Out for a bite

May 1st is Labour Day in Taiwan. But more importantly, it's a stat holiday in Taiwan.

I've been a little down lately, and cooped up at work, so my coworker and I went out to a coffee shop about half an hour out from Hsinchu. The owner used to be the manager at our company coffee shop, but he'd opened his own coffee shop 2 years ago, a quaint shop on a little lake.

When we got there, the owner told us that the tung flowers (油桐花) were in season and recommended that my coworker and I go take a walk into a wooded area, where the flowers covered the grassy area. But it was a little disappointing because the flowers had already wilted and had been trampled by previous visitors to the area.

But worst of all were the blackflies or black mosquitoes or black whatever insects that attacked us on our leisurely stroll. The tiny insects swarmed my calves (I was wearing a dress) and pricked and pricked and pricked and pricked and pricked! Needless to say the walk was cut short and we dodged back to the safety of the road and back to the coffee shop where we immediately applied whatever balm was available.

I've been going crazy from the itch of the bites. I counted 51 bites on my right leg, and 49 on my left. Tiny bites that dot my calves like islands in the South Pacific. I've already used one third of a new tube of mosquito bite cream. Hopefully they'll fade soon, and even more hopefully they'll fade without leaving scar. <=\