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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Hello China!!

Pin It We are here!!!
We had a very easy flight here, we were delayed over an hour but arrived with no problems. We had a little scare, Brady's medicine bag did not get put into our suitcase like it should have. He has severe asthma so this is really bad. Luckily Jill did bring some asthma med's and luckily Brady just came off a round of Prednisone before we left but regardless.....scary!!!! 
We landed at about 7am this morning. The HongKong airport is HUGE!!!!!! Immigration was so fast, no line at all. We had some trouble finding a shuttle to the hotel, too much luggage for 1 cab. We finally got one and were on our way. We got an early check in and got cleaned up. Then had a quick disgusting lunch at the golden arches because that was all we could find and then went on a tour of HongKong. It was cool but not something I would ever do again. I'm just not crazy about touristy type things and HongKong really reminds me a bit of Vegas and you all know how much I hate  really can't stand Vegas!
Anyway, tomorrow the real reason for this trip begins!! We leave HongKong for Hangzhou at 3:30. Our guide will be Sun Pei Pei. I have heard wonderful things about BAAS guides so I am sure Sun Pei Pei will take good care of us!
I have not been able to Skype my kids yet. I just got the Internet up but my VPN will not connect. I am praying that I will be able to continue blogging. I know HongKong does not have restrictions like China so that is likely why I can open my blog here. Skype should work fine, everyone is asleep right now so I have to wait it out. I'm so tired, we have done everything possible to get right on China time. Brady is already asleep,
it is 7:45pm. He and I did not sleep more than 2 hours the entire flight here. The seats were just not comfortable and did not recline because we were in the very last row! Anyway we did fine, Cathay Pacific has amazing service and kept my boy fed the entire flight. Just not a a place we could sleep. 
For all of you who are traveling soon........ Some words of advice while its fresh on my mind.
I packed all of my heaviest items in my carry on bags so that my 44 pound weight limit would not be exceeded. Well, they weighed my carry ons!!! And yes they weighed a LOT! She let me slide but I was sweating bullets. And my carry on bags do not have wheels. They are duffles. Do not do that!!!! The airports are big and if you have to change planes like we did you will be hauling around those super heavy awkward bags for a long time. I also decided to wear my heavy coat so it would not take up space in the suitcase. Dumb!! Here I am, walking over a mile in this huge airport, going through security wearing jeans, boots, a sweatshirt, a heavy coat, a 17 pound backpack, holding a 20 pound duffle bag and pulling a 44 pound suitcase!!!! Yes I looked like a Beverly Hillbilly!!! Now a bunch of my heavy items will get used in China and will not come home with me so I will be fine on the way back but please do yourself a favor and do not follow the suggestions of putting your heavy items in your carry ons and on your body...  and do use a wheeled carry on, not a duffle! So not worth it!!! 
Thats all for now!!! Tomorrow is our last day without Ivy!! Her last day in the orphanage. Her last day without a family.  Pin It

11 comments:

Jennifer P said...

Mary, I ended up signing up for two VPN's. One was ExpressVPN and one was GOTRUSTED. I was glad because only one ended up working in Hangzhou consistently. They have free trials so you might want to see if you can get something else before you leave Hong Kong. Glad you made it safely.

Dardi said...

Glad you arrived safely, & I appreciate the travel tips! I remember when we traveled to Ethiopia, just carrying the darn laptop through the airport was a pain. And some of those airports are BIG!! I hope all the internet stuff gets worked out b/c I can't wait to see pictures of you with Ivy! :o)

DiJo said...

YAY!!! So glad you are there! My guess is you will be purchasing a new suitcase with wheels!!! Go to Wal*Mart of Carefour pronto!!!! Soon you are going to have a baby to carry too!!!!!!!!

It's already Saturday night in China!!! WooHoo!!!!!

Hugs,
Diana & Ainsley

(What's up with the VPN? Can Brian hook you up with VPN Express? It worked great for us!)

Chasing our Dream to China said...

Hi Love Bug! So excited - one more day! Smooches!
Laurie

Paige said...

so glad you are there!! Thanks for the tips as I am just now wrapping my mind around the fact that I really will travel soon....all these months of something in the future and it is now coming yay!! Hope you get your VPN to work!!! Blessings to sweet Ivy!

Unknown said...

Woo hoo. glad you made it. Can't wait to see forever family post.

Georgea's Mommy said...

SO happy you all made it safe & sound. CAN NOT WAIT to see your baby girl.

XOXO
Amy

Everything Beautiful Shay said...

Praying for you precious friend!!! XOXO

Anonymous said...

Hi Mary ~ I saw your blog posted on the group and I also noticed you are from Phx. We live in Scottsdale, AZ and brought our daughter home from China in March 2011. I'm excited to follow your journey and I'd love to get together when you return. My email is mcdowell35@cox.net.
Meg McDowell

Brooke said...

So glad you made it safely, Mary! Praying for a wonderful gotcha day for you today and for a smooth transition! Can't wait to see photos! :)

Anonymous said...

Wish you all the best!

 
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