Time Travel and Other Stories

Ethan and I arrived safe and sound yesterday evening and were met at the airport by family and friends.  It was so nice to receive such a warm welcome!!  We had a really, really great flight from Beijing to Vancouver.  Some miracle happened and we had a whole row of seats to ourselves.  Ethan fell asleep at his usual bedtime around 8 after which I ordered a bottle of red wine and fell asleep soon after!!  We were both stretched out and woke up when they announced breakfast.  I think I must have slept about 6 hours and Ethan probably slept a bit more.  We landed in Vancouver five hours before we left so time travel does agree with us!  :)  After immigration, customs and the Vacouver 2010 Terrorism evaluation program (more on that later. I'm still to angry to discuss it) we managed to make it to the gate only to find out they changed the gate at the last minute and had to hike 30 gates over.  When I disembarked from the airplane in Winnipeg I was never so happy to see the flat prairie. 

We survived. Actually we did better than "survived", we did extremely well.  I will not, however, be taking any trips any time soon.

Last Post from Beijing

Well, tomorrow we fly out.  It's kind of sad knowing that we won't be back for a really long time and how different things will be then.  The China of today will be quite different than the China of 2019.  It was a good trip, challenging at times but overall things went pretty smoothly (says the naive mom who hasn't flown 11 hours with a hyper 14 month old).  I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, wearing cleaner clothes and not having to do laundry by hand in the bathtub or brush my teeth with bottled water.  I kinda of feel like I've been camping this week.  It will be good to get Ethan home and get him settled.  Most of all, I am looking forward to seeing my girl and giving her a big squeeze and few dozen kisses.  Halle has been finding it really hard the past few days and I don't think I would be able to leave her for this long again. I've been finding it tough too not having seen her in over two weeks. Here's hoping the jet lag is not too bad and that all the flights are on time.  I am betting on it cause I am almost out of the lactose free baby formula. Looking forward to seeing everyone again and introducing them to Ethan.  Protective eye wear is advised because his idea of a good time is throwing projectiles.

 

 

Goodbye China/Birthday Party

Some families are leaving China tomorrow for home (Lucky ducks!!) so we had the farewell party this evening and combined it with a birthday party to celebrate for all the people who turned one year older on the trip.  We had Peking duck and an assortment of other dishes.  Ethan won't eat plain white rice like Halle and requires it to have sauce or broth on it.  He will however try to eat noodles raw.  We had great entertainment this evening - a juggler, a magician and a woman who did the mask dance.  The kids were transfixed.  Ethan was taking it all in and trying to process how everything worked.  He particularly like the mask dance.  It does originate in Sichuan which Chongqing use to be part of so perhaps he felt a kinship to the performer?!?!  Anyway, the important part was that the entertainers were lively, kept his attention and he sat still.  Completely still.  Ahhhh. 

 

As one of the birthday people, I got to wear a crown, received a Happy Birthday Scroll (which I can use at Halle and Ethan's future parties) and got to eat cake with chopsticks.  The cake was delicious!

The photographic evidence, well, not so much!

 

 

 

Tiannamen Square and The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the Frozen city today! Brrrrr!  Was it cold!  I think it was perhaps one of the fastest tours through the place!  It was nice to see the buildings without the scaffolding around them like last time when they were being repainted or repaired for the Olympics.  The haze/smog was pretty bad today so the pictures are not very clear.  I brought the stroller thinking Ethan would like a ride but I figured something out- he only likes the stroller when he doesn't have to wear a jacket or hat.  Unfortunately, that is not going to happen here this week. Clayton, one of the dad's on the trip, used it to push his backpack.  The Imperial Garden was more sheltered and therefore slightly warmer but still bone numbing for the little Chongqing Hot Pot!!  He does not like wind in his face.  I have yet to tell him where he is going to be living in a few days!!  I think I will keep it a secret.

