Paperwork done & cruise

After our usual breakfast buffet, we returned to our room by 10 AM to await the phone call from Simon to let us know whether or not everything was completed at the U.S. Consulate. He called about 11:30 AM with the good news. We were done with all our paperwork on the China side! Tomorrow we will all go to the consulate for the oath taking and receipt of Kimberly's U.S. entry visa for her Chinese passport. This visa declares that as soon as we land on U.S. soil, Kimberly will be a U.S. citizen!

Here are some pictures of us taken with the Christmas decorations in the White Swan.


While Kathryn had her afternoon nap, Dad and Kimberly went on another "off-island" adventure. He headed east off the island in the vicinity of the cultural park we visited yesterday (chrysanthemum displays). His mission, explore the electronics market he saw yesterday in passing. They successfully crossed all the streets (at the signal lights) without mishaps.

NOTE: A green pedestrian light does NOT mean it is safe for pedestrians to cross. It just means that "most" traffic has been stopped. Right turn traffic can still go through the intersection. Apparently, the rules for cars, with respect to pedestrians and bicycles, is don't hit them, but otherwise you can keep on driving!

The electronic market is just as chaotic as the other markets we have seen. In the private markets, there are small stalls that specialize in one thing or another, with competition just a few stalls down or just across the way. We saw cellphones and cellphone accessories (cases, covers, hands-free wired and bluetooth headsets), 2-way radios, electronic toolkits, multi-meters, MP3/MP4 players, miscellaneous parts, USB drives, rechargeable batteries, DVD players, and more. Larger electronics (e.g. computers, TVs) must be in some other market some place else. Dad picked up a cheap set of ear bud earphones for the flight home.

In the evening, we went downstairs to meet Simon to settle our room upgrade bill. Then we met his associate, Rebecca, and the family she was working with (Steven, Susan and 2 yr old daughter, Lily). Rebecca would be escorting both families to the Pearl River dinner cruise aboard the Zstar line. The night was a little hazy but the temperature was perfect for a cruise. It was a buffet dinner, and Rebecca warned us that when the call is made that the buffet is open, hurry to get in line else you will have a long wait. Sure enough, when the announcement was made, an orderly mob moved to get into line. However, after everyone had gone through once (about 40 minutes later), there was no line. The buffet was Chinese-style, with pork meatballs, duck, chicken, mini-beef ribs, fish balls, tofu, vegetables, noodles and corn on the cob. There was shrimp and mussels if you were in line at the right time. Dad found it to be tasty, though Mom found some of the food to be a little on the spicy side. We shared a table with the other family. It originally had four chairs (4 adult tickets), but we got a fifth chair for Kathryn (squeezed between the window and the table) and put Kimberly in the stroller on the ledge next to the window -- she had a wonderful view, though she did not really notice it.

The views from the top deck were wonderful.