Today was a shopping day. Kenton and I, the boys, and my mother-in-law went to several shops, one of them being Walmart. There are two Walmarts in Dalian now. There weren’t any three years ago. I was blown away by the gigantic size of the building. The entrance was like a two-story tall building with huge marble columns. Inside, everything is still located on one level. There is a lot of space to walk around. There is also a really nice indoor playground for the kids to run around in. The price signs are the same design as the ones in the states. The huge Walmart sign design is the same also, except that it is red instead of blue (red is a lucky color in China). It was comforting to be able to shop with signs in both Chinese and English. It was also convenient to again push the kids around in carts while shopping (we forgot to bring our stroller to China). This is by far the largest Walmart I’ve ever been in.
For lunch, we ate at McDonalds, which was located within the Walmart complex. Everything looks and tastes exactly as the McDonalds in the States. There are different menu items offered here though. In addition to chicken nuggets, there are these crunchy, spicy chicken wings. There is also some kind of drink with pieces of fruit at the bottom and cream at the top. It comes in different flavors - peach, melon, mocha, and something else. One of the side orders is sweet corn. And instead of apple pie, they serve Sweet Taro Pie. This pie has a light purple filling with small pieces of taro. I absolutely love this pie! I wish they would put this on the menu in the States.
The boys: At Walmart, Kevin got a transformer toy, while Justin got a target practice set for two. After we finished eating at McDonalds, the kids wanted to play in the small indoor McDonalds playground. The playground was about 60 feet away from where we were sitting, and I said they could play for five minutes. They started running towards the playground while I threw our trash away. Kenton went to call our driver, and his mom sat and watched our things. About 30 seconds later, I went to watch the boys play. I watched Kevin come down the slide, then Justin, and was waiting for Brian. No Brian. I asked Kevin and Justin where Brian was. They didn’t know. I searched that small playground several times – still no Brian. I told the boys to stay in the playground, then ran around the McDonalds looking for Brian. I couldn’t find him. Then I started asking people if they had seen a little 22-month-old dressed in red. No one had seen him. Kenton came back and I told him that Brian was lost. The look on his face was the same fear that I felt. His mom hadn’t seen Brian either. Over three minutes passed while Kenton and I ran around in different directions looking - and still no Brian. I don’t know what a heart attack feels like, but I would imagine it was close to what I experienced. My chest felt so tight, I couldn’t breathe, and my heart was pounding so hard that I thought it would pound right out of my chest. Brian was nowhere in McDonalds. Kenton decided to run outside to look for Brian and I ran into Walmart to look for him. By this time, I was crying – I couldn’t even think straight. I just knew I had to find him. When I walked about 20 feet into Walmart, I saw this little cute thing in an Oshkosh red onesie walking back towards the front door, looking around for someone familiar. He was about 100 feet away when I first spotted him. I’m so glad that he was dressed in something that stood out. I ran towards him, then squatted down and put my arms out to him. He ran into my arms smiling and said, “Mama, Mama.” I lost it then – I was sobbing so hard and hugging him so tight. I’m crying now just thinking about it. We walked back into McDonalds, and Kenton hugged the both of us. Kenton’s mom wiped away a tear or two also. The reunion was short-lived - Brian wanted to go down to play in the playground.
Today was a shopping day. Kenton and I, the boys, and my mother-in-law went to several shops, one of them being Walmart. There are two Walmarts in Dalian now. There weren’t any three years ago. I was blown away by the gigantic size of the building. The entrance was like a two-story tall building with huge marble columns. Inside, everything is still located on one level. There is a lot of space to walk around. There is also a really nice indoor playground for the kids to run around in. The price signs are the same design as the ones in the states. The huge Walmart sign design is the same also, except that it is red instead of blue (red is a lucky color in China). It was comforting to be able to shop with signs in both Chinese and English. It was also convenient to again push the kids around in carts while shopping (we forgot to bring our stroller to China). This is by far the largest Walmart I’ve ever been in.
For lunch, we ate at McDonalds, which was located within the Walmart complex. Everything looks and tastes exactly as the McDonalds in the States. There are different menu items offered here though. In addition to chicken nuggets, there are these crunchy, spicy chicken wings. There is also some kind of drink with pieces of fruit at the bottom and cream at the top. It comes in different flavors - peach, melon, mocha, and something else. One of the side orders is sweet corn. And instead of apple pie, they serve Sweet Taro Pie. This pie has a light purple filling with small pieces of taro. I absolutely love this pie! I wish they would put this on the menu in the States.
The boys: At Walmart, Kevin got a transformer toy, while Justin got a target practice set for two. After we finished eating at McDonalds, the kids wanted to play in the small indoor McDonalds playground. The playground was about 60 feet away from where we were sitting, and I said they could play for five minutes. They started running towards the playground while I threw our trash away. Kenton went to call our driver, and his mom sat and watched our things. About 30 seconds later, I went to watch the boys play. I watched Kevin come down the slide, then Justin, and was waiting for Brian. No Brian. I asked Kevin and Justin where Brian was. They didn’t know. I searched that small playground several times – still no Brian. I told the boys to stay in the playground, then ran around the McDonalds looking for Brian. I couldn’t find him. Then I started asking people if they had seen a little 22-month-old dressed in red. No one had seen him. Kenton came back and I told him that Brian was lost. The look on his face was the same fear that I felt. His mom hadn’t seen Brian either. Over three minutes passed while Kenton and I ran around in different directions looking - and still no Brian. I don’t know what a heart attack feels like, but I would imagine it was close to what I experienced. My chest felt so tight, I couldn’t breathe, and my heart was pounding so hard that I thought it would pound right out of my chest. Brian was nowhere in McDonalds. Kenton decided to run outside to look for Brian and I ran into Walmart to look for him. By this time, I was crying – I couldn’t even think straight. I just knew I had to find him. When I walked about 20 feet into Walmart, I saw this little cute thing in an Oshkosh red onesie walking back towards the front door, looking around for someone familiar. He was about 100 feet away when I first spotted him. I’m so glad that he was dressed in something that stood out. I ran towards him, then squatted down and put my arms out to him. He ran into my arms smiling and said, “Mama, Mama.” I lost it then – I was sobbing so hard and hugging him so tight. I’m crying now just thinking about it. We walked back into McDonalds, and Kenton hugged the both of us. Kenton’s mom wiped away a tear or two also. The reunion was short-lived - Brian wanted to go down to play in the playground.
One response to “McDonalds - Scare Of My Life”
wow! glad u found little brian back! 'cant imagine how i would have felt if i were in ur shoes. manong arthur.
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