Dinner Cruise on the Pearl

Guest writer Larry here again. Last night we went on a dinner cruise up and down the Pearl River here in Guangzhou. The Pearl River cuts right through the center of Guangzhou and is one of the major points of pride in this city. Guangzhou recently hosted the Asian Games where they had guests from 45 countries competing in all Olympic events. In an effort to welcome the guests the city of Guangzhou spent an inordinate amount of money lighting buildings and bridges all along the Pearl River. The beautiful lights were the main attraction of the dinner cruise, but we were also looking forward to the Chinese cuisine that was to be served buffet style. The weather was not very cooperative for this cruise as it was windy, rainy, and cold. Most of our pictures were taken from inside the boat. Erin was left hungry after the dinner because most of the food was very spicy and had to resort to eating Abigail's cookies. I on the other hand was most pleased with the meal. As you can see from the picture I tried just about everything that was available (when in Rome...) I went and found our agency reps and asked them about eating chicken feet. They asked what my experience was and I told them that I thought it was a lot of effort for a small amount of food. They laughed and told me that in Guangzhou most people only enjoy eating chicken feet when they are drinking hard liquor! I still found it interesting and it reminded me of when Jim (Erin's brother) and I polished off a plate of fried chicken knees in Japan. Good times. The buildings and the bridges were really beautiful despite the cold rain. Erin managed to get a great picture of one of the bridges with its lights reflecting off of the water. I got a decent picture of the Guangzhou Tower, which our guides claim is the 2nd highest building in the world (see reference here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Tower). Just as I thought the trip was complete, I was reminded of a famous saying: "What dinner cruise isn't complete without a clown?" The clown came out to a Russian polka that was only about 30 seconds long and repeated over and over for about 10 minutes. It was fun (sarcasm intended.) Our tour group got back on the bus humming and whistling the polka tune.

If I were to do this all over again, what would I do differently?

There are some things we would have done differently to prepare for our trip so I just want to put these ideas out there for other adoption travelers who may read this blog.

First, I would like to say we would go with CCAI as our agency all over again. They were clear and informative and prompt at every step in the process, but everyone always said that their in-country guides and social workers are the best. Really they are. We could not have had the smooth in-country experience that we have had (they do paperwork for us, run errands, go with us to take Abigail to the doctor, recommend food and restaurants, organize group outings, etc.). I would definitely go with a SN child again also. Abigail's personality is revealed to us a little more each day and she is such a sweetheart and she just soaks up everything we try to teach her.

Now, the stuff I would do differently.

I would like to preface this with the fact that we only brought 2 smallish suitcases that are 10in x 25 x 15 (approximately) that held stuff for all three of us and a backpack each. We didn't bring carry on luggage or an extra suitcase for Abigail. 2 small suitcases and 2 backpacks total. And I still think we brought too much stuff.

1. Packing. Larry and I were so obsessed with the below freezing temps we would be facing in Beijing that we completely over-packed for that leg of the trip. Even though we were there for parts of 4 days, it was only really 2 days doing stuff in Beijing, but we packed too many Under Armor undershirts and long underwear and 4 sweaters/sweatshirts each. We could have brought 2 sets of the base layers and worn the same outer layers both days and saved on 3 sets of heavy clothes each. There are heavy clothes that we never wore, but have to lug around. Also, we wore jeans on the flight over and we each packed 2 more. Packing only 1 more would have been sufficient. We did NOT pack enough short sleeve t-shirts. I didn't pack enough shirts that I don't care about a baby staining while on my shoulder. We didn't need all of the electricity converters we brought: all of our hotels had them to borrow.

2. CCAI said "Laundry facilities are at each hotel" and since Larry and I didn't know that meant "Laundry services that the hotel will take 24 hours to do and return and charge exorbitantly for doing so" we would have packed more socks and underwear. We thought 4 days' worth of underclothes would be good and we could take an hour, throw them in a machine, and be done with it. But the first 2 hotels charged per item. A woman we are traveling with thought it was free and had half a load done and it cost over $80. Laundry is cheap and easily accessible in Guangzhou.

3. Living on top of each other: we were not prepared for this. In total, we will be on a plane, in a hotel, or in transit home for 18 days. We are together 24-7 in a hotel room most of the time. When the baby sleeps, we both want to get stuff done: on the computer, organizing clean clothes from dirty, reading, napping, showers, etc and we are in this nice but TINY hotel room and have zero personal space or time apart. That is difficult for even the best couples to manage for 18 straight days. When we were DINKs on vacations, we would frequently spend a few hours apart exercising, seeing different shows, etc. This is not possible right now.

