The adventures of John, Karen, Sienna and Brooke continue.
We got out the door on time after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Did I tell you this kid can eat! Brooke's personality report says she is an extrovert, and boy is she, sound familiar? Plus she is a pretty sound sleeper now that we have the congestion handled. Last night I finally figured out how she needs to be comforted in order to fall asleep. It works like a charm every time. She likes to be cradled in your arms to sleep after a warm bottle and then quickly covered with a warm comforter. She protests for a like a second when you lay her down. She still hates baths and screams bloody murder when she sees the water. However, diaper changes are much easier. She loves being around people, she is immediately happy outside. She loves crowds.
Today we visited new Nanchang across the river and it looks like the rest of developing China. Huge expensive high rises and office buildings, wide avenues and clean flower lined streets. Across the river is much more authentic and we like that Nanchang better. After that visit we had a tour of Teng Wen Pavilion...well the rest of the group did. Shortly after we arrived I took Sienna to the potty....the squatty potty. She had done well before but this time she got up, well lets say mid-stream (literally) and wet her pants and underwear. We had a pull up for her but not pants. Our guide arranged for our driver (no speak english) to take us to a clothing store for a cheap replacement. After 20 minutes of hoofing it through Nanchang with a wet Sienna and baby we finally made it to a "Designer" store for toddler ski clothes. Sienna is now the proud owner of some very chic expensive Chinese ski pants. Then it was a 20 minute walk back with baby in tow across boulevards. We crossed in front of cars, buses and it was pretty harrowing. But in a way we enjoyed this tour of Nanchang better than the tourist fare. There is a real beauty in seeing the way these proud and charming people live. They make due on very little but lead rich and full but hard lives.
We made it back to the Pavilion in time for photos from the top and part of the show. I had been looking forward to this part of the trip but in the end I was disappointed. The show we saw was pale in comparison to the ones we saw on our last trip.
After the show we had another group lunch that was just wonderful. After many Imodium's and tagament pills Karen feels better. However, she is not chancing any more spicy food. So last night was soup for dinner. John, Sienna and Brooke enjoyed the rest of the dinner in the hotel restaurant which included chicken in black bean sauce (head and all) presented beautifully, rice, rice stuffed lotus root (sweet), braised broccoli in a white wine sauce (very hot) and Japanese Odon Noodles.
We also checked out our hotel and the 4th and 5th floors are a full gym. There is a spinning room, Snooker room, aerobics room, weight room, cardio room, table tennis room, golf putting, and racquetball. In addition there is an indoor pool, Sauna and massage room. We have 3 restaurants including a buffet restaurant where there is a daily breakfast and dinner buffet, a Japanese restaurant (complete with screened rooms) which is one of several located in Shanghai, Beijing etc and there is a gourmet Chinese restaurant serving cuisines of Guangdong, Shanghai and Jiangxi. Some of the menu items are quite interesting. Also, there is 24 hour room service. We are want for nothing here. There is even a flat screen TV perched over the very large soaking tub in our room. Apparently, there is $ in this city, but we were under the impression that this was a very poor province and we expected much worse.
More later. I have included some of the photos in and around Nanchang.
We got out the door on time after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Did I tell you this kid can eat! Brooke's personality report says she is an extrovert, and boy is she, sound familiar? Plus she is a pretty sound sleeper now that we have the congestion handled. Last night I finally figured out how she needs to be comforted in order to fall asleep. It works like a charm every time. She likes to be cradled in your arms to sleep after a warm bottle and then quickly covered with a warm comforter. She protests for a like a second when you lay her down. She still hates baths and screams bloody murder when she sees the water. However, diaper changes are much easier. She loves being around people, she is immediately happy outside. She loves crowds.
Today we visited new Nanchang across the river and it looks like the rest of developing China. Huge expensive high rises and office buildings, wide avenues and clean flower lined streets. Across the river is much more authentic and we like that Nanchang better. After that visit we had a tour of Teng Wen Pavilion...well the rest of the group did. Shortly after we arrived I took Sienna to the potty....the squatty potty. She had done well before but this time she got up, well lets say mid-stream (literally) and wet her pants and underwear. We had a pull up for her but not pants. Our guide arranged for our driver (no speak english) to take us to a clothing store for a cheap replacement. After 20 minutes of hoofing it through Nanchang with a wet Sienna and baby we finally made it to a "Designer" store for toddler ski clothes. Sienna is now the proud owner of some very chic expensive Chinese ski pants. Then it was a 20 minute walk back with baby in tow across boulevards. We crossed in front of cars, buses and it was pretty harrowing. But in a way we enjoyed this tour of Nanchang better than the tourist fare. There is a real beauty in seeing the way these proud and charming people live. They make due on very little but lead rich and full but hard lives.
We made it back to the Pavilion in time for photos from the top and part of the show. I had been looking forward to this part of the trip but in the end I was disappointed. The show we saw was pale in comparison to the ones we saw on our last trip.
After the show we had another group lunch that was just wonderful. After many Imodium's and tagament pills Karen feels better. However, she is not chancing any more spicy food. So last night was soup for dinner. John, Sienna and Brooke enjoyed the rest of the dinner in the hotel restaurant which included chicken in black bean sauce (head and all) presented beautifully, rice, rice stuffed lotus root (sweet), braised broccoli in a white wine sauce (very hot) and Japanese Odon Noodles.
We also checked out our hotel and the 4th and 5th floors are a full gym. There is a spinning room, Snooker room, aerobics room, weight room, cardio room, table tennis room, golf putting, and racquetball. In addition there is an indoor pool, Sauna and massage room. We have 3 restaurants including a buffet restaurant where there is a daily breakfast and dinner buffet, a Japanese restaurant (complete with screened rooms) which is one of several located in Shanghai, Beijing etc and there is a gourmet Chinese restaurant serving cuisines of Guangdong, Shanghai and Jiangxi. Some of the menu items are quite interesting. Also, there is 24 hour room service. We are want for nothing here. There is even a flat screen TV perched over the very large soaking tub in our room. Apparently, there is $ in this city, but we were under the impression that this was a very poor province and we expected much worse.
More later. I have included some of the photos in and around Nanchang.
No comments:
Post a Comment