On Wednesday, we had a free day until 5:00 in the evening when we were schedule to go on a dinner cruise. Amelia and I slept until 8:30 that morning and took our time getting ready. We went to breakfast and took a stroll through the gardens of our hotel. I knew that we would have a late night, so Amelia was put down for an early nap. While she was napping, David went to the electronics market. He had been wanting to experience it and see if there were any deals. He said it was amazing and enormous. He doesn't understand how anyone makes any money because they all sell the same product. He came back with one souvenir for himself. While David was away, I tried to organize some of our things and get my carryon packed with things we had purchased. I didn't get very far because I decided to lay down and take a rest. At 5:00, we headed out for the dinner cruise. I was not feeling well at all by this time, but I wanted to try to attend as many of the activities that were planned for us as I could. Once we boarded the ship, Meredith, Ella, Amelia, and I became celebrities. It seemed like everyone on board wanted to take our photograph. It was a little unnerving. David did not notice any of it, but Brandon made sure to take video of the crowd taking our pictures. Some would come right up to the table and just start snapping away. It was crazy! This occurred all evening. They loved taking pictures of us eating and feeding the children. Dinner was less than desirable. Amelia loved the fried rice and of the two hours we were on the cruise, she ate for an hour and a half of it. The bread was excellent and the noodles were okay. I didn't feel like eating much anyway, but the bread helped me feel a little better. The views from the ship were amazing. The city was lit up, and David took excellent photos while I fed Amelia. :)
On Thursday, we got up very early and headed to the consulate to take our oath and complete the final paperwork to get Amelia's visa issued into her passport. Rebecca, our guide, was not allowed to go with us into the consulate, so we had to manage it ourselves. Fortunately, several families we have met through the trip were there and helped us figure it out. Cameras were not allowed into the consulate, so we could not take pictures of any of this. We took the oath as a group and then were called to complete the paperwork individually. This lasted about an hour and then we were headed back to the hotel to change Amelia before going to Shamian Island.
Shamian Island was a quaint little area. I can see how families would have enjoyed staying on the island at the White Swan. This landmark hotel is under renovation, and we were unable to stay there. We walked around the island and did a little shopping. Since we had already purchased a few things for Amelia, we only bought a couple of t-shirts for David. We then had lunch at Lucy's with several other families. Lucy's is an American diner on the island. Amelia fell asleep leaning on the table waiting to be served and slept for about 30 minutes this way. Once she woke up, she ate her first grilled cheese sandwich. She ate almost the entire thing! The sandwich and the fries were excellent. I was feeling much better by this time and after finishing up with a few more shops, we went back to the hotel. I tried to put Amelia down for a nap, but she would have none of it. I laid next to the crib for an hour and actually woke up to a finger in my nose. Amelia was still wide awake, so we gave up and decided to have an early bedtime instead. When I got up, my kidneys were majorly hurting me. I had started my Cipro prescription the doctor gave me on Wednesday, so I wasn't sure if it was the medicine causing the pain or if I had a kidney infection. I decided to drink lots of water and head to dinner with the two other Lifeline families. We went to a Thai restaurant across the street from our hotel called the Banana Leaf. We sat down to eat and I knew that I was going to be sick. After heading to the bathroom twice, I felt much less nauseous because my stomach was now empty. I drank some water and fed Amelia some rice. She was in an awful mood because she did not have a nap, and I was in a mood because I felt bad. Poor David! He had ordered me a tofu dish, but I couldn't even think about eating any of it. He kept saying that I needed to put something on my stomach and all I could think of was that it was going to come back up. We left dinner right after. I put myself to bed and David became super dad. He prepared Amelia's bottle, but she would only take a little from him. He put her to bed and she screamed. I had to get up and rub on her a bit. Her pink fuzzy blanket that she sleeps with had fallen on the ground on the way to the restaurant and needed to be washed. I realized that she couldn't sleep without it, so the good mom that I am just gave it to her. She fell right to sleep with only a few cries. She cried several times during the night, and David checked on her until he went to bed. I took over then because I had been able to rest a little. I have been up several times tonight feeling nauseous but have not gotten sick. We leave this afternoon for Hong Kong and then get on a plane early tomorrow morning. Please pray that the flights go smoothly, Amelia sleeps, and that I don't get sick! I will update with our flight information later. It is 4:30 am here and I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about all of the packing I need to do. We are schedule to go to the botanical gardens this morning at 9:30, but I don't know if I will make it. I'm still feeling puny, and our van leaves at 4:00. I wonder if David will take Amelia with him so I can pack...
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