Shopping on Shamian Island

Wow, Saturday was really fun. Maggie slept kind of late. 7:30 or so, I think. She woke up in a very good mood which lasted almost the entire day. She was really fun. We went down to breakfast where she feasted on some yogurt. Because she prefers not to eat in the room (too quiet, I guess), she and I went down to the lobby to see what was going on and maybe drink a bottle. We set up camp where she did, indeed, drink about half a bottle. Then we rode the escalators for a while and looked around. Some large corporation (I can't remember which one) was having a conference here at the hotel and they had about 15 HUGE flower arrangements outside the conference room. They were beautiful! Large dark red and hot pink lilies and roses. The flowers here are so pretty. There is a big convention center across the street from the hotel and right now the "International Exhibition for China's Ornamental Aquatic Industry" is going on. Who knew that was such a large industry? They have the huge flower arrangements too. They really do it up here. Anyway, while we were cruising around, Maggie dropped her butterfly teether and one of the hotel monitors (we can't decide what to call them but they are everywhere) rushed right over to pick it up. The people here work so hard. I think they really take pride in their jobs and do them the best they can. I wonder sometimes if they get bored, though. There are a lot of fancy shops here in the hotel, like Burberry and such, and I don't ever see anybody in there shopping. How boring would it be to work there? That would be worse than when I worked at Homeplace and about lost my mind because I was so bored. (of course, I just decided to one day never go back because I just could not stomach another day of standing around doing NOTHING).

So after that, we went to Starbucks and walked around for a while. It was raining and we wanted to kind of see how the weather was going to play out before we decided what to do with our day. We went outside under a little covered area and watched the traffic for a long time. It is so busy here all the time, even on the weekends. All the bicyclists had these special large ponchos that covered not only them but their handlebars and their cargo on the backs of their bikes. There are a lot of motorcycles here too but Amy told us they would be outlawed within a year because they cause so many accidents. Also, she told us that there are 9 million citizens in Guangzhou and on any given day, there are 2 million visitors to the city. That is INSANE! The rain started to let up so we came upstairs and got ready and went off with Brooke, Jeff and Emma for a day of shopping.

We took 2 cabs and dumb us did not think to discuss a rendezvous point ahead of time so of course, we were not together when we got to Shamian Island. The cab ride over was not bad. I read how insane the rides were but they don't seem that bad to me. It's kind of out of your hands so you just have to trust that the driver doesn't want to wreck his car. Maggie seems to enjoy riding in the car. However, she rides on my lap here and that will NOT be happening at home. We drove through what we thought were probably working class areas. They really look very poor. All of the apartments had laundry hanging outside their windows. Can you imagine trying to get laundry dry when the humidity is 100%?

We went in the White Swan hotel first which is this big hotel that many many adoptive families stay in. It has a large waterfall inside and is extremely big. From pictures that I've seen, I thought it would be bigger though. Also, I did not see the red couches! Maybe we were in the wrong area of the hotel. I woke up last night and thought, "We didn't see the red couches!" Dumb. There were some little shops in the hotel that we wandered around but they were kind of expensive. Also, Maggie has bent to my will and now sits in, and maybe even enjoys, the stroller! Then we ventured out and started shopping! All of the shops on Shamian really cater to adoptive parents. I'm sure if I was at home and saw these shops, I would think they were mostly full of crap but it was fun to go in and poke around. Also, David is a pretty good haggler! We got Maggie a traditional Chinese silk (polyester, I bet) dress, 3 pairs of squeaky shoes that are SO CUTE, some Chinese pajamas and 2 dresses. One of the dresses is a pink toile pattern and when we got back to our hotel, David asked, "Why are all the pictures on this dress upside down?" Whoops. Heh. They're upside down so Maggie can look at them. I bet it cost about 4 bucks so I'm not too concerned. We also got some prizes for people at home and David got a mah-jongg set. I got a jade bangle bracelet for me.

