Newark Airport, NJ (GMT - 6), to Shanghai, China (GMT +8)

(Originally written by Fuji on October 31 - November 1, 2010)

Freckles waiting in Terminal C

0900, Sitting here in Terminal C by gate 130, which is right across from gates 122/123, charging my iTouch and back-up battery pack.  CO Flt#87 to Shanghai departs from gate 123 but, the actual gate area only has about 50 chairs to sit on.  Flight is scheduled to depart at 1110 this morning on a ~14hr non-stop flight to our destination.

Packing my two suitcases in the Tuscon, bound for the airport

Freckles and I at EWR

Rosie and my farewell, as taken by a Skycab

Rosie dropped me off right at 0800, took some photos, rolled my 2 pieces of to be checked luggage onto the curb, hugged & kissed and, had a couple more photos taken by the skycab with my Sweetheart. Watched her drive away... I know I'll see her in 5 weeks for some quality time in Key West.

Inside the terminal the baggage check lines were moving very well.  The process is a bit more involved because of the personal ID requirements of China - a passport and visa. Futilely asked about my BusinessFirst upgrade, got my boarding pass (I'm in seat 45F, last row, center isle) and headed up to security.  On the bright side I'll get credited back my 30k miles and $400!


Security was relatively easy and after repacking and dressing, strolled over to the gate area via Starbucks - got a triple grande skim latte.  Also picked up some snacks for the plane just in case they want to charge me for chow during the flight (like they do domestically now-a-days) - pretzels and dried fruit.

CO B777-200

While I was waiting, Trish gave me a call to wish me a safe/good trip.  Looking forward to traveling with both Russ and Trish for Key West!  Called Rosie a couple of times while I was waiting to board. Will showed up closer to 1030.  Boarding began about quarter after 1000 and went very smoothly - big airplane the B777-200 - because I was in the very last row. I got lucky... no one else joined me in the row and that would enable me to lay down if desired during the flight - coach classes version of BusinessFirst! The plane wasn't nearly full - besides the 50 1st class and BF seats.

Freckles appears to be enjoying the trip and I'm glad he's along. :-) We took off right at 1115. The flight will take us on a great circle route up through Quebec, into the Arctic Circle north of Alaska and then down over Russia into China. Saves alot of miles and, therefore, fuel. Distance of the trip ~7,400miles. My mind is still not locked in to the upcoming work tasks ahead of me.

Freckles in flight!

All the movies (188 of them) you can stand for free. All the meals were free also. For lunch, I chose the fish, rice and shrimp salad - not bad for the main cabin. :-) So far, 2 hrs into the flight, I've watched Robin Hood and have Star Trek playing in the background as I jot down blogging notes. Not really watching.

This flight is actually kinda neat. We took off in the light of day and we'll never quite lose some light as we fly with the sun, as it tracks across the earth, to land in the afternoon in Shanghai - crossing the International date line. As we fly great circle over the 'top of the world', Mr. Sun will be to the plane's left while the Arctic/North Pole will be to the right.

It's 1415, about 3hrs into the flight, and we're over Northern Quebec just east of Hudson Bay. We're at 32,000' eventually climbing up to 39,000' as the plane lightens as we burn gas.  As we used to say back in the day, 'we'll be making gas' by climbing! We've traveled about 1575mi so far and will be edging over the Arctic soon

1600. Our 1st big turbulence at 34,000' over the NorthWest portion of Baffin Bay. Not crazy bumpy but, noticeable.  We've traveled ~2500mi.

Somewhere over Alaska... it's 1745, only 4245mi/7+45 to go, making about 9mi/min.  Still holding at 34,000', 3500mi traveled. The back end of the plane is quiet and dark.  I've been periodically standing to stretch and get off my rear-end to keep the blood flowing and minimize any DVT or PAD that riding this long in an airplane could induce. Rosie had me buy some calf high compression socks to help with keeping blood higher up in my legs - I like them. Freckles and I can't seem to get much sleep, apart from the occasional doze.

