More Shopping

Today was a better day. I woke up feeling better but not great yet. I got all the kids ready and took them down for the breakfast buffet while Pete slept. We got back after breakfast and Pete got up and got ready to go out with us for the morning. He felt better, but he too wasn't quite well.

Today was a shopping day. Didn't we do enough shopping in Beijing? But, we needed a suitcase so we went. The first stop was a jade store. Just another over-priced tourist trap. We didn't buy anything except a few pops across the street from it. We went to the bus to wait. K and his Dad were on it too so we had sometime to chat. Funny thing is that we are all so busy with our own stuff, that we barely have time to talk to the other families. I've learned more about how their trip is going by reading their blog than by talking to them in person.

Next stop was the pearl market. And a pearl market it was. Like 5 floors of nothing but pearls. It was more like a mall to me. I preferred the pearl market in Beijing. Not necessarily because of the pearls, but because it had a variety of other stuff. Again, we didn't plan to buy anything but I did want a suitcase. Yes all of our stuff did fit in our suitcases to get here, but we had a 'group weigh' to get here. That meant that our suitcases were't noticed as being over-weight. Going home, we are alone, so I needed another suitcase to spread the extra 40 pounds out. Paying $20 for a suitcase was way cheaper than paying $150 per bag for being over-weight if we get a cranky airline worker. So we left the mall and ventured down the street to find a suitcase store. Sure enough, just a block down, and we found one. I told the salesgirl I was only paying 175 yuan and to show me what she'd sell me for that price. It's an ugly brown color but it'll be easier to find on the luggage rack than all of our black ones. I sure wish I had kept all of my lavendar luggage that Pete convinced me to get rid of a few years back : ) Time to head back to the hotel now.

We were told of a restaurant just down the street, Lucy's, that had decent food and was reasonably priced, so we went there for lunch. Pricing was OK. Food was OK. Nothing to write home about but it at least wasn't fast food. We were able to sit outside and had a view of the river so that was nice.

I stayed in the room while Pete went to meet with our guide to complete our paperwork. I really think this step could have been done in the US ahead of time with our GWCA Rep, but that's OK. We were told that we needed our original homestudy. This is the second time this has been an issue on this trip. It is quite aggravating because I wanted to bring it just in case. BUT, our paperwork check-list from GWCA very specifically said to leave all of our orignal documents at home. I even showed that part to Pete to make sure. Twice. Three times. But I did as it said and left them home. Now our guide says that we need it. I don't understand why because the US has an original already. They have it have it in order for us to get our I-171 H. Our guide said she will call the Embassy tomorrow to verify.

Time for dinner. We thought we'd try the Italian restuarant that we were told about that was supposed to be decent and have reasonable pricing. I love my Man but God sure didn't give hime the gift of direction. Once we started out looking for it, we couldn't find it. Of course I wasn't going to walk far either. We'll look for it tomorrow. Back to Lucy's we went. We all ordered single items (like corn on the cob, baked potato, rolls, etc.) We thought that would be cheaper and more edible. We were wrong. How can you screw up a baked potato? Sour cream had a weird texture and the potato's color was weird. Oh well. Anyone that knows me, knows how ridiculously picky of an eater I am. That's why I have a case of granola bars with me : )

We walked home along the river and the girls admired the lights from all of the buildings. And as per our normal routine now, stopped for a photograph. K2 sure is getting a taste of the 'famous' life. I know I'd never want to be famous. I'm still amazed at all the people that want to take their picture.

Now what to do with the rest of the evening? Well, K1 bought Ratatoullie, the movie, for 10 yuan. That's about $1.30 US. Sadly, it's the only entertainment we have here for the evenings. It's cheaper to buy a movie off the street corner than to rent them at home! But what else are you going to do...