Been a while.
Since it is cold and wet again in Shanghai I thought I would give a brief update. I have 4 half written blog posts I need to finish soon. Plus about 400 photos to go through, which of course go up every day.
My dive trip was "interesting." It included racist Republicans, Rats, a crew that would show up up to 45 mins late, and sharks! So good and bad. I wrote a huge complaint to the company that runs it from the states, but haven't heard a thing. I did get offered the cost of replacing my bag though from the guy that manages the boat in Suva. So small steps I guess. I got amazingly tanned - which for pale me is amazing! 2 weeks relaxing and playing in the water will do that. I dived in my bathers only for the first 2.5 days, only putting on a rashie (and sometimes boardies) when we were doing swimthroughs. The last 2.5 days I dove in my rashie and bathers. The Americans were in full suits and most of the time hoods as well - the water temp was 28c-30c!!!
The Novotel in Lami Bay (just outside of Suva) was fantastic - and I drank all but one of their coughtails in their Gin Lounge... no strawberries unfortunately. My favourite turned out to be double shot of gin, fresh watermelon and fresh basil juiced - pout over ice. Consume.
As you know, my displeasure at Air Pacific continued.
Getting from Suva to Nadi was a relief. I checked at 8am and the flight was on time. In the 40 mins it took me to get from my hotel to the airport it was delayed an hour. Then another hour. Then another hour. If you haven't been to SUV airport, you aren't missing anything. I bought a can of lemonade so I could sit at a dump of a cafe under the fans.
Finally got to Nadi - I was actually very fortunate to make it. The roads were closed for days due to the floods and all the flights were booked solid. So thankful for small mercies I guess. I watched tourists arrive at SUV in groups of 2-4 at a time, then wait till they had enough to charter one of the smaller planes with Northern Airlines. Was about $1800 AUD from memory. But if you had to get to Nadi, you had to get to Nadi. That is what insurance is for.
I had confirmed with the Novotel a pick up which of course drove straight past me as I was late. Thankfully I saw some guys from Mercure - they gave me a lift.
I was in the new spanky section of the Novotel in Nadi - and that was a problem. Due to the constant rain, you couldn't actually get to the room without getting rained on. The room was well, tired. The high turnover I guess. I recommended to some friends I made while diving to skip it.
Flying out - I arrive at the check in 3 hours before flight. No J or F check in staff have turned up. Perfect. After 30 mins of standing around, and a line forming (4 flights were going out within an hour of the others), we got herded down to the Y section and pissed off a heap of Y pax as we got processed first.
The Lounge - well it was CLOSED! I could see the staff inside, they could see me. They ignored me. I could hear them talking. Just under 2 hours before the flight, they opened. Why? The lounge hadn't been cleaned. I was thankful they cleaned it/restocked it, but it is just so Fiji (ie couldn't give a flying ****).
My plane then had no crew... they hadn't shown up. So now we are delayed waiting for a crew.
We finally board, and a father has 3 kids under 8 (8, 6 and 3) in J (seated next to and behind me - we are in the A330 so no spread out J), on the other side is little girl 5 with her parents and grandparents. It turned out to be the flight from hell. The two eldest fought and yelled and screamed the whole way. The father actually HIT his son. They just ignored him anyway. The 3 yo was put in the bascinet infront of me and because he was too big, actually fell through it. The father just put him back in it and ignored his screaming. Meanwhile I am trying to eat breakfast. He is too big to lie in it either, so his feet are sticking out infront of me, and his head is sticking out by the wall on the other end. Ridiculous. The father intimidated me telling me that he wouldn't move the bascinet so too bad if I wanted to go to the bathroom. He also told me I hated children. I told him that while in the lounge and his 3 yo was unwatched, it was me that stopped him from pulling the boiling water and coffee on himself... so yes I obviously hate children. The crew were useless.
He deliberately ignored any responsibility to his children and respect for fellow pax. I can only assume he was a super cheap Y fare than got bumped up to J because he had been stuck in Nadi for a few days trying to get home.
When we landed, he asked me if this was my worst flight - I told him it was up there. He told me I should fly more. I laughed and said I flew sometimes 3 times a month and haven't seen anything like this since I used to fly Economy. He told me not to blame other people for my problems. I laughed in his face, because I knew that he had to live with his horrendous children and probably inept wife and that he would continue to be a hopeless father - whereas I was bound for 6 hours in the FLounge then a 5 star hotel in Shanghai. I know whose life I would rather have.
I cannot tell you how good it was to be back in the embrace of Qantas. It was just wonderful! OK, they ran out of one of the meals on the flight to MEL from SYD, but I wanted the antipasto anyway, which is what was left. The staff were a treat, the plane was on time. It was bliss. The skolled baileys in the JLounge in SYD prolly helped too.
