Chongqing

Even though in the pictures, Maisie is nothing but adorable, she really had a rough go of it yesterday. She awoke early after a fitful night and in addition to lots of grieving on her part, she's also cutting a tooth or two so somewhat out of sorts. She was extremely clingy and for most of the day she wanted to be held and not just held but walked around. How do these kids know when your bum is not only sitting but even when it's mere inches from the seat?

Eammon was completely exhausted from so little sleep the past few nights so he decided to forego the days tour of Ciqikou, the old city. I wanted to go and get out for a bit but decided to leave Maisie at the hotel with Eammon, so I gave him her schedule and was on my way.

Most of the families met in the lobby and then we boarded a bus to Ciqikou, Old Town. Along the way our guide Marie gave us some background about both Chongqing and Ciqikou. Old Town which consists of two narrow streets in a "T" shape are
supposed to be representative of life in China in the 1970'. Yes you read that correctly, it's called Old Town and it's representative of the time when I was a child!!

There were many little stores selling all sorts of clothing,candy,
food, musical instruments, silk items, junk you don't need and plastic. It was fun walking around though and seeing how some of the items were made.

The top picture shows a little of what the street looks like. Next is a woman grinding soy beans so that she can make Fresh tofu. The two men in the next picture are hammering a candy that is made out of sesame seeds. They seem to make two kinds, one with black sesame seeds and one with white. They were good
so I bought a little to bring back for Eammon to try. The next picture is of a man making beautiful candy lollipops using only a spoon filled with molten, caramelized sugar. The final picture shows women getting the silk from the silk worm.

Also as we drove over there, there were what looked like garages built into the side of the hills and some had shops in them while others were locked. They were actually bomb shelters used during WWII when Chongqing was used as the War time Capital of China and was heavily bombed. The city is amazing and the traffic crazy. Lane markers are painted just like in other countries, but here if you saw say three lanes, cars are five or six across, cutting each other up and of course all with out any indicators. Funny thing is, I haven't seen any cars with dents.

Once I returned from the outing, Eammon went off to get a massage while I stayed in the room and played with Maisie and got all of the play pictures. Eammon has had a massage everyday since we got to China, he's going to be one disappointed boy once we return to the real world and he has neither the time nor the money to do that little activity everyday.

For dinner the three of us along with another couple from Atlanta, Booker, Becky and daughter Ruby George went with one of our guides for a hotpot dinner. It was fabulous and we'll do it again tonight and hopefully convince some other couples to join us. Most of the people were afraid that it would be too hot and spicy, but it really wasn't, as long as you didn't eat the little Schezuan peppercorns which for some reason Eammon couldn't managed to avoid.

After dinner we had a little playdate in our room with Ruby George and Kai Owen. Getting the babies together really helped them come more out of their shells and it was fun to spend some time with other people in a relaxed atmosphere. Well that was until Maisie decided to download a stinker and once that diaper was opened and everyone's nose hair was burned away, the evening came to an end.

I've been asked many questions in both comments and emails, so I'll try to answer them here.
The cakes in Hong ,one was a white chocolate mousse cake with Kirsch and the other was a chocolate cinnamon mousse. Both were quite good but the white chocolate one was the better of the two.

It is true that Eammon ate dog as well as some other interesting dishes such as fish tongues. He was adventurous and said it all was good and interesting.

Maisie is 14 months old, born October 17, 2005.

Her latest report says she weighs 8.2 kg, is 71 cm tall and has 6 teeth, four up and two down.

She wears 6-9 month clothing if two pieces or a dress but because she is long, onsies are 9 month+.

She is on a milk based formula and though the report says that she has had rice porridge, vegetable juice and broth, she'll have nothing to do with any of them.

The nannies called her Miao Miao so we've been calling her Maisie Miao Miao.

She is very serious, cautious and timid but has a good laugh when she gets going.

She is the crier of the group, lucky us!