Whoops! Forgot This One...China: January 3, 2009

Dear Mom,

The day before yesterday, we spent too much time picking our ice skates. Our ice skates were probably the most beautiful and professional. They were only sold in one shop out of the entire sports utility mall (we couldn't find them in any other store). In that mall, we also bought Anna a badminton racket and dad a pingpong paddle. The pingpong paddle even comes with a bag/cover. The pingpong paddle's bag is so small compared to the bag of the badminton racket or tennis racket's bags. Yesterday, we went to a picture taking place. Yeye and nainai stayed home. Gugu had to go to work, and liangliang went to school. Even though it was a Sunday, liangliang still had to go to school, because they had a NEW YEAR'S BREAK, and had to make up the missed school days. I'm glad it's not like that in America.

Love,
Amy Gao

China: January 5, 2009

Dear Mom,

We are going ice skating today. The day before the day before yesterday (1/2/09), we went to ZhongJie to eat their special tang hu lu. We also bought feshly made ice cream and yang rou chuan. It was yummy. After that, we (dad, anna, gugu, liangliang, and me) walked directly to Lao Bian Jiao Zi. Yeye and nainai didn't come that day. I don't why, but i enjoyed the day without them :-) At the resturant, we ordered different kinds of jiao zi. We ordered pork, hui2 xiang1, and celery. We also bought two cups of tea. In the tea cups, the waitress first put in ju2 hua1 (chrysanthumum flower), dried long2 yan3, another flower that i don;t know of, and tea leaves. It was pretty. Then, using a BIG tea kettle with a LONG spout, the waitress poured in hot water. Gugu didn't know what to call the waitress, so she called her ya1 tou. We all laughed. I told her to call the waitress Xiao3 Jie3. She called the waitress Xiao3 Hai2. It was funny. I took pictures of the tea and our fun time at Lao Bian Jiao Zi.

We are going to take pictures at a professional photoshoot company's building. At the picture taking place, we were allowed to pick two dresses from their closet and had to bring one set of clothes for our own. The first dress that i picked was red, with a lot of that kind of see through cloth (sa [first tone]). After we pur on our dress, we went to the makeup and hairdresser place, where makeup artists, did our faces and hair. My makeup artist gluedfake eyelashes on me, so my eyes looked HUGE. She also puffed up my hair onto the top of my head, and added a red feather clip. When I looked into the mirror, I looked like an asian princess. Anna's dress was white with pearls. Her makeup artist (the same as mine) put her hair into a bun and covered that bun with fake hair, so that she looked like a queen. She also wore a tiara, which is a type of crown for girls/women. We then went to a photo shoot set. There were staircases, fake pianos, and lots of other fake things, and real things too, like sofas, and fences. After each photo shoot, we switched clothes. After you switch clothes, you go back to the makeup artist and they redo your hair, according to how your dress looks like. My second dress was green, and my hairstyle was made so that my hair was on one side, and flowers were put on that side. I think Anna was jealous ofmy clip, so she picked a red dress, and the makeup artists put the same red clip in her hair too, but her hairstyle was different from mine. Our photo shoot place this time was at the fake piano and the sofa. After we finished that photo shoot, we changed into our next clothes; the ones that we brought. Most of the ones we brought we liangliang's old clothes, or new clothes that were too small for liangliang. They were all very pretty. The photo company provided our lunches. Our lunch consisted of two boxes of rice, like twice the amount of rice that they give you in 99 Ranch market resturant, and other vegetables. For the vegetables, there was: 4 green peppers that had a meatball stuffed at its end, an onion dish, beef with potatoes, and a dish with eggplant and pepper strips. We also got two cups of water. I also brought my own water, which i froze beforehand (out the window). Dad kept drinking that. The photo shoot set that we sent to this time, was a place where paper could be pulled down and used as a background. We used three backgrounds. We both got to hold teddy bears. At the end, i kinda got the feeling that anna didn't know how to smile for pictures. She always smiled with her mouth, but never with her eyes, it just looks fake. But whatever, it's okay, she'll learn in the future. The photo place was actually pretty fun! After we finished doing that photo thing, we asked to go to laolao's house. Dad ponder for a while, and then said yes, but we had to buy something for them first and give it to them as a present. Since the photo place was at ZhongJie, we just went to the ZhongJie market to buy something for them. Dad bought them Mou Tai Wine. I have no clue what that is, but the container for the wine was pretty and it came with a REALLY tiny water cup. We rid a taxi to ZhongJiehouse from laolao's house. She ate a LOT of popcorn and tiny oranges. She even had ma2 hua1! They were yummy. She insisted us to bring them back to nainai's house, and we did. I can't wait to eat more!

Today's ice skating...

