Warning - this is a novel. If your coffee is low, you might want to top it up. If you have to pee, it might be a good idea to go now.
Departure was Monday morning at 7am. Lola dropped him off at 545 and he made his way through the lengthy security line to meet with his colleague Amit the Comet (ATC).
Flying business class both ways has its perks. Lounge access and better seats along with decent meals on the flights.
Leaving Winnipeg was routine. Clear skies and a departure from runway 19 (I think...?) put us up and over the ol' stomping grounds.
Just under three hours later, we arrived in Vancouver for a 2.5 hrs layover - just enough time for ATC to get some Chinese currency (the Yuan) and AA to join a teleconference on a potential new project.
AA was successful, ATC elected to wait until Shanghai in hopes of getting a better exchange rate. AA got his Yuan in Winnipeg for approx $1 CAD to 5 Yuan (¥).
After a short stop in Vancouver (and another lounge stop for some coffee), the boys boarded their next flight - a Boeing 777 destined for Shanghai.
The flight was the longest AA has been on - over 11 hrs. That is a long time. Luckily traveling in business class means lie flat seats and a large video monitor. And noise cancelling headphones - a saviour.
AA got some work done but not as much as he hoped. I guess that happens when you have a few Caesars, glasses of wine and a glass of port with the wine and cheese plate for dessert.
Unfortunately sleep was hard to get. AA probably got 3 hrs total in three separate bursts. And trying to eat fired rice before landing wasn't successful either - somewhat expected when your body thinks it is 1am.
Anyways, once on the ground adventure mode kicked in and AA wasn't tired. Instead, he was taking it all in.
First impressions:
1. It is hot and humid. And rainy. Couldn't see much on approach.
2. The air has a weird smell. After brainpower started to resume normal function, it was determined that this is the smell of pollution. Perhaps that is why you can taste something...
3. The airport isn't very busy. Oh wait, now it is in the line to clear Chinese customs and then walk through the arrivals hall with hundreds of people with signs for people.
Walking through he arrivals hall, we didn't see our names on any signs nor did ATC recognize our contact (Tracy). After a few texts, we find Tracy and our driver Linda (Chinese name - Ling).
Another thought (thoughts will be denoted with square brackets from now on) - [Tracy and Linda are much younger than expected. Linda is probably 24-25 years old. Tracy probably 27-28. AA is the old man at 31 (only marginally older than Amit by a week or two).]
We make our way to the parking garage to get in the van (a Buick) [weird]. It was a strange start as Linda had difficulty getting the can to start [helps when it is in park] and then get out of the parkade [not her fault, they closed one exit so had to double back].
On the freeway we were on our way from Shanghai to Nantong. Google said this should be a 2 hrs drive [good, I kinda have to pee].
We drive, well Linda drives. AA watches out the window.
[Lots of trucks in the road at 4pm, definitely the majority of the traffic out to nantong]
[The roads are not in very good shape]. At some points, we had to slow to 30km/h due to poor joints in the road and at one point down to 10km/h as the road was in complete disrepair with potholes [where does the toll money go for this road?].
After passing through one toll booth, there was a check stop, we got pulled aside. Linda couldn't find the van insurance (it's a work van). No trouble, the stickers on the window prove registration and insurance is valid. However, the police officer asks Linda to get out. They go to the front of the van and start talking and pointing at what looks to be the grill. Conclusion - there is a licence plate cover (boarder) that needs to be removed. We need to go to the police checkstop office 100 m away. [Great, we are getting a ticket and I still need to pee].
ATC and Tracy get out of the car to stretch their legs. [I'm staying here - if I stand up I will really feel like I need to pee and there is no toilet that I can see].
In the end, only a warning was issued. [ok let's go].
A few mins down the highway, more fun begins. This time it's the wipers that Linda has on constantly due to the rain/mist and road spray [I guess, it isn't really raining]. The wipers stop mid wipe. Linda tries turning them off and on, fast and slow. No luck, still stuck (Lola - lol?).
Luckily we don't really need the wipers right now. It isn't rainy and the road is dry.
Then, magically they come back to life. [I've seen this before - either a loose connector like on the "work truck" or the motor is overheating in the 30+ humid weather and constant operation for the last 2 hrs.]
