Good Girl Gone Shopping!

Today was the best day so far. Not perfect, not without a laser-beam look at some point, but the best so far. The attitude and evil eye looks are becoming fewer and last for a shorter time. They usually come for one of two reasons, we have the most dreaded word for any young child (or kid in general)...NO! Or she's frustrated we don't understand her. We slept all night, from 9 pm to 7 am. This was soooo nice. Then we went to breakfast with our friends and fellow Harrah's clients, Elaine and Tim with their 17 month old new daughter Sarah. During most of breakfast Anna Lin starred at this little Caucasian girl who must have just gotten a new little brother here in China. I wanted point out to AL that the skirt the girl was wearing was just like the one she had on the day before. She had fussed to our guide that she didn't like it because it was too short! :-) It is the one in the video clip of the fan dancing.

After breakfast Ric & I took the princess shopping. It is harder to find her size clothes. The outfit in the video clip is from Target and is a 4T. It fits her just right now. Anyway, most of the clothes here are geared to little ones. We did buy five dresses and a couple of tradition Asian outfits for AL. Then we found a pair of sandals too. They just fit her and maybe her toes hang over the edge just a tad. But the store didn't have any size bigger so we got them. All together for what I just mentioned, and three little drums, about five books (two in Mandarin/English) and some rubber duckies for the bath, we spent about $70-$75. A couple of the dresses were Gymboree. Now at one point Ric had to take the princess out of the store. And she was not too happy about this. The sales lady had started speaking to her in Chinese, which from now on I'm going to say "NO!" to this. Next thing you know we are being snubbed again, even though we are the ones buying. Plus the lady is taking things off the rack and holding them up to her, etc., etc., etc. Well, when the attitude came out Ric took charge and out they went. He kept her outside until I finished up and paid for things. Except on the way out I saw a little Buddha statue...then he came in but had her in his arms with a firm grip. :-)

We went straight back to the hotel. She looked through and folded her clothes. (This girl can fold and organize anything!) Then we put a new dress on her and all was right in the world once again. In a few hours after working on some paperwork for the US Consulate appointment for her visa we headed out for lunch. This time to the Deli Shop. Ric said, "That's a big walk, you sure you want to do that." Well of course! Not only have I not ran in almost a week, but the princess needed to get some energy out as well. Ah, it was heaven for me, but not for poor Ric. I got the tuna/ham sandwich which was baked in a sweet bread. (Yep, tuna and ham sandwich. Sounds odd but it was good.) Plus I picked up two multi-grain, raisin-walnut rolls. Yes, I was in heaven!!!! Ric ordered Chinese...and was not in heaven. Unfortunately he received plain white rice and pork that was...uh...just a bit too fatty for his liking. Anna Lin got noodles and broth, a banana and yogurt to drink. She loves to drink yogurt and bananas. Ric did not get a sandwich because they were not refridgerated. They were in covered cases and you get a tray and tongs to get your items out of the case. I didn't care. It could have been a day old and I would not have cared. I wanted that food and I was going to have it! Ric said he would see if I got sick. If I didn't then he knows its OK and will try it next time. (...Not feeling the love Honey Bun. Not feeling the love.)

The rest of the day was pretty good. Some fun back in the room. A visit across the hall to neighbors. A walk around the hotel to see where everything was. A trip to Lucy's again for dinner. By the way, while there Ric ordered a Corona. Anna Lin announced that beer was bad. That is the one thing Ric can say in Mandarin...beer. Sounds like pee joe. She said pee joe was yuck, emphasizing this with a yucky face and tongue sticking out. Hmmmm. Interesting. After dinner it was a walk by the river and then back to the hotel to watch some Chinese cartoon shows until the princess went out like a light about 9pm. All and all it was a very nice day.

Tomorrow we go for her medical check. She has to have this for her visas and/or citizenship application. (I can't keep up with all of the different forms, etc.) I hope she does well.

Angi
*Remember I'm not responsible for any typos. Since time is limited I'm a purely stream of conscious writer. :-)