Aug. 16

Mark called our room at 8:39 a.m. to say he was ready to eat and that Brian was in the shower. I had been awake for three hours, but the rest of the family was still asleep. However, within five minutes of his call, everyone was up.

For the first time on this trip, we ate breakfast in our room instead of having a buffet in the restaurant. This was much quicker and easier -- although we did have some terrific breakfasts at the various hotels. Mark and Brian came to our room, too. We had bananas, yogurt, milk, Cheerios and peanut butter sandwiches.

Mark, Brian and I prepared ourselves to go into Hong Kong. First we planned to see the city and then we were to go to Disneyland to do a few of the attractions and see the fireworks. Our mission was to figure out the best way to get to Disneyland the following day with all six people and our luggage.

We attempted to get a cab to take us across the border into Hong Kong to get information about the bus to Disneyland, but the bellman wasn't sure what to tell the driver. He recommended that we speak to the concierge. This concierge was more knowledgable about how to get to Disneyland. He recommended that we take the hotel's van to get there. He said that we wouldn't need to transfer to a different vehicle at the border. That sounded fantastic! It would be a bit pricey, but worth it. So we booked the van for the following day at 11 a.m.

With the resolved, we thought we would take the metro to get around Hong Kong before taking it to Disneyland. But the bellman still didn't know where to tell the cab to take us. He told us to just walk five minutes to get to the border. We inquired about the visas we would need to get back onto the mainland (as our original visas were for ONE entry), and he summoned his manager.

The manager said he would give us the address of where we would apply for the visas in Hong Kong. He said if we could apply before noon (which was doubtful) that the visas would be ready in the afternoon of the following day. We looked at each other and determined that our plan wasn't going to work. Once we leave Shenzhen, we basically need to have all of our stuff and be prepared to leave from Hong Kong.

So we took a few minutes to decide what to do instead. Mark and Brian suggested shopping at Lo Wu which is the place they wanted to go the previous night, but they ended up shopping somewhere else that had been recommended to them (and which they enjoyed). That sounded good to me. We agreed to retire early so that we could leave for Disneyland at 9 a.m. the following day (and we changed our van reservation accordingly).

We went upstairs and the twins were glad to see us. It had been a difficult 30 minutes without extra helping hands, so Peter was probably even more happy to use than the twins were.

We all went downstairs and got in a cab for Lo Wu. It took about 15 minutes to get there. It was a long walk to get from the cab area to the stores, and the girls refused to walk. Our hotel didn't have strollers for rent or for sale either.

The stores were teeming with items and salespeople were begging us to stop at their stalls. "Look here, Missy" was the typical phrase they used to get my attention. Also, men would say, "DVD, DVD" and try to get us interested in purchasing what must have been bootlegged DVDs (because many of the movies they were selling hadn't been released yet on DVD). We were not interested in DVDs, but we did get some underwear for Sienna, two shirts for each of the girls and two t-shirts for me. The most popular items were sale included handbags, clothing and DVDs. There were a lot of salons that would do manicures, pedicures and foot massages, too.

Peter went into a tea store for a sample. The woman went through an elaborate ritual to make the green tea. She kept pouring water from cup to cup. She often poured water onto a wooden frog's back. This water wasn't put into the tea though. Meanwhile, the girls were hungry, so I opened a jar of carrots. They loved it, but the orange coloring got on my pants and both of their shirts. Then Peter put a bottle of water on the floor and Sienna kicked it over (accidentally). We helped clean up the mess and decided it was time to get back to the hotel.

The one time the girls would stand on their own was on the escalators, so we opted out of the elevator for all five floors. We were about to leave the building, but it was pouring with rain. Instead, Peter watched the girls while I tried some different models of a folding bike. These bikes had a much different design than any of the folding bikes I had seen before. They didn't seem like they would do well on anything but a flat surface, but they folded into a more compact shape and were lighter than other folding bikes. I wanted to get a couple of them, but I knew I couldn't. But it was nice to give them a try in case I want to order them online in the future. (I think they would work well in London.) The brand name was "A Bicycle."I think I could have purchased one for about $50.

