Currently blogging from my bed! Nick’s about to fall asleep and I’m wide awake. That’s jet lag for you.
I had planned on posting a blog or 2 while in China, not realizing that wordpress was blocked! As was Facebook, Twitter and other blogs! Geez, China! What gives? I guess there are ways around it, but I wasn’t about to risk going to Chinese prison – where you’re definitely not innocent until proven guilty! But honestly, China was fantastic!
I’ll recap this week! Starting with our flight and first night in Beijing.
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left SFO at 2PM last Sunday, arriving in Beijing on Monday night around 5PM. But let’s rewind for just 1 minute. Nick and I board the plane with our seat assignments (33A and 33C, window and aisle). We play this game where we pick window and aisle and hope no one will pick the middle. If someone does, we just offer them one of our seats. No one ever turns us down.
We arrive at our seats to find someone sitting in 33A, and she’s made herself right at home. Turns out they double booked the seat. Oops. It all gets straightened out and she gets moved a row up. Then mister 33B shows up. I offer him the window in exchange for his middle seat. He says he’ll take the aisle. Woooooo. I’m pretty sure I have all the bargaining chips. He then explains that if he takes the aisle, Nick and I can sit together. I start to explain that he can take the middle and Nick and I will talk over him when Nick decides it’s not worth it and just has us take a seat. No need to start a vacation with an unhappy Bryn.
Turns out he’s a slurpy eater. As in, no need for a spoon or fork, I’ll just drink and shovel every meal. Fascinating. He’s also one of those guys that won’t get out of his seat when you need to use the restroom. But the icing on the cake came at the end of the trip. We’re ready to exit when we notice he needs to do a little XYZ. The guys’ fly was all the way down and wide open! My theory? His pants were too tight and he found it more comfortable to loosen them a bit. And then he forgot to re-tighten. Classic.
Ok, back to China. Got our bags and were greeted by Chinese Santa.
We also saw our first of many Starbucks and met up with our tour group. We headed to the hotel and it was time to find dinner.
We ordered this rice bowl with meat and veggies, basically the equivalent of the Korean hot pots and a soup-y noodle dish with lots of mushrooms. Both were delicious – and we were starving!
And then lights went out! The mall closed and that meant we got to finish dinner in the dark. Pretty funny! Nick pulled out the iPhone flashlight, but we just decided to shovel a few more bites and head for the hotel. Welcome to China!