Notes on Travel

Well, the best part so far is that the entire interface on my blogger account is now in Chinese. These things are way too smart for me.

So the trip into Guangzhou was great, but long. The first flight into Tokyo was delayed by an hour or so... and I arrived with basically no time for the transfer to the flight to GZ. Thankfully, I made the flight - and so did my luggage. I was able to sleep a big which was great. Sat next to another MS person who was headed to Beijing (BJ) for meetings, and we had a nice time talking. The flight from Tokyo was bumpy and long, and I was glad to be done with it.

When arriving in GZ I had to wait to get the stroller. When they opened the doors to the outside it was like getting hit with a blast from the oven. Gwenn & Ella - you would not believe how hot it was. Imagine if granma made cookies, and you opened the oven - that is how hot it felt.

I know that it was been a few days already for you, but for me it feels like only once since I had such long airplane rides. It is now Tuesday AM, and this afternoon I'll be in BJ.

I was a bit nervous about finding my way to the hotel, when leaving teh customs area, there was Anna waiting for me with my name on a sign! I have to say that the relief of having that waiting for me at 11p at night was comforting. And good thing - it would have been a 10 minute walk in the sauna of GZ, so I was glad for the ride.

The hotel here in GZ (Novotel) is stunning. The hotel has been open for 4 months, and it is spectacular. For $80 a night I can get one of the nicer rooms that I've had in Asia. However, one feature of the rooms is a bit too modern - especially since I was going to have a roomie along! The bathroom walls are glass, so you can see directly into the showers and tub! :-) I was quite glad that it was just me last night, instead of telling someone to turn around for the 20 minutes while I took my shower!

According to my laptop it is now 2:45p on Monday afternoon - but it is already 5:45a Tuesday morning here. I'm a bit too thick to do the math, but I think it is about a 15 hour difference...

I'll write more from BJ, along with some pictures. Miss everyone!