Traveling from Point A to B is not fun nowadays because of all the hassles that you have to put up with, especially air travel. Getting to the airport is the easy part. Then you have to go through TSA Security, which is like going through an obstacle course. You never know what to expect. Sometimes you have to take off your shoes; sometimes you don't. Sometimes you have pull out your electronic devices but someone decided you don't have to. You may have forgotten to pour out that bottle of liquid. Or, you forgot to take out a pointed device, like a pair of small scissors, at a foreign airport. You may even forget to retrieve your personal belongs when you leave the checkpoint. I left an iPad on the belt and 30 minutes later, realized I had forgotten it. I went back to get it and luckily, one of the agents put it aside at the counter. Must happen quite often.
Because I travel frequently I try to make life easy for myself. I signed up for TSA Pre-check and Global Entry. I also paid extra for CLEAR, a private program that allows me to go through TSA in the shortest amount of time. Then I signed up for access to all all lounges available after I get through. Life is much easier if you have some way to decompress after running through the TSA obstacle course.
My flight leaves at 11:25pm on a Wednesday evening. Typically, the check-in counter opens 3 hours before departure time. I arrived at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport early, a little after 8pm. I was surprised to see airline employees getting ready to check in passengers. Already there was a long line for the economy section. A few for Premium Economy and also a few for Sky Priority, which is assumed to be mostly Business Class passengers. Since I was flying China Airlines for both legs of the flight I wondered if I could check my luggage all the way to Shanghai. The agent who checked me in asked me if I wanted to do that. Of course I would. It saves me a lot of time and hassle, not having to pick up my luggage and then rechecking it again. Now I don't even have to go through Taiwan Immigration in Taipei. I can just go straight to the gate that departs for Shanghai.
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| Checking in to China Airlines |
Luckily, there were not too many passengers that late in the evening. Clear and TSA Pre-check were close. We were told to take out our electronic devices. Then someone came along and told us not to. This is such a big waste of time. All because of one person and one organization - Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. They have inflicted more punishment around the world than they thought. They forever changed air travel.
I checked into the Escape Lounge, a Priority Pass lounge that I have access to. I have never been to this one although I frequently check into the American Express Centurion lounge frequently. Surprisingly, it is quite nice and the place was crowded. The food was good and the bar was open.
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| The Escape Lounge |
Finally, it was time to board. Business Class (BC) passengers have Sky Priority, which means you are the first to board. It is a privilege to be flying BC. It costs a lot of money. This time I was lucky to book a seat using my American Express points.
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| China Airlines plane ready for the long flight |
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| Business Class seat |
The flight was not full. The BC section was less than half full. It takes time to build up the business. As Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) ramps up its production in Phoenix, more companies from Asia or anywhere else around the world would start traveling to Phoenix. Some business you can't just do remotely.
The flight left slightly early. Before we know it we were at cruising altitude. The crew did not take long to start serving our meals. A few days before the flight we were asked if we wanted to pre-order our meals. I ordered lobster and fried rice. Well, eating lobster can be messy but it was good.
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| Lobster and fried rice for dinner |
After a nice dinner, some red wine and sleep aid medication, it was time to flatten the seat and lie down for a night's sleep. It was about 1am, two hours into the flight. This is the toughest part of any long-distance flight - being able to sleep on the plane. Having a lie-flat seat makes things so much easier. I could never sleep on the plane sitting up. I may doze off. But sleeping for a long stretch like 5-6 hours, forget it. I am not the only one. Many people I talked to have the same problem. Sitting up is not a natural posture for sleeping. Yet, there are many people who can sleep on a plane sitting. I wish I can do that.
I woke up about 3-4 hours later, went to the bathroom and fell asleep again for another 1-2 hours. Waking up I felt good. It was still about 7am, Phoenix time. I still have another 7 hours to go on the flight. Not being able to fall back asleep again I decided to watch a movie. Since seeing Cynthia Erivo and Arianna Grande, I was impressed with their singing. I watched "Wicked for Good." Not exactly the most exciting movie but enough to keep me glued to the screen. There was nothing good.
Later I saw another movie called "Song Sung Blue." If you are a Neil Diamond fan you will recognize it's one of his hits. It's a love story about a couple trying to survive by doing Neil Diamond tribute shows. It starred Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. After seeing him perform in Les Miserables, I am a fan of Hugh Jackman. I think he is a fantastic actor, playing different types of roles, instead of playing the same kind of role every time.
I read a book (on my Kindle) I borrowed from the library. It's called Wager by David Grann. I first read it months ago and thought it was boring. But David Grann is a good writer. So I decided to read it again. The book is about a fleet of British ships trying to sail west to the coast of South America and then around the Cape Horn. They were supposed to capture some Spanish galleons. Unfortunately, they met some bad weather (which is normal) when they went around the Cape. They were shipwrecked and split up. The book then focussed on those who were on the Wager and shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Patagonia. There was a mutiny and the group split up. Miraculously, some survived and returned to England. Each try to tell their version of the story.
About 2 hours before landing, passengers are usually served their breakfasts. I picked a congee dish because I just want something light. It came with a few side dishes. One of the side dish is salted egg. In the picture below it looks like any egg. But salted egg is a common side dish accompanying congee.
