Rain, Rickshaws and a Rollicking Dinner

Knowing that rain was in the forecast, we kept the curtains drawn as long as possible this morning.  Finally, the tug of the Breakfast Buffet became too great, though we made sure to sit by the toy table in hopes of further prolonging the proceedings.  Max was a great help in that regard.

Then we headed back up to the room because, well, we didn't have many options.  The good news is that it gave us lots of time to make videos!  As I mentioned yesterday, a tube of lotion is one of her favorite things.  She likes to apply it to Nina and me, as you will see here.

 

Finally, when housekeeping came by, we headed for the lobby and the march was on.  Despite her stature, she heads directly for the stairs and climbs.  Her method for descending is perfect for someone wearing a diaper - on her bottom.  Fortunately, she stopped long enough for a picture with Dad.  Today was the first day that she seemed comfortable being alone with me.  It was a great feeling.

Trust me, she seems happier in my presence than the expression in this picture would indicate.

Finally, the rain stopped and we headed to the waterfront to buy souvenirs and make Max's dreams of a family rickshaw ride come true.

 We leave Nanjing tomorrow and we have really enjoyed this place.  It is touristy for sure, though with few Westerners.  It definitely provided a sense of real Chinese life that we didn't experience in Beijing.  That really became clear as we came across this fellow as we walked to dinner.

We have eaten several meals at the same restaurant - our guide seems to have some relationship with them.  We haven't seen any other Westerners in there, and tonight it was especially hopping.  A neighboring table managed to knock wine bottles off their table twice.  Several diners from a table of six men next to us got up and went to the payment area to stop one another from picking up the check.  The shoving was a bit of a surprise.

 

This is the salty duck.  It lives up to its name.  It is served cold and was tasty - though awfully salty.

These are fried noodles.  The yellow bulbs are seeds from the Gingko Trees which add an interesting flavor and texture to an otherwise delicious dish.  Nina was a fan.  I could have lived without them.

Good old dumplings for Max.

This was an interesting dish.  Lotus root stuffed with something we couldn't recognize and somewhat candied.  It tasted like yams.  The presentation was about as nice as you can get for something brown and gelatinous.

With apologies to Billy Joel - Scenes from a Nanjing Restaurant.

Walking home, we felt fortunate that this was where we spent our first days together.  The mix of old and new on the streets somehow fit.

The front of our hotel - the Mandarin Garden



Tonight's final scene back in the room was a little more playtime.  See for yourself.

 



Fearless

It is 8:27 p.m. Wednesday and I wish you could hear the chatter in our darkened hotel room right now.  One person is asleep.  He goes by the name Max.  His little sister is chattering away and picking things up off the floor and delivering them to either Nina or me.  Then her mother starts to tickle her.  And on and on it goes.

Our day began with a walk through Ming Tomb Park, where we followed a path line by centuries old rock carvings of lions, dragons, camels, elephants and scary looking mythological creatures leading to pavillions celebrating the Ming Dynasty.  We walked, but our little princess rode in her chariot - the stroller that the hotel lent us.  Yesterday, when we tried to put her in a stroller, she refused but today, she was amenable.  The park was really beautiful.  In addition to the statues, there were extensive gardens, particularly plum trees.  The park is home to the national plum tree nursery and they have thousands of species.  Also, centuries old Ginkgo and Cypress trees.

Rain began to fall as we were near the end of our tour and the rain kept us in our hotel room most of the afternoon.  There was some music and dancing, as well as general mayhem.  She became attached to a bottle of lotion and she and Nina would squeeze a little out in each others hands and rub each others faces.  Very sweet.  The lotion tube became her most important accessory for the remainder of the day.

A trip to the pool was attempted.  Nina was going to swim with Max, but Lillian was not going to be left alone with me - at least not at the pool, which is an unfriendly place for her.

(Note - more tickling is going on right now.  Both mother and daughter are giggling)

One interesting side note.  On our way back from the pool, Lillian led the way out of the elevator and she stopped at the correct door on the corridor.  Nina and I looked at each other in shock.  She knew where to go.  On a subsequent trip, we watched to see if she would do it again.  She didn't, but on a third trip she did stop at the correct door again without any other cue.  Smart.

Finally, the rain let up and we needed to get out of the room.  We spent a half hour while she marched around the hotel lobby with Mommy in tow.  Max and I chatted with a Swedish couple staying in the hotel who had signed their adoption papers immediately after us for a little boy.

(Nina is blowing raspberries on her belly.  I think bedtime may still be far off.  It is 8:53.  In fairness, bedtime at the orphanage was reportedly 9:30, impossible as that seems.)

