Arrival in Shanghai

This was written last night - but I had trouble sending...

Hi everyone,

We are in Shanghai and finally together with all our
batch mates - at least until Helen leaves tomorrow.  It
has been great to catch up with everyone and everyone
seems to be doing really well with their little ones.
Although Jessica has been ill with a chest infection,
she is now on antibiotics and should be fine.  Alex is
also coming down with some sort of flu, cough, chest
thing too, and as our medicals for the babies are
tomorrow, he has had to back right off from her in case
she gets a temperature or something and we are held here
for another week.  So I have had to take over everything
for Jade, whether she likes it or not, with some welcome
help from the boys when called on, and she has been
really good with me.  She is starting to love my kisses
and cuddles and little games we have.  Alex will see a
doctor tomorrow if he is still bad in the morning - and
will be trading rooms with one of the boys tonight to
stay away from Jade.  Sandi and Steve's Ming is such a
little 3 year old bundle of energy, and he had the boys
in fits of laughter with his pew-pew-pewing and turning
everything into a gun at dinner last night.
The hotel is fine, after a room change again to once
accommodate our request for a king bed, and although I
had heard stories about how unclean it is, it is a vast
improvement on our last hotel where we could play guess
the stains, on the carpet.
Shanghai is a completely different angle on China for us.
It doesn't have the same feel as the provinces, as it is
a modern day city.  I was surprised to hear that 200
years ago it was not a city at all, but only a fishing
village.
Today we went up the Pearl TV Tower - the 3rd largest
tower in the world after Toronto and then Mexico.  The
boys were amazed to get off on the 263rd floor. What a
view.  It is hard to get your mind around a city of
23-24 million and there is a vast sea of skyscrapers as
far as the eye can see for 360 degrees.
We have seen the celebratory status that Molly and
Yasmin have bestowed on them,but our boys got a taste of
it up in the Tower.  A Tibetan tribe traditional family
asked the boys for photos and kept following them and
shaking their hands.  Especially Joshua with his blonde
hair, and Taylor with his long hair.
Liam was upset that he did not get to dye his hair
before the trip, as he did not gather as much interest.
Very cute.
We have a new guide Jenny, and although she seems nice
and helpful, she is not Coby.  I miss him already, we
all connected really well with him and he adored Jade.
We all gave him a very large tip, and Josh stayed up
late on the last night burning a dvd of all our Jiangxi
photos and video to give to him (he had requested it).
We have his email address and we plan to stay in touch.
I asked Jenny to point out the Raffles City building
where the ANZ is located, and where we are heading on
our first free day on Friday to meet up with Fang and
Daniel. It turns out it is only a couple of blocks away
from the Bund Hotel, about 5 minutes walk, and it can be
seen from our hotel window. Pure luck.  I am looking
forward to see the new office and of course the Comms
Room.
I have been hearing about the best every Chinese
dumplings from a place directly across the road from the
hotel, so as Alex was giving us a wide berth, he went
out to get some for lunch.  Poor guy, went to a place
for locals that did not understand him at all, but he
pointed, and came back with a pack of cold, uncooked
dumplings.  Cute.  We will have to try and find the
correct place tomorrow, Sandi has it on a map.
Tomorrow is the day we have been dreading - the medicals.
This step in our long journey is pretty horrific by all
accounts, but necessary to get the clearance back in
Australia for her to be allowed in.  I just wish they
had perfected the art of gentleness.  Even the guide
said that tomorrow has no plans in the afternoon, as you
will need to stay in the hotel with your very upset
babies. Great.  Poor little soul.  I can see a phobia
of men in white coats coming up. And no doubt I will
have to be the one to hold her down.  Better for Alex
to stay bonded I guess.  Wish us luck!
Tonight we have been told to stay in the hotel, so the
babies don't get cold and sick at the last moment before
tomorrow, so it is off to the Russian Restaurant in the
Hotel tonight.  That should be quite a change!
I will send an update tomorrow on how we got through the medical.
Cheers,
Cindy.