When in Rome...learn to speak the language.

As written last night on the plan and transcribed today when I am awake:

So the trip through China for work is progressing.  We are currently in flight from Beijing to Shanghai as I write this (for later posting as wi-fi has not made it to the China carriers we are using).  Hong Kong was great and I only which I had some time to check it out more thoroughly but we really did not have any free time on our stop.  I did get this shot the next morning after I wrote the last post from the Executive Lounge at the hotel.  It is of Kowloon over the harbor:

Meanwhile, this was the side view out of my hotel room at the Conrad in Hong Kong:

Sorry for the iPhone shot through a dirty window...

When I last wrote, I had just arrived to Hong Kong and was trying to keep my eyes open as long as possible. Two days of jet lag later, I finally got a full nights sleep in our 27-hour stop in Beijing.  I mean, it was one of those nights of sleep where you wake up in a complete startled haze no knowing where you are or what you are doing.  Must have been the comfort of the new friend I picked up:

Beijing was great but with only 27 hours and 8 of those sleeping and the rest in transit to/from the airport or inside our hotel in meetings all day, not much for me to see.  I did have the opportunity to try some new dishes that I don't think I ever would have taken the opportunity to eat had it not been at a luncheon (and frankly not knowing what they were).  For example, ever had pickled jellyfish?  Here is what it looks like:

Pickled Jellyfish anyone?

It was surprisingly tasty if a bit sour.  There wasn't anything I was just completely disgusted by the taste of but there were a few items I probably would not try again.  All in all, those who know me well know I will try anything at least once.

One of the courses was some type of deep fried prawn ball that one of my American colleagues joked reminded him of fair food.  The batter was slightly sweet and reminded me of funnel cake surrounding the prawn and drizzled with a spicy sot of mayo.  Sounds odd but was really good. Dessert was a dark sugar honey cake and I so need the recipe! It was served by these sort of coconut jello pieces in the shape of hearts.  They were really tasty.

Here are just a few shots of Beijing that I was able to get in the brief moments I was out of the hotel:

That is the Conrad Beijing in the background.  Some of the most unique architecture!

The chaos started when we arrived at the airport in Beijing this afternoon.  A group of like 10 of us were taken around to the group desk at China Eastern airlines to check in..fabulous! We were going to speed through this process....yeah, until the ticket agent could not find my reservation. No problem as I had the confirmation number on my travel app and I had thought ahead and printed out my flight arrangements from AMEX travel.  That would solve the problem, right? Nope.  

Complicating the matter was the fact that the ticket agents did not speak English and when I called the travel help desk, she did not speak mandarin.  Lucky for me that two colleagues from Singapore and Malaysia both were able to translate and stuck by my side until we could convince the ticket agents to solve the problem.

What was the problem?  Well, apparently my ticket was issued all right but there was no name associated with it.  All in all, I can laugh about it now that I am somewhere around 30000 feet up and on my way to our next stop but it was probably the most stressful time I have ever encountered while traveling.  Huge props to traveling with gracious colleagues who were sticking by me no matter what.

Consequences are that I am writing from seat 71D but I am going so that is a win in my book. oh, and the in-flight meal is something with fish so imagine 300 or so servings of that and the smell in this metal tube.

Now I am going to kick back and watch the trippy monkey cartoon they are showing as the in-flight entertainment.  It is a total propaganda piece and the English sub-titles are hilarious. I get two whole nights in Shanghai - no free time though - before a final day and night in Taipei. I think I might just pray to this animated monkey god on the video screens that my next China Eastern check-in goes smoother. Well, that and I am going to call AMEX travel in the morning and have them scour their system to confirm all is well with my next reservation.

Xie Xie (pronounced "che che") y'all!

Shelley

UPDATE:  Called AMEX travel this morning to have them call China Eastern to confirm that I would not have the same issue tomorrow morning on the flight from Shanghai to Taipei...no dice.  There are all kinds of things happening in the background but no one can guarantee that I will not have the same problem due to another carrier needing to send some type of paperwork 24 hours in advance of the flight.  They can see my ticket and see me attached to the ticket but I could have the same problems.  Good news is my Malaysian translator has already said he would stick by me and make sure I got on the plane.  Hugs all around...

It's Shanghai People!  And late so I am going to bed.