| Day 2 - 2/5/2012 |
After a good night's sleep we were all up before 2 am this
morning. Hey, at least it was 10 am California time and not 6
am! Confined to our room until 6:30 am when the breakfast
buffet opened downstairs we made a video call over Skype to
Grandma and Grandpa Mok and watched videos to pass the
time. When 6:30 finally rolled around we were starving. The
breakfast buffet which is included with the room was not bad.
Some American-type breakfast foods and some traditional
Chinese fare such as rice congee or porridge. While navigating
the buffet we ran into 2 other American couples who were also
adopting, but through a different agency. It was nice to run into
some other Americans, let alone adoptive families, since we
thought we would be the only family in the province. We didn't get
to chat with them as much as we would have liked, but we may
be at the civil affairs office at the same time as them since they
will also be meeting their children tomorrow.
After breakfast we decided to brave the city streets around the
hotel. Bill had searched online and found that there was
supposed to be a Starbucks nearby so off we went in search of
the life-giving drink. We never found it, but we did manage to get
lost and at the same time stumble onto some cool
points-of-interest. It was actually very fun walking around getting
lost in the sights, sounds and smells of the city. We wound our
way through small alleys and major venues full of little hawker
stalls full of everything under the sun - clothing, purses, toys,
souvenirs, knick knacks and even pets! I think we must have hit
close to 75% of the toy stalls thanks to Tyler, all selling the same
toys. The animal stalls were probably the most interesting.
Definitely not a place to visit if you are a member of PETA, let me
put it that way. I was both appalled and enthralled with all of the
animals there. They had little crates, cages and tanks full of all
sorts of little animals - hamsters, mice, baby rabbits, guinea
pigs, baby turtles, gold fish, birds, everything! In one store front
they had pure bred dogs for sale. There was a Husky in
particular that we would have loved to have taken with us. I think
the owner was trying to give us a deal for the dog too. That was
one time I was glad we couldn't understand him.
We were brave and sampled some local street foods, some
good and some not so good. There was some cool
"entertainment" by a man who created candy art. He had a little
wheel with pictures of animals on it and a little arrow that
customers would spin. Whatever animal the arrow stopped on
the man would make that animal out of candied sugar on a
stick. We did not buy one, but we may have to go back another
day and try it since our curiosity is piqued. We had to take the
video over people's heads since we couldn't push our way in,
but you get the picture.
morning. Hey, at least it was 10 am California time and not 6
am! Confined to our room until 6:30 am when the breakfast
buffet opened downstairs we made a video call over Skype to
Grandma and Grandpa Mok and watched videos to pass the
time. When 6:30 finally rolled around we were starving. The
breakfast buffet which is included with the room was not bad.
Some American-type breakfast foods and some traditional
Chinese fare such as rice congee or porridge. While navigating
the buffet we ran into 2 other American couples who were also
adopting, but through a different agency. It was nice to run into
some other Americans, let alone adoptive families, since we
thought we would be the only family in the province. We didn't get
to chat with them as much as we would have liked, but we may
be at the civil affairs office at the same time as them since they
will also be meeting their children tomorrow.
After breakfast we decided to brave the city streets around the
hotel. Bill had searched online and found that there was
supposed to be a Starbucks nearby so off we went in search of
the life-giving drink. We never found it, but we did manage to get
lost and at the same time stumble onto some cool
points-of-interest. It was actually very fun walking around getting
lost in the sights, sounds and smells of the city. We wound our
way through small alleys and major venues full of little hawker
stalls full of everything under the sun - clothing, purses, toys,
souvenirs, knick knacks and even pets! I think we must have hit
close to 75% of the toy stalls thanks to Tyler, all selling the same
toys. The animal stalls were probably the most interesting.
Definitely not a place to visit if you are a member of PETA, let me
put it that way. I was both appalled and enthralled with all of the
animals there. They had little crates, cages and tanks full of all
sorts of little animals - hamsters, mice, baby rabbits, guinea
pigs, baby turtles, gold fish, birds, everything! In one store front
they had pure bred dogs for sale. There was a Husky in
particular that we would have loved to have taken with us. I think
the owner was trying to give us a deal for the dog too. That was
one time I was glad we couldn't understand him.
