Arriving in Beijing

Our flight to Beijing felt longer than our trip to Singapore. We were flying this time on an older plane, which didn't have the entertainment options that the last plane did.

on the plane

Much like my last trip, the breakfast was the exact same as it was on the flight before.

We arrived in Beijing without too much turbulence (unlike the plane to Singapore) although the sudden, steep descent to the airport caused us all stomach aches. Our plane, which was less than half full anyway, didn't take long to disembark. We expertly navigated ourselves around to customs and lined up in the relatively short queue. We found amusing that a school group, from the USA, had the teachers yelling" line up in the order of your passport number" and the hundred-and-something teenagers walked around aimlessly waving passports in their hands and shouting loudly random numbers.

on the plane2

It didn't take as long as expected to go through customs and pick up our baggage and by this time we were feeling proud that we had not gotten lost yet. As we walked out of the immigration, we found the sign that we had been looking for with our name. It had been organised that a driver would take us to the hotel, to avoid the whole taxi stress. The trip to the Holiday Inn was longer than we remembered, but we soon were able to recognise most streets and shops. We also got to drive past the 'Bird's Nest' (where the Olympic Opening Ceremony will be held) and the 'water cube' which is the swimming complex. We also got to see the Olympic Village.

waiting in Singapore airport

By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were exhausted. We went up to our room and collapsed on the beds. But my day wasn't over yet. Mum and I ventured out to buy SIM cards and dinner. We found crossing the roads to be an experience in itself as we marvelled at those courageous enough to walk out into the busy traffic, and us, who walked when we were supposed to yet still had to beware of the cars who didn't care about driving through red lights. The cars came from every direction, so you had to always be on guard.