This afternoon, we went ice skating on a pond. The ice was smooth, but not as smooth as the ice in the SDIA in Mira Mesa. I also saw people in metal chairs with rods that they held and pushed themselves on the chairs to glide on the ice. I want to try that the next time I go ice skating. Our new ice skates were really good. They also were sharpened really well too. It was a little hard to skate because Anna and I were so used to duller skates. The pond was frozen at the top, so we could skate on it. I wanted to get a pick and make a hole in the ice, so that I could see all the fishies, cold in their frozen home. Then, i could go ice fishing and bring one home to cook! :-) There was also an ice track. Anna and I went skating on it. Some old guy told us that the track was for speed skaters only. I didn't believe him, because there was another hockey skater skating on it too. May she doesn't know either...?

Then we went back home.

Chat with you later,
Amy Gao

China: January 4, 2009

Dear Mom,

Wewent to laolao's house today. She made us yummy corn and bought us that special popcorn that you talked about to us! Dad bought her a new phone that was wireless. He also taught laolao and laoye how to use the blodd pressure monitor. Anna and I taught laoye how to use the yo-yo that you got from your company. He enjoyed it. We also saw a bunch of pictures of you when you were younger. You were so beautiful and still are. Dad looks a lot older than when he got married to you, but you didn't change. You still look the same as the way you were young. YOU ARE SO PRETTY!

Love,
Amy Gao

China: January 2, 2009

We got ice skates today. they are pretty. We spent so much time picking them, that we had no time to go to the ice skating place after we bought them! Mine are pure white. Anna's are white with some blue swirls and flowers. Her's was more expensive, because it is made of cotton. Mine is artificial leather. The real leather skates were really ugly. Mine and Anna's are SOOOOOO beautiful. We ate Korean grill for dinner. We walked to a restaurant and picked a table with two pot-like things and are actually griddles. We ate a lot of meat. We ordered like 10 dishes of food. One of the meat dishes was really yummy. For my favorite meat dish, we put the meat on the pot thing and waited for it to cook thoroughly. Then we put on some sauce and wrapped it in a lettuce leaf. it was yummy. We ordered a sushi dish too. I thought there would be about 10 sushi, but it turned out to be 20 or so! OMG (oh my gosh) that's a lot. I ate like 7. It was yummy, until the seventh one (sushi). On top of the pot is a round tray, with slits and holes for oil and other liquids to drip through. Under the tray, but still in the pot, is coal, and it was lit on fire. After we ate dinner and finished most of the dishes, Liangliang and Anna burned their wooden chopsticks in the fire in the pot. I was in the restroom then. When I came back, the waiter already took our coal away and was getting the bill for us. The tips of anna and liangliang's chopsticks were black when i came back and they were hiting them with each other's chopsticks, trying to set them on fire again. All in all, dinner was pretty fun. I hate China's toilets. They are called squat toilets and there is no seat. Some places, like the good resturant that we went to today had toilet paper. Some, like the toilets of Wu Ai Shi Chang, don't have toilet paper. We first went to Wu Ai Shi Chang and bought Anna her snow boots and then we went to Di Xia (underground place where they sell wen2 ju4 (the numbers are the tones), toys, purses, bags, and other acessories). I bought leg warmers. Anna and I both bought hats that have a fluffy ball on top and 2 that hang down from the sides. These hats cover our ears. We wore them for the rest of the day. We also bought really skinny combs from Di Xia. They are cool. Dad also picked a comb made out of cow's hoof. A hoof is the hard part on the bottom of a cow's foot. From Di Xia, we also bought some small stuff. Anna and I each got a red cow with bells, for the NEW YEAR OF THE COW. I also bought a plush mushroom to hang on my backpack. So did Anna. Our mushrooms are different colors. Tonight, I did half a chapter of my HW. I played some piano in the morning too. Their electronic piano is no long enough for me. Gugu is someday going to bring me to Liangliang's friend's house. They hve a REAL piano. Their building is REALLY close to ours. Less than a five minute walk away! Nainai always has warm water, and Anna and I like to drink cold water, so we just stick a bottle of water out the window and let it sit for a while on the windowsill. Then it turns cold. Once, my bottle of water froze! Now, every time nainai fills my water bottle with warm water, i just put it outside when she turns and leaves out of our room. :-P Right now, it is 9:16 pm. Anna has fallen asleep on the bed beside me. I will go to sleep too. GOOD NIGHT FOR TODAY, AND GOOD MORNING FOR TOMORROW!!!

China: January 1, 2009

I got a haircut today. Anna got one too. We went to L'OREAL Professionals. The hair stylists were sooo good at cutting peoples' hair. My hair is now short and layered. When we first went into the barber shop, they washed our hair for us. Anna's hair is still long, but layered. My hairstyle is the most popular one in China right now. We are going to go shopping at night, and gugu will take pictures. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!