We were brave and sampled some local street foods, some
good and some not so good. There was some cool
"entertainment" by a man who created candy art. He had a little
wheel with pictures of animals on it and a little arrow that
customers would spin. Whatever animal the arrow stopped on
the man would make that animal out of candied sugar on a
stick. We did not buy one, but we may have to go back another
day and try it since our curiosity is piqued. We had to take the
video over people's heads since we couldn't push our way in,
but you get the picture.
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The city is all decorated with colorful displays and lanterns due
to the Lantern Festival and the area around Confucious' temple
was pretty busy. We didn't go in since our guide will be taking us
there later in the week. One of the more popular sights was
actually us. The same thing happened to us the last time we
were in China. Bill is like a minor celebrity here. He had one
woman stop him and take a picture with him. Another older man
followed us around for a while, but most of the time what would
happen is they would look at Tyler, at Bill, and then back at Tyler
again. I liked to hang back and watch people's reactions, but
after a while the blatant staring got to be a little unnerving.
Around lunch time we finally got ourselves unlost and made our
way back to the hotel.
to the Lantern Festival and the area around Confucious' temple
was pretty busy. We didn't go in since our guide will be taking us
there later in the week. One of the more popular sights was
actually us. The same thing happened to us the last time we
were in China. Bill is like a minor celebrity here. He had one
woman stop him and take a picture with him. Another older man
followed us around for a while, but most of the time what would
happen is they would look at Tyler, at Bill, and then back at Tyler
again. I liked to hang back and watch people's reactions, but
after a while the blatant staring got to be a little unnerving.
Around lunch time we finally got ourselves unlost and made our
way back to the hotel.
A little history on Nanjing that Jane gave us. Before Beijing became the capital of China, Nanjing was
the capital city during the Ming Dynasty. Nanjing was the south capital and Beijing the north capital.
In fact, nan means south in Chinese and bei means north. Jing means capital. The older part of the
city, where we're staying, is surrounded by a large wall that, according to Jane, is the largest wall
surrounding a city in the world. Much of it has fallen down, but they are working to try and reconstruct
it as they are realizing the historical the importance of it. The original palace structure is only a ruins
now. There is a large man-made river that runs through the city that eventually dumps out into the
Yangtze river which sits on the western side of the city. The amazing thing is this river is thousands
of years old and is still in good working order. There will be a test later in the week kiddos so make
sure you study up!
Tonight we again went to the supermarket across the way to bring dinner back to our room. I think
we're hooked. We've also been treated to the occasional fireworks display going off all over the city.
We have prime seats being on the 10th floor and it has kept Tyler pretty entertained running back
and forth to the windows every time he hears them going off.
All in all It was a great way to pass our "free day" which in all honesty I thought was going to be a day
of torture. In my mind I had already thought up nicknames for today, all of them having to do with
some sort of torture. Getting lost in the area around our hotel kept our minds occupied and off of the
reason we're here. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 we will be heading over to the civil affairs office and at
10 am local time they will be bringing in Yang Yi Chen to meet her new family. Ah, there it is, the
familiar feelings of torture have reared their ugly head again...
the capital city during the Ming Dynasty. Nanjing was the south capital and Beijing the north capital.
In fact, nan means south in Chinese and bei means north. Jing means capital. The older part of the
city, where we're staying, is surrounded by a large wall that, according to Jane, is the largest wall
surrounding a city in the world. Much of it has fallen down, but they are working to try and reconstruct
it as they are realizing the historical the importance of it. The original palace structure is only a ruins
now. There is a large man-made river that runs through the city that eventually dumps out into the
Yangtze river which sits on the western side of the city. The amazing thing is this river is thousands
of years old and is still in good working order. There will be a test later in the week kiddos so make
sure you study up!
Tonight we again went to the supermarket across the way to bring dinner back to our room. I think
we're hooked. We've also been treated to the occasional fireworks display going off all over the city.
We have prime seats being on the 10th floor and it has kept Tyler pretty entertained running back
and forth to the windows every time he hears them going off.
All in all It was a great way to pass our "free day" which in all honesty I thought was going to be a day
of torture. In my mind I had already thought up nicknames for today, all of them having to do with
some sort of torture. Getting lost in the area around our hotel kept our minds occupied and off of the
reason we're here. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 we will be heading over to the civil affairs office and at
10 am local time they will be bringing in Yang Yi Chen to meet her new family. Ah, there it is, the
familiar feelings of torture have reared their ugly head again...
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