We took a rest for a couple of hours in our rooms (More accurately, Dave and I did laundry- which is now strung across my room.  I dare say I am afraid that someone will hang herself during a midnight stroll to the bathroom…)  I refuse to pay for laundry services which I am told proves that even though I am a  “waiguoren” (foreigner) on the outside…I am Chinese on the inside. :0)

Late this afternoon we left to go for a walk before dinner.  We walked out just as another CWA family was arriving.  This family will be adopting one of Anaia’s friends on Wednesday.  It was so unfair!  They were in much better shape after their plane ride than we were!!!  They didn’t look jet-lagged AT ALL.

We wandered in yet another book store- surprise, surprise.  This time we bought a Bean DVD in Mandarin.  I am not sure what exactly will be in Mandarin, do you actually need language when watching Bean???  Anyway, in Anaia’s video from 1 year ago they asked her what made her happy.  She replied, “Movies.”  When asked what kind of movies she responded, “ Bean.”  Hence our purchase tonight.  So, because we are not loud enough on the average night…we are now going to add in some comic relief to “kick it up a bit”.  Live large, right?

We have a tradition of eating Pizza Hut at some point while in China.  Nina has been begging for it as the last time we were here she didn’t enjoy it at all, and now she has developed a strong affinity for cheese.  Tonight was the night and since we were doing “American”, we finished it off with some ice-cream on the street.  Ice-cream takes on a whole new dimension in China.  I really wanted to try the jasmine tea ice-cream I had seen earlier, but no luck.  We decided on McDonalds cones as they have the sundae topping swirled right in. 

I so love this city.  I love walking with hundreds of people every night- there is so much to soak in…much more interesting than walking in my own suburban neighborhood.  (Sorry guys, maybe if you all opened up your windows you could compete…)  Plus, there is the added bonus of being able to embarrass your teenagers by standing in front of a building for 10 minutes staring at it change colors- trying to guess which color will be next and taking pictures when it happens.  I now have about 5 pictures of said building only because I wanted to torment my children.  What fun is having all of these children if I can’t lovingly torture them a bit?  OK, there is the bonus of having someone always at the ready to do all of the things I don’t want to do…

I am ending tonight with my favorite picture of the day.  This shop is located right next to our hotel.  It took me walking by it several times before I had to stop and try to make sense of it.  See how long it takes you…