Day 9 � Shanghai to Guangzhou
We rise, shower, finish packing and head down to our last breakfast in Shanghai. Mrs. He picks us up at 10:00 and we load ourselves and our bags in a van for the short ride to the airport. Upon getting checked-in we discover that our flight is delayed due to bad weather in Guangzhou. We tell Mrs. He we will be fine, say our goodbyes, and make our way to the gate. Grace starts getting fussy with so much inactivity and is getting tired, so we feed her and Daddy finds a quiet corner in the airport and manages to get her to sleep (at this point we are kicking ourselves for checking the stroller!). I have to say that being on a delayed flight here was very civilized. Once the flight was delayed a certain amount of time (I assume), they sent us to the �delayed lounge� and had boxed lunches for everyone. Since Jude was still in a quiet corner with a sleeping Grace, I wandered down and picked up two boxes, two sodas and three bananas. After making my way back to Jude and Grace I opened the box. It had in it a large pile of rice, some unidentifiable overcooked vegetables and a whole (eyes and all) deep-fried fish of some kind. Needless to say we ate our bananas and drank our sodas and dug a couple of energy bars out of our daypacks!
As we changed Grace�s diaper once she woke up from her nap we realize that, being the newbie parents that we are, we have made a MAJOR mistake. Not anticipating a flight delay we are running out of diapers! We have plenty in our packed bags, but have just a few with us. We cross our fingers and hope for the best. We finally board our flight 1 hour and 45 minutes late. Grace starts her first airplane flight cranky and kindly makes a very smelly deposit in her diaper! As soon as that seat belt sign goes out, I take Grace into the restroom and manage to change her diaper without injuring either one of us. Grace then drank the bottle she refused to drink during take-off and falls asleep. She slept the entire 90 minute flight and even sleeps during landing.
We successfully deplane, get our bags and find our translator, Mrs. Liang, waiting for us. We get in yet another taxi and make our way to the famous White Swan Hotel. Upon check-in it turns out there is a mix-up regarding our reservations. We got three days included with our airfare and the fourth night was to be made by Victor. He did make the fourth night reservation for us, but for a night we already had a reservation for! I guess I didn�t make it clear which night he needed to make the reservation for. Mrs. Liang gets this straightened out for us and we get checked-in. Our room is on the 19th floor, facing away from the river. The rooms here are not large, but beautifully appointed. The bathroom is marble and we have a small sitting area with a table and chairs, small refrigerator and a hot pot. After settling in, we walk to the White Swan delishop and pick-up a �mixed grill� for dinner. Soon thereafter its bed for everyone. |
