, and my back ached a bit. So weak became my legs that I had to give up on some small slopes because they take a lot more strength to get over. The distance I made myself ride was the extreme within my capability.

My rendezvous with Henry was at a metro station, and at eight forty-five, Henry appeared.

I just found out I didn’t say why he wanted to go to the Daan Park yesterday.

Two words.

Pokemon GO.

Yup, that was why I spent almost an hour under the sun and the translucent mottled shadows of the trees, just walking and watching Henry catch his Pokemons on his phone. We did chat a lot, about a lot of things. We weren’t in the same class during middle school, but since we have the same English teacher and took the same school bus, we got quite familiar with each other. He also loves English, although he detests reading, and would take all the chances he has to roll his eyes at my books whenever I’m carrying one, I just love the humorous and easy dynamic we have when we keep ourselves company.

Then, we went to the Taipei Main Station underground mall to hunt for a specific gatcha machine I want.

White-cap Henry

Among my middle school friends, most of us don’t really contact as often as I imagine I would, but with some of them, I think I managed to keep close relationships with them, and I am grateful for them.

I think we will meet again sooner rather than later because we said something about a movie :D

Afterward came the dentist’s appointment.

Have I ever mentioned that I wear braces? Well, I just did!

They can be very, very, ginormously annoying. And it hurts quite often.

I have one bad habit when seeing a dentist: I fall asleep during sessions of treatments.

I know that you are possibly thinking, “How can someone doze off when you have some intricate and sharp things poking in and prodding about in your mouth?” I have honestly no idea, but it just gets embarrassing when you could still hear the dentist saying to the nurse something like ‘Look, he falls asleep again’ when you are dozing off.

By the end of this year, I will finally be able to get rid of the braces that has been glued to my teeth (literally) for over two years. Even though I have grown accustomed to this stuff, they still are no more than of nuisance.

This is all for today.