Doctor's visit & Tea House

Actually posted September 1oth at 11:30PM

Today was doctor visit day. All the children had to be measured, weighed and seen by an International doctor. Not much was learned except that Alexia is considered to be below average in weight. Puhlease! By whose standards?!? I think that she is chunky compared to Cara-Li who was super tiny. So much so their new nicknames are Dumpling (Alexia who is short and chubby) and Spring Roll (Cara-Li who is tall and slim). Gordie decided to stay back with Cara-Li as we knew this day would be long and boring. They had a daddy-daughter day and they had a blast! Auntie Loula came with me thank goodness as her help is most indispensable!

After the doctor visit, we went to a tea house where we took part in a tea ceremony complete with explanations and tastings. Of course, at the end of the demonstration, we were lead through their gift shop. You must go through the shop to find the exit... very much like Disney. One of my big purchases was made today... a complete tea set for my little Alexia. It is gorgeous and let me tell you... very, very expensive! You'd think tea would be cheap in China but quite the opposite, it's very costly.

Here's a funny story for the day. Since we have been in China, we have eaten mostly at Chinese restaurants. It may seem obvious to you all, but in these big hotels, there are many types of restaurants serving all sorts of foods. We have tried to order ''safe'' things such as chicken, beef or shrimp but there always seems to be some surprises such as chicken feet in the chicken dish and shrimp that have not be shelled at all and are intended to be eaten that way. So tonight Gord decided to ask the waitress if the shrimp were shelled. Well she looked at us like a deer caught in headlights. Their limited English does not allow them to converse freely. So Gord proceeded to ask her if the shrimp had eyes. She again looked stunned and answered, ''yes, they have two.'' We, of course, could not hold back our laughter! She points to another item on the menu and indicated that this had no 'eyes'. Once the dish was presented, we noticed that it was not shrimp but rather some sort of white fish. When Gord brought it to her attention that this was not shrimp, she responded, '' This not shrimp. Fish no eyes!'' In the end, it was most delicious!

PS: Cara-Li wants to go home... she misses her Barbies!