Arrival in Shanghai

I'd say our 13 hour flight from San Francisco to Shanghai felt more like a six hour flight. Yes, it flew by. Having Economy Plus seats with no one between us helped, but it was odd not to sleep much at all, not to watch a single movie (they taunted us with promises of True Grit and The King's Speech, then delivered Tron and something starting Mall Cop), and still feel like the flight went quickly. I guess it helps to have missed so many recent emails regarding this trip. Amazing what you can find when you get a chance to work through your email backlog.


So we gathered our many bags and walked off the plane.


"It's pretty humid."


"Yeah, maybe that's why we couldn't see the ground until we landed."


"Where's Angie?"


Angie was on Air China flight 986, having missed our flight out of SFO after a botched transit from home to the airport, the fatal flaw of which was relying on a cabbie to be in a specific place at a specific time. After chasing him down the street lugging 3 weeks of luggage once he finally arrived in the vicinity, Angie came running up to the United counter 39 minutes before departure time. Meanwhile, I was on the phone with Mikey, who hatched a brilliant backup plan involving the Bluth stair car from Arrested Development. But no luck, unless you count the fact that Angie was immediately rebooked on Air China to arrive only 5 hours later than us.





So Kristy and I proceeded alone through customs in Shanghai, surprised at how quickly it went despite our successful bid to become the last people from our 747 to get into the Passport check line. It then took me a mere 15 minutes to re-learn how to use a pay phone, and I was on the phone with Phil. Moments later, he and Rebecca met us and we were aboard our first of three taxis of the evening between Pudong and central Shanghai.


We made it, Angie made it, we got a good night's sleep, and today we will explore Shanghai. My goal is to convince the others that we need to go to the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center regardless of the visibility. That and to drink some coffee soon.