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It was good and cold today, so happy to be leaving that weather behind. We had a good cab driver for our trip to the airport which was good since the roads were quite slippery.
We decided on a burger for lunch since we probably aren't going to be eating that for the next month and a half. We usually start our trip with either Dave spilling coffee on himself or me messing up my shirt. So why not dribble a little mustard down the front of your white shirt? I guess all is right with the world now.
The dreamliner is a nice plane, but I was surprised that there was no power outlet at your seat to keep your devices charged. I had a young Chinese lady beside me who needed help with the entertainment controls. I was watching a movie and not paying any attention to her. The next thing I know, I'm wearing a piece of bread, butter and mayo side down, on the front of my off-white sweater and a piece of ham between my legs! She was trying to get the wrapper off her sandwich and I guess she was reefing pretty ******* it, and when she finally managed to get the wrapper off, it just flew everywhere . Would have been funnier if it had been on her shirt, though. Haha. Other than that, it was a good 11 1/2 hr. flight to Beijing.
It takes a lot of time to navigate the Beijing airport. You need to fill out arrival cards (contrary to what the stewardesses tell you, it's one per person, not per family) and go through immigration. At this point they route you out of the secure area. The good news is that we did not have to collect our luggage, but we did need to get a boarding pass for the Bangkok. After getting the boarding pass, fill out departure card and go back through security. There's a very long lineup to go through immigration and another long lineup to get through security. I wasn't really paying that much attention and like a sheep, I just followed the person in front of me to the security lineup. This group had been making a scene with a lot of yelling at the kid that was with them. I did not realize that they had lifted the strap and just inserted their whole group in the front of the lineup, me included. All hell starts to break loose with some lady near the rear of the lineup screaming bloody murder that these people were budging in the lineup. I am still waiting for Dave to get through security and then he wanders over and joins me. Now this group is yelling back at the lady at the rear of the line. They certainly don't have any qualms about creating a scene in China! There are plenty of security guards on duty and they eventually have to do something to quell this disturbance, so they wade into this crowd and specifically single out these people and tell them to go to the rear of the lineup, ignoring Dave and I. I was expecting them to drag me under the bus with them because she was pushing me so hard I had to tell her to settle down. There were 2 people from their group that managed to sneak through anyway. I think they were all related and I thought it was surprising that they would kick the family to the curb instead of joining them at the back of the line. I honestly did not realize that we were budging in because I was more preoccupied about where Dave was, otherwise I would have just gone to the back of the line. It was a 5 1/2 hr flight to Bangkok and this plane did not have an entertainment system. Luckily, we come prepared. Some people were using their phones for entertainment and the stewardess insisted that that turn them off-more nasty arguing!
There were huge lines in the Bangkok airport. Dave went to change some money while I filled out the visa forms. There was some confusion there because of a sign stipulating new regulations as of December 1st, so we wrongly assumed we needed a visa. That pretty much just applies to Chinese citizens. All said, it took an hour to clear customs. At this point, we are at the 24 hour mark of travelling and finally got to bed at 4 am Thai time.
We decided on a burger for lunch since we probably aren't going to be eating that for the next month and a half. We usually start our trip with either Dave spilling coffee on himself or me messing up my shirt. So why not dribble a little mustard down the front of your white shirt? I guess all is right with the world now.
The dreamliner is a nice plane, but I was surprised that there was no power outlet at your seat to keep your devices charged. I had a young Chinese lady beside me who needed help with the entertainment controls. I was watching a movie and not paying any attention to her. The next thing I know, I'm wearing a piece of bread, butter and mayo side down, on the front of my off-white sweater and a piece of ham between my legs! She was trying to get the wrapper off her sandwich and I guess she was reefing pretty ******* it, and when she finally managed to get the wrapper off, it just flew everywhere . Would have been funnier if it had been on her shirt, though. Haha. Other than that, it was a good 11 1/2 hr. flight to Beijing.
It takes a lot of time to navigate the Beijing airport. You need to fill out arrival cards (contrary to what the stewardesses tell you, it's one per person, not per family) and go through immigration. At this point they route you out of the secure area. The good news is that we did not have to collect our luggage, but we did need to get a boarding pass for the Bangkok. After getting the boarding pass, fill out departure card and go back through security. There's a very long lineup to go through immigration and another long lineup to get through security. I wasn't really paying that much attention and like a sheep, I just followed the person in front of me to the security lineup. This group had been making a scene with a lot of yelling at the kid that was with them. I did not realize that they had lifted the strap and just inserted their whole group in the front of the lineup, me included. All hell starts to break loose with some lady near the rear of the lineup screaming bloody murder that these people were budging in the lineup. I am still waiting for Dave to get through security and then he wanders over and joins me. Now this group is yelling back at the lady at the rear of the line. They certainly don't have any qualms about creating a scene in China! There are plenty of security guards on duty and they eventually have to do something to quell this disturbance, so they wade into this crowd and specifically single out these people and tell them to go to the rear of the lineup, ignoring Dave and I. I was expecting them to drag me under the bus with them because she was pushing me so hard I had to tell her to settle down. There were 2 people from their group that managed to sneak through anyway. I think they were all related and I thought it was surprising that they would kick the family to the curb instead of joining them at the back of the line. I honestly did not realize that we were budging in because I was more preoccupied about where Dave was, otherwise I would have just gone to the back of the line. It was a 5 1/2 hr flight to Bangkok and this plane did not have an entertainment system. Luckily, we come prepared. Some people were using their phones for entertainment and the stewardess insisted that that turn them off-more nasty arguing!
There were huge lines in the Bangkok airport. Dave went to change some money while I filled out the visa forms. There was some confusion there because of a sign stipulating new regulations as of December 1st, so we wrongly assumed we needed a visa. That pretty much just applies to Chinese citizens. All said, it took an hour to clear customs. At this point, we are at the 24 hour mark of travelling and finally got to bed at 4 am Thai time.
- comments
Susan Phew -made it! Only -40 here!
Vera Lol! Let the games begin!
Val How frustrating! But kind in mind that when you travel with me, the disasters are on a more national scale -- like hurricane Ivan or the blackout on the eastern seaboard. Mayonnaise doesn't sound so bad! Enjoy the beautiful weather.
Bea Ching Hopefully the cold weather will do some good, like killing off the pine beetles.