APRIL 8, 2006

Today we had an early start.  Kai decided to wake up again at the crack of dawn...again, all smiles!  :)  Life is good.  We were to meet Sara in the lobby of the hotel at 11 am to head to the airport and get on our 2 hour flight to Guangzhou.   I wasn't sure how he'd do because I've been told by the cleft doctors to expect him to have an ear infection when we got him.  I saw him once tugging at his right ear, but he's never run a temp and has really been very healthy except for a bit of a cough that only occurs once or twice at night...but certainly nothing major.

We got up and decided to finish the packing after breakfast.  I am definitely ready to leave Hangzhou. I'll take this opportunity to give my opinion to those following my footsteps to YiWu....for whatever it's worth.   Our stay at the Lake View Hotel was a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1- 10.  The food was mediocre, the room was a bit below mediocre, small and a bit musty smelling.  But what dropped it on the scale was the how darn expensive it was and nothing else around to eat unless you walk for 4-5 blocks.  On days that it was 50 degrees outside or 90 degrees with the humidity skyrocketing, the last thing you wanted to do was walk five blocks to pay $40 US to eat at Pizza Hut.  The Chinese restaurants close to the hotel were very small and not recommended for us to eat at.  The only thing that made it a plus was that it was a block away from West Lake.  If you plan on going more to West Lake than you do eating, then this is the place for you, otherwise....I'd find somewhere else to stay.  In our touring through the city, we walked and drove through several other hotels and spoke to a few families staying at other places.  The Radisson - great location.  Right outside its doors were McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and STARBUCKS... yes! Starbucks!!   Oh, by the way, the coffee at the Lake View was HORRIBLE!  We finally decided not to have coffee at breakfast, which is a huge sacrifice, especially for Mom and Scott.   

Now getting back to our day....we finished the mediocre breakfast and went upstairs to pack.  Oh God, please...if you get ANYTHING out of this journal, remember to PACK LIGHT!!!!   We managed to squeeze everything into our bags again and carried the 20+ lb. bagpacks along with a 20 lb. squirmy toddler down to the lobby, where we met up with the Mansfields, who had just about as much luggage and stuff to carry.  :)  There was no way we would all fit into the van and the 18 bags of luggage we all had, so we had to hire two vans....one for the luggage, and one for the people.  We arrived at the airport.  Backpacks were dumped in the center as we looked around for a place to sit while Scott, Mike and Sara went to check in our luggage.  Of course, no where to sit.  But, there was plenty of floor space.  So, there we plopped ourselves down.  And yes...the air conditioner was what seemed to be on the "off" mode to me.  About 20 minutes later, Scott comes back and informs me that the Chinese sword I had bought for Tito, my oldest son, had been confiscated.  That's all he really wanted since he collects them, and I thought that packing it into the checked luggage would be ok...oh well!  Guess he's getting a keychain! LOL!  We then all said our goodbyes and headed through the security checkpoint lugging our backpacks and crying babies in what seemed to be 90 degrees temperature.  Finally, at our gate, Mike and Scott went off to have a beer and we sat there sweating and waiting as we were stared at by Chinese families wondering why there was a Chinese baby with those loud Americans.

At 1:20 pm, we boarded the flight.  Kai went into Daddy mode and wanted only to be with Scott as we squished into those tiny coach seats on China Southern.  By the way, another tip moment...if you could afford Premium Economy or Business once you have the baby...go for it!  :)  The plane took off, Kai didn't want anything to drink while the plane lifted off (I had been told it would help his ears) but he ooohhed and aaahhhed and smiled wanting to play with the Chinese man next to him that was ignoring him unsuccessfully.   We waited through the flight to see if we heard Sophie screaming at all...not a peep!!  Come to find out she was bribed with Smarties & Coke for peace and quiet...hahaha!  We should've gone that route.  Our food came, and because the seats were so tight, Scott said for me to eat and then we would switch.  That was fine.  I half ate the not-so-appealing-Chinese food placed before me.  I put up my tray and then we did the hand off!!  OMG!!   Kai's screams drowned out the engines.  I think there was not a person on the plane that didn't know where the shrieks were coming from.  I kept telling Scott..."Eat faster" as he shoveled food in his mouth.  The Chinese man next to us who Kai had been cooing...well, he decided he'd hang out by the bathroom.  Some passengers seated up front were intentionally going to the bathroom to see what and where all the commotion was coming from.   Finally, Scott finished, and the snot-faced, adorable toddler was once again smiling in his BaBa's arms.  He fell asleep about 3 minutes before landing.

