ok.. to try to keep this in some kind of nutshell… first off, business class totally rocks my socks… breeeeeezed through check-in… had a whole separate line for security… sat in a nifty lounge and sashayed my way to my gate round about 1:20 a.m. PDT… taken to a kick-butt little cube that was all my own… fully reclining chair… immediately handed a glass of cool, crisp… and referred to by name instantly… ROCK STAR.. (go ahead, all of you who are used to this treatment, chuckle away… pbbbhhhttt… all i can i say is… you had a first time, too! ;)
anyhoo, for a pretty decent meal (although, really people… there are ways to include SOME sort of protein on a vegetarian meal… ) … another glass or so… my friend, ambian and i had a little chat… tilted my seat back… started “frost vs. nixon” on my personal screen… aaaaannnnndddd… woke up approximately 9 hours later, realizing i had only made it through about 20 minutes of the flick… yay!
so i finished the movie… and dug into “fight club”… and, voila! i'm in hong kong…
jumped off the plane and immediately started looking for the “i’m in business class and my poop don’t stink” lounge… little problem.. there are three of them in HK airport… and every person i asked not only pointed me in a different direction, but NONE of them mentioned i had to go through transfer security before i could get to any of them… really, my bad, having been through this airport twice before, i really should have remembered this… alas…
anyway, after working my way through the line (no special treatment this time.. boo!)… i found my way across the MILES of terminals known as HK airport and found the SWEET lounge… with some seriously tasty noodles (and some protein.. hazzah!)…
flight to chengdu was relatively uneventful… although biz class wasn’t quite a neat on dragon air… still, not bad, either… great service, esp. as there were two stewardesses (is that the PC term these days?) serving three of us… the crisp, clear was flowing… yes, i actually had to say “no, thank you”… weird… anyhoo, finished “fight club”… picked up “kitchen confidential”… and we landed… then, it got weird…
so the Chinese gov’t is ALL paranoid about this swine flu thing, right? (but thanks for SARS, really!)… seriously, people in masks come onto the plane and stick this laser gun thingy to everyone’s head to see if you have pretty much any sort of fever… if you do, BOOM three day’s quarantine… not kidding… so all i’m doing is sitting there, thinking “igloo,” “ice cream,” “arctic circle”… brrrrrrr…! anyhoo, it was fine, but then i had to fill out a form telling them where i’d be for the next seven days… OK, no, i don’t like lying… esp. to people who can kick my butt out their country with a pound of a stamp… but i also couldn’t say, “well, i’m headed to tibet in the a.m.”… so, i put down the number of the hostel i’m staying at tonight and kept my fingers crossed… OMG! the cross-examination… the guy asks me to lists my cell phone… “ummmm… i don’t have one… that’s the number of my hotel”… “WHAT?!”… three supervisors and a new pair of panties later, and i’m practically running for baggage claim… phew!
a few miscommunications with the gal who met me outside of the gate, and i’m on the way to my hostel… the driver speaks no english… fine… ok… we’re five minutes in the ride, and the driver pulls over… and my “greeter” jumps out of the car… and waves good-bye as the driver hits the gas… WTF????? great, i’m going to end up in some chengdu back alley… right? so, trying to not hyperventilate, i just sit there and smile… and smile.. and smile… and watch the road signs… 3rd ring road… 2nd ring road… 1st ring road… again, phew… i’m at sims cozy guest hostel! (btw... if you're ever in chengdu... it's quiet, clean... and you can get your own room w/pretty damn comfy bed and private bathroom for about $20/night... whoot!)
ok… this entry has gone on long enough… so i’ll save the rest of chengdu for tomorrow… up next… a freaky, american redhead wanders the streets of chengdu alone… and gets asked out while visiting a monastery… hahahahaha!!!!!
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