We missed Mazu returning - 15 April

We've started to get the feeling that we have been camping for too long. The sum total of our furniture at the moment is a bed (with a mozzie net tent), a "cupboard", some bedside tables, a small table, 2 cheap chairs, one of which I broke by rocking back and a plastic stool. So with our first pay check we decided to get a couch, at least when we get home we can flop into something comfy that isn't a bed.

Our kitsch DIY cupboard

Mazu returned to DaJia on a Tuesday which was a normal school day for the rest of the country, but because the traffic in the areas is restricted in the area (DaJia becomes a pedestrian town), schools are closed. This means we get the day off...but we have to make it up the preceding and following Saturdays! It's unbelievable for us. In South Africa we would just shrug and skip a day of school, not here!

We did have a little bit of work in the afternoon, some training in Taichung, so we decided to make a trip to Ikea, in the morning before the training. We've heard some scornful comments about Ikea, but we quite enjoyed being able to get everything you need in one place, and then to have it delivered and assembled (if you want).

We set a budget to spend but the main thing we wanted to buy was a sleeper couch, then we have a place for you to sleep when you all come visit! I had seen a cheap one on the Ikea website which turned out not to be too comfy. We settled for one which was still in the budget for the day, but was the entire budget. You can see it below, and it is very comfy to sit on, we haven't slept on it yet. Unfortunately Ikea only delivers to DaJia on Fridays so we had to wait a while for our comfort.

Our new sleeper couch

After training we went to get some Korean style fried dumplings and then took a taxi to a mall where we watched Captain America 3D in IMAX! Very cool, we will try to make it a monthly exercise. 

We were a little disappointed to miss the fanfare and free food for Mazu's return, but at the same time it was nice to have a day out. When we got off the train in DaJia the air was thick with smoke from fireworks and the streets were strewn with litter. Perhaps it was good that we weren't there.

Our mozzie net tent