Sunday the 5th

Today, we woke up in our crappy apartment, packed up our stuff for the 100th time and checked out!  We had to get two cabs to carry all our stuff and one cab driver was such a jerk.  I got in the back seat with Daisy and my mom went to get in the front and he yelled at her that she couldn't ride in his cab and then he took off!  All the luggage wasn't even loaded up!  I told him to stop but he wouldn't and then he yelled at me the whole way to the new hotel.  I think I told this story before but it was so amazing I had to tell it again.  I was near tears on the ride over and then I yelled at him when we got there and wouldn't pay him.  If I see him again some day, I might hurt him.  We were going to report him to the taxi cab officials but it was too hard to figure out.

Our new hotel is divine.  Small rooms but divinely clean and a nice soft bed.  The neighborhood (Shamien Island) is shady and clean, no trash in the streets, cute shops and restaurants all over.

Good thing Sharon remembered to take pictures of our hotel rooms!  Zack and her room at the Victory Hotel.  Our room was the same only with one king size bed.

Small but clean and comfy!

The lobby at the Victory.  The air conditioning was heavenly!

After we got settled in we took a taxi to find a restaurant that was recommended by someone on-line.  When we got to the place, it was closed for remodeling so we ate at a nearby Malaysian restaurant.  It was good, cold drinks,  delish curry and nice bathrooms.  They even had a high chair for Daisy.

After lunch we took another taxi to the electronic district.  Zack wanted to buy DS games and I was told you could get them cheap here.  We looked all over and couldn't find any and then we found a store that sold gaming consoles and games.  The guy told us that games were more expensive in China than in the US so what they do is sell you a chip with 40 games loaded on it.  We decided to go for it and bargained the price down to $60 usd.  We probably could have got it way cheaper but you know how sometimes you barter well and sometimes you don't?  Plus, it's less than $2 per game so we felt OK about it.  Zack was way excited.  (I found the chip in the wash the other day, I wonder if it still works?)

The electronic store.  Zack is playing Wii while we wait for them to load up his games.  Nice of Steve to carry Daisy in the muggy heat.

When we got back to our hotel, we booked a boat ride on Pearl River for that night.  The river runs right through the middle of the city and all along it they light up the buildings and bridges with all kinds of lights that change colors.  It's really pretty.  We decided to get the best seats on the top of the boat and a snack was included in the price.

Our boat.  We took our time getting on so we woulnd't be crushed  in the humanity.

Our table.  Note the tea in paper cups.  We ended up buying soda's from the concession stand because hot tea in that muggy heat is less than refreashing.

We were lucky to have a table on the side of the boat.

I think I was actually taking a picture of the kids ducktail behind Zack.  Love it!

I only included this picture to prove I was there.  Hideous.

It's funny because in China personal space and manners are very different.  When it was time to line up to get on the boat, everyone started a stampede to the line.  People were pushing and shoving and trying to be on the boat first.  I was so confused because the seats on the boat were reserved.  What was the urgency?  I still don't know.

We got to our reserved table and the boat took off and we were served tea and a bowl of peanuts and dried bananas.  We tried to take pictures but we are not good photogs so they didn't come close to capturing the coolness of it.  Every bridge was lit as were many of the buildings and they kept changing colors.  It lasted about 1 hour which was plenty long for us with our squirmy baby.  We got off the boat and walked a while trying to find a taxi.  Finally someone picked us up and the ride home took about 3 minutes, we were closer than we thought!  We took our sweaty selves home and to bed in our deluxe soft beds!

In the desert of Utah, it cools off at night and feels really nice after a hot day.  In tropical China, it is hot and muggy in the day and hot and muggy at night.  There really is no change.  We kept expecting to feel some relief after it got dark but it never came.  I love the desert.