We had skipped lunch and the kids were hungry and we feared more rain.  I offer these excuses before sharing where we ate in hopes of blunting your judgment...

Pizza Hut.  It is next door to our hotel.  It is open all afternoon and evening (most "real" restaurants don't open for dinner until 5:30).  So I won't share the list of what we enjoyed - but we were satisfied when we walked out.

The weather cleared while we ate and we walked down to the waterfront and decided to take a boat ride on the canal.  It was actually a very nice ride and because we started just before sunset, over the course of our ride, all of the neon lights came on.

(The giggling and tickling continues)

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that Lillian walks everywhere herself.  She is less than three feet tall, but is totally unafraid.  In fact, she seems energized by people.  It seems like she knew there was a world outside the walls of the orphanage and she is excited to finally get to start to see it.

Party of Four - day 1 (officially)



Time to wake up!  I'm getting a Mommy, Daddy and Brother Today!

I better eat a good breakfast.

We had an 8 am appointment back in the foreign adoption office where we had first met Lillian only 16 hours earlier to finalize our adoption.  We signed several documents and then each placed a red thumbprint over each signature.  We moved from the first table with the notary to a second table with a government official and then to the adjoining room to make our donation to the Social Welfare Institute (orphanage).

The director and Lillian's caretaker from the orphanage were there for a final good bye. We shared with them the details of our first day and they seemed pleased.  We returned to the hotel as her parents and began the rest of our lives together.  That meant shopping! 

This was her caretaker

The woman in front is the orphanage director

As I mentioned, she does not fit the idea we had in our heads in terms of size.  As we prepared, Nina stared at 18-month-old-sized clothes and hoped they wouldn’t be too big.  Well, the lion’s share of those 18 month clothes went back with the orphanage caretakers because we can’t use them.  There is a big, modern shopping mall about a block away from our hotel (Aqua City – it has a series of fountains throughout, with Bellagio-style water shows on the hour) and we began to outfit her.  If anyone wants to buy gifts from countries that use the Metric System, she’s 105/110 cm.  Then we found a stall that sold kids clothes and shoes at slightly more reasonable prices and got her some sandals and dresses.  We learned after-the-fact that one of the pairs of sandals we bought had squeakers in the heels.  (As I write to you, I am listening to her shoes echoing through the hotel lobby – we needed to get out for housekeeping – tiny footstep by tiny footstep).

 New stuff!

Time for lunch and her first French Fries (probably)!  There is a KFC across from the hotel and we had been advised that they served an egg tart that would be familiar to her.  It was like a small custard pie – slightly sweet.  As others in our traveling party were having more traditional KFC fare, she did get to sample some fries.  Needless to say, they seemed to be a hit.

Our afternoon activity was a tour of a beautiful private garden in which most of the structures were 600 years old.  To get there, we walked through a neighborhood and looked at the various food stalls and commercial wares along the streets and sidewalks.  It was a real taste of local life.  And Nina got to break out the new baby carrier, which worked like a charm.

A storefront poker game - I didn't have the stakes on me, or I might have sat.

Each commercial street had several duck stores.

This woman was single-handing this massive shoe cart.

Each pan is a different piece of the duck.  We got the full list.  Rest assured, nothing goes to waste.

 We enjoyed a slow stroll through the grounds of the gardens, the heart of which was a pond formed by a natural spring.  The walkways were decorated with rock formations of butterflies, peaches and other symbols for wealth, family peace and long life.  (Photos by Max)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it was a warm day, we decided to try the hotel pool.  Max and I got in the water, while Nina sat on the side with Lillian between her legs dangling her own legs in the water.  She sat very still, with a very concerned look on her face.  She did not crack a smile, but she didn't get upset. 

Then, off to dinner.  We went back to the Aqua City mall to a restaurant rather reminiscent of an American mall restaurant.  Lillian sat happily in a booster seat eating a single bite out of several pork buns and otherwise content with the snacks we brought for her.  Max had a giant bowl of noodles and we shared stir-fry squid.  It was very spicy, though it only featured one pepper next to the dish name on the menu. 

Lillian really likes to feed Mommy.

 

We were all ready for bed when we got home.  It was a great first day as an official family of four and it only hit me afterwards how incredible it is that we took a two year old who had never been outside of her orphanage (save for a trip to a hospital for surgery) to restaurants and shopping malls and swimming pools and walks along crowded streets and she is full of curiosity and smiles, when we would totally understand fear and tears.  I think she was worth the wait.