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Published: July 29th 2009
Happy Birthday Megan
Megan showing off her UGGS and a couple of gifts. She looks cool in her dress with those boots!!!!!Happy Birthday Megan
Well on July 17th Megan turned the grand old age of 12. We tease her by saying that she is definitely a member of the "pre-teen" club which she thinks is really cool. I think most of the time she actually thinks she is already in her teens!!!!!
The weather was ridiculously hot, so Megan didn't want to go out to do much during the day. We had some things planned for the following week so she was quite happy to chill out at home with us. Kevin came home from work at lunchtime so we waited until he got home to open gifts. Megan was so excited to have some small gifts to open. She had thought that she would have wait until we got back to the US to get anything, especially since she wanted something electronic and that is certainly not the thing you want to buy here!! There was no way we would let the day go buy with nothing so she got gifts to remind her of her time here in China.
Lunch and cake was a hit. I had made a Birthday Cake and even frosted it but
the message on the top looked like a 5 year old had scribbled it. Piping with homemade a bag is NOT my forte!!!! Of course she didn't care and the sparkler candles I put in the top caused great excitement. I was a little worried we might burn the apartment down cause the candles were a good 10" tall and when lit the sparks flew up another 2ft. It did look good though!
In the evening Megan had asked if she could go to the local Indian restaurant for dinner. Can you believe she would ask for Indian?? Both she and Sophie have grown to like some food that they normally would turn their noses up at! We took a stroll around West Lake before going to the restaurant ad it was so nice to see the sun setting behind the mountains on the other side of the lake. It was so pretty and so calming! We spend a lot of time with the girls but this was one of those really special moments... we walked, we talked, we laughed!
The meal was good. John and Cheryl joined us to help celebrate and John helped with the entertainment.
He had been at a leaving party for a colleague before arriving and in China if someone invites you to drink with them it is disrespectful to say no. So, consequently he was fairly drunk before he got to us, but it wasn't a problem because he just made us all laugh! He was funny! We were also entertained by a "belly dancer" who came on to the stage right next to us and wiggled like she was made of rubber. The girls loved her outfits although some weren't covering very much!!
Megan had a great day and I'm pretty sure she won't forget the birthday she had in China.
Saturday brought another surprise for Megan. She is a huge Harry Potter fan and thought she was going to miss seeing the newest movie on the big screen. Cheryl did some research and found a theatre that was playing it in English..a rare thing in Hangzhou! We arrived 45mins early to get the tickets to find that there was just 1 seat left. We were amazed at how popular it was here..afterall some (not all though) of the Chinese think that the big blockbusters are goverment propoganda movies
made to intimidate other nations (have you ever heard anything so ridiculous!!!) We managed to get seats, although split up for the next showing and sat down to enjoy the movie. Oh my god! the Chinese talk through movies more than the US does. They were chit chatting or answering their phones while grunting and figiting. I was desperate to stand up and shout "Shut Up" but that would have given them just another thing to talk about so we persevered and enjoyed the movie.
TEPPANYAKI
We decided on Sunday night to take the girls out for Tappenyaki. It was a restaurant that Kevin and I have been to a couple of times but the girls had never been so we decided to take them. We walked in and instantly the girls were amazed at the chefs cooking in front of everyone. It was funny listening to them say how cool it was because you can go for Teppanyaki at home in the US and they never wanted to try it but for some reason it was more appealing to try it here in Hangzhou!!
The tables were in a huge rectangular shape with room for several
Megan turns 12
Megan at the Indian Restaurant with her fancy orange juice chefs scattered around the inside of it. We were lucky to be sat right in front of one of the chefs so the girls could see how he cooked everything. I even find it interesting to watch and I always try and remember what ingredients they use so that I can try and copy it at home. It never tastes the same when I cook it but I will keep trying.
We are definitely a carnivorous family! We must have chosen every type of meat and very few vegetables. All of it tasted delicious and it certainly kept the girls quiet. Megan loved the food and Sophie was enthralled by the chef especially when he made the rice and it flew through the air as he tossed it! We were of course the topic of conversation for the people sat next to us but these days we are used to the fact that the locals find us either amusing or interesting. This time though we found them amusing too! The girls next to me had so much food on her plate and she just picked a small mouthful off each thing she was given. Most people know that when
you go for Teppanyaki you get the food slowly so that you can enjoy each thing fully. Well this girl was more interested in drinking her milk shake (yes ..milk shake with Teppanyaki...what a combination!!) than eating anything. The funny part was that her group just kept ordering more and more food and then didn't eat it. I was tempted at one point to take food from their plates because it was a little different from ours and looked good. Can you imagine their reaction if I had done that???