 

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping

Ethan and I went shopping today at the Old Pearl Market and the New Pearl Market.  They are about a three minute walk from each other and sell different things...kinda.   The new one is less crazy (if that's even possible when it comes to market shopping in Beijing) and I was actually able to push the stroller without hitting people.  I got some really cute shoes for Halle and Ethan and some clothes for them too.  I got Ethan some Chinese style outfits for wearing to Chinese New Year and I had to bargain hard!! I eventually got them down to a reasonable price and got him one to wear each CNY until he turns six or so.  However, if he keeps growing and filling out, they may only last until he is four!!!  Did I mention he weights 23 pounds?? 

 

After shopping and lunch we went to the Tea Ceremony.  It was a different place than we went with Halle but I think the tea was the same.  Ethan tried some. When he wants something I have he just grabs a piece of flesh on my arm and pulls my hand towards his mouth.  He liked the tea!!  He was quite upset that the cup was so small. 

 

As usual, Ethan was charming the ladies, young and old as you can see in the pictures.  He is also a favorite subject of Mr. Lee the videographer of the trip.  He thinks Ethan is very handsome, smart and strong - his words, not mine(well his words translated by Faye our guide).  Anytime Ethan is walking on his own (which looks rediculous because he seems too small to be walking) Mr Lee is right there filming.  There will be 3 hours of Ethan walking on the group video with a couple shots of the historical places thrown in I'm sure!!!

 

Tonight is the Acrobat Show but Ethan and I are not going because it starts right at his bedtime and you do not want to keep him up past his bedtime.  Instead, one of the other moms on the trip and I are going to hang out with the little ones and take it easy and get them in bed for 8 o'clock.

 

Tomorrow morning we are going to the Forbidden City and Tiannamen Square.  If you want a Chairman Mao hat, you best speak now!!

 

 

I bet MEC didn't think of this feature...

Baby blanket!  Ethan needed to have his blanket washed (what kind of mother only brings one blanket) and it was still not dry so I had to improvise and use my MEC fleece to keep him covered last night.  He didn't seem to mind and slept from 8 until 6:30 this morning.  I'll be sure to write MEC and tell them to add this to their description of the product! ha ha 

The Massage

I am now convinced that the Chinese characters for Essential Oil massage are the same characters for pain, torture, muscle spasm, and most likely longevity and happiness all rolled into one.  OMG!  Once the masseuse (sp?) found where I keep all my stress (shoulders) I think I heard an evil chuckle as she knew just how much it was going to hurt me to work it out. Body parts cracked and popped and I think I even lost consciousness for awhile.  I'm not sure if I'll be ready to do it again this trip or not. At one point she actually picked me up by my head.  I am pretty freakin' sure they don't do THAT at Giselle's Day Spa!!  Ethan's 23 pounds felt more like 123 pounds as my muscles were still cowering from being worked over last night.

 

This is just a quick post as it has been another long day.  Tomorrow we are leaving at 9 to go shopping.  Pearls, anyone?!?! 

Mommy and Ethan Climb the Great Wall

What a great way to spend my birthday!  Not only am I in China with my favorite son but I get to take him climbing on the Great Wall.  It was a long day though!  We were up at 7 and went for breakfast at 7:30 until 8:30 when we had to meet for the bus.  We climbed the Wall at Badaling about 55 km outside of Beijing.  On the way we stopped at the Jade Factory where I behaved myself and only purchased what I planned to: a Family ball and a Zodiac pendant, both for Ethan.  Ethan flirted with our guide Vivian a LOT and tried to charm all the ladies. With those cheeks who wouldn't be charmed?!?!?   When everyone was loaded on the bus again we drove the rest of the way to Badaling.  Let me tell you, it is a tough climb with a baby on your front and backpack containing all the baby supplies. (Which I later had to use for him in the washroom at the Great Wall. Those who have been there can appreciate the trauma I am still going through.) I was glad to have the backpack on the way down the Wall as well as it counterbalanced the additional 25 pounds I was carrying in front.  When we got to the bottom we went to the coffee shop and waited for the hard core climbers to get back.  While waiting I picked up something for Halle.  I can't wait to surprise her.

