To keep some type of a routine going, we got up at 7 to get ready for the day and headed to breakfast. The Albright family is headed across town this morning. They are friends with an older couple at their church whose kids work at a local University here in Guangzhou. Jack was reviewing the area with them yesterday. He said getting out there won't be an issue but that their aren't many taxi's that go back this way since it is a college area and school is out for Chinese New Year. He recommended either having the other couple call for a taxi or taking Uber!
KaiLi is still determined to use spoons and forks. She is getting better!
Visiting Mommy in the bathroom!
Look who rocked into the sitting room!
Heading to lunch! KaiLi needed a wardrobe change due to an overflowing diaper...
Walking to find Subway
At Subway!
MeiLin's hiding place!
Ready to head back out
MeiLin wanted a picture with the giraffe!
KaiLi was determined to carry both balls!
Trying to get a picture of the girls in their matching shirts!
MeiLin helping KaiLi into the castle!
MeiLin climbed to the top!
A fancy, upscale flower shop - Tom Cao. This huge vase made of twigs was my favorite.
And the dentist office - Melissa Scaggs. I think you should add a large tooth on the outside of your building, too!
We wandered back over to the 13th floor play area this morning; we were the only ones there. It makes my heart happy to hear the girls laughing and playing in there together! MeiLin tried to get us to go in and play with her, but we are working on getting them to interact more. Not gonna lie, Mommy and BaBa are enjoying the down time! I found a James Patterson book in the library that I am going to try and read this week when not working on the blog. Feeling much more relaxed here in Guangzhou. There is rain in the forecast everyday except Monday. Thus we changed up the schedule and are trying to cram in all outdoor activities tomorrow. Hopefully that works out and we don't end up getting stir crazy. But there are lots of places to walk to and explore since this is a much safer city. We have told MeiLin that she can spend the $50 that PaPa Art got her for Christmas to buy some souvenirs when we go to Shamian Island, so she is excited!
We loaded up and headed out for lunch. We decided to go to the Subway we went to last time in China. We had seen the sign when walking to McDonalds yesterday. We searched the whole building but couldn't find it. I remembered it being on the ground floor and watching people stroll by. I asked a few people, but they didn't speak English. Finally I stood directly under the sign, found a random guy, and pointed up to the Subway sign. That was when a Chinese guy who spoke English told us that it was down the street, so we hadn't walked far enough. Sure enough it was two buildings down. Why the sign was two buildings over, I will never know! Brandon ordered the sandwiches and with the language barrier the worker would point at each veggie and Brandon would say yes or no. It tasted just like back home. (Well, except for the Cheetos which were in a Lays bag with the cartoon cat on it. They were totally different while the plain Lays were normal. Strange!) MeiLin finished her sandwich first and started having some chips. Well when KaiLi saw the chips, that is what she wanted even though she hadn't finished eating her meat. There was a little power struggle there when she wanted those chips! She is a smart cookie and is picking up on sign language. So I signed that she was all done. She finally broke down and finished her meat so that she could have chips. Then it was time for the cookie. Apparently she thought it looked disgusting because when I tried to feed it to her, she hit it out of my hand and it landed on the floor. There was a little bit left and I showed her that MeiLin was eating it and she finally tried a bite. Of course she loved it, but she only got half of her serving since I had to throw the other piece away.
After lunch, we walked back to the hotel for nap time. Mommy and BaBa got to sleep which was glorious! MeiLin made a fort out of the valet stand (is that what it is called?) and her blanket where she hid and played with her Leap Pad. Score! After nap time, we decided to walk around the hotel a bit. We found Paddy Field, which was a recommended Irish place (what food is Irish?!?). I found a Burberry coat I really liked. For $150, I am thinking it was fake. But alas the supposed size 10 US jacket was so small I couldn't button it and they didn't have a size 12, so that didn't happen...
MeiLin has started pulling out strands of hair and KaiLi lost her bow. (Boo! Melissa Scaggs - it was one of the ones you got MeiLin from Target. UGH!)
KaiLi seemed to be done, so we headed back up to the play area. We left a note on our door for the Albright's that we were at the castle.
At 5:15 we started cleaning up to head back to the room. I was a little worried about the Albright's. We hadn't heard from them and they had headed across town on their own. We decided to check if they were in the room. If not, we were going to call Jack. As we were packing up, the Albrights arrived. Yeah! They had quite an adventure. Apparently the taxi driver didn't actually know where the address was. He kept stopping and asking people. Finally some random person let him borrow their phone so their friends could give him directions. Once they arrived, they walked into a hotel. Well, their friends aren't at a hotel, but the taxi had already left. The lady at the desk said the address was down the road. So they started walking and walking. They were trying to ask people but no one knew English. Finally a guy who spoke English offered to help. He said you are at building 4 but their friends were down in building 12. So he walked them down and they met up with their friends. They said the gathering was a bit overwhelming as it was like 20 people all shoved into a small room. But they had a good time. Everyone brought food for a pot luck afterwards, and they all liked the food. To get back home the host family called them an Uber car. Their first Uber experience and it was in China; how cool is that?
As we had discussed with a few other families the night before, we walked over to The Italian Restaurant. (Yep, that is the name!). About 10 minutes after we arrived, the other family from Nanchang joined us. We stuck with Italian food, but they got fajitas and said they weren't bad! I had the fettuccini alfredo and it was yummy! The noodles were super long and very wide. Brandon had a huge calzone and MeiLin stuck with chicken fingers and mashed potato balls. Towards the end of dinner, KaiLi started whining and crying. She was rubbing her eyes, and I think she was just exhausted. (That was our first time to eat dinner out with her. Every other evening, we had eaten in the hotel room.) So it was back to the room and we got her down for sleep.
Praying that she gets some good rest tonight as we have a big day tomorrow. The zoo in the morning with Shamain Island in the afternoon - my favorite!
A few pics of local businesses that my peeps might find interesting!
Good night everyone!
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