We met up with Brooke and Jeff and went to Lucy's for lunch. It has American food plus other stuff. It was pretty good and Emma and Maggie slept almost the entire time we were there. There are these statues all over the island so we took some stupid pictures. In this one, I guess it's supposed to be an American couple with their newly adopted Chinese baby. Obviously, they see American women as being overweight.

Then we shopped a little more and walked around the island. The weather was actually kind of nice yesterday. It was cloudy but very breezy and not very humid. It was warm but not boiling hot. We got a cab back to our hotel and lugged our purchases upstairs. We actually got Maggie to stand at the table in the room and play so that was kind of fun. And nice. Maggie started to fall asleep so I wrapped her up in her blanket and laid down on the bed and we both fell asleep! Maggie had to get her picture taken for her visa and I slept through it so David took her. They would not let her wear her tiger hat in the picture.

Then David and I started to talk about dinner so we walked around the block (where Brooke and I had walked the other day). We really are at a disadvantage at not being able to read Chinese. There were a bunch of restaurants that looked very good but we couldn't read one stinking thing outside. We need to take some lessons before we come back. We walked by this seafood restaurant that had this BIG market area where I guess you picked out the fish you wanted. They had this one GIGANTIC fish. I told David I wanted that one pan seared with lemon butter. They also had eels, snakes, frogs, toads and turtles. Kind of gross but fascinating. We went in the Dong Fang hotel where they have more shopping. We didn't really feel like shopping though so we just looked around. Then we came back to the hotel and Emma came over to play for a little while. That was fun too. Oh yeah, and David fell asleep so Maggie and I sat at the desk where the computer is and she opened and closed the desk drawer about 500 times. I kept shutting it and then she would open it. There is also a Marriott book in that drawer that will never be the same. We watched a little Baby Einstein (I know, bad mommy, letting my baby watch TV) and she babbled and talked to herself and slapped the desk. Mom, she loves to be slid down the wall and "smash it, eat it."

We ordered room service so when it came, David took Maggie and I ate as quickly as I could. I gave her a hard dinner roll that she gnawed on for a while until it got dropped and that was the end of that. Then David ate and I fed Maggie a bottle. We turned the lights down and turned on the Beijing Angelic Chorus CD of Chinese Lullabies. That CD rules. Every person who adopts from China should buy one because it knocks Maggie right out. Plus it's really pretty and David and I went to sleep with it playing the other night. You can get it on half.com for not very much money. Also you can get Baby Einsteins there too for 5 bucks. Then I got her to go to sleep and I was able to put her in the crib!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited! Erin and Ronnie called us last night and it was so good to hear from someone at home. Of course, when they called, Maggie was getting a diaper and pajama change because she had had a little problem so she was hollering up a storm.

Before I go, I have 2 prayer requests, if you are so inclined.
1. Please keep Brooke, Jeff and Emma in your prayers. David ran into Brooke in the hallway earlier this morning and Emma apparently did not sleep much at all last night.
2. A member of David's family, Ted Kalman, passed away last night. He was a very dear friend of David's Grandma Grace so keep her in your thoughts, please.

Today we have a day full of sightseeing and a trip to the grocery store. Maybe I should have brought the 4 1/2 pound bag of baby wipes! No, just kidding. We ARE going to have to buy another suitcase to come home though. Yikes.


Eating the sickest baby food ever--Apple, Pumpkin and Date PASTE. Gross. She likes it though.

I look like an idiot in this picture. If you look carefully, I have my hand on Maggie's head to force her to look at the camera.

I had to change Maggie's diaper in the stroller while we were on Shamian Island. They do not have the handy changing stations in bathrooms here. I do not know how that diaper even stayed on because that was about the crappiest job of putting a diaper on EVER.

Maggie in her tiger hat. Little kids wear these on Chinese New Year. I saw one on somebody's blog and thought it was SO cute that I had to have one!