On the way back to Beijing we stopped at the Cloisonne factory and had lunch and of course did more shopping.  I showed more restraint and purchased only a papercutting art piece.  Good luck getting that home without wrinkling it!  And as if that wasn't enough for one day, we stopped by the Olympic grounds and took a walk around.  Ethan was fantastic but my muscles are done! In fact, I'm having a massage in a little while as another birthday gift to myself.  When we returned to the hotel we went for a pizza party in the Watts' room and Lily sang Happy Birthday in Mandarin for me.  Ethan even joined in!  It was really cute. (No, he doesn't speak he was baby-talk-singing!)  Did I mention it was a long day??  Tomorrow morning is free time but we are heading to the  Summer Palace in the afternoon.

 

There is a knock at the door and that must mean my massage is about to start!  Gotta love China, massage room-service.

 

 

Bye Bye Daddy

Today was Alan's last day in China.  I don't know what I will do without him.  He got Ethan and I stocked up on bottled water and bought us a stroller before he left today.  I hope the flight goes well because he hasn't had much luck this trip.  After doing all the paperwork this morning and running errands, we decided to head out.  We were originally planning on going to the Forbidden City but it was going to take too much time with the crazy Saturday traffic.  After a few inquiries, we learned that there was a Bird Market just down the street.  It was definitely interesting.  There was every type of dog, cat, fish and, oh yeah, bird that you could imagine.  Some birds even had leashes.  Ethan was quite taken with a few puppies so watch out big Charlie - he's coming after you!!  Alan departed for the airport at 3:30 with twice as much luggage as he arrived with.  I'm going to try and make it back with just one bag.  We'll see, there is still A LOT of shopping to be done.

Around 5:30 a few of headed out for dinner and it was great food.  Ethan had a huge serving of steamed egg, broccoli and rice.  He almost spilled my beer and the rest of the people at the table are convinced he was trying to grab it and take a drink.  Ethan seems to recognize restaurants now.  We walk in, I strip off the 14 layers of protective outerwear ( my protection from the clothing police) and set him on my lap and he immediately assumes the eating position.  The eating position for Ethan is to recline back at about a 34.6 degree angle, spread out his arms and legs, and open mouth. When something particularly interesting comes by, a small grunt is emitted.  That our boy!!!

Made it back to Beijing...

...in one piece. Ethan did pretty good on the flight but boy is that boy active. And if the lady across the aisle from me should stumble upon this blog I would like to personally thank-you for not only eating your ginger candy in front of him while making googly eyes but also for slipping him a piece as I was making his 5 o'clock bottle. Thanks again! It made for a most enjoyable first hour of the flight.

Ethan is asleep finally. I was able to position him at the 45 degree angle he so enjoys falling asleep to. He also likes to have his head rubbed while simultaneously having his cheek rubbed. I thought girls were high maintenance?!?! ha ha How does that saying go? Boys you pay now, girls you pay later. I can't wait to see Ethan and Halle together. Halle is doing really well with her grandparents. Today they are 'skipping school' and going to do something outside. Whenever we Skype she always says 'Where's my brother? I want to see my brother.' She gets a big kick out of watching him and listening to his funny noises.

I think I'm going to go order some room service. Alan isn't in yet as we had seperate flights and I'm starving. The panini sandwich looks good. I didn't have either camera in my bag so I don't have any new pictures to post today. More tomorrow!

A Day out in Chongqing

Ok, I lost the first version of this post and am now running out of naptime.  Here is the Coles' Notes version because I have to go pack as we are heading back to Beijing today.  We went to visit the People's Hall and the Three Gorges Museum and then we went to Ci Qi Kou or Old Town.  It was incredible!  Take a look at the pictures and perhaps google it 'cause the Little Emperor runs like clockwork and I've got about a half hour left!!  I will compensate by adding more pictures. FYI, today was the first day I was stopped by the clothing police and it was actually about my Mei tai carrier,  they thought he should be higher up.  It's probably a good thing that I don't speak Mandarin.

 

See you in Beijing!  :)