At this point AA learns how to read the GPS - 2 more hours to go. [this is going to be touch and go. I'm not sure I can hold it that long].
More driving. Then, much to AA's (and later to be learned, ATC's) we pull into a service area. [THANK YOU!!]
In addition to the washrooms, Tracy buys us some "donts" - meat (or bean or date) wrapped in sticky rice, boiled in a banana leaf. AA had a meat one - it was good. And filled the void that was forming as it was 5pm local time (4am body time). And we still have over 1.5 hrs to go.
Back in the van, more driving
Once across the Yhangzee the trip seemed short.
[It's not as crowded as expected. However there is tons of construction and high-rise apartments even in the apparent countryside.]
Finally, 4.5 hrs [+?] we arrived in Nantong.
However, don't think the story for Monday/Tuesday ends here... We soon come to learn Linda's ability to read the GPS.
After turning off the highway, and into the city of Nantong, we go east [I think]. And we keep going. And going. [cool, they have countdown timers on their stop lights].
After driving a few miles to the east to what seemed to be the outskirts of the city, we turn left. Drive another mile or so and then another left. West for a few and then south again to reach the hotel at 8pm - 25 hrs of travel. [Ugh - I need a shower and a bed].
Once checked in, we meet our Chinese hosts (our customer) who show us to a restaurant where we can have some food. A small bite and then back to the hotel room. Shower. Asleep by 9:30.
At 430 am, eyes are wide awake - it's like 330 pm back home. AA can't sleep anymore. Might as well check emails. And work for 2 hrs.
At 645 ATC and AA met downstairs in the restaurant for breakfast.
Linda joined the boys at about 730. Then Tracy at 745. At 8am, AA went to shower and get ready for the day.
At 830, the crew left for the customer's facility for a day full of meetings.
The customer is pretty excited as this will be a new capability for them - to be able to modify an airplane and then the other division on the same premises to operate the aircraft. Here is their scale model:
In between, the entire team went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Unfortunately AA didn't get any pictures. However the menu consisted of many traditional Chinese dishes. A few from memory:
- a fish from the Yhangzee river - pretty good
- some type of cucumber salad - delicious
- a beef stew with potatoes - good
- chicken feet - nope. Couldn't do it. Really was going to try and channel my inner Grandma M but couldn't get the courage [if it was the evening, it probably would have happened]
- watermelon - ripe, excellent
- chicken soup - very good. AA avoided the feet [I think I ate a liver].
- about 10 other dishes - no lie.
The meetings ended at 4pm. We went back to the hotel (AA worked, of course) and then at 6 we all went for dinner with the CEO of the company - Mr. Shen [really nice and down to earth guy].
We went to a restaurant in downtown Nantong. The food was excellent. AA ate the skin off of a fish that lives part of its life in the Yhangzee and the other part in the ocean. It was surprising creamy (fatty?). The meat was also good, but he waited for 5 mins after Mr. Shen at some (at Mr. Shen's recommendation) to make sure that the fish was no longer poisonous as the chef had prepared it properly (apparently you need a licence to cook this fish).
LV, Linda, Mr. Shen, Mr. Zhou
Do you see that white bottle in front of Linda? That's Chinese wine. 53% alcohol. Yes, AA had some (1.25 glasses). It would be rude to refuse some.
The wine was ok. [Way too potent]. Knowing his limits, AA quickly switched to beer and was the "boss" of that one:
a. Chinese people like to cheers. And when you cheers, you drink. Many cheers were had.
b. No one leaves hungry. We didn't even touch the last few dishes that came out because we were so full [some mostly of booze].
c. Smoking is not "allowed" in restaurants but is allowed. Luckily the smokers in our crowd politely excused themselves after lighting up in the room.
Here is how the rest of the meal went:
After a short drive back to the hotel (luckily we had a different driver, Linda was in no shape to drive - she drank way more than AA) it was time for bed. AA could barely keep his eyes open while texting Lola. After saying goodnight - AA was out in 2 mins.
At 3:30, AA was woken up by the sound of fireworks. [weird, it's late]. This round was short lived.
