Saturday & Sunday

The remaining families all left Guangzhou today. Six left this morning around 6 a.m. We, along with one other family took the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong at 10:30 a.m. We had planned in advance to make the 2 hour train journey in an attempt to see the country side between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. We had also decided many weeks before that we wanted to see Hong Kong and would spend one night there before we left China. The train ride was pleasant and was mostly urban between the two cities.

Chloe did well on her first train ride. We arrived at the train station in Hong Kong and caught a taxi to the Regal Airport Hotel. After checking into the hotel and preparing the baby backpack, we set out to tour Hong Kong. We took the express train into the city and went to the Peak Tram to see Hong Kong from atop the mountains. Chloe did so well as we trekked her all over the city. She was so pleasant and her personality is really starting to come out. She blows raspberries at you and shakes her head "no". She will also grab our faces in her little hands and put it close to hers and make a face at you. Now that she is feeling better her personality appears!!!

Chloe was quite the attention-getter on the tram and many Americans asked us about her. They all thought she was adorable (which of course she is). After the tour,we went back to the hotel, had dinner and packed for the long journey home. Hong Kong is a beautiful city and we were glad we took the short time we had to see it.

Sunday, May 15--

We woke early in the morning and had breakfast at the hotel. Both Matt and Shannon were nervous about how Chloe would do on her first plane ride. We checked in early and found out that our flight was delayed an hour. We walked through the duty-free shops at the airport and made a few purchases.

We finally boarded our Cathay Pacific flight to Tokyo and must say it was an enjoyable one. The stewardesses were very friendly and you would have thought we were royalty the way they treated us with Chloe. They gave us free diapers, Mustela diapering kits and offered to make Chloe baby food. The stewardesses would come and check on us and Chloe. All in all, it was a very impressive airline with impressive service. The 4 hour flight to Tokyo was great and Chloe did well.

After a brief layover in Tokyo, we boarded the American Airlines flight to Dallas. It was night for Chloe so she slept most of the flight. Many of the passengers commented as we exited the plane on how well she did. The service on American is sub-par as usual and we were amused when one of the stewardesses commented that there was a baby on board (2 hours into the flight). Chloe looked at her and blew her a raspberry as if on que. It was very funny and had our row laughing.

Daddy, the Brit, carried Chloe into her U.S. citizenship (which I thought was humorous). We were met by Grandpa and Grandma Dooley who began their doting and oohing and aahhing over their first grandchild.