Jan 7th - 8th

(Was having some technical problems, evidently blogspot is currently blocked by the Great **** Wall of China :)

but I am now on a VPN service that originates from the US, so here goes!)  Please note, I didn't spell out that word, just in case they are monitoring me ;)

So the adventure begins!  All packed and ready to go, the same pose as before last trip.

Zach and Emily drove us to the airport, and we got thru security easily and on board.

Great Seats!

The flight was pretty uneventful, other than being 15 hours long!  SOOOO glad we saved all our points so we could fly first class!  We each got our own “pod”, makes a world of difference, but its still 15 hours on a loud vibrating plane.

Estee piloting her own Pod

Enjoyed flying up the coast of California, it was really clear so great views.

Marina Del Ray and Santa Monica

Waved to Taylor as we flew over the Bay Area

Family Dinner

The “pods” also have a guest seat, so Stacey and I got to eat dinner together, then Estee joined us. 

Estee's favorite part of the meal!

Then each of us went back to our seats to watch a movie, then try to sleep the rest of the flight.  The lie flat beds with comfy duvet’s helped with that.

The day before we left, I started coming down with a cold, so I have been pounding the Airborn, keeping my fingers crossed that it is a minor one. 









So we made it to Shanghai.  Got in about 8pm Tuesday.  Gathered the luggage, changed some money and went in search of a taxi.  We were accosted (nicely) by a lady who assured me there was no way the three of us and all our bags were going to fit into a taxi, so she would be happy to get a van for the low price of 500RMB!!  The guy next to her must of worked for the Marriott, cause when we said we were going to the JW Marriott, he said, no you can fit in a taxi, only 220RMB.  So this guy grabs a few of our bags and proceeds to walk all the way downstairs to the taxi line, wait in line with us, then argued with the cop directing the cabs, and managed to secure us a minivan taxi - we fit great!  And it was 160RMB - much better.

First view of downtown from the cab

View from our room 

Got to the hotel, great room on the 57th floor, good view of the city.  

Now its off to bed again.