At 5:30, more fire works. This time for much longer. Like 15 mins. AA got up to see what [the h***] was going on. He couldn't quite figure it out. Outside his window down 18 floors he could see people lighting the fireworks with others just standing by. No one seemed concerned. No police. [strange]
Since he was up, AA decided to get some work done as there this a small period of time where people are still in the office working.
Breakfast at 730, checkout and leave at 830. This time, Linda missed the on ramp for the highway so we drove the whole way beneath the elevated highway (and this subjected to stop lights). We arrived a little after 9.
The meeting only lasted until lunch. Meeting minutes were signed and we visited the airplane.
And then we visited the real plane:
After saying our good byes, we made the drive back to Shanghai. This time only taking 2 hrs to get to the city (but another 1.5 hrs to the hotel).
AA peed before they left, he was good. Linda almost didn't make it and at some points, while stuck at a stop light, had to put the van in park rather than keep her foot on the brake.
We stayed at the New World Shanghai hotel. It was fancy. And the views were pretty cool.
The view from ATC's room
After a quick change of clothes, we made our way to get some food. Linda was starving. She is very much like Lola - likes to eat. And likes seafood. And likes to talk. She's fun (and so was Linda).
We made our way by taxi to an Indian restaurant ATC went to on his last trip to China. The food was awesome - we had bunch of appetizers and that's all we could eat.
Once we were done eating, the ladies showed us to a local Chinese market where you can buy almost anything - clothes, electronics, toys, bags, souvenirs. Authentic and knock offs. AA did some bartering, did a good job [so he thinks, ATC doesn't disagree].
Afterwards, AA and ATC attempted to hail a cab. It took some time (and splitting up to get one) but ATC finally got one and showed him on his phone where we wanted to go - back to the hotel.
A quick drop off of our purchases and then we were back exploring. This time, to a walking street. It was exactly what AA expected China to be like - bright, big and full of people.
The pictures will tell a better story than words:
After about an hour of walking up and down the street we decided to make our way back to the hotel. We made our way back to the regular driving streets and attempted to get a taxi. This proved to not be an easy task.
We ended up walking back to the market we were at previously (only a 15 mins walk) but had no luck hailing cans on the way.
The market was now closed so cabs were less frequent. ATC and AA decided to split up again to get a cab - one person on each side of the street. At one point, both had a taxi stopped but AA's driver could not understand or figure out where he wanted to go (AA was using a map on his phone...). ATC's driver wanted to charge 4-5 times what it cost (which still would have only been $30 CAD contrary to the $5.
Eventually they hailed a cab and got back to the hotel. AA closed his eyes for a "few mins" which made the drive much faster.
At the hotel, AA crashed. For an hour. Then got up and attended a design review meeting for almost 3 hrs (concluded at 3:15am). Then, back to sleep for 2 hrs. Up at 5:20, shower, finish packing and then out the door to get in the cab to the airport.
The taxi ride to the airport was supposed to take an hour (we were told). Our driver was nuts. We made it in 35 mins. I have a video I will post to YouTube. He was weaving in and out of cars and probably doing a minimum of 140 in a 100 zone. NUTS!!
We made it safe and sound. Only a $50 CAD cab ride. [cheap]
The lineup at security was (again) what AA expected in China - thousands of people and multiple customs and security lines. There was only one argument that could be heard between a Chinese man and the customs agent. [not smart buddy, don't yell at the customs officer when you want to travel]. He went away, escorted most likely.
We walked around the Shanghai airport and then went to the lounge for a bite to eat.
After killing time for an hour and a half, we made our way to board the plane. We had to take a shuttle to the plane.
We had a 2 hrs flight to Tokyo airport (too bad I didn't get a stamp to match my Chinese stamps and visa). Business class again so we got meals.
The flight was routine. We arrived in Tokyo on time. Another lounge visit where AA was amazed by the automated beer pouring machine (ref. Facebook video).
And now I'm on the 787, 3+ hrs into the 9 hrs flight.
Since it is Canada day, I celebrated with a Molson Canadian as I started into the blog.
Dinner was good - I elected for the Japanese dinner (appetizers of raw fish and some cured meats) followed by a beef stir fry. I trust the Japanese Air Canada catering more so than the Chinese raw fish.
Well time to try and get some sleep. I'm looking forward to a long weekend to rest and get back to the central time zone schedule. I have a feeling it's going to take more than the weekend.
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