Off to China

I packed my suitcase with bubblewrap. There was nothing to do but retire for the night. I was surprised how quickly I fell asleep. Not fast but not too badly. I was dreaming when Chris woke me at 4am. I took a shower and got dressed. I checked e-mail and drank some mineral water. I shut down the computers and did stretches. When the taxi arrived, we wheeled our luggage out to the curb. I went back for the recyclables, then got in the taxi and drove away. Along the way to the airport, I gave cookies to the driver. When we got to the airport, Chris paid the driver and we went inside to the checkin counter. When our luggage was on its way, we stopped by the restroom, then got in line for security. That went well. We proceeded to Customs. Afterward, we walked to our gate. While we waited, I ate seed crackers and watched the Korean news. The Koreans were watching it too. Later we lined up to board the plane. Chris and I were seated across the aisle from each other. The place was not full so we each had the entire row to ourselves. It was a short flight, about 45 minutes. Still, I used my earplugs which help adjust air pressure. During the flight, they played a video of gags. Some were really funny. After we landed, everyone stood up to leave.

Chris got my carry on down for me and accidentally hit me in the head with it. I fell into the seat, but was only stunned We got off the plane and walked a long way to our gate. We shared our last orange and ate some cookies. Then I used my tablet to write notes for my blog while Chris fielded phone calls. I had a lot to learn about using the document editor on the tablet. I decided to scope out the restrooms for later. Just beyond the restroom was a packaged food store. I went in just to look. There were a lot of propolis products, including toothpaste. But what got me to open my wallet was the kimchi. It was $9. I thought I had enough won to get it but I had to pay wigh yuan. The lady wrapped it up with a seal that said"Do not open until final destination. I guess it was a customs thing. I went back to where Chris was sitting. I watched the luggage while he used the rest room. Half of the plane was boarding. We waited but then joined the end of the line even though they hadn't called our row yet. Still, when we got on, plenty of seats ahead of us were full. And after we sat, plenty of people passed us. We sat there so long that I fell asleep. taking off woke me up but not by much. I put in my earplugs and almost went back to sleep. Then I heard the food cart. The meal was chicken, rice, a roll, and a fruit cup. I gave the roll to Chris. After eating, I mediated. Then I saw that Chris was watching a movie. So I checked out the selections. Not much. I watched something that was like Candid Camera. The plane landed and my ears were doing quite well. We went through Immigration with no problem except waiting in line. Then we picked jp our bags. The exit to that room said you better be prepared to be searched by Customs. But when we went through the door, there were lines of people holding up signs to find particular passengers. We walked the gamut but did not see the cruise people who were supposed to meet us. We looked all around.

Chris went outside to look for their van. Then he walked the gamut again and this time he saw them. We met another couple on the same tour. The guide explained some things we needed to know, then put us and our luggage in a van. The driver drove over an hour in dense traffic to the hotel. It was amazing! We checked in, walked around a bit, then went to our room. In a bit, our luggage was delivered. Chris put our passports in the safe. He got on his laptop and I took a nap. When I got up, I ate half of the kimchi. Then I tried to use my tablet online, but had trouble. We looked at a map and tried to figure out where we were. Once we did, we walked to something called the Bund. It was nice architecture, but nothing was going on. So we walked back. I saw a shoe store and looked inside. When we came to a cute rustic restaurant that had a pictorial restaurant, we went inside and got two orders of dimsum. Oh, it was so good! I gave Chris some of mine because I was not as hungry. Then we went back to the hotel. We figured it was about time for the other Damours to arrive. So we sat in the beautiful lobby and waited. Someone played the piano upstairs. It was nice to listen to. But after an hour and not seeing them, we went back to our room. Chris fell asleep and I caught up on Sudoku. I was a little worried because we had left a message for them at the front desk. But Chris was not. I typed up my blog on the tablet, but it would not post to Blogger. But at least I have it saved for later.
* The second pic was taken INSIDE the hotel. *