Friday, December 19, 2008 ;
12:02 AM
13 Dec
Sat
We have tried a couple of Chinese airlines by now. So far, I think I like Air China best.
We flew back to Tianjin on Shanghai Airlines. This flight was far from uneventful like most other flights.
First, the plane was parked in the middle of nowhere. So all of us passengers waiting at the boarding gate were ushered into the open (which was cold) and herded into a bus. The bus was very smelly and they left the engine on and the doors of the bus open. So we were all forced to breathe in the fumes.
I felt very suffocated. Furthermore, they wanted to pack the bus to the brim with the last passengers before leaving so we were squeezed together.
After a long arduous wait, the bus finally moved. Then, I didn't expect the ride to be so long. How come the plane is soooooo far away? Some people on the bus joked that our plane can't be found, because at one juncture, the bus stopped in the middle of the runway and waited for a long time. We were craning our necks but couldn't see a Shanghai Airlines plane.
Presumably, the bus was waiting for another plane to clear the runway before continuing on its journey.
Then we arrived and the bus left after we got off. But then, they wanted to check our passports and boarding passes again! So in the windy and cold outdoors, we had to form a long queue at the foot of the stairs leading up to the door of the plane, and let the officials check our documents.
I had kept the kids' and my jackets in the carry on bag already and had to take them out. So cold, so troublesome. Sigh.
And the wait was very long again. So that's why I could take all these pics, and talked to the kids about the captain who was flying our plane, so they don't get bored queueing for so long. Showed them the turbine too. And they recalled the Mr Incredibles movie when superheroes with capes get sucked in. Funny.
After we got home, we decided to order some Chinese food, and because it was so cold, we yearned for some hot soup. We had not tried ordering soup to go before, but assumed it would be like in Singapore where they put it into a large microwaveable plastic container.
Nope... We were so shocked to see this.. A huge plastic bag, those you use for groceries or trash. Yes, and our pork rib soup was inside. Nice, right.
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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