Day 8 & 9

Day 8 (Wednesday, March 22)

Wednesday was the day Chelsie and I would go to the tailors to see our prom dress and shirt. Both of us were hoping for the best, but figured for the amount of money we paid it wouldn't be a total loss if it didn't work out.

I slept in this morning and woke up about 9:30am. I took a shower and then proceeded to breakfast. It seemed that breakfast ended at 10:00am so I missed breakfast today. After updating the journal from the previous days, I talked with Chelsie who was doing her homework and planned out the rest of the day. We would first walk down to McDonalds for lunch and then walk down to drinking street. At McDonalds, I got an ice cream cone after lunch. Its funny how different the ice cream tastes from America. While walking down to drinking street we stopped in a bakery that sold candles that others had talked about previously. These candles are a flower and when lit, they open up and play the Happy Birthday tune. Chelsie got one for her sibling who has a birthday coming up. After walking around drinking street for awhile we walked back to our hotel.

Susan picked us up at the hotel at 3:30pm. She first took us to the tailors and we saw our shirt and prom dress. My shirt fit perfectly and Chelsie wasn't too sure about her prom dress. I thought it looked beautiful, but she didn't like how it bunched a little in her stomach area. After some debating, we both paid for our items and headed to the watch store. Chelsie's watch that she bought stopped working so she wanted to get it fixed. We found out that it needed a new battery and the guy put the new battery in and it worked fine. After walking around walking street for a little bit, Carlos (our driver) dropped Susan off at her house and we headed to the Chinese restaurant where we were having dinner with a bunch of Eclipse employees (including our parents). There was a gigantic Buddha in the entryway and some neat furniture inside. We went upstairs and went into a private room. There were about 10-15 chairs around a big table which had a turntable on top.

We waited for about 30 minutes until everyone arrived and they ordered a tremendous amount of food. The servers would bring out the dishes at different times and place them on the table. It was kind of a buffet style in that we would turn the turntable and get what we wanted. Now this is real Chinese food and after trying some chicken and other dishes I was finished. I didn't like the food at all and something about seeing the chicken head beside the pieces of chicken didn't make it look very appetizing. At the end of our meal you would think we would get fortune cookies but that is an American invention. We had to explain to the people that were with us what fortune cookies were. Instead, we got toothpicks and a plate of watermelon was placed on our table. Watermelon, I guess, is the dessert of the meal.

After the meal, we took a group photo in front of the Big Buddha. In the back of the entryway, there was a kind of display of wedding rituals. There was a rickshaw that I think carried the bride and groom on their wedding day. Chelsie and I both took pictures inside. That rickshaw was so small for me I barely was able to see out the front.

About 6 of us headed back to the tailors. Chelsie's dad (Kim) had a suit made and he wanted to pick it up. At the same time, Chelsie tried on the dress again to show her dad. She was still unsure of the fit, so my mom started looking at other dresses on the rack that were pre-made and ready to buy. After trying on a red dress, it fit perfectly!! We bargained very hard and Kim purchased both dresses for her (because she already bought the tailored dress and couldn't return it).

My mom wanted to do more shopping around walking street so we walked around and she bought a few things. Having not eaten very much at the Chinese restaurant, I was starving so we stopped by McDonalds (again!) and I ate some dinner. I had some DVDs that didn't work so we headed to the DVD shop on drinking street and returned them. I also bought the series DVDs for the show 24 (Season 1-5). After buying the DVDs we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Day 9 (Thursday, March 23)

Today was the day Chelsie and I would get to go to the Fake Market again. Mike, Kim, and James had to go into Shanghai to meet with a client so while they were meeting with them, we could spend about 3-4 hours and the Fake Market.

Yankee picked us all up at the hotel around 7:30am. After picking up Mike & Virginia we headed to the plant. My mom had to work at the plant all day so we dropped her and Virginia off and picked up James. We got to Shanghai around 10:30am and dropped them off at the client's place. Chelsie, Yankee, and I arrived at the Fake Market around 11am. I bought various gifts, a suitcase, shirts, and other souvenirs. Around 1pm we ate at McDonalds (again!) and shopped some more. We had to pick the guys up at 2pm so we had to hurry. Chelsie and I wanted to pick up gifts for Mike, Virginia, Steven, and Susan because they spent so much time with us during our stay. After alot of bargaining, we got gifts for everyone. Trying to fit 3 suitcases and all the rest of our bags in the trunk of the van was so funny.

We picked up the guys and headed back to the plant. I spoke with my mom and Chelsie and I waited until 5pm so we could go out to dinner. We all went to the Blue Marlin, an American Restaurant, and I had spaghetti. We presented our gifts to Mike, Virginia, and Steven and it seemed they really liked the gifts and appreciated the gesture. Also, I met some family members of an Eclipse employee that just got in from New York attending a funeral. Their kids were so cute and I wished I could have spent more time with them while I was here. We said our final goodbyes to Mike, Virginia, and Steven as it is the last time Chelsie and I would see them on our trip.

Because we had a lot of bags and wanted to do more shopping, Yankee dropped us off at the hotel and we dropped off our bags. We then proceeded back to Drinking Street to Dream Hollywood, a restaurant. My mom wanted to buy a polo shirt there and we then went to the other end of Drinking Street to do one last night of shopping. Yankee dropped us off and we would then catch a taxi after we were done shopping. My mom and I purchased a few sweaters, picture frames, a vase, and a few figurines. I really wanted to get a silk embroidery picture, but the ones I liked were really big and I didn't want to mess with it on the plane back home.

We then caught a taxi back to the hotel for the night.