Guangzhou airport was beautiful.  The city was definitely covered in a sheet of smog, but they spent big bucks on their airport.  It was huge.  We got off the plane and Mike said he had to change Sophie....immediately.  He pulled over to the side and pulled out a blanket, put it on the floor, laid her on it and began the diaper change process right by the gate we exited.  I figure if we can't beat 'em...join 'em!  Besides, it gave me us a break from the backpacks!  Again, more pointing figures and who-knows-what in Chinese spoken by the passersby.  We finished our duties, packed up and moved on.  Waiting outside of the baggage claim, there was one of the HFS guides, Bob.  One great thing about Chinese airports, they bring you carts at the airport for your luggage....you know, those that we have to pay for in the US.  Well, here they're free and we used 4 at a time!!  Bob guided us down the elevator and through the long spacious corridors of GZ airport and to a waiting bus, similar to a Greyhound.  He informed us that the other two HFS families were already here.  Kathy and her family, whom we had spent time with in Beijing, and the Ellers, who had adopted the beautiful Miss Fei Fei from the QT4 list.  They were waiting for us at Cow & Bridge Thai restaurant and we would be celebrating Hong Lu's (Kathy's new daughter) 7th birthday at the restaurant.  So, we had to check into the Victory Hotel and had 10 minutes to get back downstairs to meet for dinner.

I had gotten many mixed reviews about the Victory.  Scott, after hearing me whine about the White Swan forever, decided we should stay 2 nights at the Victory and 3 at the White Swan while in Guangzhou.   We arrive at the Victory and I head with Bob to check-in, while Scott gets the "looks" from the bellboys about the huge amount of luggage....he's now pretty used to it, and is a pretty good tipper.  :)  We arrive at our room and I am very pleasantly surprised.  What a breath of fresh air from the Lake View in Hangzhou.    The furniture all appears new and very clean smelling.  We have a great view, the AC works AWESOME, and the bed is very comfortable.  We drop off our stuff and head back down to the lobby.  The humidity is even worse here and my hair is beginning to really get that funky Afro look.  The walk to Cow & Bridge was very short and it was great seeing the other families.  It was neat to put faces to the names I had only seen online.  Kathy's kids were so happy to reunite with Amanda and Kai loved being with other kids.   The food was excellent and the service phenomenal.  We met Xie Xie there, Harrah's main guide and facilitator.  She definitely impressed us by her knowledge of the "routine" and without a doubt has everything under control!   After dinner, Kathy laid out a birthday table cloth and broke out party hats.  Kai was a guest at his first birthday party!  Too cute!!!  And Hong Lu, now named Lu Lu, just beamed with pride at being the star of the show.  It is amazing how these kids bloom in just a matter of days.  Kai is no doubt a totally different child than the little "angel", soft-spoken and quietly sweet that we held in our arms just a week before.  He is now a loving, energetic, sweet-boy with more confidence in himself and definitely more trust in each of us.  After the party, we headed back to our room.  We've decided to let him sleep in the crib from now on.  I did the bath routine, songs, bottle and after just 5 short minutes of soft crying, he fell asleep in my arms.  I laid him in his crib and wished him sweet dreams filled with all the happy things that bring out that beautiful smile he gives us daily now.

     




   
     


  We'd love to hear from you!!