We walked through the mall a bit more. I finally saw a kiosk with toys. However, they didn't have the plastic triangular snake-like toy that we were looking for. (Since we didn't take the train to Shenzhen, we missed out on a potential opportunity to buy them en route.)

We walked toward a different exit and ran into Mark and Brian. They were in a store were a man kept trying to sell them iPods. However, they already have iPods. We decided we would all leave together because we were very hungry.

As we left the building, I purchased an ice cream bar for us to share. It had a picture of corn on the cob on it, so our curiosity was piqued. The novelty had an outer coating that was sort of like a cone but shaped like an ear of corn. Inside there was ice cream that tasted like corn. Sienna took the first bite and seemed to love it. All six of us -- including Scarlett -- had a few bites of it. It was different!

We got in line for a cab. It was still raining, but the cab stand area was enclosed. The driver had a hard time understanding where our hotel is located. (We were told that our hotel is only one year old, so that might account for some of the confusion.) Brian provided the driver with a hotel card and map that explained everything in Chinese. Finally he said the name of the road where the hotel was located. I was so happy that he figured out that I burst out with "Si." Everyone laughed because they knew I was trying to say "yes" in Chinese, but Spanish came out instead. (I was actually repressing my urge to say "hai" which is Japanese for yes.)

We decided that we were hungry for pizza, but we didn't know how to order from Papa John's. I thought it might be faster and easier to order from room service. I picked up the phone and ordered a vegetarian pizza and a pepperoni pizza. I asked how big the pizzas were and they said each would be enough for "one persons." That turned out to be a good description because there was enough pizza in each pie for two people, but a really hungry person might want to eat the whole thing. The girls ate hot noodles and yogurt.

After our late lunch, we decided the girls should have a nap. (The boys went upstairs and rested, too.) The girls didn't want to nap, but after about 30 minutes of play, they slept for three hours! Meanwhile, I went to a Hatha yoga class at the fitness center. I met a nice woman in the class who spoke English very well. She was Chinese, but she was originally from Toronto. There were seven students in the class.

I don't mind doing a little yoga as part of a class that includes aerobics, but an hour of yoga always seemed boring to me. But now that I am the mother of twins, I saw it a bit differently. During this hour, there would be no loud sounds, no crying, no talking (except some instructions from the teacher). For the last 15 minutes, we simply laid on our mats in a warm room with a towel covering me. While I may have thought that an hour of Zumba was what I needed, I think yoga was really a better option.

After the class I put on my swimsuit and went into the hot tub. This time I was able to turn the bubbles on. It felt fantastic!

While I was at yoga, the girls' pajamas were returned from the laundry. It cost about $13.25 to have them washed and folded. The pajamas were returned in a picnic box and looked wonderful!

The girls were still asleep went I got back. Peter asked me to go out for some groceries. It was raining, so I had to walk. I invited the boys to come with me and they agreed.

We went to several stores before we actually bought anything. (I knew what I needed, but I didn't want to carry it around.) We got some interesting ice cream bars in a drug store. Mark and Brian took them back to their room and put them in the refrigerator (on high). I then went to the market to get bananas, corn milk, regular milk, Pringles (hot and spicy), two yogurts and some candy (for presents).

When I returned, the girls were still asleep! About 30 minutes later they got up and we made them hot noodles. I made some for myself as well. (I just took the small pieces of meat out of my flavor packet.) The boys were to come down, too, but Mark was napping. Brian came down and got some noodles while Peter took the girls downstairs for a walk.

I was exhausted and wanted to go to sleep for the night. When Mark finally got up, we had him come to our room to watch the girls so I could sleep and so Peter could go to the fitness center. Mark brought my flavored ice bar with him. It had a gummy worm in it. Sienna loved it! Both girls ate bits of the flavored ice, too.

I was able to sleep until 5:20 a.m. So in two weeks, I never did get over my jet lag! (I had a friend who moved from Virginia to Australia and after three weeks, he still had jet lag.)