Today we had a very busy day... once we finally got out of bed. Once again, Cassidy was up crying in the night at 2:00 a.m. The saving grace is that she eventually fell back to sleep and stayed that way until around 7:00. We then went down for the breakfast buffet, and we were off to do some last-minute shopping. We had promised one guy that we would come by his shop. We found out that he is a Believer. He was very friendly and very chatty. We then continued on but were stopped by a young man who wanted to practice his English. I was more than happy to oblige the guy because this is what I'd been expecting and hoping for since Day One. He told us his name is James (after Lebron James) and that he is a huge fan of all things American... except Britney Spears. In particular, he is a big fan of Brad Pitt and Will Smith movies, and he loves rap. He wants to play basketball in the United States, but he only plays occasionally at the present time.
After that we went on to another shop that had actually done our laundry recently. (Most of the shops that sell souvenirs do laundry also.) We had a nice chat with Dong (not kidding) as he schooled us on teas. He then proceeded to try to sell us on just about everything else in the store... everything from suitcases to tee-shirts to original paintings to diapers. Fortunately for me, I ran out of money.
We then rushed back to the hotel, so we could feed Cassidy before we had to head to the U.S. Consulate for our last official function. The visa ceremony proved to be the most underwhelming deal - quite possibly in my entire life. After a nice greeting, the representative had us stand up, raise our right hands, and swear that all of the information we had provided was true to the bes of our knowledge. We then were handed the very critical brown envelope meant for Customs and Immigration and sent on our merry way. It took us quite a while to find a taxi that was willing to take us to the hotel because most taxi drivers were returning their vehicles at that time of day.
Once we got back to the hotel, we loaded up what we needed and prepared to head back out one last time to do the very last of the last-minute shopping. The plan was to take a taxi instead of walk to Shiamin Island, get the last items, then proceed to a restaurant Shinko had recommended, and then take a taxi back to the hotel. Well, the taxi ride took about 10 minutes longer than if we had walked. After shopping with no problem, we headed for dinner but forgot the name of the restaurant Shinko recommended. Instead of confirming with her, we went to the one that sounded right, and that can be counted as the wrong thing to do. The food was merely okay, and to say that is being extremely generous (which I'm known for... it's my hallmark). We then tried to get a taxi, and we were rejected by two separate drivers. So we hoofed it... with Shari's uncomfortable shoes and blistery feet.
So we officially have no more responsibilities besides making sure we get to where we need to be at the scheduled time. We hop on a train to Hong Kong tomorrow, and we then chill for a day as we wait to walk to the airport terminal on Thursday morning.
Cassidy is chattier today than she'd been. When I returned from running some errands, I was shocked to find her walking around on her own. I mean, she was actually completely separated from Shari... by like 10 feet. Not only that, but she actually approached me to hand me things she was randomly picking up. Of course, once she realized what she was doing, she freaked out again when I knelt down and tried to hand her something back.
Her voice is very hoarse right now from all of the crying, and I hope that holds up just long enough to get us through the flights two days from now.
Blog at you later.
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