Tomon

Tomon's China Blog
*06/12/2007* Today we began our journey to pick up our daughter. We traveled to my Mom's house in NJ so that we can leave tomorrow for Newark airport and head to Beijing *06/13/2007* Well today we finally left for our journey to China. We all got up and ate a large breakfast at Mom's C house because we thought that the only meal we were going to get on the plane was dinner. The airline actually had 3 meals for us.. First we started off with dinner around 2 p.m. and then about 4 hours later we had lunch. There was also a breakfast. We sat in the bulk head. This was a blessing because it gave us more room to stretch out our legs. Bryan fell asleep before the plane took off and slept for 2 hours. After that it was impossible to get him to fall asleep again. About 2 hours before we landed he feel asleep again but he was still really tired.
*06/14/2007* When we landed we just followed people as to were we had to go because we had no idea what to do. We finally got into a long line for immigration. After about 10 minutes a police officer told him to follow us. I had visions of being locked in a China jail. Any way he took us to another line that we were 3rd in line. We got through immigration in about 5 minutes. So now we begin looking for our guide. We see other guides but not ours. So we go to get our luggage. After a very long wait we finally get our bags. Now we need to find our guide. As we walked though customs we did not see her. As we exited towards the street that were large crowds of girls dressed in orange. I figured out that they were waiting for a Korean rock star. Now our guide was somewhere in with all these people. We finally found her and a big sigh of relieve came upon us. We now had a person you could talk to us and get us to our hotel. It took about 45 minutes to get to our hotel from the airport. Beijing is like other large cities but it is very clean. There is alot of traffic and there is tons of construction going on in preparation for the Olympics. When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by Vanessa who is the head tour guide for our group. She got us all checked in and told us that she would see us again on Saturday to guide us to some sightseeing places. We were kind of beat but we new we had to keep moving. Because you can not drink the tap water, we had to go to a store and get water. So we went the ATM in the lobby to convert American money into RMB ... pretty cool machine ... just place the money into the machine like a vending machine and it converts it to RMB. There stores are in shopping malls and we were able to get our water. Then we haded back to the hotel and went to dinner. We played it safe and just went to Outback Steakhouse and had something simple. Shortly after we went to bed.
*06/15/2007* We began the day with trying to figure out how to use the shower. Then we headed to breakfast ... there is a western breakfast that is served in the hotel every morning. Terry was not feeling too well this day so we stayed close to the hotel. Because other couples where coming in today there was not a guide available to take us to see sites. Later on in the day we met up with 2 other couples and had dinner. Tomorrow we are suppose to head and see the Great Wall.
*06/16/2007* This day started out with us heading with our group and tour guide to the The Jade Factory, Great Wall of China, The Summer Palace and a Pearl factory. The Jade factory was interesting. They showed us how to tell the difference between the quality of Jade and what is fake and real. Also we saw them making the jade sculptures. Then they let you browse the store. The Chinese believe that we all have alot of money. They try to sell you the most expensive stuff. Finally we had our first experience with squatty potties. Bryan and I were able to go but Terry could not tolorate and and had to wait to find another bathroom. Next we headed to the Great Wall of China. This site was amazing, considering that they build it without modern machinery. Becasue Terry still was not feeling up to par Bryan and I made the attempt to climb to the top of one of the sections. After about 25 minutes I told Bryan that we had to turn around ... I was getting tired.so we turned around. Bryan had enought energy to make it to the top. But with the rest of the day still ahead of us I needed to pace myself.. By the way Terry was able to go to the bathroom at the squatty potties at the Wall. It was aroun 1:30 and we headed out to luch to a Chinese restraunt.that the tour guide arranged. The food was good. The only thing that was a little weird was the fish dish. Terry faired well eating the food. The Summer Place was next. This reminded us of a Chinese Epcot. It was a palace that a king had built in which the palace surround a very large man made lake. We ended the day travelling to a Pearl factory. Bryan got 2 pearls from the people that work there. On our way back our tour guide gave us the good news that instead of waiting till Monday to get Emma we were getting her tomorrow. What a great Father's Day present.. Here are pictures of today.