We finished our 'meal' with a walk down to Dairy Queen so the girls could have ice cream. We then walked to a bar called Barossa's for a quick drink by the lake. Another great evening!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE and ECLIPSE
Birthday number 2 came along but this time for Sophie. My baby turned 10 and finally reached double digits! This day was going to be an extra special day because not only was it Sophie's birthday but it was also the day of the Solar Eclipse.
We woke up early because Cheryl was coming over at 7.30am to spend the day with us and
Teppanyaki
Waiting for our food we wanted to give Sophie her gifts before going outside for the Eclipse. I would love to say that Sophie was surprised by the gifts like her sister but having seen Megan get gifts she was actually expecting the same for herself. She was still excited to open them all though and even more excited by her birthday cake and the fact that we let her have cake for breakfast as a special treat.
Outside the weather was very cloudy and all of us were very disappointed because if we couldn't see the sun we wouldn't be able to see the eclipse happen. I had ordered special glasses from the US for everyone and so regardless of the cloud we went outside at about 9 am to try and see it anyway. Before we had even walked to the river (which is very close) we looked up and shrieked with excitement as we realized we could see the sun. We hurried to the river which is very open and couldn't believe how many people were there to see this event.
Looking up, the clouds were beginning to break up in sections so we were alternating between looking through
Teppanyaki
Yeah!!Sophie is using chopsticks...finally! the glasses and looking directly at it when in the clouds. The clouds actually made it look pretty cool as you saw the sun reflected through them. At one point the cloud formation with the eclipse shining through made it look like there was a face looking down on us. Just when the experts had predicted we entered the full eclipse stage and everything around us fell dark. It was amazing to look around at the lights that had been switched on and have it feel like nighttime at 9.34am in the morning. It was truly a sight that we will never forget. It's been etched in our memories forever and we are so glad that Megan and Sophie were able to see it!!!!
On with the birthday........ As a treat for the girls I had made appointments for the 4 of us (me, Megan, Sophie and Cheryl) at a local spa for a foot massage each. Usually we would go to a cheaper place for massages which are wonderful but a little painful. Today we were going to The Dragonfly for a relaxing massage. The girls felt like "women" as they lay back on their reclining chairs in
Teppanyaki
Rice is flying a dim lit room with water trickling from a fountain and soft music playing in the background. Bliss!! In this massage they soaked their feet while the masseuse massaged their shoulders, neck head and arms. They then had their feet and lower legs washed, massaged and then moisturized while lying back on a chair with a hot pack across their bellies and under a blanket. All of us were falling asleep. Now that's what I call relaxation!!!
Feeling good and relaxed we then wondered a little bit around Hefang Street where we decided to check out the pet store section in the indoor market area. Oh my God!!! The fish were amazing and huge and very strange and the different types of animals you can get as pets is both bizarre and a little disturbing!!! I was horrified to see that there were Hedgehogs in cages for sale as well as Squirrels,
Chipmunks, and a Chinchilla. There is always the worry that these animals are to be used as food but we were hopeful that they would not in this case. The Chinese do like to keep bizarre things. The idea of keeping a squirrel as a pet though
baffles me but that's because we have hundreds of the pesky devils running around our back yard every year!!!!
The final treat for the girls was a trip to the arcade. The girls love it and I hate it!! They get a bag of tokens that they can play games with and the main aim is to win tickets that can be exchanged for gifts. It does keep them occupied and gone are the days when I had to follow them around but, they are constantly asking for more money and it takes them FOREVER to choose a gift with the number of tickets they have. You should see the gifts...... I could go to the store and buy them for a fraction of the money that was paid for tokens. Regardless of my feelings the girls really did have a lot of fun and it was topped off with an "all meat" pizza at Papa Johns. Sophie's favorite!!!
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Dad
non-member comment
What can I say?