4. Blogging sites are blocked here. Either find a good proxy or have a good friend or family member back home to help you out. My wonderful brother Jim has been receiving my blogs as emails and posting them for me because I was aware that this might be a problem so we worked this out ahead of time. Other people in my group are using a proxy or are also emailing entries.

5. This one is more for 1st time parents: it is hard enough learning how to be a parent all of a sudden, but throw in the fact that you are learning in a different country with a vastly different language and living out of suitcases it is all the more challenging. Be sure to have the following items:

bibs (and remember to bring them with you at meal times!), a baby spoon, TWO bottles, pocket knife (been used a thousand times this week for various things), snacks ("baby treats" as Larry calls them- we wish we had brought more Gerber Graduates food like yogurt melts), a jumbo bottle of Advil (the meds you can buy here aren't the same and suddenly carrying around a 20 pound kid is taxing on us and we are already in shape!), about 300 baby wipes (we only brought about 100 and are going to fall short and the ones we bought here are thin).

Guess who has a boo-boo

Abigail wanted all of her people to know that she has a boo-boo, we don't know what type, and that-despite her screams- the doctor was only cleaning the wound, not amputating the finger.

(There was stuck-on cookie on her finger around the wound and the doctor found very puzzling. Larry kept telling our interpreter that it was cookie, but the doctor didn't believe it until after a formal investigation of the substance. Also, we don't know how the injury happened. She came with it, but it has been getting worse.)

Six Banyan Tree Temple and Chen Ancestral House

This morning we took a tour of the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. It is a Buddhist temple that is 1500 years old.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangdong/guangzhou/six_tree.htm

Then we went to the Chen Ancestral House.

http://www.chinadiscover.net/china-tour/guangdongguide/guangdong-guangzhou-chenfamily.htm

Both places were nice, but not interesting to a 1-year old child. We got some nice pictures though.

Abigail's personality is emerging more each day. She is such a happy and curious child. She is a sweetheart who is trying so much to learn from us. We don't have to hold her 24-7 anymore. She likes to be held after she wakes up, for about an hour, and she prefers to fal asleep that way, although last night she woke up and entertained herself for 45 minutes in her crib just babbling and trying all of the games and tricks we have been teaching her, as if she was practicing. Jim said she is studying like a good Chinese kid already! She plays hard now, likes to wrestle, likes games, enjoys repeating sounds we make and gestures we do. She crashes hard at nap-time and loves when we let her feed herself. She prefers French fries to steamed white rice, and she loves fruit. (She only had one Fry, btw, we aren't trying to make her fat already but she really did not want her rice after the fry was gone!)

The White Swan, Guangzhou

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Guangzhou. The 3rd largest city in China, it is warm, clean, you can walk everywhere, there is a variety of food and the Pearl River runs through here. Right by our hotel looks like The Point at Three Rivers in Pittsburgh. It is just beautiful and warm here. If anyone is interested in a south-east Asian vacation, I would suggest this as a city you see.

Our hotel is super nice. Again, we had to remind Abigail that our home isn't as fancy- we don't have a 3-story Christmas tree, a 3-story waterfall, ancient bonsai trees, a koi pond or an aviary in our lobby (nor do we have a lobby!), and our house is not made of marble. But it will do for now! (Jim, Steph, and Dad- it really reminds me of the Budget Inn we stayed in on night 3 (in Hancock) of our bike trip from Pittsburgh to DC last summer!)

There are also lots of places to buy things, both real quality things and cheap imitation things and also places to get laundry done (which we really need at this point in the trip).

See the attached pics of the White Swan and Guangzhou.

Abigail Health Update

We are now in Guangzhou, the most fabulous city on Earth we have been to besides NYC. It is tropical and beautiful.

Anyhow, this is just a quick post to tell you that Abigail had her immigration physical today.

Her lip and palate are completely repaired, although some of her teeth didn't come in on the top where the cleft was.

She is also 18.6 pounds and 30 inches!!

Baby Bird's First Flight

Above: When we thought baby bird would sleep the whole time.

Below Right: Abigail and Larry waiting to go through security

Below Left: We put the baby in charge of carrying the passports for the three of us. She did a great job. We should have given her more responsibility because on the plane we lost that darling little red hat from Norma K that she has been wearing in all of the pictures!!

In addition to calling Abigail "little monkey" we sometimes call her "baby bird" because of the way she tilts her head back and opens and closes her mouth for you to put food into it. (And btw Jim, what is Big Bird's real name?) Anyhow, last night was her first ride on an airplane. The first 20 minutes were good- she had a bottle and fell asleep. We patted ourselves on the back for being such great parents and thought the rest of the flight would be no problem. Then she woke up and we played "try to entertain an exhausted 14 month old for 70 minutes on a plane". How are we ever going to make it 17.5 hours in the air from Hong Kong to Detroit?!?!?!