G'night Gracie

Las Vegas in China

I think I've died and gone to Las Vegas. Oh wait, it's just Shamian Island in Guangzhou, China. This place is really cool. We are staying at the White Swan hotel- a 5-star hotel. This place is beautiful. And we have a gorgeous view of the Pearl River that is lit up on both sides with tons of neon. There are also a lot of neon tour boats going up and down the river. It's quite a sight. It reminds me so much of Vegas.

We arrived around 4:00 and waited for our luggage to be delivered to our room. We then met three other couples and went to dinner at Lucy's Bar and Grill - a wester-style restaurant. We dined outside in the beautiful 80 degree weather. It was perfect.

Our flight from Wuhan to Guangzhou went great. Grace was an angel the whole way. As long as she's well fed, she's happy as a lark. And believe me, the girl eats like a HORSE! Tonight for dinner she ate a whole jar of carrots, a bowl of rice cereal with mashed bananas and almost a whole bowl of scrambled eggs. The girl can really put it away. We can only hope that the 16 hour flight home will go as well. Please pray for us to have a good flight.

We did a little "window" shopping tonight. This place is dangerous. There are tons of stores right around our hotel and they have some really great stuff. We went with another couple from Northern California - Rhonda and Glen. Glen is quite the bargain shopper - he's the perfect person to have with us. In Guangzhou you're expected to bargain. You never pay full price. It's kind of fun. Tonight I bought an outfit that started at $60 yuan and got it down to $35 yuan (that's about $4 vs. $7.50). Stuff is so cheap here, but you still don't pay full price.

This Island is really beautiful. I think we're going to enjoy it much more than Wuhan. It's not near as packed with people. The hotel itself is filled with families who are adopting. I think most agencies have their families stay here. I'm looking forward to the breakfast buffet which should be filled with families and their adopted babies.

The hotel has a beautiful waterfall with koi fish in its pond. When we came home from shopping we found that the housekeeping service had turned down our beds and left chocolates on the night stand. Talk about good service!

Grace continues to blossom. She loves her Daddy since he is the one who carries her the most. But she loves me too because I feed her. We are so blessed.

There's a 7-11 across from our hotel, too. It makes us feel right at home. Tomorrow we're going to a shopping mall. And now, I'm going to bed! Adios!