My flight from LAX arrived very early on Wednesday morning. It was very odd as we spent 14.5 hours on a plane that was in complete darkness. I think this was the largest plane I had ever been on, yet, it had very little personal space. I was able to watch movies on my flight but I had no good way of falling asleep. By the time we landed in Guangzhou, I had spent 27 hours either on an airplane or in an airport. I made it through immigration easily enough and went to pick up my bags… well, bag… Yep, one of my bags was left in LA… and yes, I’m still waiting for it to arrive at the hotel… my flights went too smoothly, something was bound to go wrong, right?
When we got to the hotel, we had second breakfast (assuming we are calling food served at 3 am on a plane breakfast). Suzy and I got settled and went exploring around the area surrounding the hotel. After a quick lunch, I came back to my room and passed out. Anyone want to guess how many hours I’d been awake?…. anyone… Bueller… Bueller…. give up yet?… 45… yes, you read correctly, 5 groups of 9 hours awake. My 3 hour nap was warmly welcomed. I was so tired that the hotel staff dropped off a fruit try and I didn’t even notice! Once I was awake, we met up with the South African onboarders and got our phones set up. We ate dinner and I went back to sleep. Day 1 was a success!
On Thursday morning, I went for medical exams… for those that followed along while I was in the States, yes, I had to redo all of the medical tests that I did last month (minus the echocardiogram). There was also a stomach ultrasound added in. They were super efficient. These exams to 1.5 hours for 6 people to start and finish (I’m including paper work time) versus the 3 weeks that it took me back home.
The streets are lined with different food stops. So far my favorite place that I have found, is a bakery (if you’re surprised by this, I’m sure it’s been a while since we talked). I got a donut filled with currant jam and a matcha bread roll filled with red bean paste. Everything was super fresh. Then Suzy and I journeyed to Canton Tower. I will definitely be going back sometime at night to see the tower in all of its glory. We did some shopping afterwards (face mask, and other toiletries, because toilet paper is a hot commodity).
I started my training today and went over paperwork, not the most exciting thing to do, but it had to happen.
I start apartment hunting tomorrow and will explore some more.
Happy Travels!
Kate's Asian Travels 