After painting, we bought a small packet of fish food (It is so much fun to try out my mandarin ... I was able to successfully ask people where to buy fish food!) and fed the koi. Then we headed out of the park for lunch. This sounds easy enough, but there are only three gates to exit this very large park. So it took us a while to find a gate, then we had to go up and over a pedestrian overpass, navigating vendors selling everything from wallets to toys to live chicks. The other side had a super cool open air food vendor market, but we decided that buying street meat was probably not wise. The only close restuarant we could see was Dico's. Clearly a chain but we were all hungry so we went in. Turns out it is a Chinese version of a KFC crossed with McDonalds and its own unique teriyaki/curry flavors. Yi wasn't a fan of the chicken options (teriyaki dark meat) nor did she like french fries. But the girl discovered ketchup. Yep, she ate ketchup for lunch. Talk about a cheap meal ... feeding your child freebie packets of ketchup. :) At first, she was scooping the ketchup up with a french fry and then licking it off the fry (she's not a fan of the french fry ... yet). Then we got her a spoon and she went to town. Oh yes, and she got her own Coke. She's a big fan of Coke and ketchup!
Apres lunch, we headed back into the park for some amusement park rides, ice cream, and blowing bubbles.
After the park, we went swimming in the hotel. It has a unique feature which they call a whirlpool but by our standards is a kiddie pool - maybe 18" deep and bathtub warm (not hot tub warm, no jets, and no seats). The first time we went swimming, Yi wouldn't go in the door of the aquatic area. The second time, she would go near it but not in it and remained fully dressed. Today, she refused the swim suit again and so went to the pool wearing jeans, a t-shirt and her beloved flower tunic. She was having a good time horsing around the edge of the pool, even reaching over to splash us with her hand. But she was NOT going to join us in the pool, or even dangle her legs over the edge. Then she had a meltdown about sharing a toy with another kiddo, and while I was comforting her, I dipped her bare feet in the whirlpool as a distraction. It worked ... and pretty soon she was splashing Eric with her legs while I held her on the edge. That lasted about a minute and then she wanted off my lap and into the water ... still wearing her full outfit. I figured it was already soaked, and if it made her more comfortable, why not?!? Once she was in she had a great time. She asked to take off the pants and tunic after a little bit, so she was romping around in her t-shirt and undies, having a grand time. She even put her face in the water a few times, and poured water over her head. She went from adamantly refusing to enter the pool to splashing like a crazy lady within about 3 minutes. She had so much fun she didn't want to leave to go get dinner. This is the Food Vacuum turning down dinner to stay in the pool!
Yi was definitely easier to deal with today, PHEW! Sometimes things didn't go her way (e.g., the amusement park ride stopped and we had to get off) but she was able to roll with it much better today. We had two meltdowns (see above) but they were fairly short in duration. I'm hoping we've turned a corner!
That's all for now ... we have to be up early for the flight to Guangzhou. Wish us luck on the 2.5 hour flight!!!!
2 comments:
Thanks for the updates! So fascinating! Amazing how quickly life has changed for Yi! So many new experiences.... All without much verbal communication/explanation. So glad you get to try a 2.5 hr flight before your long haul across the Pacific! Good luck!
Harmon's first experience with water reminds me a bit of Medora's first experience with the jump/jet fountain on Pearl St in Boulder in Sep, 2008. Uncle Tom probably has some comments about eating ketchup (his favorite food - no way). Good luck on the flight
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