Many familes in our group have left for home today, but we are still here for another two days. The airfare was so much cheaper (Over $1500) if we stayed two more days, even after factoring in hotel & food. Our friends the Mowers, the Lyons, the Cristofolettis were still here too, so at least we had company.
We did much more shopping today. We bought souvenirs for everyone and more and more clothes for Katrina. I tried to buy silk dresses for her in different sizes so that we would have them for years to come. It was so much cheaper to buy in China than at home.
I bought my dad a chess set and some hand painted mini vases for my grandmother. I bought 10 lighters with Chairman Mao's face on them as great gag gifts. I bought a Chairman Mao t-shirt for my uncle Vinny.
We ate at Lucy's for lunch and I had a ham and cheese, no ham sandwich there with tomato soup. Katrina ate a whole bowl of mashed potatoes, plus cucumbers and french fries. Later I got sick from what I ate. It tasted good going down, but coming up was another issue. We had noodle soup for dinner again today and it was another early night for us.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Monday, November 15, 2004
Visa Photo, Medical Exam & Shopping
Today was pretty cold for this province. Long sleeves and jackets were needed for everyone. When we arrived at the photo place, there was another adoption group already there so we had to wait. Like everything else in China, this was going to take some time.
Once we were all done getting photos taken, we walked over to the hospital for the medical exam. All babies must pass this exam of they cannot leave China. Even though our daughter was sick, we didn't think it would be a problem, but still I worried about it anyway.
First we waited in line. We saw many doctors walking around. Finally we were called and we had to remove all of Katrina's clothes, even her diaper. They measured her head and chest. Of course she started screaming her head off! They listened to her heart and poked and prodded her a bit. She was weighed and measured for height. 16 pounds and 29 inches long.
Her hearing was tested while she sat on my lap. The doctor rang bells, banged on a small piano to see if she turned when she heard the noise and recorded how long it took her to react. They asked about her cold and we said she was taking cold medicine. It didn't seem to be a problem and her medical exam was approved.
For lunch we had noodle soup. We bought these containers of ramen noodles that come with a fork. You just have to boil water and pour in over the noodles. Since we were all a little sick, we figured soup was a good idea. I had purchased these in a grocery store. A really cheap meal, but it tasted so good!
We went shopping after lunch. I bought many Chinese outfits for Katrina. I picked up a chop with the sheep on it since she was born in the year of the sheep. We put her American and Chinese name on the chop as well along with a dragon and the symbol for happiness. We had her name painted with animals which also had both of her names on it. Her favorite purchase though, was squeaky shoes. As the child walks, the shoes squeak. The squeak can also be removed, but whats the fun in that! Not that Katrina is walking yet, but the shoes still look good on her feet and they still squeak when she is bounded up and down as her feet hit the floor. Fun for all!
Once we were all done getting photos taken, we walked over to the hospital for the medical exam. All babies must pass this exam of they cannot leave China. Even though our daughter was sick, we didn't think it would be a problem, but still I worried about it anyway.
First we waited in line. We saw many doctors walking around. Finally we were called and we had to remove all of Katrina's clothes, even her diaper. They measured her head and chest. Of course she started screaming her head off! They listened to her heart and poked and prodded her a bit. She was weighed and measured for height. 16 pounds and 29 inches long.
Her hearing was tested while she sat on my lap. The doctor rang bells, banged on a small piano to see if she turned when she heard the noise and recorded how long it took her to react. They asked about her cold and we said she was taking cold medicine. It didn't seem to be a problem and her medical exam was approved.
For lunch we had noodle soup. We bought these containers of ramen noodles that come with a fork. You just have to boil water and pour in over the noodles. Since we were all a little sick, we figured soup was a good idea. I had purchased these in a grocery store. A really cheap meal, but it tasted so good!
We went shopping after lunch. I bought many Chinese outfits for Katrina. I picked up a chop with the sheep on it since she was born in the year of the sheep. We put her American and Chinese name on the chop as well along with a dragon and the symbol for happiness. We had her name painted with animals which also had both of her names on it. Her favorite purchase though, was squeaky shoes. As the child walks, the shoes squeak. The squeak can also be removed, but whats the fun in that! Not that Katrina is walking yet, but the shoes still look good on her feet and they still squeak when she is bounded up and down as her feet hit the floor. Fun for all!
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Shopping & Eating
As a group, we hired a bus to take us shopping for pearls. I was able to buy a lovely necklace for my daughter. I watched them string the pearls right in front of me. We will give this to her on her 15th birthday I think.
We finished up our shopping quickly and the bus was not going to return for another hour or so. Since it was nearing lunchtime, we decided to get a bite to eat. AR saw a McDonald's on the corner and it was like a beacon pulling us in.
The McDonald's was a three floor restaurant. We went to the second floor and waited on line like everyone else. A manager came over to us and asked us to sit down. In fact, they asked people who were eating to move over so that we could sit and eat there and they did!
The manager sent an employee over to take our order. Everyone orders the same way. They are given a plastic laminated menu and they point to the picture of what they want (locals too, not just us foreigners), so we did the same. They took our money, brought us our change and then our food.
We were pretty puzzled as to why we were being treated like royalty. Others in our group went to the same McDonald's and they were not treated the same way, so we don't know why we were treated so special. I made a bottle for Katrina and she gulped it down quickly. Then she ate some french fries!
Later at night AR went down to the medical clinic too. He came back with all kinds of medicine, including a similar looking herbal tincture. After he tasted that he said he knew why Katrina was screaming when we squirted the medicine in her mouth. It tasted awful!
Since two of the three of us were sick, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant this evening. Katrina kept dropping food on the floor and the waiters kept running over to pick up the food. I had to drop off some paperwork in our travel coordinator's room tonight. We were getting Katrina's visa photo and medical exam in the morning.
We finished up our shopping quickly and the bus was not going to return for another hour or so. Since it was nearing lunchtime, we decided to get a bite to eat. AR saw a McDonald's on the corner and it was like a beacon pulling us in.
The McDonald's was a three floor restaurant. We went to the second floor and waited on line like everyone else. A manager came over to us and asked us to sit down. In fact, they asked people who were eating to move over so that we could sit and eat there and they did!
The manager sent an employee over to take our order. Everyone orders the same way. They are given a plastic laminated menu and they point to the picture of what they want (locals too, not just us foreigners), so we did the same. They took our money, brought us our change and then our food.
We were pretty puzzled as to why we were being treated like royalty. Others in our group went to the same McDonald's and they were not treated the same way, so we don't know why we were treated so special. I made a bottle for Katrina and she gulped it down quickly. Then she ate some french fries!
Later at night AR went down to the medical clinic too. He came back with all kinds of medicine, including a similar looking herbal tincture. After he tasted that he said he knew why Katrina was screaming when we squirted the medicine in her mouth. It tasted awful!
Since two of the three of us were sick, we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant this evening. Katrina kept dropping food on the floor and the waiters kept running over to pick up the food. I had to drop off some paperwork in our travel coordinator's room tonight. We were getting Katrina's visa photo and medical exam in the morning.
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