My alarm went off at 6:30am and I proceeded to hit the snooze button three times. After dragging myself out of bed I showered, got all my stuff together, ran and got some breakfast, sent a few last minute emails and made my way to the ferry terminal by 8:15am.
I brought my large purse with me and my new duffle so that I didn't have to worry about checking any luggage. I also brought a small purse for sightseeing, gifts for Sara and her family and clothers. The basics.
Caught the bus at 8:25am. I was suppose to arrive at the ferry terminal by 8:30am for my 9:30am ferry, and I got there at 8:32am. Now just knowing Macao I figured the whole hour early thing really wasn't necessary, but I tend to air on the side of caution so I got there early. Well, I was right about not needing to be there. I could have arrived at 9am and been fine, but I took the time to do some puzzles in my book. I'll always love puzzles.
The ferry to Hong Kong International Airport was basically empty and the ride was smooth so all in all a lovely start to my trip. Now since I took the ferry straight to HKIA I checked in right when I exited the ferry at special check-in counters for the ferry guests. I loved it! There was nobody and check-in was a breeze. Went through security, which was so easy, no need to take off my jacket or shoes! Also I forgot to put all of my liquids into a plastic bag but no one said anything to me. (This would continue the whole trip)
Went and found my departure gate, which had a view of the sea, and then went to find lunch. Ended up at Panopolis and had a TURKEY SANDWICH and banana! I miss sandwiches so much so I couldn't pass up the opporutnity to have one.
MUSINGS
I love airports because while each one has their own set up and personality, in any airport you can really be or go anywhere. They all have arrival and departure gates, air control towers and runways. If it wasn't for the landscape, interior and the faces of everyone milling about you might not even know where you are. Then there are so many places to go! Your ticket says one destination, but the gate next to you may say one that's halfway around the world from yours. The sense of adventure is undeniable.
There is a sense of home too. You can always fly sort of close to where you're from. I found two flights, one going to Boston and one to Denver. I immediately felt this connection with all the passengers on those flights. Their faces seemed familiar and their voices as I passed by were oddly soothing. A little bit of home, and it reminded me that if I need to or want to I can always get/go home.
I love airports.
Boarding was just general, which was awesome and I wish Delta did the same. The plane was nice and room and throughout the flight they played some odd chinese movies with english subtitles that didn't really help.
Lunch was: Chicken and Rice, roll, gross pasta salad and pineapple cake. I didn't eat a whole lot since I'd had the sandwich. There was a fair bit of turbulence but nothing too bad. Taking off from HK was awesome. The view was just beautiful! I spent most of the time reading my Kindle (thank you mom). Definitely one of my most favorite and useful items.
Landed in Beijing at 4:30 and it took about half an hour to go through the whole process of getting off the plane, going through customs and getting to the arrival hall so it was perfect timing to meet Sara at 5pm.
It was so nice to see her! Had one of those "hey its you!" moments. Got reintroduced to her friend Young who had worked at Disney at the same time as us and who I'd met briefly once and went to find her car. Took a bit to find the car, but once we had it was off into Beijing rush hour traffic! I apologized for flying in during rush hour. I'm such a nice friend. Spent most of the time taking pictures and "ooooing" and "ahhhing" at just how large Beijing is.
One moment flying in I looked out my window and was like "oh the city isn't that big" Then I looked up and out into the distance and thought "holy crap. nevermind" The city is SO MASSIVE! I couldn't get over that fact the entire trip.
We did pass an Ikea on the way in which was just odd. There everywhere! Driving to Sara's place I was reminded a little bit of Miami by the wide rodes, tons of traffic and huge buildings. I also found out that every person who has a car is not allowed to drive one day a week. This is to help with all the traffic. Luckily Sara's day is Wednesday so she could pick me up from the airport and take me when I left.
For dinner Sara and Young took me to have Beijing Duck. We went to a restaurant called Quanjude which is famous for their roast duck, and you actually get a litte commemoration card which tells you your ducks number. And it was delicious! They brought it out and showed it to us, then went and chopped it up out of view and brought it back to us. We had duck skin, duck meat and duck head. Yes, I did try the head. It didn't taste like much and was kind of just smooth in texture. We also had jellyfish, which was not my favorite. The texture was odd and chewy and cold.
After dinner we headed back to Sara's aunt's place, which is where we stayed the whole trip. The location of the apartment is better than Sara's house and her aunt doesn't live there full time so we had the place to ourselves! Unpacked, sat around and surfed the web and then hit the hay around 1am. Exhausted but a great first day!
Pictures will come soon. I've edited them, but there are so many I'm going to put them into mini slideshows!
Signing off! Time to go do some homework..
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