June 30, 2008
ONE WEEK AND BABY BLESSING . . .
We were up early this morning and we all went
down to breakfast together and had such a nice
meal. After breakfast I went for a walk and in
the park I saw maybe 50 ladies doing group
exercise it didn’t appear to be Tai Chi but
more like aerobics or stretching. I didn’t
have my camera, but it really was neat, it was
about 9 am when I saw them. I also picked Mel
up a coffee at Starbucks, they didn’t have his
favorite or my favorite Chai Tea, so I just
got water and a coffee latte for him. I then
stopped at the “Ladybug” store and picked up
our laundry that I had left yesterday…we had a
ton of laundry between the 3 of us. You should
see the neat little packages that they put the
laundry in and they fold everything just so.
We met our group at 10: 15 am and we took
taxis to The Six Banyan Temple. We took a lot
of pictures and this was one of our most
favorite excursions. We went into the temple
where a monk presided over the baby blessing
and Mel was able to film it all. I held Ellie
Lu and I had to take my shoes off before
stepping into the temple area. After the
blessing we gave a donation and then walked
around the grounds. While we walked around an
older lady came up to us and smiled and talked
to us thru our guide. We could tell she came a
long distance as she had a pack with her
things. She said although she could not
understand my language she could tell from my
actions how much love I had for Ellie Lu. The
experience with the lady was almost spiritual
and it certainly was a gift…Mel was able to
take pictures and video much of this.
We then put the pack on Mel and he took Ellie
Lu and went with the other guide back to the
hotel. I went with Ruth to the consulate to
get our paperwork notarized. We passed some
very beautiful buildings and a special school
and very quickly we were there. We went in and
went to the 4th or 5th floor and then took a
number and waited and then I had to say a few
things to the clerk and then they worked on
the paperwork then gave it back, Ruth took it
to a different area and then we waited again.
In less than 30 minutes we were done.
We hailed another cab and then went to the
“Carefore” grocery store to get wipes and that
was another experience. The store has many
levels and the grocery is in the basement. In
China many products like Oil of Olay are
actually behind a counter almost like Clinique
or Estee Lauder. I wanted to take pictures but
was told not to by the guide. We quickly got
what was needed and I bought an ice cream and
the guide bought 2 pieces of white bread for
lunch…nothing else. We were back at the hotel
in an instant and it was maybe 2 pm. I found
Ellie Lu and Mel napping. We then got ready
and all went out shopping. This was our first
trip out shopping together on the island and
we had so much fun.
We walked by the Christian church and then
stopped at Susan’s and as soon as we were
close the staff swarmed us. This is just
normal there is a lot of pressure in most
stores. We went to the back and they had these
fingerprint or thumb print paintings of the
province areas. They did not have Poyang but
said they could do a special one just for us.
We described what we would like and we just
can’t wait to see it. They continued to follow
us around the store. After Susan’s we went
into the “A Gift from China” store and they
had so many nice things and then we found
squeaky shoes at Sherry’s and for sure I will
be back to get several pairs. We continued to
go into stores and browse and when we were in
one store a lady came up to me and said you
have a blog don’t you and she had visited
prior to our blog going private…how funny is
that she knew all about us. We stayed out
quite awhile and then went in and Mel got
Ellie Lu ready for bed and we ordered pizza
from Papa Johns it was delicious.
Tomorrow will be a big day and it will be our
last day…the time here has gone by so quickly
it almost seems like a dream. I continued to
get our things ready for our trip home,
packing up all our souvenirs and taking out
what we don’t need to take home with us. We
have a group meeting in the morning tomorrow
and then around 2 or so we will go to the
Consulate for the swearing in. |
Baby Blessing
Breakfast with Daddy
Daddy and Me on our way back to the hotel
Family Photo at the Temple |
