Day 11: Shopping with Ann

Sorry Meghan and Sam-I had computer and internet issues last night and could not update the Blog.  I think I have it under control, so here it is.

We contacted Ann from Red Thread China to meet us in our hotel and take us shopping.  For anyone who is going to Guangzhou and wants to bring back souvenirs, she is worth her weight in GOLD.  Not only did she get us the best deals on Chinese dresses and shoes, but she got us wholesale prices for pearls and jade.  She also was our translator for the day.  We had no idea what dialogue we had been missing the past week-it was pretty funny to figure out what the girls had been saying over and over.  She also took us to this amazing restaurant-see pics below.

Six hours later we were back in our hotel room.   Jenna and I were exhausted.  Zoey, who was quite the trouper and did not whine even once during the course of the day (and this had to be sooooo boring for her), and didn't take a nap, still had energy.  So we took her to the play park again.  After dinner and a shower, which she loved, we were all in bed by 8.  Here are the pics:

Our clean laundry arrived promptly at 8:30 a.m.  Woohoo!!!

We took the subway and our first stop with Ann was for some Chinese dresses for the girls. 

In the subway station-ahhhh.   Love this place.   :)

Jenna with the girls on the subway. 

Walking to lunch.  The streets were lined with shops-one after another.

Tim and Jenna have developed a 7-Eleven problem.  Can't seem to pass by without stopping for a slurpee.

The little sheep in this picture is Zoey's favorite.  She has a stuffed version of it that she sleeps with every night.  Very cute.  Going to have to do something with it when we get home to keep it away from the dogs...

Your guess is as good as mine...???

Someone took Jenna's slurpee....and drank the whole thing...

Lunch-you cannot get more authentic cuisine than this.  It is customary to first wash your table ware at the table in a restaurant with the green tea.  Chopsticks, bowl, and tea cup.

A cart with already-prepared food came by and Ann selected a bunch of different dishes.  Rice wrapped in seaweed, shrimp dumplings (my favorite), other kinds of dumplings, fried tofu, and steamed buns with pork.  We also ordered fried noodles-amazing.

Miss Zoey loves her green tea.

Jenna has been quite the adventurer with the food.  Not much she hasn't tried. 

At the pearl market.  Zoey's first pearls.  (Just fyi-this strand was only $3 here, but according to Ann would retail for more than $50 in the states.)

You select your strand of pearls and they knot it right there for you.

Jade market.  This place was sooooooo much cheaper than the jade factory we went to in Beijing.  Ann was able to get us dirt cheap prices-literally about a tenth of what we saw in the jade market. 

Another first.  She also gave Jenna 5 kisses throughout the day.

Is it beef?  Is it stone??  ........and the answer is....... stone.  We need a stone kiosk in the Dayton mall, don'tcha think?

Another good day.  She is really a sweetie.  Can't believe she's only been with us a week.