On to Nanning

No post yesterday -- still trying to adapt to Hong Kong timezone. The day started at 7 AM by sharing breakfast with the Brunos. Hong Kong is quite the cosmopolitan city and it shows in the breakfast menu. Along side all the "American" norms of ceral, eggs, pancakes, and orange juice, there was also sushi, bean curd, tofu, and prosciutto (looked like raw bacon to me). Angela, with her iron stomach, sampled practically everything on the menu including some ething in the fruit section that looked like a slimy, white mushroom cap. (Any ideas out there?) I on the other hand went with fruit, yogurt, and some ceral as my stomach was a bit anxious about the thought of anything out of the ordinary.

After breakfast, we parted ways with the Brunos to head out on a tour of Hong Kong. We started by ascending Victoria Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong, to see a view of Victoria Harbor and the main island's plethora of buildings. Next, we headed for the tourist tr -- err, shopping bazaar, where we were given time to haggle with a merchant over the fair price to have our names written in Chinese symbols.

The third stop was apparently required by the Hong Kong Bureau of Tourism. The bus pulled into a back alley beside a fish-gutting plant where we proceeded to climb some steps of a ratty, old building into a small room with 6-1/2 foot ceilings. A happy young lady explained that Aberdeen Jewelers was a world class supplier of jewelry around the world and how we had the opportunity to purchase their jewelry at discount prices. We took a short tour through their workshops which looked like they were designed for elves -- in fact, one was working diligently at his 2 x 3 foot wooden desk that looked like something Scooge would have made Bob Cratchit work at. From there we were lead into the showcase room where there was (at least) one salesperson for every couple in our group. We had one gentleman follow us around as we tried not to look interested in anything. It was quite a relief to finally get back on the us to head for our fourth destination of the day, the fisherman's village.

Jumbo's claim to fame is that is the world's largest floating seafood restaurant. (Angela was curious as to just how many floating restaurant's there are in the world, but we assume there is more than one.) The only way to get to this floating restaurant is by boat which will run you about US$15. It seats over 1,000 guests and screams of Chinese architecture. Our only regret was that we could not see it at night as it had more lights along its edges than the Rockefeller Christmas tree. Our ride was enjoyable until the very end when the captain pulled up short of the dock to demand we pay our fares. We floated around for 10 minutes while she counted and recounted to make sure she had every last dime. On the bright side, we did get a longer boat trip than everyone else who went out with friendlier sailors!

We wrapped up our tour with a traditional Chinese lunch. I took advantage of the "Americans-who-can't-use-chopsticks" diet, but still managed to fill my belly to overflowing with all sorts of unidentified foods that tasted great. There was even something remarkably similar to sesame chicken that left us wondering if maybe the chinese cuisine back home really was as authentic as the menus claimed.

That night we took a walk along the river to watch the light show. Two minutes in I wished we had made room for our friend's video camera. Techno music played from speakers along the sidewalk while lights on the buildings across the river blinked in rhythm to the notes. Green laser beams lit up the sky along with multi-colored lights on the buldings to create a visual-audio masterpiece. Charlotteans can think of the odd, square laser art on the side of the Duke Energy bulding downtown, but on a 3-mile long scale.

That was all for yesterday. Today we left at 8 AM for Nanning. Unlike Hong Kong, natives here were apparently unaccustomed to seeing Americans. Angela and I took a walk along the lake beside the hotel (the one pictured in an earlier post with a blue ball on top). Practically every person that passed us stared or whispered. I figured they were looking at Angela's pale skin and auburn hair while she's convinced it was my facial hair and clothing. It was 74 degrees outside so naturally I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Of course, all the Nannites (my term) were clothed in slacks, shirt, and often a windbreaker as well. I can't help it if there winter temperatures are mild for this Charlottean!

Thanks for all the nice comments left on our last post. The Brunos agreed with us that all the prayers are paying off as, despite all the anxieties of travelling in a foreign country and wondering about the unknowns in adopting an Asian child, our stay has been problem free. While we will not see the Brunos again until next Monday, we do now that they received their daughter today.

As for us, the real excitement begins tomorrow when we meet Jeremy around 3:30 PM. Angela pointed out tonight at dinner that we will be getting Jeremy at 3:30 PM on 11/23, similar to getting Eli at 3:30 PM on 12/23 four years ago. Anyone want to chime in on whether we should take CCAI up on their offer to have our family receive a blessing from a Buddhist monk next Sunday?

We'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow of our trip so far. It all depends on this low-speed connection in the hotel room and how much time Jeremy allows us to not give him all our attention. Talk to you soon!