Friday & Saturday Morning

Hello from Guangzhou! No posting yesterday because we were busy most of the day and crashed once we got to the hotel. The day started as usual, with breakfast and playing in the room. Since we were not leaving the hotel until around 3, we relaxed quite a bit, napped some and just generally hung out in the room. Olivia and Mommy both have a cold, Olivia has medicine for hers so she is doing pretty good, but because of the cold, she took a three hour nap yesterday. That was a very good thing because she didn’t have much chance the rest of the day.

Once we left, we went to an office to pick up the passports. They were not ready, so we came back to the hotel and sat in the lobby. Back to the office, then we sat in an outdoor seating area, sweated and waited. Finally they were ready and we got them, hopped back on the bus and made the hour trek to the airport, got checked in and through security. After boarding, Miss Olivia decided she was not so happy and started screaming. Mommy and Daddy tried everything to calm her with little success. After about 5-10 minutes, she fell asleep and slept pretty much until we got to the hotel at round 10:30pm. More food, a little lovin’ and back to sleep with little problem around 11:30.

Oh, for those who have to decide where to stay in Guangzhou - the Holiday Inn Shifu is SUPER nice. The rooms are huge (twice the size of the White Swan) and very upscale. We were amazed when we walked in.

Today, up at 6:37am – Miss Olivia slept in (7 extra minutes) after the late night. Congee and a bottle for breakfast, then up to the room to get ready for the day. We had to go for the cursory medical exam: height, weight, hearing, and generally look her over. I do not know any of the information as it was VERY crowded and noisy and Mandy kept the paperwork. I think she weighs about 21 pounds. Olivia did so much better than I thought she would. They only time she fussed is when we had to lay her down and take her skirt and diaper off.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a couple shops. We were going to borrow one of the free strollers, but it was really nasty, so we went to a different store and bought one for around $13. I feel really strongly about carrying her for the attachment/bonding it allows, but it is so darn hot for her in that carrier that she sweats like crazy. Then, we are in and out of air conditioning and it is no wonder she has a cold.

On the street next to the hotel is a pet market. We walk through it to get to Shamian Island, where all the shops are. It seems that stored in China group together, like one floor of the mall will all be shoe stores, and this whole street is all pet stores. The next two streets are all herbal medicine stores. It is very interesting. We will take some pictures next time through.

After getting back from the morning activities, we tried to feed Olivia some rice cereal and a bottle, which she had no interest in. We ordered room service, and I got some chicken congee for her, which after her not eating the cereal, I figured was a waste. Well, not so. She gobbled it down. Looks like Mommy is going to need to figure out how to make congee in a big way. Olivia is napping now, Daddy went out to try to find some cold medicine for Mommy. I hope he bypasses the herbal shops, I saw snake skins in one of them.

All for now, Gina