While our guide was at the consulate doing the paperwork on our behalf we had the day OFF! Miss C slept in until 9:00 (guess we can no longer use her as our breakfast alarm clock!) and we went downstairs to have an extended breakfast (Catherine's favorite meal of the day by far).
We really wanted to head back to the area of the pearl market to do a little more gift shopping so after we ate we set out on foot. It takes about 25-30 minutes to walk there and the route takes you through some pretty awesome streets that show you some "real" life here in Guangzhou. We just love walking through this kind of stuff and getting a glimpse into the daily lives of our hosts.
We got to the area of the pearl market which is a huge shopping street (that surprisingly reminds us of Glasgow in Scotland!) and we had a look around the place while the locals got a good look around us :)
I will admidt that Chicken Guy did NOT remind us of Scotland :)
They have incredible deals here and it would have been a great time to do some Christmas shopping if I had been feeling "shoppy". I know... bad timing! We did the shopping that we came for (and, of course, just a few things that we had not come for... wink!) and after a few hours we headed back.
On the way back we stopped at a local foot massage place. It was 15 yuan for 45 minutes (this is about $2.20) and I think we just might have been the only foreigners who have ever used their services. The place was packed and they all thought it was hilarious that we were there (especially with our Chinese baby). No one spoke a word of English but we managed to get by. That is until we came to the realization after they started that the 45 minutes included a back massage, a foot massage, and a pedicure. Jay nearly freaked out... change that... Jay freaked out! They kept making fun of the sad state of Jay's toenails while my guy kept pushing in the skin on my lower leg so he could show everyone how much water I have been retaining. Hey... come on! We are pretty sure that we are going to die of some awful, painful disease from the tools they used to scrape off our calluses. But, if we die, we will at least die with beautifully soft feet :) The massage was good (albeit a bit painful at times) and it was definitely a memorable experience and well worth the $5 we spent!
(this is Jay after his massage... I still cannot believe I got him to do it)
By the time we got back to the island we had totally blown Catherine's nap time (we paid for that later!) so we took her to the playground. I think she could have done the slide over and over all day but she was getting way overstimulated so we had to get her out of there (and thus our payment began!).
We ate outside at our favorite restaurant under a full moon... beautiful.
Foot massages in China...a first for me to read about but sounds delightful. I can imagine watching Jay. Hey, you have nice, soft feet and had a nice break from sight seeing and shopping. I would hate to see what they would point out about my legs :o)
ReplyDeleteHey Jen! I am enjoying following along. I keep trying to leave comments and they won't post, maybe this one will. Guangzhou was a mess when we were there too. Catherine is beautiful and looks like she is doing pretty good. Hope you enjoy your last few days there.
ReplyDeleteYour hubby is such a sweetheart! I love all the exploration, no wonder you needed a foot message. My hubby would have RUN the other way!
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't have two octopi in tow the entire time in GZ I could have shopped so much more. At least you have a contraption that discourages touching EVERYTHING in sight, can you just see Juni in a backpack (all 62 pounds of her :-{}). To this day, Juni still blurts out "No Touch" for lots of situations...wonder why???
Sue