Hangzhou, Sunday, May 22, 2011

We got up around 4am this morning-AGAIN!  We went to the hotel's breakfast buffet at 7am.  They didn't really have any Western breakfast items, like our hotel in Shanghai.  There was congee (a rice porridge that's fairly liquified), but no cereal to be found.  No toast, no bagels, no pancakes, no bacon.  They had some fried eggs, but they were runny and I wasn't sure how to ask for scrambled.  Joe and I ended up eating some of the items that we would consider lunch or dinner items.  We had beef buns, some watermelon, pineapple, sticky rice, mystery meat, and some cooked greens.  We skipped the chicken feet.  Apparently, our guide says that some people believe chicken feet to be the best part of the chicken (she does not eat them).  We had tea and coffee and Joe poured himself some "orange juice", which turned out to be warm Tang.  Not bad!  I might try some tomorrow.  :)

At 10am, we met Emma, and she took us to the bank, to exchange money.  When we got back to the hotel, we were able to change to another "non-smoking" room, which still smells smokey, so we are here to stay.  I did bring Febreeze, so I will use it tonight.  After getting things moved (our 4th room in just over 24 hours), we set out with Emma, to West Lake.  We don't really care for the location of our hotel-it is near a very busy area and not close to the lake at all, like we had hoped.  It took us about 35 minutes to walk to the lake.  In the area where our hotel is, we haven't seen any Caucasian-looking people, but as we got closer to the lake, we were no longer the only minority.  One hotel in particular, had quite a few white folk coming and going.  Oh, how we wish we had people we could talk to and maybe have some Western food!  Emma has offered to take us to KFC or Pizza Hut, but we're not quite ready for that.  We know we will be soon, though!

The West Lake is absolutely beautiful!  Very tropical looking, lots of trees in the area surrounding the lake, and lots of tourists and people walking and taking pictures.  We didn't take a boat ride today, but if we feel Malia may be up for it, we may try later in the week.  We have a tour scheduled for later in the week, but decided we should do it today, in case Malia isn't ready for such an outing.  If she is, that's fine too-we'd love to take her back and go for a boat ride.  One of the funniest things we saw was a large group of people gathered, with their cameras and phone cameras out.  When we got closer, we saw what the fuss was.  A scrawny squirrel was on the tree and acting rather friendly. (rabid?  LOL) I took a picture of the people taking pictures.  We told Emma we are always scaring squirrels off our bird feeders, at home.

We walked up on the "broken bridge", of which there is quite a fairy-type tale that is told everywhere in China.  I didn't quite understand the whole story, as told by our guide, but that's ok.  After we walked quite a ways, we caught a taxi and drove out towards the mountain area, where they grow some of China's finest tea.  We took some pictures of the tea plantation, but decided not to take a trip up the mountain, to the tea house.  Emma didn't seem to think it was such a big deal.  Our taxi ride to the plantation and back was only about 3 dollars, so we should have just had him drive us up the mountain, regardless of what Emma thought was a good idea.  Oh well!  I had no idea what the taxi might cost us-he had no meter of any sort.

On our way back, it was past lunch time.  We got dropped off near where we started and found a small restaurant.  After we sat down, Emma told us the menu was in English, and that she would meet us outside, and then we could walk back to the hotel together.  We told her just to go along and we would find our way back on our own.  She seemed hesitant, but we have a map that our Shanghai friends gave us, so we were confident we could read the map and make it back. We had a big lunch, at a sit down restaurant, with drinks, and it cost about $6.  We're getting pretty good with chopsticks, but the group next to us was either commenting at our chopstick use or the fact that Joe was left-handed.  We didn't understand, but I always assume they are laughing at us silly Americans.  Who know-maybe they are impressed with us! 

As it turns out, we really enjoyed walking back on our own.  Emma has a set path she likes to take, so we chose a different way.  We went past some sort of children's amusement park.  We walked inside and looked around a bit, but nothing was in English.  We couldn't even figure out how much rides were.  I felt a bit like a pedophile too, without a child, so we left.  We walked through a side street, but in Hangzhou, even the small children's clothing shops seem very pricey.  The funny part is, most of the children's clothes I've seen here, are made in Paris.  None made in China!  Saw some REALLY cute dresses for Malia, but about $50!  Yikes!  We are thankful that we did some shopping with Wendell and Amy, because we haven't seen any market areas to buy cheap Chinese souvenirs, like we found in Shanghai.  Like Joe said though, Wendell and Amy have lived in Shanghai for a year and a half, so they know where to find things easily. 

We will meet Emma in the lobby, tomorrow morning, at 8:45am and head to the Civil Affairs office.  We should meet Malia at 9am (9pm Sunday, Michigan time).  There is only 1 time zone in China, which causes it to be light early here (around 4 or 4:30) and is dark by 8pm.  So strange! 

I have our gifts ready to bring, but need to pack some toys for Malia.  I pray that she understands and is ok with all that will be happening tomorrow.  I'm not too nervous yet, but we've been so busy, I haven't had much time to get nervous.  I'm sure I'll be a wreck in the morning.  I hope to post tomorrow evening, with the events of the day.  Keep praying for us.  I know it's helping!
Love and hugs,
Lindsey