On Wednesday night Grant's mom and dad arrived and so did his brother and sister in law. We got out early with Grandee and Grandpa and headed back to Toys R Us. I found a few things I couldn't live without and Ben picked out a small blue taxi which looked like the taxi we had ridden in earlier in the week. That toy taxi came in handy several times during the trip.
Ben was soooo excited!
This was the changing room outside of Toys R Us. They had sanitary wipes, a sink and tons of room. It was pretty cool.
They even had a bottle warmer!!
After Toys R Us we made our way over to Johnson & Co. Johnson & Co. is a tailor and jewelry shop where Grant's family has been long time customers. His family has gotten to know the owners well and we stopped by so Grant's dad and brother and sister in law could have a few suits made and we could look at jewelry. We were there quite awhile and created a little nursery in the back. The babies were pretty happy.
This was Bonnie - she loved the kids.
Piper was pretty happy sleeping with grandpa.
After Johnson & Co. we went out for Dim Sum with Charlie, the owner.
Dim sum - yummy!
Ben liked the fish tank.
After Dim Sum we headed down to the flower market and bird market. On our way we ran across this hotel. Wow it seems like they have these type of hotels all over Asia!
The flower market was beautiful. One of my favorite places of the whole trip. The flowers were very reasonable too. I wish I could have brought some home!
The bird market was crazy. I can't believe there is enough demand for it! They sold all types of birds, cages, food, toys, etc.
Ben probably would have liked to have brought one home.
Maggots - Gross!!!
Grasshoppers
Crickets
On our way to Toys R Us in the morning we were pursued by a man who claimed to be a monk asking for money and giving out heart necklaces if you gave him anything. Well I fell for it and Ben got this necklace. He thought it was the coolest thing. Grant didn't think the man was really a monk. I guess there are a lot of people faking things around there just to get money. We even saw one man walking over to a wall where he sat down and put his arms and legs in his clothes and acted like he didn't have arms or legs in order to beg for money.
Piper was pretty content during the bird market.
Our whole entourage.
Ben decided it was his turn to ride in the stroller.
Nate and Uncle Scott
That night we had Christmas Eve dinner at a place called the China Club. My father in law is good friends with a man who lives in Tokyo but does business in Hong Kong and invited us to go to the China club with a few other friends and associates of his. It was kindof fun to get all dressed up and go out to dinner, even with the kids!
When we got there they had noisemakers, hats, lei, etc. on the table for Christmas. The hats even said Merry Christmas!
Fancy! They even had silver chopsticks!
Grant thought this old fashioned coke bottle was pretty neat.
Ben and Aunt Manju. Ben loved hanging out with Aunt Manju!
This pic was taken for Lori and Elizabeth - I am so sorry!
The appetizer was so good! On the top is a crab claw. I never would have thought I would have liked something like that. It was very tasty!
The babies were sacked out. That helped make the evening even more enjoyable!
This man did a little show with what I think was tea. The pot had an extremely long spout and he spun the pot around and did various artistry movements with it and in the end poured the tea out into a cup. It was really neat to watch. He also went around to the tables and poured tea for people using the pot.
One of the lampshades.
This man did a noodle making demonstration. He started off with a mound of dough and was able to throw it around and make the dough longer and longer and each time he cut several noodles with some sort of blade in his hand. I didn't realize what he was doing until the very end when he laid the dough down and started to spread it out and the dough had turned into tons of strands of noodles!
Grandee and Ben dancing.
This is Johnny. Johnny met us at the airport and helped us to our hotel. Ben took to him very quickly. We were so excited to see him again at dinner.
This was the high chair at the China Club. Very fancy!
By the end of the night Nate was ready to go to bed.
Merry Christmas!
