May 2007

April's 3rd visit to Shanghai is a much longer stay than before. Daddy brought April back for a week and a half for work and attending 大姑姑姊姊's wedding in 2005. Last year the whole family traveled between Shanghai, Beijing and Fuzhou for 3 weeks. This year is more than a month stay in Shanghai. She now can point out Shanghai from a world map and reminds us once in a while that she hasn't been back to Shanghai for a long long time. Once Mommy drove her to pick up 奶奶 from the airport, she thought we were going to meet with 奶奶 at the airport, then fly back to Shanghai together. She was very disappointed being returned to our US home afterward.

This is quite a complicated trip. Mommy went separate way when we were transiting in Seoul, Korea. Daddy and April hopped onto the Shanghai plane, Mommy's heading to Hong Kong. Mommy needed to get her new Hong Kong smart card ID, and 公公婆婆 were there to see doctors. Couple days later, Mommy and 公公婆婆 were back to Fuzhou for another doctor visit. It's a long unpaid daughter duty for Mommy. Then we took the train, crossing a province to Shanghai.

April was without Mommy for a week, taking care by Daddy, 大姑姑奶奶 and 小姑姑奶奶. She didn't eat well and lost a few pounds but in general she's happily living her life in Shanghai, enjoying local yogurt more than any other food. Mommy called her everyday, she was able to chat a bit over the phone. There were a few memorable quotes from her according to Daddy:

case 1
First day arriving at 小姑姑奶奶's home, April repeated a few times saying: 小姑姑奶奶家是脏脏的。(还好是自己人，不然人家会笑话April没礼貌)小姑姑奶奶's home is inside an old Spanish building , it was owned by foreigners before. It has really high ceiling, detail of her place reminds people of the old Shanghai days. At the same time, the government wanted to retain the building for historic reason, there were workers patching and repainting the outside walls. Therefore, it's dusty outside and in the hallway.

case 2
Because of the dust, 小姑姑奶奶 told everyone to wear different slippers inside and outside of the room. April's one strict follower. She would remind anyone who attempt to violate the rule and she would raise her voice to a level that everyone in the room could hear her. If, say Daddy, disregarded her warning and walked away. She would say: 爸爸不乖 Same applied to any slipper taker.

case 3
Daddy bought her some ice-cream one day. He put it in the freezer then left for work. 大姑姑奶奶 came to babysit April. Daddy didn't communicate to 大姑姑奶奶 about the ice-cream. With April's limited vocabulary(obviously she forgot the word ice-cream in Chinese), she tried many times to explain to 大姑姑奶奶 what she wanted to eat. Her description was something like this:

就是凉凉的东西呀！
吃了在肚子里是凉凉的呀！
在冰箱上面的。

For some reason, 大姑姑奶奶 didn't get it, and the freezer was probably fully packed. At the end, she had to call Daddy to find out April's target. "凉凉的东西" later became the new label for April when 大姑姑奶奶 talks about her.

April was enormously happy to see Mommy and 公公婆婆 after a week of monitoring slippers. Her backpack's weight had doubled after receiving and confiscating girly items from all 姑姑s. It's a laundry list of junk in that pink backpack. Any kid can spend a good hour of treasure hunting with it. The backpack was quite full when we left bayarea, April insisted on having a luggage herself and so we stuff it with some of her junk. And by then, it's bulky. Yet she didn't mind carrying such a heavy backpack, so we were all cool.

Daddy booked an apartment hotel for us, it's a 3 bedrooms suite with a kitchen. 公公婆婆 could cook for April and more importantly for themselves. The hotel is in prime location, so it's very convenient to get to various sightseeing points. Everyday, we got free breakfast from the hotel, then Daddy left for work. Mommy would bring 公公婆婆 and April to visit different places. Coming home after lunch, 公公婆婆 and April would nap. Afterward, Mommy walked April to nearby park for light exercise while 公公婆婆 made the dinner. Sometimes if Daddy's home early, we would eat out. 公公婆婆 got to revisit a few places they've been to many years ago. It was a very joyful week for all of us.

During that week April's monitoring job shifted gear. She's then the dedicated spy and assistant to 婆婆, reporting to every 婆婆's inquiry about Mommy's whereabout or whether 公公's staring on the TV again. Both 婆婆 and April liked their spying game.

After sending 公公婆婆 off to the airport, 奶奶 and 姑姑 were back from their inland trip. Daddy wrapped up his work, Mommy finished her shopping, we then packed light for our Japan trip. April's back to 小姑姑奶奶's home with 奶奶 and 姑姑. They bought her more gift from their trip. Her backpack reached its limit. Mommy and Daddy spent the next 5 days in Osaka, Kyoto and Arima onsen. We hadn't had a 2 person trip for such a long time. The trip was short, we weren't especially impressed with the traditional Japan, but the onsen was heaven. Meanwhile, 奶奶 and 姑姑 hanged out with April and they visited the Shanghai Zoo.

Last Mommy spent couple more days in Shanghai with April, then headed back to bayarea. Poor April stayed another 2 weeks in Shanghai with 奶奶 and Daddy. Daddy worked during weekdays, and took April out to the aquarium and other places during weekend. April tagged along with 奶奶 visiting different relatives' home during weekdays. She's now one experienced backpack traveler.

More photos of our trip is here