*06/17/2007* Father's day started off by visiting the Tianimin Square and the Forbidden City. The gardens that lead to the Forbidden city were cool. Otherwise the Forbidden City was the same throughout. Here are pictures. After that the whole group headed to the airport to get their flights to bring home our daughters. We landed at 4:20 and headed right to the Civil Affairs building to get Emma. We got there before her and had to wait ... similar to when we were waiting for Bryan because his plane got delayed. When Emma arrived is was a great moment. But you could see in her eyes that she did not know what was going on. The orphanage had a photo album that they gave us. All the Nannies at the orphanage loved her and they all spoiled her. After a few moments Emma figured out what was going on and she began to cry. We expected this but it was still very hard to deal with. We then had to go to another place to get photos taken for her passport as well as for the adoption finalization ... she cried all the time. Everyone will enjoy this one. The director of the Civil Affairs was having problems with his computer when he was trying to verify information. I offer to fix it an he accepted. When we got to the hotel she was still crying. She cried until about 8 p.m. Then she allowed Terry to hold her and things seems to be ok. We ordered room service ... and Emma ate 2 pieces of bread and drank 2 glasses of milk. Bryan and Emma watched a movie and then we all went to bed. Emma fell asleep on Terry and then we were able to take her shoes off. For some reason she does not like us taking off her shoes. Here are pictures of Emma.
*06/18/2007* Well another rainy day in Xi'an. This morning we woke up and had to eat breakfast fast because we had to meet our Guide to take us back to the Civil Affairs building so that we could finalize the adoption. The process went fairly well. After that we had to drive to a Police station ... not what you would expect for a Police station. Here we applied for Emma's passport. We hope and pray that we get her Passport Friday. It was about noon by the time we got back to the hotel. Emma was getting a little tired so we just ate lunch in the hotel and then went back into our room. Emma and Terry went to sleep and Bryan and I went and played pool and ping-pong. When we came back everyone was awake so we headed out to get a stroller, umbrella, and something to eat. The stroller was easy to find but it took us several stores before we found an umbrella. Finally we ended that day eating at McDonalds and introducing Emma to western food. She loved her chicken nuggets and fries. In fact she ate more than Bryan.
*06/19/2007* Today the weather was cloudy all day and the rain held out. Around 9 a.m. we headed to see the Terra-Cotta Soldiers. All I have to say is that this was a marvelous site. It should be considered one of the great wonders of the world. We started by going to a factory in which they make replicas of the soldiers. Bryan had to chance to make one. Also we saw how they make different size soldiers. You can buy life size ones and have them shipped home for around $2,500. There were other stores in the factory in which we did some shopping at. Next we headed over to the museum where the soldiers were discovered by a farmer in 1974. The farmer who discovered the soldiers is still alive and he works at the museum. We got his autograph but you are not allowed to take his picture. There are 4 pits in total and only 3 of the 4 pits have soldiers in them. This was an amazing site to see. We all enjoyed this trip. Lunch was also great ... we ate at a restaurant on the grounds of the museum. The Chinese food is so much better here than in the US. Terry even ate pork and chicken. We also saw them make noodles by hand. Bryan liked this. By the time we got back to the hotel Emma was tired so we just order room service and then Bryan and Emma crashed. Here are some pictures of today.
*06/20/2007* Today we headed out to see the Large Wild Goose Pagoda. This is where monks used to go and still are there. This place was very beautiful and you felt at peace here. Here are pictures of the pagoda. After that we headed to the city walls. The walls stretch 8 miles long and were used to protect the city in the old days. If the weather was nicer you would get good views of the city. Emma fell asleep so Terry stayed in the van with her. Here are the pictures from the wall. We stopped and ate lunch at a HotPot restaurant. This is an where you sit around a pot of soup that contains chicken broth, mushrooms, cabbage. You start off by drinking just some of the broth. Then they add balls of fish and they begin cooking this. While it is cooking you have some fried rice. They they had lamb to the soup and cook that. The meat cooks very fast because it is sliced very thin. Then they keep on adding more vegetables as well as some meat. All of the food is excellent. When you they are done you finish by drinking the broth ... which has a totally different takes. This was a great place to each lunch. Here are the pictures at the restaurant and of Bryan and Emma playing. It is very odd, when we are out of our hotel room Emma only want to be with Terry. Bryan and I can not pick her up or play with her. She also does not smile. But when we get in the hotel she is talking, playing and running around. She even comes to me and allows me to play with her. The plane ride on Friday should be interesting. After lunch it began raining so we could not do too much so we went back to the hotel from Bryan to play and Emma to take a nap.
*06/21/2007* Today we had free time in the morning so we slept a little later and then headed to breakfast. Later that morning we played ping-pong and pool. After that we headed for a snack. Our guided picked us up at 2 and we headed to the notary to check some paperwork but it was not done yet. As it has done our entire stay in Xi'an, it began to rain so we headed to the Xi'an History Museum. We were in the museum a few hours then then we headed to a shopping mall to to try to find Emma a Chinese doll to play with. Ironically all they had were American Barbie dolls. Around this time we also got notice that Emma's passport might not be ready on Friday. Terry began to freak out. After speaking to folks they ensured us that even if the passport is not ready we can go to Guangzhou on Friday and if need be they would fly the passport over to us on Saturday. We then headed to dinner with Sally to a dumpling house. We had alot of different dumpling and by the time we finished we were stuffed. Mom-Mom will love Emma because she can really eat. So far she has eaten more than Bryan on every meal. Well, tomorrow we will check out of our hotel @ 11:30 and then off to the Notary and then we will see what we will do until our 7:30 flight.
