Made it to Shanghai!
Well, it took a good chunk of my life, but finally made it to Shanghai. But as always, I must explain how we got to here first. We got up early on Thursday and worked out at the "fitness center" at our hotel. It basically consisted of a bunch of aerobic machines and a bowflex. This Bowflex had been used so much, the resistance bars drooped like a dying flower. Anyone in the know knows that its only the last 2-3 inches of the exercise that really is beneficial. Which is a good thing, because there was no resistance the rest of the way.
After checking out, way ahead of schedule, we got to the airport, and got our tickets. For the most part we had no troubles. We decided, which means I convinced E b/c of my paranoia, to go ahead and go through customs early. That gave us almost 2 hours of waiting before our flight even boarded. We were told via itinerary that we would receive dinner, no mention of lunch. So we went ahead and bought lunch at the airport. Big waste of money. The reason being was we did receive lunch on the plane. It was a couple of hours after lift off, but if we had known that, we would have just snacked. We get on the plane and find our seats. Now the first real dilemma arises. I had done research and read that there would be power outlets between our seats. Which was fine as E and I had the two seats next to the window. I sit down and push open a metal flap, expecting to see an outlet. Nope, ash tray. Def-Con 1 has been initiated. I am about to go on a 14hr flight and my dream of passing time by watching movies on my computer/iPod began crumbling. I am frantically examining the arm rest. There is no outlet. Def-Con 2 has now been initiated, which translates to whimpering and bickering. Luckily, I have a wife who wasn't freaked out by this fact, book readers (pssh), and saw that there were outlets on the backs of the seats ahead of us. They were covered by a head rest cover. Downgrading to Def-Con 1, I'm still on alert due to anything that can happen. We take off and the flight begins.
Now I noted before that we learned that they would be serving lunch, dinner, and one snack. Well, I am a slave to my stomach. This was true as a fat kid and still is true since I workout a lot. My stomach told me that it was hungry, and I didn't want to wait for anyone. E hands me a protein bar per my request. As I begin swallowing this down like a snake, they begin bringing out the lunches. They had announced this prior to me eating my protein bar, but the stomach told me that would take too long. I snacked entirely too much the whole. The lunch was solid. Better than expected. The seats were worse that expected. The didn't recline very much and the recline was reduced by the 2 girls behind us putting their legs up on the backs of our chairs. Can't blame them. No matter what position I tried, I couldn't sleep. Even my narcoleptic, not really, wife couldn't get comfy. So to pass time, we watched movies, whether it be on our iPod or the airplane's screens. But even that wasn't easy to do when you aren't comfortable. After what seemed to be an eternity, we made it to the airport. I only had one fear left, the Chinese customs. Not because of anything I was hiding, but I was just tired of being searched. Don't I have a trustworthy face? We made through it without any problems and met up with Mitchell. We got on a bus and headed to his apartment.
To be continued...
After checking out, way ahead of schedule, we got to the airport, and got our tickets. For the most part we had no troubles. We decided, which means I convinced E b/c of my paranoia, to go ahead and go through customs early. That gave us almost 2 hours of waiting before our flight even boarded. We were told via itinerary that we would receive dinner, no mention of lunch. So we went ahead and bought lunch at the airport. Big waste of money. The reason being was we did receive lunch on the plane. It was a couple of hours after lift off, but if we had known that, we would have just snacked. We get on the plane and find our seats. Now the first real dilemma arises. I had done research and read that there would be power outlets between our seats. Which was fine as E and I had the two seats next to the window. I sit down and push open a metal flap, expecting to see an outlet. Nope, ash tray. Def-Con 1 has been initiated. I am about to go on a 14hr flight and my dream of passing time by watching movies on my computer/iPod began crumbling. I am frantically examining the arm rest. There is no outlet. Def-Con 2 has now been initiated, which translates to whimpering and bickering. Luckily, I have a wife who wasn't freaked out by this fact, book readers (pssh), and saw that there were outlets on the backs of the seats ahead of us. They were covered by a head rest cover. Downgrading to Def-Con 1, I'm still on alert due to anything that can happen. We take off and the flight begins.
Now I noted before that we learned that they would be serving lunch, dinner, and one snack. Well, I am a slave to my stomach. This was true as a fat kid and still is true since I workout a lot. My stomach told me that it was hungry, and I didn't want to wait for anyone. E hands me a protein bar per my request. As I begin swallowing this down like a snake, they begin bringing out the lunches. They had announced this prior to me eating my protein bar, but the stomach told me that would take too long. I snacked entirely too much the whole. The lunch was solid. Better than expected. The seats were worse that expected. The didn't recline very much and the recline was reduced by the 2 girls behind us putting their legs up on the backs of our chairs. Can't blame them. No matter what position I tried, I couldn't sleep. Even my narcoleptic, not really, wife couldn't get comfy. So to pass time, we watched movies, whether it be on our iPod or the airplane's screens. But even that wasn't easy to do when you aren't comfortable. After what seemed to be an eternity, we made it to the airport. I only had one fear left, the Chinese customs. Not because of anything I was hiding, but I was just tired of being searched. Don't I have a trustworthy face? We made through it without any problems and met up with Mitchell. We got on a bus and headed to his apartment.
To be continued...