More Beijing Photos

We took the subway and a bus to get from our hotel to the Olympic Park area. Let's just say that's the last time we do that! We managed the subway, even transfering 3 times to different lines, with all the signs in Mandarin and no English speaking folks to help us. The trouble came when we decided to also hop on the local bus. End. of. story.

We saw the split pants! My question is, what happens if the baby isn't just going tee tee? What is the clean up involved in that mess? Aren't diapers a little more sanitary in that situation? hmmm...

These are the dragon boats we took to get to the other side of Kunming Lake and see the Summer Palace (which is in the background).

We saw many of these as we walked down the Longevity Corridor near the Summer Palace.

Day #6 Beijing

Last night, we made our way from the beautiful new Beijing airport into the cool foggy air of Beijing, with our guide, Veronica. She took us on a very nice shuttle to our hotel, Poly Plaza.

We could not believe how nice and crisp and cool the air was compared to humid Hong Kong. It was so reminiscent of our last adoption trip when we left the humidity and heat of Ho Chi Minh City and landed up north in Hanoi. HCMC was flashy, showy, crammed with people during the Christmas festivities, and extremely lively at all hours of the night. Hanoi was foggy, cool, more of an ancient look and historical vibe. Same here in China. Hong Kong was flashy, showy, crammed full of people up all hours of the night partying the hours away. From what we saw of Beijing today, it is spread out very much and isn't crammed so tightly together. It also is cooler, foggier/smoggier, and has a more historical, ancient vibe.


Today we toured the Summer Palace with another adopting family and our guide, Michael. We rode the dragon boat to the other side of Kunming Lake where the huge porcelain
boat sits. Then we walked through the longevity tunnel looking at the thousands of different and unique paintings underneath the awnings. Michael taught us about Empress Cixi, the dragon lady. She sounded pretty funny how she relegated the emperor's statue to the inside of the palace. Then, she put hers outside, front and center, because she was in power and didnt want to play second fiddle like was normally the case when males ruled.

The other adopting family has their two young daughters with them, and lots of the Chinese tourists surrounded them, wanting pictures with their daughters and to touch their hair. They may either have thought the two girls were twins or they just weren't used to seeing caucasian children.

In the middle of the day, we took the subway to Olympic Village where the water cube and bird's nest is. We foolishly took a bus from the subway to the Olympic Park and almost got trampled trying to board the bus. Absolute lawlessness.

Let's just say this much...

STAY AWAY FROM ANY BUSES IN BEIJING AND PROBABLY THE SUBWAY AS WELL!!!
(especially if you are not Asian and stand out like a sore thumb from the locals)

Take a taxi instead. Much safer. Much, much safer. Even with the taxi drivers who adhere to no road rules, it has got to be safer than what we encountered today near the Olympic Village.

On to this evening..

We went to an acrobatic show that was pretty fun and entertaining. I'm glad we went even though I originally thought it'd be hokey. It was pretty cool what most of the performers did, like the girl bicycle act. There must've been at least 12 girls balanced on one bicycle, which was being pedaled in a pretty small circle.

And here we are, back in our hotel room, which is shockingly spacious compared to the cracker box we had in Hong Kong. Our bathroom in this hotel is the size of what our entire bedroom was in the HK hotel. One thing is the same. The beds are as hard as everyone says they are. But at the end of the night when we're bushed, we somehow find a way to crash hard and not wake til the next morn.

Day #5 Leaving Hong Kong

Today we hop on a flight up north to Beijing, where we will enjoy temperatures 20 degrees cooler than here in Hong Kong. We get to Beijing around 6PM and check into our hotel after meeting our guide. We'll catch some dinner and then get ready for some sight seeing tomorrow around Beijing.

We are just a short four days away from meeting our daughter for the first time. I think when we leave Hong Kong to meet up with the other adoptive families, it will finally hit me that my waiting is coming to an end. This adoption trip is so different than Vietnam. Our family dynamic is different. We are parents already, so I think about Sabian all the time. Every time I see a little boy his age with that black hair and those dark eyes, I stare. Especially if they're being funny or cute like the one on the MTR who was fast asleep on his daddy's lap snuggled up against his chest. Or the one yesterday wearing his preschool backpack walking alongside his daddy, who kept reaching up to hold his daddy's hand or hold onto his daddy's pant pocket.

I'm satisfied with the sights we saw, although I would've liked to have see the fishing village on stilts in Tai O, and maybe one of the rare pink dolphins there as well. Although, based on Aberdeen Harbor, it might've been pretty disheartening to see the conditions those dolphins live in and know the reason for their decline.

