Ni Hao Ma?

I constantly think about posting, almost daily and when I sit down to write, my mind goes blank. Much like tonight. I have and stopped so many times, I almost forget why I do this. Time to get back on track. I am here to find my strengths with FMS and live my life to the fullest.

For example, living in Taiwan, for over two months now. I can honestly say I love it here. I love it more now that it's not so stinkin' hot (35 C with 100% humidity is not really my cup of tea). If it is one thing that flares my FMS, it is heat and this is the most intense heat I have ever experienced. Yet, I learned to embrace the sweat and not take Aleve because it's a blood thinner and you will wake up with the most extreme bruises all over your body. So I axed Aleve and currently do not take anything for pain. Honestly, I have felt great. I am actually getting a little teary eyed on how well I am doing. Yes, I have had my fair share of headaches and nights where I felt I couldn't walk, but I just keep moving on.

I ride my bike to and from to work, walk distances and stand for hours everyday. Granted, I live less than 2 miles from work, I still love the ride. In fact, bike riding is my favorite mode of transportation in this city. It beats the hell out of walking and is free unlike the bus or MRT (metro). Since living here, we have gone a few good rides. My most memorial in a city called PingLin, North of Taipei and famous for it's tea fields. Let's just say, I do not recommend doing the 24km bike ride in August with 100% humidity. I bitched and moaned the whole time, and it took days afterwards to feel my legs again but luckily I can laugh about it now. We have also rode miles along the river, to the movie theater (not sure on the distance, but again it was hot and it felt farther than it probably was), the Presidential Palace, CKS Memorial and pretty much where ever we can. At one point, Aaris looked at me and said, "I don't think you really have Fibromyalgia." Amazed with all I can do, and don't complain little to none, I just really don't think about it taking over my life.

Now with all this bike riding and walking, you would think I would be losing weight, yet there is SO MUCH good food here, we eat a lot. I can say that I am working on my "Taiwan calves" and those are coming along slowly and surely, which has made walking and biking a lot easier. I can't say that I have gained any weight but I am not sure I am losing much either. So all in all I am happy. :)

This so far has been a pretty awesome experience and it gets better daily. Yesterday, Sunday was one of my favorite days too, (well going to the zoo was pretty spectacular). We woke up early and took the MRT to City Hall and the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial. It was a gorgeous day, overcast and cool. We walked around the memorial for a little bit, which was hosting a pretty cool art gallery, and had fun statues of Sun Yat-Sen. Then we walked to City Hall which was getting ready for the Floral Expo, happening soon, by hosting a concert in front of the building. It was just starting to rain and the band was doing a sound check. The coolest part was that fans were already camped out at the stage waiting for the show. I just kept thinking how amazing that would be if that were my favorite band. I would have been camped out there too, if it were the Foo Fighters. Next, we made our way to Taipei 101 (the second tallest building in the world). We were going to ride to the top but decided to save it for a more clear day.

At 3pm we met up with a friend of Aaris' at a tea house for a "tea party". Honestly, at first I thought it was going to be a little cheesy, but it turned out to be really fun and I met so many cool people. Aaris and I decided we needed business cards, but ours would be pretty lame. :) After that we met one of my friends and her husband. They are from NZ and are really nice. We had dinner with them and chatted for a couple hours. I actually think I could have stayed at the tea house longer if we didn't have dinner plans, because the people were fun and I learned so much about black tea.

Ok, back to the beginning and some tips for people with FMS. STOP ALL MEDS. DRINK BLACK TEA. It is full of anti-oxcidents and cleans your system. I kid you not, I walked in the tea house with pretty bad leg pains from walking and left without a pain. Now, I didn't know this was going to happen, but I felt amazing. I walked the rest of the night without pain. BLACK TEA=CURE ALL? I am not sure, but since I am not taking anything for pain, I am going to try this out. CAUTION: Black tea contains a lot of caffeine, which I am not use to (since I only drink water), so drink in moderation.

As always, thanks for reading (those who do) and helping me with finding my strengths.