We were sitting on this front porch:
The place used to be a coffee and tea house, so their tea presentation was quite lovely:
Friday, November 14, 2008
A romantic dinner for three
Last night was beautiful, so we ate at a lovely outdoor restaurant on a heavily planted pedestrian street. We sat at a big, wide couch, which was perfect for Quinn. He sat and played with his trucks and rattles the whole time we were there.
We were sitting on this front porch:
The place used to be a coffee and tea house, so their tea presentation was quite lovely:
We were sitting on this front porch:The place used to be a coffee and tea house, so their tea presentation was quite lovely:
A knock at the door
Yesterday afternoon while Quinn was napping I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it there was a smiling young woman holding out a box. "This is for you, from the hotel," she said. I looked down and saw... Chinese adoption Barbie!!!!! There she is, standing in a garden and holding little Chinese girl. Way fab - I totally love it.
Here she is:
Here she is:
Bargain shopping with the bargain shopper
Today our Guangzhou guide, Raymond, took us shopping for kids' clothes. First we started at a very fancy department store, where the clothes were fabulous, but priced about the same as they would be at home. So Raymond dragged us out of there and took us to the children's garment district, which is mostly wholesale but has some retail outlets, too.
That Raymond was quite the wheeler and dealer. I'd point out what I'd like and he'd ask the price, then scowl and tell the seller that was ridiculous. If they didn't come immediately down he'd say to me, "We'll go to another place" and lead me out of the store. Most of the time someone would come running after us with a better price, but sometimes not. Usually in those cases Raymond would say, "The 66 yuan they want is is a very good price." Then why did we leave? That's just the way you do it here. So we'd look at another couple of stores and then head back to the one we had just marched out of and say we had reconsidered.
Pretty quickly I got a beautiful Chinese New Year's outfit for $13, a very nice coat and matching ski pants for $14 and a nice stocking cap and gloves for $4. Then Raymond hit the motherlode: a row of wholesale shops that each had a box of retail bargains out front. I got two pairs of sweat pants for less than $1 each and seven adorable long-sleeved t-shirts for less than $2 each. It was quite the haul, and a really fun experience.
That Raymond was quite the wheeler and dealer. I'd point out what I'd like and he'd ask the price, then scowl and tell the seller that was ridiculous. If they didn't come immediately down he'd say to me, "We'll go to another place" and lead me out of the store. Most of the time someone would come running after us with a better price, but sometimes not. Usually in those cases Raymond would say, "The 66 yuan they want is is a very good price." Then why did we leave? That's just the way you do it here. So we'd look at another couple of stores and then head back to the one we had just marched out of and say we had reconsidered.
Pretty quickly I got a beautiful Chinese New Year's outfit for $13, a very nice coat and matching ski pants for $14 and a nice stocking cap and gloves for $4. Then Raymond hit the motherlode: a row of wholesale shops that each had a box of retail bargains out front. I got two pairs of sweat pants for less than $1 each and seven adorable long-sleeved t-shirts for less than $2 each. It was quite the haul, and a really fun experience.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The latest Americans
Yesterday afternoon we headed to the American consulate to get the kids' immigrant visas. The guy who runs the adoptions unit is new to the job, and still obviously jazzed about it, and he came out and gave a sweet speech about how much he loves his job. Then all 37 families in the room stood and gave an oath that all the information in our children's information was correct, and poof, instant Americans. It's not official until they touch down on American soil, but all the paperwork is completed.
Congratulations to the newest little Americans!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Only in China
At a very nice Thai restaurant in Guangzhou, an entire page is dedicated to food for infants:
Starbucks in America serves green tea latte, too. But the version here is VERY strongly flavored of matcha powder, and very delicious. Also much greener than the American version:
Starbucks in America serves green tea latte, too. But the version here is VERY strongly flavored of matcha powder, and very delicious. Also much greener than the American version:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)