Saturday July 30, 2005 4:00 pm

Went out for some shopping with Scott before he had to leave for the airport today. We went to a different part of town that I hadn't been to yet so it was very fun to explore.

It was very warm out again - seems to be the norm just hot and sticky at all times. But, I found a guy selling water and it was partially frozen so it was very cold. I think it is the first cold drink I have had here!!

We found a little Ginsing shop -Hsu's American Ginger - Product of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is (I think) the leading producer of ginsing in the world. Pretty funny to travel all the way here to see a product we grow at home.

The other shops we found were really great. It is a older part of town with "traditional" style buildings. There were all kinds of little streets with shops and vendors. A lot of plant and garden items that were fun to see. I also saw some little turtles and crabs - they were adorable! Some shops had little bamboo cages with cicada bugs in them. It was weird to see how big they were! And they were so noisy! I passed a couple of shops that had what I assume was traditional chinese medicine items for sale. There were a lot of what looked to be dried animal parts and horns. A little scary.

I got a few things as gifts which made me happy. I am glad I didn't get any of them at the main stores - these were much more fun , even if the shop keepers had to use a calculator to show me the price.

I had my first breakdown and went to McDonalds today. It was kind of strange how they do ordering there. People were standing in line and a girl would come up with a notepad and ask what you wanted (she spoke a little english which was good). When you got to the counter you gave them the slip and they would fill the order. This way the food was ready by the time you got to the counter. The food was pretty much the same - although the meat didn't seem quite right so I only ate a little of the burger and stuck to the fries. I felt like quite a spectical while I was eating. everyone was just staring at me. And, it was not my imagination - one lady actually turned around in her chair and was looking at me. I can't wait to be home where I am not such a novelty!!

When I got back to the room I had the best surprize. A package from my sister! Yeah!! She had sent it last week and we kept wondering when it would get here. There were all kinds of great treats inside. chips and nuts, licorice, gum - all kinds of fun things! There were also 3 cards - two from sisters and one from my niece and nephew. They were all so sweet it made me cry I was so happy to be reading their writing. There was also a little basket from my mom and another sister which is filled with little strips of paper with tiny messages. It will be fun to go through and read those.

Then as I was just finished going through the package the door rang and it was one of the hotel staff with a postcard for me from another sister :0) Yeah!! What a fun day for me! The guy who delivered it asked me what the word "about" meant because it was on the postcard. I tried to explain it to him for a couple minutes - it was kind of funny.

So - it was a very good day for me :) I'll be calling more family tonight to say hello at Tom's Grandpa's 90th birthday celebration. I am looking forward to that as well as it is so nice to hear people's voices - it makes you feel a lot closer to home.

Planning to just relax tonight and watch a movie. The heat and all the walking today made me a bit tired. Besides that there is a storm that has rolled in so it is raining out. At least it made things a little cooler for a tiny bit.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Tina