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June 16, 2005
Day Six - Tang Weng Pavilion, and a better day
After another buffet breakfast in the Sampan this morning, we headed up the street a bit to Tang Weng Pavilion. The walk there was hot. The kind of hot that makes your clothes all stick to your body and your head go slightly swimmy if you forget your hat.
I went back to the room for a hat for Lara.
The streets here are not as clean as in Beijing. They're not filthy...just a lower grade of city-standard dirty than in the capital. I pointed out the fold-out racks bolted outside many of the apartment block windows, most holding a variety of clothing that would have been swaying gently in the breeze if there was any. Rose noted that people in Beijing used to do the same thing, until the city outlawed it in the name of civic beautification.
We passed middle-aged women out walking with purpose. We passed shops and stalls selling primarily tourist good -- knickknacks, gewgaws and whatnots that are all pretty much the same at any tourist destination. We passed an Internet café, door opened wide to allow the whirring fan inside to ventilate the room slam-packed with surfers, gamers and emailers. All this in about a block and a half.
Then we reached Tang Weng. The pavilion is about 90 feet tall, set in a pretty little park by the river side. It's more or less the kind of structure you think of when you hear the word "pagoda." I commented to Lara that it seemed in really good shape. Then Betty told us that it had been destroyed and rebuilt 20-some-odd times, most recently in 1989. Guess that explains the spiffy paint!
The views from the first floor were nice, and inside we bought a small glass ornament with Emma's name on it. There was an elevator to a higher floor, but as it was hot and all three of us were getting cranky, we declined, opting instead to return to the room. There, we spent the rest of the evening playing with our baby.
She's not attached yet, this little dark-eyed mystery, but she knows who we are. The pictures we posted recently should make it clear that she's basically comfortable with us. We keep figuring out little secrets about her personality. For instance, she does not like wearing diapers. At all. Apparently, lots of kids get to run around without them much of the time.
Okay, whatever.
She especially doesn't like her diapers dirty or wet, but who would? Especially with a chapped behind. We're learning to recognize the signs that she's used the bathroom, though, and even though she doesn't like being laid down much, she tolerates it with the help of the Magic Keys or a vanilla wafer.
She has an odd head-shaking behavior that the doctor says is mostly self-stimulation. I may have mentioned that before. It's actually a little disconcerting to see, but seems harmless.
After some playtime, we napped a bit. Later we headed downstairs for supper in the Sampan, where Emma partook of her usual congee and egg. Returning to our room for bed, we discovered our most valued information to date -- the kid sleeps comfortably if bedded down with a bottle. Experts be damned, that's what we're doing, because Mom and Dad desperately need sleep.
Posted by brlittle at June 16, 2005 09:14 PM