April 16, 2006
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Instead of editing my last entry, which I ran out of time before finishing, I think it’d be better to start a new entry and finish what I was saying.
After leaving the temple of Buddhism, we got on another overnight train that took us from Bejing to Shanghai. I didn’t sleep well as usual, but at least the train was a non-smoking train (a rarity in China), so we didn’t have to inhale smoke while we slept.
In Shanghai, we visited a lot of shops and restaurants. There aren’t too many landmarks, and most of the city is either business, shopping, or eating. Which I really don’t mind at all. My brother described it as a Chinese New York. It was a huge city, and walking and cabbing all day only covered a fraction of it. Though I must say that we ate some delicious food while we were there. YSP.
On our final morning in China, we woke up at 6 AM to make a 9 AM flight. It was exhausting just getting out of bed. We hopped on a plane to Macao, where we said goodbye to our dad, and the got on another plane to Taipai. Sat in the business lobby for a couple of hours (where I wrote my previous blog) and took a hot shower. Then I was on a plane for 14 hours (I think), before landing in LAX. That flight was actually really nice, since we got bumped up into business class. It made the trip much more comfortable. But it was a bit disheartening to see that the majority of people in business class were either American, or English speakers. The families are usually stuck in economy, packed in like cows for 14 hours. Watched the Chronicles of Narnia on the plane (great!), and played tons of Burnout Legends. From LAX we drove a rental car to San Diego in minimal traffic. The end result is that I’m sitting in my chair at home while it rains outside.
I did manage to get a lot of chores done today though. And watched “Thank You for Smoking” with my brother, which I very much enjoyed. I look forward to going back to work on Monday, as I hear great things have been happening!
