There's a Boots in Hong Kong!

Okay, so after we checked in and got settled, we decided to start walking around. We went over to the IFC mall which is HUGE! I couldn't believe how big it was. And rather upscale as well. We rolled around in there for a while and I decided I was hungry. We went to Pret a Manger for lunch and I had the first sandwich I'd had in two weeks. Oh, a sandwich! It tasted SO good. I reverted to my usual ways and ate it in about 3 minutes. We also shared some potato "crisps" which also tasted great after 2 weeks. Those corn things in China were very good but not the same thing as a good old potato chip. I was extremely sleepy afterwards so we pressed on because I seriously could have laid down on the floor in the mall and gone to sleep. We went out on this observation deck to check out the harbor. Very pretty. Again, Maggie is not so impressed with Hong Kong.


I don't get it. I think it's super cool. We walked all over the place in "Central" which is basically the business district, I guess. Lots and lots of skyscrapers and banking and such. We tried to go in the Bank of China building which has an observation deck but we had missed the cutoff for Saturday. We went to a couple of other malls but didn't buy much. When you walk into a shopping center and see Versace, Ferragamo and Armani and you are a couple of teachers, perhaps you are out of your league. We also subjected Maggie to the indignity of changing her diaper on the floor behind a pillar. The bathrooms were miniscule and about too small for me to even go to the bathroom in them. We did lay down a blanket though, I'll have you know. We also went to Ben and Jerry's because like I said, I was about to keel over from exhaustion. I had this HUGE cup of Chocolate Therapy. Good grief. It was delicious and about black it was so chocolate. Then David discovered that they have chai tea lattes here in Hong Kong. Ahhh. All was right with the world.

We cruised back to the hotel so we could get ready for dinner and also so we could relax a little bit. I played with Maggie for a while where she would be crawling on the floor and I would hide behind the bed and then chase after her. Much laughter ensued. Maybe you had to be there for that but MAN, I remember my mom doing that with me and I thought it was hilarious as a kid. Maggie has the dorkiest laugh. It's so funny.

We went down to dinner at one of the restaurants here in the hotel and Maggie was SO good. I mean, she was great! I was thinking that 2 Saturdays ago, she was probably sleeping or lying in her crib at the orphanage and then this Saturday, she's eating Cheerios at the Ritz in Hong Kong. Crazy. Our dinner was very good but I thought I was going to explode by the end. Maggie had had about enough by then so we got our dessert packed up and we came back upstairs. There was a pianist playing during part of dinner and Maggie was kind of humming to herself and rocking back and forth. Very cute. She also has started sticking her old long tongue out with a Cheerio or whatever still on the tip of it. And she totally squirms around while I'm changing her diaper and I KNOW she does it because she knows it makes me mad! She is so funny.

Then the bath butler came. Oh man. When we remove our toilets and install squatty potties, I think we shall also hire a bath butler for our house. Dudes, it ruled. RULED. I got chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. The bath had lots of bubbles and rose petals on it. Chocolate chip crumbs are sort of gross in the bathtub but oh well.


Maggie says, "I don't care about Hong Kong but I can't wait to see y'all tomorrow!!!"

So this is almost the end of our time in China. Wow, it's been amazing. It's been fun. It's been hard. It's been unforgettable. To those of you who have helped us, supported us, prayed for us, laughed and cried with us, thank you thank you thank you. We can never thank you enough. It was a long 2 years but let me tell you, Monday, September 4, made every second worth it and we could not have done it without our families and friends. Thank you to all of you. We are incredibly blessed.

We should arrive in Charlotte at 8:13 pm tomorrow night---Sunday. We cannot wait to see everybody and to introduce you to our sweet, funny, amazing daughter. We know you will love her as much as we do.

See you then!