*06/22/2007* This Friday we checked out from our Hotel @ 11:30 and headed to get Emma some shoes. For the women who are reading this, you would love this place. It seems that they have floors dedicated in malls just for shoes ... and to boot they are cheap. We got a pair of shoes for Emma for $5 and at home they would have cost $18. After that we had to head to lunch because we knew were were not going to be able to eat until we got to the airport .... if that. After eating, we headed to the notary to check the documents that we needed in order to finalize the adoption in China and get Emma's VISA. Thank God everything was fine. So we still needed to wait until 5 to see if we were going to get Emma passport. We had time to kill so we went to see the bell tower and then headed to a park for the kids to play. They had a fun time at the park. While at the park we got the good news that the passport was ready. So we hurried back to the car and headed to the civil affairs building. Around 5:25 p.m. we got the passport and now began our journey in rush hour to the airport to try to catch out 7:30 flight. Our driver told us to hold onto the children because it was going to be a rough ride. Boy was he right. He was cutting in and out of traffic and speeding as fast as he could. If you could drive here you can drive anywhere. They cut in and out of traffic, cars ride on sidwalks, they park whereever they want, and nobody stops for anyone. We made it to the airport with a little than an hour to spare. We got some water and got on the plane. We landed about 10:10 p.m. and both kids were asleep. We got Bryan up to help us and then Emma woke and was crying. By the time we got our luggage, drove to the hotel and got to our room it was 11:30 p.m. WOW ... what a stressful day. But now we are back with the group and on our last leg of this journey.
*06/23/2007* After being a little tired, we got up and hurried off to breakfast and then we had a 9 a.m. appointment to get Emma's VISA picture taken and a physical exam. The exam went well. After we picked up water and went back to the hotel. When we arrived back in our hotel we all found a Going Home doll that was placed in each of our rooms. These souvenirs are donated by Matel to adopting parents of Chinese orphaned children. After lunch we did a little shopping and then went back to the hotel for Emma to take a nap. Unfortunately she only slept for a little while. Something was bothering her ... we thought she needed to go to the bathroom so we got her some medicine and within an hour she went and was smiling and having fun with her bother again. For dinner we got some sandwiches at a deli and then we went and walked around the hotel. There is a room donated by Matel for the kids to play in. We let them play for about 20 minutes before we went to bed. It was nice to have a relaxing day. Here are some of the pictures of the kids and the hotel.
*06/24/2007* The weather has been sunny and hot here in Guangzhou. Temperatures averaging above 100 degrees everyday and it is humid. Today we went to a temple to have the children blessed by a monk. It was nice but hot. Here are some pictures. After this we headed to a pearl market but it was nothing special. We next went back to the hotel to get some shopping done, get some lunch and head to the pool. We did a good job at shopping we got Emma's Christening outfit for $7. Also we got her a dress for tomorrow red couch picture. This is a Chinese custom to have all new adopted babies pictures taken on a red couch. It represent good luck and fortune. We got the 2 dresses, a pair of shoes, an etched granite carving of the family, and some small toys all for $69. We headed back to the hotel to go to the pool before we headed to our dinner cruise. The dinner cruise was ok .... the sites were nice but the food was questionable. But Emma liked it ... she ate for entire one an half hour cruise. Here are pictures. When the kids came back to the hotel room they were wound up and it was very hard for us to get them to sleep. Emma woke up @ 11:30 we think she had a nightmare.
*06/25/2007* Today was a waiting game. The guide went to the US Embassy to get our babies VISA's. We had to wait in our rooms until @ 3 just in case there are any questions from the embassy. Everything was fine and we are now waiting to leave for home. We just did some shopping today and at 3 we took the red couch picture. One of the babies birthday was today we we got a cake and all sung happy birthday to her. Then we headed our for our last group dinner because some of the couples are leaving tomorrow.
*06/26/2007* This is be the last day I get to update the blog. Tomorrow we have to be out of the hotel by 7 a.m. to catch our flight. Today @ 3 we had to go to the US embassy for a swearing in ceremony and then we will head back to the hotel for dinner and to get ready to leave. They were @ 90 families in the embassy to finalize their adoptions. Everything went smoothly. Look forward to seeing everyone soon.