Looking out over the Arctic - the sun never fully sets up here

Since I'm right by the flight attendant stations and near the aft view-ports, I take time to enjoy the view.  Looking out the starboard side it's dark... I'm looking at the cold Arctic towards what I perceive to be the North Pole.  Really not much to see at the top of the world.  Out the port window, there's a beautiful sliver of reddish glow just underneath the wing - in these parts the sun never quite goes completely down - a perfect opportunity for a photo op, so I take a few shots. Very pretty. Looks like we crossed the International Date Line into tomorrow (which is now today). 

Just watched most of the movie 'The Reader' - Kate Winslet won a Academy Award for her portrayal of a haunted woman who could not read or write and was 1 of many German woman who guarded Jewish woman prisoners of war at Auschwitz. I'll say one thing for Ms Winslet, she sure doesn't mind showing off most of her 'bits & pieces' in movies! Most of the movie is told through the eyes of the young German man she has a summer affair with and grows up to be a character played by Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort). She makes the young version of Fiennes read all types of books to her before they have sex. She eventually goes on trial for crimes against humanity and her fellow accused basically gang up on her and place all the blame for their actions on her based on a document she supposedly drafted. Anyway, to make a long story longer, she gets life in prison and just before she's released after serving many years, hangs herself in prison. A depressing movie overall. :-(  Needed a 'pick me up' movie next so, watched the Prince of Persia. It was OK.

1935, We've traveled 4450mi. We're over Russia now headed south to China. Only 3280mi/5+50 to go. Climbing up through 35,000' to 39,000'. Should be arriving in Shanghai at approximately 0130 EST/1330 Shanghai time. We were served our 2nd inflight meal consisting of a hamburger and Haagen Daz ice cream - had a diet coke to wash it all down. Tried to get some more sleep but only dozed some again.

Finally, landed Shanghai's Pu Dong airport at 1335L. Nice to be down. The airport's about 1hr car ride from downtown Shanghai. Will had Portman Ritz-Carlton transportation arranged to pick us up in a BMW car. Almost wasn't big enough to take my 2 bags and his one. Driving here is truly like bumper car and chicken all at the same time!  ;-)  Lots of hazy smog and tons of construction still going on. A very agrarian society has really gone metro around this sprawling city - makes me kinda sad, all this 'progress'. Think of Shanghai as the NYC of China while Beijing is comparable to Washington, DC. Believe the current estimated population of Shanghai is at 25million souls!  As much as the state of California and nearing all of Canada's population. Hard to fathom.

Anyway, got to the Portman Ritz-Carlton in downtown Shanghai just fine - it's nowhere near the Bund. A bit of geography: Shanghai is coastal and will soon claim, if not already, the title of the largest port for shipping containers in the world from Singapore.  The 2 major areas of Shanghai are Pusei and Pu Dong. We're in the Pusei section of town, a good mix of old and new. The Pu Dong area of Shanghai has the iconic skyline on the other side of the river that one sees in the West - the hotel is not very close to that part of the city. A good 30 minute cab ride I've been told. I hope to be able to make some time to visit that part of this city. I'm way behind on taking photo's of Shanghai. On the 'makes me happy' side of things, there's a Starbucks just outside the entrance to the hotel!  Ahhhhh, good latte. I have a room on the 16th floor of this 49 story hotel. Health club is on the 7th floor. I have to say, the room is one of the nicest I've ever stayed in!

My room at the Portman Ritz-Carlton

Takes awhile getting used to how things work in the room. (I'm working hard not to fall asleep!) Your key card is required to close the circuit on all the lights working. Although free internet access is part of the room cost, took me a while to get access for both of my laptops. Had to call support in Manila, Philippines, to get access. Having said that, the Chinese really control access. I can't get to my blog right now or FaceBook - fortunately, Skype works fine.

I'm getting tired of blogging and my head feels heavy and fuzzy. Just got off Skype with Rosie - she called me... good thing too 'cause I was falling asleep. Going out to dinner with Will and Todd this evening. Looking for a good steak somewhere in the city.

OK, enough for now.  I'll pick up things later.