I would've gone to the other market in Wan Chai with the fish and sea creatures still flopping about, as they ponder their last moments before getting consumed. I did totally love the one wet market we saw on the corner of Gage St. in Central with those clams wildly opening and closing, and of course those silver fish laying out in a dish, just pulled from their water, flopping crazily in an attempt to get back in!

We had an interesting conversation with someone yesterday at lunchtime. He was a 31 year old single Asian guy from New York, who lives in Central currently for the past couple years, but also knew all about downtown Dallas because his employer put him up at the Ritz when he'd travel there. He pretty much confirmed our assumption that HK is the place to be if you're young, single, have money, a good job, and want to live the fast life. There are tons of young fashionable people who walk fast and are on three mobile devices at once. In fact, if you're not, you're either a tourist, or elderly person.

More Later, I'm gonna try a Skype with Sabian.

Day #4 Hong Kong

Today we started off in Kowloon at the Flower and Jade markets, strolling also through some household goods/clothing markets as well. There are no grocery stores, Bed Bath and Beyonds here! Everything is purchased at tiny little markets or tiny little outdoor booths. Everything is tiny, including our hotel room and the length of our bed. Even my legs hang off mid shin!

After that, we took the ferry over to Central and walked from the top of the mid level elevators to the bottom, via some great stores, sights and markets. We saw Man Ho Temple, Gough and Gage street wet markets, produce stalls, the antique stores/markets, and the hippest baby store ever, Petit Bazaar. It had red mushroom knit pillows that got my attention from down the street. I love how Hong Kong embraces what I love, rainbows and red toadstools with white spots!

We also walked through the Harbor City Ocean terminal mall to get some much needed air conditioning on our way to the ferry. Along the way, we encountered two different celebrity sightings. One was a movie star and the other a singer. There was quite a buzz going on everywhere with lots of excited people taking pictures of these celebritites.

In this mall, it is insane because every store is designer and the amount of stores is staggering, as well as the amount of shoppers at all hours of the night. Anna Sui, Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood, Prada, Fendi, Chanel, Tom Ford, Celine, Dior...everywhere you look, there is another designer store, with a huge new Mercedes in front with a driver waiting on his client.

These people never sleep! I am serious. Hong Kong is jam packed with bustling and hurried people on the go, until all hours of the night. These aren't tourists either. The residents stay out late with their little kids/babies/friends while they shop/eat/socialize. The frenetic pace of everyone is insane and makes us feel like old folks who have to go home early to get our sleep. Also, the wealth in Hong Kong is off the charts! Money is obviously abundant for many wealthy families. This absolutely puts Dallas to shame when it comes to money, wealth, design, designer shopping. It is like New York on steroids. You could get lost here forever and probably never explore every nook and cranny.

The Hong Kong slogan on the billboards everywhere is, 'Hong Kong, Asia's World City'. A more appropriate slogan we came up with is, 'Hong Kong, you're here, now hurry up or move'. Or maybe, 'Hong Kong, if you're not here to move fast, get lost'.

I loved seeing the cemeteries built into the sides of mountains, hills, and cliffs. I also used my first squatty potty, not by choice of course. I wondered if I'd ever see one of those contraptions and sure enough, the ferry building has one. I loved the MTR, which is so reminiscint of my days in San Francisco.

Highlight of the day...

Aqualuna antique red-sailed junk boat which took us around Victoria Harbor during the nightly light show. The neon lights and lasers shoot out from the highrises, set to music, which is piped from speakers all over the harbor promenade.

Day #3 Hong Kong

We are sooooo tired at the end of the day there is just no energy left to stay up and blog. We can barely get cleaned up, pj's on, charge our cameras, download photos, and we're dozing off!

We've walked more than I could've ever imagined. Today we took a ferry to Lantau Island, then a long bus ride through the jungle-like windy roads skirting the South China Sea, all the way to the top of the island where the Big Buddha sits. We walked up the steep stairs to see the wonderful view of the island and the statues. It was a beautiful clear day so we decided to take the glass bottomed cable car back to the Tung Chung MTR station (exactly like BART). From there, we rode it to central HK island to hop on the ferry across the harbor to see the light show that night.

Highlight of the day...

The Ngong Ping glass bottomed cable car for sure!

More Hong Kong Day #2

Here are a few more pics of our day 2 since I can only upload 5 photos per blog entry.

Hong Kong Day #2

Sunday, we headed to south Hong Kong island after a Dim Sum breakfast in Tsim Sha Tsui.

