Day Two - We are HERE!

We are HERE…at our hotel, the Holiday Inn Shifu.  It’s 11 PM (11 AM for those of you on the East Coast of the U.S.) Ready for bed!

Our flights were FANTASTIC (and it’s not too often you can say that about a 13 hour flight plus another 5 hour flight). After flying on Cathay Pacific in 2010 and being disappointed, I can say that ANA (All Nippon Airways) is INCREDIBLE! (I know I sound like a snob here regarding Cathay, but after hearing so many fantastic things about Cathay, I was very disappointed. I found the fixed back shell seats so uncomfortable and the service was not great at all.) Today, we were seated in Premium Economy. As soon as we were in the air, the flight attendants were coming around with lunch, drinks, drinks, snacks, etc. Service was impeccable.  Seats were comfortable.  I highly recommend ANA. INCREDIBLE. Oh and they served Haagan Daz ice cream after lunch. Seriously.

One thing that is a very interesting experience (to me) is that I was one of 3 caucasian people flying between JFK and Tokyo, and then the only Caucasian person flying from Tokyo to Guangzhou. It is a very different experience being the only person who looks like you do, surrounded by people all speaking a different language and having different accepted customs. For Sarah, this will be her experience soon, so I appreciate the opportunity to feel for a little while how she will feel. (I realize our family situation is unique in that her dad and one brother are both Chinese.) That is part of why we chose the hotel we did. It is in a very “real” Chinese area. I’ll take photos tomorrow to post so you can see what I mean. Here's one I took in 2010.

Two humorous situations at the JFK airport.  For people who know me well, you know I HATE to attract any attention. Both situations today attracted attention – unwanted attention.

About 30 minutes before our flight left JFK, I waited in line for the restroom. I had just gotten into the stall, when I heard an announcement, “Would Miss Nicole Walsh report IMMEDIATELY to the ANA customer service desk, please.” WHAT? I raced there and they said they needed to see my passport because they believed there was a problem with my VISA. WHAT? Luckily they looked at it and decided it was fine. (Which I already knew…)  I felt like one of my students when the fire alarm goes off at school and you are in the bathroom at the time. Yikes!

Before that, when we went through security at JFK, and there were about 100 people in back of me, a security guard began SCREAMING at me. SCREAMING AT ME. And I mean SCREAMING.  I had just taken off my shoes, put my laptop in a bin, and put my 311 bag (which was very organized and labeled) in the same bin as my laptop (there was room in that bin). He came right up close to me and started screaming, “NO! THIS IS ALL WRONG. YOU CAN’T PUT ANYTHING ELSE IN THE BIN WITH THE LAPTOP.” He sent me back to get another bin. Then continued to yell loudly to the hundreds of people behind me, “DO NOT PUT ANYTHING IN YOUR BINS WITH YOUR LAPTOPS. LAPTOPS MUST BE ALONE IN THE BINS.” Well, we are all clear on that now. I did notice there were NO signs that indicated this was a rule…total humiliation. At least I was not subject to any special searches after that!

We are looking forward to the breakfast buffet tomorrow morning. I still laugh about 2010 when for the first 5 or 6 mornings,  I would order two eggs “well done” with the yolks broken and the chef thought I was complimenting him and would then hand me a plate with two sunny side up eggs on it. Rupert would go and reorder them. Finally he told me I needed to say “fully cooked” because clearly “well done” was a compliment, not a way to order your eggs. This time I know! Oh and the bacon… so much for lean protein. 

Tomorrow, we will walk over to Shamian Island and poke around the shops. No need to buy a stroller this time (we brought our own). We’ll just shop around. We also need to double check that our favorite hot pot restaurant from 2010 is still down the street. If so, tomorrow night we are going to dinner with Fannie Wilks and her family (including her new son Ben from Longgang).

So, the hotel. Love it. Holiday Inn Shifu where we stayed in 2010.

Tracy A – It’s not your exact same room (ours has one king size bed in the bedroom, instead of your two doubles), but it’s the same kind of room. And it’s SPACIOUS (and you really can’t say that about hotel rooms in China!) and luxurious, and FANTASTIC!

So for those who will travel after us. Here’s why we love this hotel:

-         Large rooms

-         Location, Location, Location…in “real” China, right on a Pedestrian Street (for Vermont natives, think Church Street except with wall to wall people and open air stores – no doors to enter, you just walk right in…)

-         10 minute walk to Shamian Island, 

-         If you book on the Executive Floor you have access to the lounge (bottled water all day which is a huge savings $ wise!), snacks, drinks, etc.

-         Our room (exec.) has breakfast and internet included

-         The price is way better than The Garden

-         LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Here are photos of our room:

View looking into the huge bathroom.

And now, off to bed!