China Tales 1 - A Bit of a Rough Start

I'm off to China with the parents in tow. We're doing well now, but we got off to a bit of a rough start I'm sorry to say. Kind of makes me wonder if I chose the wrong people to take this trip with - we'll have to see how the rest of the trip goes.

Things started to go awry when we got to the airport and realized that there had been a slight AM vs. PM mixup on reading the flight times on the tickets. We were 12 hours late for our flight! Details details. But Mom showed her traveler's stripes then, and in a move worthy of the Amazing Race, got our tickets changed for a flight the next day, but then got us on standby for a flight that was only an hour or so away. Lots of running back and forth between the Delta and Korean Air ticket counters ensued, but in the end, we were off!

The flight was okay - I got to watch Shrek the Third and some other animated movies along the way, so that was kind of neat. Though there was no sound at my seat? Not sure if it had something to do with those things Dad kept sticking on my head, but they were so uncomfortable, I don't know how anybody else was wearing them. Anyway, I slept a little, but not a lot, and so my the time we reached Seoul, I wasn't quite feeling myself.



To cut a long story a little shorter, we caught our flight to Hong Kong, and made it to the hotel without any difficulty, just before midnight local time. I slept a little bit then, since it was dark, but helloooooo - it's the middle of the afternoon as far as my body is concerned. Prime party time!

That led to me and Mom and Dad wandering the lobby of the hotel at about 5:30 am (local time) in search of some fun. Dad spotted a coffee and tea service and thought that sounded good, and I agreed. He poured me a cup and set it on a low table and went back for something else [a lid to the cup], and naturally I grabbed my tea off the table. But there was no lid on it yet, so I spilled it down my front.

Boy, did that hurt!

Well Dad snatched me up, muttered something about that not being my tea after all, and we raced for the bathroom for some cold water, flinging off my monkey backpack/leash and shirt as we went.

Well, again, to cut a long story slightly shorter, by the time we got to the bathroom, I had a broken blister the size of a silver dollar and a couple of other really red spots on my tummy, and so it was off the the emergency room we went. My first trip to a hospital since I was born! And let me tell you - if you're ever going to have a medical emergency in a hotel in a foreign country, make sure that its the InterContinental in Hong Kong. They sent someone to the hospital with us to translate and facilitate, and we were in and out of the emergency room in about an hour. Try doing that in America! And thankfully, this being Hong Kong, lots of people spoke English at the hospital anyway.

The prognosis was pretty good, actually - keep the blistered area covered with gauze pads, give me children's Tylenol, keep the area dry, and I should be pretty much good as new in 5-6 days. I'm a fast healer at this young age!

I'm glad to report that it has been uphill from there. Literally! Back to the hotel for a nap, and then off to see see Victoria Peak. I was feeling fine, so it was into the backpack on Dad's back. Minor difficulties there with finding the base of the tram - Dad thinks we might have walked halfway up, and then back down before we found it, but it really wasn't that bad, beacuse there are these cool outdoor escalators. San Francisco could use some of these! (Though you'll notice that Dad was still pretty sweaty by the time we made it.)

After seeing the sights and getting some lunch at the peak, we headed back down and then got in some more napping. Lots more napping. In fact, believe it or not, I fell asleep in the Saddle on the walk back to the hotel! They woke me up for dinner, but then it was down for the night, I'd had a pretty eventful day after all!


Anyway, today its off to Beijing for five days. And yes, I double-checked the flight times with Mom. I'll write more from there!