Even though the day isn't quite over yet I've decided to write a blog entry while we're waiting for our delayed flight in Beijing. I feel like I've been here forever! I'll edit and add as things happen.
Just like most Day 1 blog entries today was a travel day. But this one has a lot more twist and turns! We left Sacramento around 6 am and arrived at the San Francisco airport at about 8, which was wayyy too early. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 2:50 that afternoon! Our check in counter wasn't even open yet. Since we couldn't get our boarding passes we spent some time outside of security. We had access to a few shops and a food court. There was also a museum at the airport that showed airline attendants uniform styles throughout the years. I thought that was pretty cool.
After we checked in we got burgers and boarded the plane. The airplane ride was the longest I've ever been on - 11 hours! While on the plane I watched a few movies and shows. I was able to watch Cinderella, Cars and Triple 9. Some of the shows I watched was 2 broke girls, Community, Modern Family and Top Gear. Our travel documents said that we would only be provided with a snack this trip but we ended up getting 2 meals. Score! The first meal was served about an hour into our flight. Our choices were chicken and rice or beef and rice. I got the beef with rice. The menu for the second meal consisted of shrimp and rice or pork chow mein. I got the chow mein. Wine and beer was offered as part of their beverage selection. We took full advantage of that! There was nothing spectacular about the meals. It's just airline food.
When we arrived in Beijing we wanted to use the Air China Lounge but by the time we made our way through security and customs there wasn't enough time. We ended up shopping for a while. I've noticed that high end Italian and American stores are very popular here.
This layover ended up being the longest ever. Our flight was delayed for what seemed to be an eternity! We didn't wonder very far from our gate in fear that we would miss our boarding call. Eventually, I went and explored more shops. There's only so much you can do in this terminal so after a short while of exploring I went back to the gate to wait some more. I was able to catch up with Facebook and my email which was a pleasant surprise. I thought Facebook and Google services were blocked here. A couple of hours into the delay the airline announced that they would provide us with food and drink. Disappointingly it was just water and crackers. After a short nap and what feels life a million lifetimes later we were finally able to board the plane.
The second plane was a lot smaller and it didn't provide as many entertainment options as our first plane. Good thing this plane ride was a lot shorter.
We arrived in Shanghai at 6:30am and we didn't have any time for sleep. We had to be settled in, showered and ready for our tour at 8am. Off to the tour we go!
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