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| Congee and side dishes. |
After breakfast we are about an hour from Taipei. It was almost 5am in Taipei. We landed smoothly and soon we were off the plane. The beauty is I don't have my luggage with me. It's will arrive with my other flight in Shanghai. I have a 3-hour layover. Guess what? I am going to the lounge. I have been to the Plaza Premium lounge and that's where I am heading. I was surprised to see so many passengers at the airport at this time of the morning. It was about a 10-minute walk to the lounge. This looks familiar.
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| Plaza Premium Lounge at Taipei Airport |
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| Food counter |
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Dining Room
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I had a bowl of beef noodle soup, a Taiwanese specialty.
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| Beef Noodle Soup |
I lingered around the lounge for about 2 hours. The rest of the food was okay, considering it's a Plaza Premium Lounge. i have been a Plaza lounge several times at the Singapore airport. The quality of the food is usually much better.
Then it was time for me to walk back to gate D9. At 7am the airport was bustling. It felt more like during the day time. Like many international airports today, especially in Asia, the Taipei Taoyuan airport is modern. The facilities are clean. The shops are nice. There are many amenities for traveling passengers. Taipei is becoming a hub for inter-Asia travel, just like what Hong Kong used to be.
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| China Airlines Flight 502 ready to takeoff for Shanghai |
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| Passengers waiting for their flight |
It was a full flight. Most of the passengers are Chinese. They are probably tourists from both China and Taiwan. 20 years ago there were no direct flights between China and Taiwan. I remember an IBM colleague from Taiwan working in China had to fly to Hong Kong in order to get to China. It was a very short flight, less than 2 hours. They even offered a hot meal with real silverware in spite of the short flight. You are lucky if you get a drink and snack on such a short flight in the United States. This shows you how far behind the US airlines had slide behind international airlines. Not only that, the check-in luggage is free, part of the price you pay for the air ticket. No wonder people hate air travel in the US but they have no choice. The price keeps going up and the service keeps going down.
We landed at about 10:30am at Shanghai Pudong airport. This is the bigger and newer of the two airports in Shanghai. The other is called Hongqiao. The former is for international long-haul flights. The latter is for domestic flights. Similar to JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York City.
I was not told nor read anything about filling out an arrival card in China. If I had known I would have filled it out before and save the trouble of doing it on my phone. I had to scan a QR code to get the form on my phone. I am not adept at editing anything on the phone because it's small and cumbersome. Regardless, it took me 5 minutes to go through filling out all the information. Having a copy of my passport and China visa on my phone really helps. I put all my travel information on an Excel spreadsheet and put a copy on my phone. All the details are there, including flights, hotels, train, etc. I called it "Itinerary at a Glance." When you are organized travel becomes easier. Never easy but it's easier to cross the road bumps.
The lady at the Immigration counter was friendly. She looked at the picture on my passport and looked at me. I asked her if it looks like me. She smiled and nodded her head. Getting a smile from an Immigration or Customer official is always positive. I try to be friendly with Immigration officials. I say good morning, hello (in their native language), how are you, etc. They have a boring and mechanical job. They like to be treated with respect and like humans. Being friendly and smiling always helps.
One time at the Los Angeles airport I lifted a rope barrier to take a short cut to a line. An Immigration officer came and yell at me as if I was a kid. He berated me for a few minutes. I have never seen anything like this or experience it. It was embarrassing. I just let it go. I think it was embarrassing for America to display this type of character at an international airport. I don't know what he thought I was. There are always people who want to taint the image of America. Recently, we saw that with the ICE agents.
It there was anything I was nervous about entering China, it was my visa. I applied for a 10-year visa when I renewed my passport 9 years ago, thinking that I would travel to China more. At that time it costs me almost $300, with the help of an Asian travel agency in Phoenix. With the ever changing political landscape between China and the US, I thought that 10-year visa might become invalid. I even went to the Chinese consulate in NYC to check with an official there to make sure that it's still valid. Luckily that consulate is only a few bus stops west of Times Square.
At one point I thought that I am allowed only 30 days to stay in China. I nervously asked my travel agent and she said they have checked through my passport and visa and everything is good. I should have looked carefully at my visa. It allowed me to stay in China for up to 60 days. Phew! That was a big sigh of relief.
As I was exiting the Customs area into the airport lobby I was looking for someone holding a sign with my name in English written on it. There were many signs but my name was not on one of them. I texted my travel agent and she said she would called the driver. Then I went back to the line and found the driver holding my name. He insisted that he was there all along but I think he either lowered his sign or walked away for a few minutes. I was walking very slowly through the line and was very sure I did not see the sign.
It took us about 40 minutes to go from the Pudong International Airport (PVG) to the Sunrise on the Bund hotel. The hotel is conveniently located within the city, among many other well-known international hotels like the Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, etc. It is closed to a couple of shopping malls. The area is called the North Bund area.
Notice that the route crosses a river on the left before the hotel. This is called the Huangpo river. Long time ago it was spelled as the Whampoa river, thanks to our European friends, who indiscriminately called Beijing Peking or Mumbai Bombay. The Huangpo river is an important tributary of the mighty Yangtze river. It separates Shanghai and Pudong, which 30 years ago was mostly farm land. We'll see more of the Huangpo river on my section on Shanghai.
