China, Korea and a little bit (of Japan) on the side

[Justinf]

Ended up booking a four-hour walking tour of the Forbidden City for Sunday.
Was $60 which includes admission and express entry.
Meet up point is at the Kapok Hotel, which is very near where I am staying.
Does anyone know how much you should pay the guide for gratuity?

 

[Justinf]

Checked in online and managed to secure 11K at the bulkead for the 777 flight from Singapore to Beijing.

 

[Justinf]

Here waaaaaaay too early. Lounge didn’t open until 9.35am and I was at the door a few minutes before.
A long wait ahead.

 

[Justinf]

Oh, went to Bellarine Estate today for the wife’s birthday.
They do Texas BBQ.
It was OK but at $98 a bit overpriced.

 

[Justinf]

I have opted to have my meal as breakfast.
Been feeling really ordinary today with an upset tummy.
Nice little amenities pack and speaking.

 

[Justinf]

Nobody in the aisle next to me.

 

[Justinf]

 

[Justinf]

I delayed the meal service but had a Singapore sling and some warm nuts.

 

[marki]

May Lia Thomas left them behind?

 

[Justinf]

Something is not quite right.
I had been feeling ordinary all day.
I went to sleep straight away and woke a bit because there was some bad turbulence.
Got woken by the FA for my meal but I just couldn’t do it.
Went back to sleep. That’s unheard of for me.
A 7 hour flight on the dot into Changi and straight to the SilverKris lounge for a shower.
Don’t read on if you are squeamish.
Vomited in the shower.
Something is definitely up.
Spent ages cleaning it up as I didn’t want the cleaner to have to have to do it.
Feeling a bit better now but no appetite whatsoever.

 

[Justinf]

May Lia Thomas left them behind?

Took me a while to work that one out.

 

[Justinf]

Of course my terminal got changed to terminal 1.
So I left the lounge early and got the skytrain.
Currently in the holding pen.
Feeling a bit better now.
Has some apple juice and an egg sandwich.
There a family that have just left empty drink cans on the floor outside the holding pen. Absolutely disgusting.

 

[Justinf]

Seat a bit more spacious on the 777
Gee the Chinese are loud

 

[Pele]

Ended up booking a four-hour walking tour of the Forbidden City for Sunday.
Was $60 which includes admission and express entry.
Meet up point is at the Kapok Hotel, which is very near where I am staying.
Does anyone know how much you should pay the guide for gratuity?

Zero would be the correct amount.

 

[Justinf]

Fell asleep right after takeoff sitting upright. Woken by the FA 30 minutes for breakfast.
My appetite was back with a vengeance which I was very happy about.
Nice spread of fruit and Bircher museli and I had a croissant as well.
That hit the spot nicely.
I think there is another course to come but I’m honestly content with that.

 

[Justinf]

I’d ordered the carrot cake via Book the Cook.
It’s not just a slice of carrot cake as we know it.
It’s got prawns…anyway see the pic.
It was delicious and I’m still struggling to get through, but determined not to leave anything on the plate.
That sauce just to left of screen has some serious kick to it.
My sinuses are free.
Flight time today is only five hours.
Already an hour down.
Humming along at 888kmh

 

[Justinf]

Flight time was actually five and a half hours.
I ended up getting a couple of naps in and was feeling much better.
This was one of the very few international flights I have taken where I didn’t have a drop of alcohol.
The 777 J seats are better than the A359, but again it’s far from ideal.
When the bed is made you are required to sleep on an angle. Your head is in the corner and toes in another.
There’s also a couple of really badly placed ridges at foot level.
I’m semi-upright in this pic. When laying down, the feet have to go all the way to the top right of screen.

 

[Justinf]

Can’t fault the SQ FAs.
Absolutely magnificent.
With about an hour to go I enquired about a snack.
SQ doesn’t have a snack basket or self-serve anything.
I was presented with this.

 

[Justinf]

Upon descent into Beijing Capital, it became apparent that visibility was low.
Is that fog or smog?

 

[Justinf]

The wifi on board was average. Not like last year where it worked splendidly.
On landing I found out that my mobile roaming could bypass the Great Firewall.
And I am typing this up using a VPN. LetsVPN cost $5 for a week and is working amazingly well.
It took ages to taxi to the terminal. Easily 20 minutes, maybe more.
I had to fill out an arrivals form and then wait in line at immigration.
Passport stamped and then onto the train to baggage claim.
After that, customs wanted me to go through screening and then I was on my way.
I decided to cab it.
I’d gotten the hotel address and printed it out in Chinese so I handed it to the driver and was in my way.
While not a huge journey, it still took a while and the end result was CNY97, which is just over AUD$21. I was happy with that.
WeChat payment wouldn’t go through. It hit right to the and wouldn’t proceed. Luckily I had some cash and handed him a CNY100 note.
Check in to the Sunworld Hotel Wangfujing and the room was quite nice.