Flying high

Thursday, September 2, 2010

I'm here with daddy in Shanghai.  We just got back from a delicious Sichuan meal with Broc and Gary.  Quite the Foreign Affairs life they have here, including a 3-bed apartment at the Ritz.  I thoroughly enjoyed my business class flight to Beijing.  Sat at the lounge at B Gates and had a Bailey’s coffee before boarding the plane.  Decided to stick with the orange juice, instead of champagne, since I didn't want to get drunk before the plane took off.  The business section was relatively empty and there was no one on either side of me.  It was such a pleasant experience having so much leg room and feeling taken care of.  I was a bit disappointed with the movie selection and chose The Last Station, the story of Leo Tolstoy at the end of his life, appropriate since I just left Russia.

Eating in business is a bit more of a dining experience than coach: prawn cocktail as a starter, with a green side salad and selection of bread followed by filet and ice cream for dessert.  Putting my chair back into the full sleeper was an odd feeling – it was so horizontal.  After an okay night sleep, I was served breakfast with the option of English, Spanish or Asian – I went with the Spanish.  Before I knew it we were getting ready to land in Beijing.

Being one of the first people off the plane was a great advantage for passport control and my priority bag came out quickly, so I jumped on the bus to terminal 2.  I didn’t realize the length of the bus journey and for some time thought I might have gotten on the wrong bus, but we arrived and I checked in for the flight to Shanghai, getting excited that I was only one flight and one taxi ride away from seeing my father.

The flight landed on time at 2pm and as soon as I had my luggage I went to get a taxi.  There were lots of people with private taxis trying to lure me to their cars but I decided to wait in the taxi queue since it was moving quickly.  Luckily I had asked the information desk about the location of the hotel and the guy wrote down the name in Chinese – a very necessary translation since the taxi driver didn’t speak English. Less than an hour and 88 Yuan (not the 200 the drivers had been asking for) later, I arrived at Le Meridien Shanghai.  I got the key as quickly as possible and headed up to the room.  “Hi Dad!” I yelled as I ran into the room and into the arms of my father who had been napping.  It feels wonderful to be with him.

We went for a stroll on Nanjing before getting ready for dinner. Broc picked us up at our hotel to go to their place at the Ritz, where we met up with Gary and went to dinner.  A lovely evening with tons of good Chinese food and excellent company.  After taking a taxi back (giving the business card of the hotel to our driver), I stopped into the Cold Stone across the street.  Successful afternoon in China.