March 17, 2011 - En-route to Beijing from Shanghai, China
You will not believe what I've been through in the past few days. So because of the terrible earthquake in Japan that happened on Friday March 10, 2011, my travel plans had to change. I was supposed to be in Tokyo, Japan last night but the earthquake damage and the aftermath concerning the Fukushima Daichii Reactor damage have made it impossible for me to continue on the original itinerary I had planned (part of me thought of going there anyways to volunteer to help distribute supplies and that sort of thing but my parents were already freaked out enough by the thought of me being in Asia so I didn't go through with the plan). My hosts in Japan were really worried and stressed out but alive luckily. I made sure to keep in touch and check up on them periodically to make sure they're doing okay. My prayers and thoughts are with them and all of the people in Japan.
The change of plans, however, did throw a wrench in my traveling plans. I decided that the best, and cheapest, thing to do would be to continue on to China as planned but switch my visit to Beijing to the beginning of the trip instead of the end (I had originally planned to catch a train from Xi'An to Beijing at the end). This proved to be incredibly troublesome anyways.
To begin with, I got to Chicago only to find that the website I had booked my hotel through screwed up the reservation dates at the Hyatt Regency (stupid Priceline) and this I had no hotel to stay at in Chicago and $70 went down the drain (did I mention that Priceline should go to hell?). I went back to Chicago O'Hare and promptly proceeded to call every single hotel in the area. I finally found one that had an adequate price, only to have my reservation fucked up again (really, Baymont Inn, REALLY?).
This was 1:46 pm.
I was hungry, sleep-deprived and annoyed and angry.
On a hunch, after leaving the hotel pick-up waiting room at O'Hare because the other two guys in the room were staring at me and freaked me out, I checked if O'Hare had an American Airlines Admirals Club.
It did.
It has showers, and free WiFi and Coffee and comfortable seats.
I resolved that the best alternative was to just sleep it out on a bench until the American Airlines counter opened and then purchase a day-pass to the club, take a shower, drink some coffee, and send out a slew of emails - which is exactly what I did.
I was really happy with the results.
The Admirals Club at O'Hare was wonderful - and whomever thought of putting showers in it is a genius. I cannot tell you how much of a difference being able to take a shower and put on some fresh clothes makes before traveling. Especially if it is a long flight like the 14-hour flight from Chicago O'Hare to Shanghai Pudong.
Anyways...I spent the rest of the time stressing out over the logistics of getting to Beijing. China Eastern Airlines wouldn't answer their phones so I left my parents with the unpleasant task of rescheduling the Tokyo flight. Meanwhile, I book what looked to be a reputable hotel in Shanghai and looked up some airfare prices on Ctrip for the Shanghai-Beijing flight and rescheduled my reservation at the Swisshotel Beijing. I left the Admirals Club in a rush, making it to the gate in time but still freaking over the fact that I didn't have a flight out of Shanghai and the Tokyo flight cancellation issue being a pain in the ass because China Eastern Airlines US office was being less than helpful. I completely lost it when I sat down in my seat on the plane with my mom on the phone. I guess the fact that I was flying out to Shanghai on my own with half-baked plans for the next few days finally got to me. Maybe it was also the sleep deprivation and the stress of the hotel situation and the lack of having eaten a proper, balanced meal since the glorious breakfast buffet at the Glendale Hilton in Burbank, Los Angeles, CA the day before. I managed to calm down by the time we taxied out of O'Hare when I promptly fell asleep for 2 hours until the flight attendant came by with some snacks and beverages.
The flight was alright. Except for the fact that the lady next to me was a grumpy wart of a person that insisted on taking up some of my seat space and floor space and making faces when I asked her to be let out to go to the bathroom. This resulted in the viewing of The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, The Office, Extras, The King's Speech, Glee, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1, 2 episodes of The Wizards of Waverly Place, Sonny With A Chance, and the beginning of Burlesque all in one sitting (the last three were the result of running out of things to watch). The King's Speech is excellent by the way... highly recommend it. I also snuck a few peeks out the window to look at the wast, white, dead plains of the Siberian tundra we flew over for 3-4 hours. it was truly beautiful in a haunting way. It reminded me that someday I need to do the transsiberian railway. At times the snow was reflecting so much light that it was hard to look at it because it was so bright.
I was a little relieved to land in Shanghai though that didn't last long. I took a cab to the hotel I booked because my stupid phone wouldn't read my Chinese SIM card and I couldn't find the hotel van. Turns out the cab didn't know where the hotel was and kept asking me in Chinese where the hotel was. I kept telling him I didn't know. Because, really, do I look like I know where things are in Shanghai? Shanghai is ridiculously huge!
Anyways, it turned out to be an expensive $20 cab ride around the ugly parts of the Pudong area. I ended up back at the airport, tired, and freaking out again. I located the Ctrip counter by chance and booked a flight to Beijing out of Hongqiao airport (at the other end of town). The agent told me it might be a better idea to just get a hotel in that area anyways since my flight was leaving so early. After much deliberation, I settled on the Howard Johnson Hongqiao Airport that included free internet and breakfast and then jumped on the Pudong-Hongqiao airport shuttle and somehow made it half-alive to the hotel where I basically just fell asleep immediately after stuffing my face with Thin Crispy Edamame Crackers from Trader Joe's that I had found in my bag.
I woke up this morning, and to my dismay, found out that breakfast wouldn't be served until 6:30 am and I had to be in Hongqiao by then. It wasn't bad though. I had a coffee in Hongqiao and a proper Chinese breakfast of vegetable-and-noodle soup (25 RMB for Coffee, 15 RMB for the soup) and hopped on what has been the shakiest airplane ride I've ever experienced. But I'm happy. And less stressed. I'm 15 minutes away from landing in Beijing. I've decided that today I'm going to the Forbidden City and the Heavenly Temple if I can make it. I will treat myself to a proper dinner of Peking Roast Duck (北京烤鸭 - běijīng kǎoyā) and then go to my cooking class tomorrow. I will meet with a fellow Vassar alum and then the next day take a stroll up the Great Wall or Summer Palace (time permitting). Pictures will, of course, come soon.
Travel stress should be over soon. Yay!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
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