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"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016."

Stella: You're really interested in the city around you. You are studying the map and following along, listening to the bits of history shared by the tour bus.

Hugo: You like looking at all the cars and their wheels. In fact, when you don't have a vantage point from which to see the road, you complain in a terribly tragic voice, "I can't see the wells (wheels)!"

 The kids had been asking, again and again, since our first days in Shanghai, to take them on a "city bus ride", as tourist busses are called in Jakarta. And I enthusiastically promised YES! ONE DAY! Somehow maybe subconsciously hoping that perhaps I'd never actually have to make good on that promise, because anything tourist + china = the seventh circle of hell. Well, that day finally did come on this particular weekend when we happened to walk by a tourist bus stop, and Stella in all her enthusiasm inquired about the wait time (five minutes!!) and the price (100 RMB, kids FREEEEEEE) and you know, there's not much I like more than FREEEEEEEEEEEEE. So, off we went. It was boiling hot. Like 40+ degrees with no A/C. And Hugo was minus one nap. And we had just spent the entire morning roaming around the city. And it took two hours. And we had to change busses about 100 times. But they loved it! Really! They were so pleased to be riding up above the city watching the buildings go past. Plus, the bus passed right in front of our apartment building, and we managed to convince the driver to let us off at our door. So! Anyway, a lovely end to a weekend outing.