Weekend in Dalian

A week of adventures

On Tuesday night we headed out to town to pick up a few things that were needed. We heard that the market closes at 5 o’clock so we hustled to get there. The boys are getting comfortable with the people that they did not even wear their hats. We got our shopping done and learned that they do not close at 5 but more around 8. We were excited to know that. Then we went to dinner at Susan’s. Matthew had a hot dog and Isaac a burger. Doug and I (along with the boys) shared a pizza. It was pretty good. It was nice to get out during the week. The boys got to play Frisbee in the alley with the owner. They thought that was fun.
Doug and I had a teacher in-service on Friday and the boys got to play with one of Doug’s 11th graders. They had a blast and can’t wait to have her over again.
We got done a bit early on Friday so we came home. ShaWang was here working and several work men were here too.
Matthew was so comfortable that he left the bathroom door wide open when he was using the potty. We just laughed.
We headed out Friday night to Dalian. Trina, Joe and Sarah came with us. We all wanted to see the city so we got a hotel for the weekend. On Friday night, we walked around and discovered Dalian. Imagine a big city with tons going on and street vendors all over the place. It was a lot of fun. We ended up going to Pizza Hut for dinner. Now Pizza Hut in china is NOTHING like it in the states. It was very good. We all got our pizza fix. After dinner we walked around town some more. I am amazed at all the shops. In Dalian there are shopping malls under the streets. You go down the stairs and there are floors of stores. It is amazing!!!
I got to barter with the vendors and we got a few treasures. I loved that. The next day we went to breakfast at a coffee shop and had eggs. In China their breakfast is so different than ours. They eat what you and I would eat for lunch or dinner. They eat rice, soup, veggies, etc. So when we got a Western breakfast we were thrilled. I had mocha but I think they forgot the chocolate. Then we walked around and just experienced China. We found a store call Trader Zhou’s. (Trader Joe’s) We got a good laugh over that one. It sold wine, even two buck chuck. It was not the same stuff but they had wine for $2.00.
We were working our way to a fabric market that had tailors. Joe wanted a coat made and we wanted to see what it was like. Trina and I stopped a taxi and asked her to take us there. She smiled and said yes. We ALL piled into the taxi. She was not happy with us. She had to check out her tires to make sure they were okay. It was so funny. The market was a bit overwhelming. Doug, Joe, Matthew, Isaac and Sarah headed back to the hotel to rest and Trina and I stayed. We went to another market to “shop”. Our friend Sarah joined us. What a hoot that was. I bought some pretty scarves to spruce up my outfits. When we were done Trina and I went to McDonald’s for lunch to try it out. Not bad. I had to push a young lady out of the way. She was trying to cut in line. She thought I would not do a thing. WRONG. Trina was proud of me.
My favorite part of the trip was Saturday night when we went to dinner. We were going to go to an Italian restaurant but instead we decided to go native. We walked the streets and checked out our options. Then we passed this alley that had tons of people eating on it. So off we went to check it out. There were little shops that had people cooking everything from meat products on a stick (boiled or grilled), soup, fried rice, noodles, dumplings, and other things that I had no clue as to what they were. We found a booth that had empty tables and gave it a try. We did a bunch of pointing and talking in our broken Mandarin. They did find a woman who knew English to help them. We ended up with two plates of fried rice with veggies, 3 plates of noodles with chicken, and drinks all around. It was REALLY REALLY good. Everyone was happy. Then Doug went and got some meat on a stick and that was great. Everyone was looking at us and smiling. Our cost was about $3.00 a family TOTAL. Matthew said it was his favorite. We are getting better with our chopsticks and the boys with the spoons they use. Then we topped it off with 30 cent ice cream cones from McDonalds.
We also walked into a mall that had so many people we were all so overwhelmed. We just looked at each other and laughed!!! They were selling $1.20 adidas shoes or were they Nike. I am sure that if you could find a pair that matched and fit you it was a great deal, too many people for us.
This morning we got up and went to find something to eat. We found a shop that was making fried bread. It was fun to watch him and try to talk to him. EVERYONE asks us if the boys are twins (at least that is what we think they are saying). Doug went in to get one to try and came out with 6 of them. They were not bad. We all agreed that they needed powder sugar or something to dip them in.
It was an amazing adventure with some great friends. We can’t wait to do it again.
Now we are home and thinking about all the things we need to do this week. UGH!!
Pictures to come- I forgot my camera so I need to get them from Trina.