We took the open air double decker bus which dropped us off first in Aberdeen harbor, and then in Stanley. We passed Happy Valley horse race track, Ocean Park, Repulse Bay, Deep Water bay and lots of expensive properties with luxury cars and yachts.

In Aberdeen harbor, it was shocking to see the vast differences in the gigantic sleek yachts, and the ragged house boats of the remaining boat people who live on the water. Today, as we passed the scores of run down high rises which the majority of the population calls their home, and then saw the luxurious lifestyle of the wealthy Hong Kong vacationers, it became apparent how vastly different their lives must be.

Highlights of the day...

walking the Nathan Road 'Golden Mile', a neon signed wonderland of both luxury and seedy shopping options.

...also, riding the top deck of the open air bus as we wound through HK island - speeding along the skinny, tree lined hilly roads as the orange sun lowered against the South China Sea

More Day #1 Hong Kong

Here are a few more pics from Day #1 since blogger only allows five photos per blog entry.

Hong Kong Day #1

Well, we made it to Hong Kong on the Saturday the 22nd. The 14-15 hour plane trip did not seem long at all. Since it was a red-eye flight, we slept for about half of it.

When we arrived it took us awhile to get a shuttle, but then we got to the business of sight seeing right away. First stop, a Dim Sum lunch,and then Victoria Peak.

When we finally made it back across the harbor to Kowloon, we absolutely crashed on our cozy little Asian sized bed.

Highlight of the day...

taking the Peak Tram and seeing the lights of Hong Kong below

...and we are off!

Well, my little doodlebug, mama and baba must say goodbye for 22 nights. I know you will have fun with G'ma and G'pa, but I will miss you tremendously! When we return our family will be complete and you will have a new Mei Mei. I hope you remember us when we return because I am gonna want some major snuggles and kisses! Have fun with cousin Tyler and say hi to cousin Talia tomorrow. We love you so much and know you will be such a wonderful big brother to Scarlet. How lucky we are to be your parents and to have been able to spend the past 3 years with you, just the three of us... mama, baba, and doodlebug.

We travel to China in two weeks!

Finally, we are bringing our daughter home from China. This is the daughter I decided to adopt way back in 2002. Of course she wasn't born yet, and we hadn't done any paperwork, but the idea was born.

In the meantime,we decided to take some time off to have fun and live our urban chic life (ha!), I went back to work as an elementary school teacher, we finally put in our adoption paperwork for China in 2006, and then we added a baby boy to our family by concurrently adopting in 2008 from Vietnam. Whew!

A lot has happened since that summer almost ten years ago when I decided I wanted to adopt a daughter from China. At the moment I decided to adopt this daughter, I didn't even know yet that it would be China. All I knew was that JCPenney commercial spoke to me. The couple waited anxiously at the airport as they saw their new baby girl for the first time. It was obvious that they were adopting this daughter from somewhere in Asia and she was brought to them by possibly an adoption worker. They held out their arms to greet this beautiful daughter and at that moment I knew that I would also do the same.

Little did I know it would be almost ten years until my dream would come to fruition. To say this daughter has been a long time coming, would be quite an understatement. I have probably logged (at least!) thousands of hours online related to this daughter's arrival. I've shopped, blog-stalked, researched, and repeated........over, and over, and over.

I've looked at the faces of other girls adopted from China, Vietnam, Korea, and wondered what our daughter's face would look like. I've cried countless times while reading the adoption travel blogs of other families. I've written down hundreds of girl names, hundreds of times, in the attempt to pick one for our daughter. I've crafted hand-made birth announcements to help the time pass while I waited. I've designed and decorated an entire nursery for our daughter over five years ago, in a place we no longer even live. In fact we've lived two different places since that time. I've read books, magazines, blogs. I've dreamed, anticipated, waited.

MY TIME HAS COME. The time to be a mother to my one and only daughter is here.

And now, this daughter, who was originally going to be our first child, is now our second child. She has a three and a half year old brother born in Vietnam. She will no longer be our first child as we had planned. She will have to share the spotlight with him. She will have to share story time, bath time, meal time, play time. In my original adoption plan hatched back in 2002, she was going to be my first. I would have all the time in the world to dote on her alone. Plans changed. I love her older brother, my sweet son, the most beautiful brown skinned, black haired boy ever created. Every day I do not measure up as his mother. I fail miserably, because he deserves perfection. How did I get picked to be his mother? He is my light and I should be his. I hope I can improve every day.

I don't expect my daughter to ever really understand what I've gone through for all these years in the wait for her, and I know I will never fully understand her losses of birthmother, birth country, culture, etc. Maybe, through our respective losses, we will find a common understanding and bond.