The FLounge in MEL is pretty disappointing. It is so small and not all the services run all the time. I guess it makes sense that there would be no staff in the spa until 4 hours before the flight, because for a good couple of hours I was the only person there! That being said, I had a snack when I arrived, some coughtails, then proceeded to drink gin (Spezis) and nap for a few hours. I then had dinner, a facial and boarded Mandurah for my first time riding in Premium Economy.
One thing though, was very odd about the flight to HKG. I only counted 3 female staff (1 in F or maybe upstairs J) and 2 in Y. The rest were all guys. There were 8 of us in Y+, so incredibly empty. Therefore the quiet and the service were excellent. I was pretty comfy till about hour 4, when the hours of sitting on a wooden seat the day before for 4 hours plus the day sitting caught up with me and I just couldn't get comfy again.
HKG and I was Gold... well I should have been. Qantas Club wouldn't let me in, I showed them my account, the difference in points and also my boarding pass for the NAN-SYD flight that hadn't shown up yet. They still wouldn't let me in. I went to The Cabin opposite my gate (flying with Dragon Air) and they let me in. Lovely! But EFF ME! It was cold! Colder than the terminal which was cold enough - given I was still in my Fiji clothes. I was going to be screwed if my bag didn't make it - but it did.
Dragon Air was wonderful! The Purser walked around greeting all the Plats (or whatever the Miles WPs are called). When I walked on board, they saw how cold I was, and as I was sitting down a blanket arrived (unasked for) for me to use. The safety videos on Dragon Air are fantastic! So funny! I wonder if they are on YouTube. The acting it SO bad! Anyway the food was brilliant, the flight perfect and the flight crew both Aussie. Oh yeah - I got front of Y too. Nice.
I arrive in PVG, looking like cough and freezing my cough off. My bag is already on the carousel when I get there. I change into thermals, jeans, long sleeved top, leather jacket, explorer socks, real shoes and a scarf. I am no longer cold.
I jumped the No.5 bus to Shanghai Railway Station (I can say it in Chinese after listening to my app say it a few times - which then saw the ticket seller speak to me in Chinese.... ummm). I got a brilliant upgrade thanks to my much maligned Plat status with Accor and used their Priority Check in Counter bypassing the line at the normal reception. My room ROCKS!
Since it was a clear day when I arrived and I knew that poor weather was due for a few days - I hightailed it to E Nanjing St, and strolled through the chaos to The Bund. Took some pics and went back to the hotel Lounge to defrost. Yesterday (first full day) I went exploring the metro (I so rock at it now, only took one trip to get the hang of it), visited the Propaganda Art Museum, back to People's Square, Old Town (crazy), Yu Gardens, quick trip to the Copy Market (most closed due to holiday), a stop off at the French Concession area to explore and then a well earned sleep.
Today I had the most amazing time - the most fun I have had these holidays actually. Given the weather sucked again, and that I couldn't have been fa_ged lining up for the Xiaolongbao (Shanghai tradition - soupy dumplings) at Yu Gardens, I decided to go see where it all began! So I went to Nanxiang (only 40 mins on the metro from my hotel) and after visiting a Ming Dynasty garden, went to Dumpling Street and ate at the place they were supposedly invented. So good! Best part was that noone spoke English. Ordering was a hoot. I asked for tea and I got hot water. We finally worked out what eachother was trying to communicate and some tea was brought out for my hot water. Now even though Soupy Dumplings (Xiaolongbao) were invented by a guy, they are traditionally hand made by women, and cooked by women in steamers out on the street infront of the dumpling houses. I got my bamboo pot of dumplings and went to eat them as I do back home at Yum Cha etc. Naturally every eye was on me and as I picked up the first one and went to put it in my mouth all the staff ran at me yelling in Chinese. Turns out they are so hot when they first come out of the steamer they can blister your skin. Lucky their yelling and panic got me to stop while we did a lot of gesturing at eachother (before confirming with a language app). I then blew on one, and ate it two bites. Wrong apparently. Turns out there is a correct way to eat them. What proceeded was hysterically funny as I got a lesson in how to eat dumplings! Everyone was watching, and cheered when I got it to work - averaged 1 in 3. It was just brilliant. For 45 minutes there was good food, lots of tea, non-stop of laughter and the best kind of communication.
I then headed to the old town (built on a canal system) and saw the Twin Towers, a real (no tourists) working Temple and an explore before heading back to the hotel to defrost and rest my feet/legs. I started to do the 2.5km walk back to the station and just thought, screw this, and tried to hail a cab. They obviously knew it was a coughpy fare, so the first couple didn't pick me up, or they were just concerned re the English thing. 3rd one picked me up, I showed him the chinese of where I wanted to go (Metro station) from my app, and he drove me. It was so short, it didn't even go above the original flag fall (less than $2). I was so nice and warm in his cab, and thankful for him stopping to get me, I tipped him about $1. He was flabergasted.
I am now back in the hotel, hot drink next to me, waiting for the food service to open in the Lounge, though to be honest, I am still full from all those dumplings!
T
