It's Tonio's Birthday!!

Umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh...It was raining like nuts!

Day 4. Tonio's Birthday!

Today I'm not very tired for some reason, so i'll write more for your enjoyment! =)

Truthfully, today was all Portland-style. Of all the days too--Antonio's fourteenth birthday! (But I'll get to the details later.) First of all, right after breakfast we hopped onto a private bus and rode a few hours to HangZhou. We sang a horribly off-key Happy Birthday to You in Chinese, then English, and Kojo then had the 'Zoo version' solo. Antonio was optimistic enough.

Dropped off in front of a large hiking area in the rain, we walked so much, as in hiked up a hill (that reeked of horse poo) and tons of stairs to get to a Daoist monastery. Everyone complained. But then, we got lunch. Yum, lunch! Noodles for everyone~! We were all so exhausted and we got inside just as it started to pour buckets of water. Oddly enough Antonio didn't complain that his birthday was dripping and wet.

Afterward we went down, which was much easier than going up, except the fact that the rain was coming down harder now. I borrowed Mitchell's umbrella, since he had a raincoat (THANK YOU MITCHELL!!!), prayed that i wouldn't die of hypothermia, and then began our lonnnnng lonnnnnnnnnng walk. We walked so much that water squelched under my feet, and again everyone started to whine. Not all of it was bad though, just most of it.

Amy managed to capture a wonderful scenic picture even in the rain; something that only moms can do.

Walking around XiHu (literally West Lake), we saw tons of couples and tour buses and people eating corn. It was a big soggy mess. The rain was pouring, we had no idea where we were headed, and it seemed we were going in circles. Our feet hurt and most of us were drenched to the point where we wanted only to go home. Personally I was very upset because we were SUPPOSED to be riding in bikes and having a fun time, but the rain always ruins everything, and we walked. (Dad, you're happy right? ;P)

Finally we made it to a parking lot, and Kojo rescued us by calling up our bus, and by cutting our trip short. (For once we were happy to agree.) Sadly enough we also had to walk to the bus, so we trudged on. It was a time of celebration when we saw it though, and everyone cheered. Inside we quickly hung up our jackets, took off our shoes and wrung out the rainwater from our socks. Sweaty sock juice, as Antonio called it.

Yuck! What an icky, soggy, slippery, soaked mess!

Even worse, we waited in the bus for about an hour and a half before Kojo realized WE HAD DRIVEN AROUND THE ENTIRE LAKE IN A CIRCLE! THE BUS DRIVER HAD GOTTEN LOST!! We all wanted to scream and tear our hair off, but it was too wet for us to complain even more. It wasn't going to make things any faster anyway. Most of us managed to pass the time by taking naps and chattering away like we did on the way there.

When we got back I jumped into the shower for a few minutes and came back out, surprising myself with one of the fastest showers i had ever taken. But Kojo had warned us not to be late for dinner. All this time, some of us had planned to get Antonio a birthday cake and most of us chipped in. We told him it was going to be a tiny cupcake with a dot on it and Mitchell and I had the job of stalling him while the main planners, Kathleen, Steven and Sean got things running.

He wasn't very surprised because everyone talked so loud, but he smiled a lot and we all got delicious cake for dessert!

Antonio and his dangerous knife, ready to cut cake and enter his 14th year in life. Whoo Antonio!!! =)

Okay, so now i'm feeling tired and this is the latest i've been up. I'm afraid this will also be the last time that I'll be able to post any pictures, because tomorrow is the day we leave the hotel and go to our homestays. I'm so nervous! =P I'll try to figure a way to work things out, but if I can't then you'll just have to settle with the Slideshow at the top of the page on the right.

THANK YOU to everyone for faithfully reading this blog and giving me supportive comments! I could never do this without you keeping this alive. I actually didn't want to post today until I read everyone's lovely little notes to me~! I love you all!!

(By the way Dad, I like the haircuts here better. =D)

Until next time!

~~~Reporter Poh

This is Mitchell, who tried to steal my cookie. Bad Mitchell. (Don't worry, his mom gave us permission to do this to him. =P)