Real Bacon

That's right, people!  I just put a picture of bacon on the blog.  Why?  Because this was another amazing day because we found real American bacon!  They sell "bacon" here and though it looks like bacon, it's really ham and it makes me nuts that they call it bacon.  The grocery store that I order from in Shanghai and delivers to Suzhou, advertised this as American bacon.  I was skeptical but for $6 and 6 slices, I thought I could give it a try.  Glad I did!  Yes, I understand this is highway robbery but desperate times call for desperate measures ;)

Best China shopping day ever!

 

Last month, I went to the import grocery store and had the best shopping day ever!  I've learned to walk up and down each aisle each time I go because you never know what you might find and I wasn't disappointed this day.  The cracker and cookie aisle is always a disappointment because they only have Chinese and Japanese kinds, which typically have odd flavors like seaweed.  But somehow they got some good things: Triscuits, saltines, Nilla wafers, and graham crackers!  My heart started racing it was so exciting.  I called Jared immediately to tell him even though I don't know why I did that because he couldn't care less but I did.  Then, I put 3 boxes of each them in my cart!  I didn't know if I would ever see these boxes of heaven again so I made sure we would enjoy them while we could!  The good news is that here we are, a month later and the store still has some of these things but word has spread amongst the American moms and everyone got a stockpile.  Not sure if they will continue to get them but I hope so! 

 

 A few days after that shopping trip, I went to Sam's and found my laundry detergent that I used in the US...another amazing day!  The best part is that it only cost about $10 more than it should.  I bought 3 bottles and then a few days later I bought 2 more.  I know our driver thought I had lost my mind and that I must have forgotten that I had just bought laundry detergent!  My sensitive skin only likes certain detergent and I can buy this here in very small bottles but they are double the cost of what I spent on one of these huge ones.  Plus, our ayi (housekeeper) does laundry each day.  That equals way more detergent than I ever used in the US and therefore, my excitement over giant bottles!

Spring Break: Phuket, Thailand

A very exciting beginning to our trip to Thailand...Dunkin Donuts in the Shanghai airport!  Shanghai has 2 airports and we had never flown out of this before.  An unexpected breakfast treat for us but a word of warning for anyone that comes to visit:  just eat the glazed or you'll be disappointed!

 

Kids liked eating breakfast surrounded by the water but we could have done without all the flies :(  At the other restaurants, they found fun mocktails and smoothies.  These kids sure aren't going to understand "roughing it" on vacation after our time in China is up!

We found a wonderful tour guide that Jared found through someone he works with when he visits the plant in Thailand.  She was really great and it was nice that we had private tours so we could  see and do on our own schedule.  We took a boat tour of the Phi Phi Islands which are several islands that have really clear water for snorkeling and nice scenery.  It was very crowded in certain places as it is very popular for the Chinese and Russian tour groups.

 Our tour guide took some great pictures of us with her selfie stick!

 

Random women that got buried in the sand to look like mermaids!

 

 

Landry struggled with the snorkeling but Mariella loved it and wished she could have done more.  We got to see some of the wildlife in area they call "Monkey Beach."   We got some great pictures and videos especially with the GoPRO...

 

 

Our tour guide took us to see some of the sights that didn't involve the beach and Mariella got to ride an elephant like she had wanted.  Landry wanted no part of an elephant ride or even feeding a baby elephant.  I couldn't blame him.  I was all set to do the elephant ride with Mariella since Jared already has but when we got there, I just couldn't do it!

 

 We couldn't escape the tourist attraction that Mariella and Landry are here in this part of the world.  These ladies asked if they could have their picture taken with the kids and our guide jokingly said "Sure, for 100 RMB!" They didn't pay us but you can tell Landry is thrilled with having his picture taken!

 

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Technical Difficulties....

Sorry for the lack of postings!  China internet difficulties are really frustrating but I think I have it figured out now!  I'll make up for it today!