Severe case of jet lag sets in quickly

By TERRY R.CASSREINO

BEIJING, China (Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, 6:30 a.m.) – A dreaded and expected case of severe jet lag took its toll on Pam and me this morning.

Unable to sleep, we both took showers and headed down to the lobby of the Novotel Peace Hotel to surf the Internet, check e-mail, read the latest news and get a cup of coffee.

While I’m at it, I thought I’d share a few observations after arriving here in China at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night and at the hotel at about 11:30 p.m.

Northwest flight to Beijing: Despite severely cramped seating, Pam and I were lucky to board a flight that had personal video machines embedded in the head rest of the passenger in front. We were able to choose movies and television shows in between eating more in-flight meals. Sadly, nothing remarkable was available to watch.

Beijing skyline: The skyline, lit up with street lights and bumper-to-bumper traffic at 9 p.m., looked beautiful as we approached a landing at the Beijing airport. The traffic didn’t surprise us; with more than 14 million people that’s to be expected.

Beijing airport: Just like when we arrived here in March 2006 for Camryn’s adoption, the airport seemed a bit spooky. It looked like our flight was the only one that arrived Wednesday night; most businesses were closed.

Christmas season: Our guide from Lotus Travel met us at the airport and took us to the Novotel Peace Hotel, in the heart of Beijing and within walking distance of the Forbidden City. She told us we can expect to see many Christmas decorations throughout Beijing because the younger residents celebrate the season (although it isn’t a holiday). We’ll see Santas and hear “Jingle Bells” and other seasonal songs. In fact, our hotel has a huge, beautifully decorated Christmas tree, a picture of which I have included with this post.

Novotel Peace Hotel: The Novotel is a very nice hotel. The rooms are spacious, the beds are comfortable and we get several American cable stations on our TV (HBO, Cinemax, ESPN to name three). Our first room was a bit noisy and the air conditioner/heating system seemed broken, so we changed shortly after midnight with no problem.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.

Cassreinos arrive exhausted in Beijing

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

BEIJING, China (Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, 12:40 a.m.) – After 22 hours in flight and probably a total of 24-plus hours of travel, Pam and I arrived in Beijing, checked into our hotel and are ready to crash.

We are tired, drained and a little more than full with four meals – I may have lost count – on our three Northwest Airline flights from Jackson to Beijing. As I said earlier, the food and the service was much improved from March-April 2006.

Now this wasn’t gourmet food, mind you. It wasn’t something you’d find at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. It was serviceable, decent and not too bad. Just too much – four meals and a snack.

We arrived in Tokyo about 20 minutes late and rushed to make our connection to Beijing. We almost missed our flight – or could have wound up in jail – when Pam failed the security check in Tokyo.

Her offense: Security confiscated a large tube of her face cream (which cost at least $22) because the amount was larger than allowed. Pam was upset and tried to save her face cream; I reminded her we had a flight to catch. She agreed.

You also might have noticed the dateline above says I posted this at 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 4. Starting with this post, my datelines will reflect China time, which is 14 hours ahead of the Central Daylight Time.

We are staying at the Novotel Peace Hotel, a nice hotel at first glance in the heart of Beijing. The lobby, where I’m typing away furiously on my computer, is huge and dominated by a tall, 20-foot, fully decorated Christmas tree.

I have a lot more to share – along with some photos of the hotel. But, as I said, it’s late. We are exhausted. And we need some rest before we hit the 8 a.m. breakfast buffet.

We have at least two tours set up between now and our orientation with Holt International Children’s Services on Monday, Dec. 8: We will catch a Beijing Acrobatics Show on Friday and tour the Forbidden City and Summer Palace on Saturday.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.