Our flight took off from SFO around 1p, so we decided we'd need to leave around 9:30a to get to the Bart station, and arrive at SFO around 10:30a or so. The flight was going to be around 14 hours long so Tim decided that we should wake up really early and go for a long mountain bike ride in Tilden in the morning so that we'd be a little more tired for our flight. I wasn't thrilled about the idea, but I knew it was probably for the best, so I agreed. Tim woke me up far earlier than I wanted to be awake, and we sleepily dressed, hopped on our bikes, and headed to the trails.
After I got over my initial shock of biking at dawn, I started to enjoy the ride. We pedaled our way down into the valley, and up the other side. When we got to the top, we stopped for a little breather, and then I headed down the other side. I turned around partway down the descent and looked for Tim, and didn't see him. I stopped and waited for a while, and he still didn't come. After waiting for 10 minutes or so, I started pedaling up to the top again looking for him. I came over a hill and I saw him off his bike, trying to fix it. He hadn't fallen, but his derailleur hangar had snapped and the entire derailleur had come off. It twisted the chain badly, so it was pretty gnarly. We tried to turn the bike into a single speed so we could get home, but we couldn't get enough length of chain to complete the build. At this point we weren't sure if we could fix the bike, so I said that I would bike home to get the car and park near where we were. He could walk up the hills, and then cruise down them to the road. Tim thought it was a good plan, so I pedaled home, and he walked and cruised to the road. Once he got to the road he tried to fix his bike while waiting.
Jon and Jill were at the apartment, so I had left my keys on the kitchen sink so that they could get out if they needed. Of course, I forgot to ask for Tim's keys, so when I got home, I had to knock on lots of windows to wake Jon and Jill up so that I could get in! I felt so terrible. I got in, grabbed my keys, and headed over to pick Tim up, only to find him happily cruising down a hill. We ended up putting his bike on top the car anyway and headed home. I was super nervous about whether we had enough time, but Tim told me we had more than enough time. We finished packing, showered, sadly said goodbye to Navi, and then Jon drove us to the bart station. We were off!
The airport posed no problems, and we had a good amount of time to wait at the gate. We boarded on time, and we were seated next to a woman with a six month old baby. He was pretty cute, and I don't really think babies are cute, so that's saying something. The only times he cried during the entire flight were while we were taking off and landing, and I'm pretty sure it was because of the pressure in his ears. He cried one other time, actually. The mother had him sleeping in a little basket, and I think she needed to use the bathroom, so she asked Tim to keep an eye on her baby. I was asleep, and Tim woke me up to tell me to look at how cute the baby was sleeping. Of course, as soon as the mother left, he woke up and started screaming! We didn't know what to do. I didn't want to pick the baby up, so I just tried rubbing his stomach, but eventually the mother came back and dealt with it. Everyone in the plane was giving us murderous looks.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. We sat around, tried to sleep, read a little, tried to sleep some more. Eventually we landed in Seoul, and we got some frappachinos at Starbucks, and wandered around the entire airport because we didn't want to sit down! The next flight took off on time, and we arrived in Shanghai!
The first thing we needed to do was get some money from an ATM, and it took us two or three passes through the airport to find the ATM! It was hidden away in a corner! Then we needed to find a taxi to take us to Dan's place. These travel agencies had people following all the big white folks around saying that they could take us wherever we needed to go. They told us it would be 500 kuai, which was far too expensive. We went outside instead and got our own taxi, which had a fixed starting rate and a meter, because we knew that the ride would be less than 300 kuai. The driver drove us through Shanghai and we stared in wonder at all the buildings because they were all lit up with these bright blinking lights that changed colors or darted around. The lu-pu bridge was even covered in lights! The bridge would go rainbow colored, then change to blue and yellow, and the colors would all move...it also would change colors from purple to blue to yellow, etc...and sometimes it would be red and yellow stripes that moved all over the place. It was kind of crazy. I guess it's special because of the expo!
We finally arrived at Dan's place, and the ride was only 200 kuai! Yay for not paying 500 kuai! Dan was still out to dinner, but his mom let us in, and showed us around the house. We had a really nice bedroom with our own bathroom! The house was gorgeous. Dan got home pretty soon after we arrived, and he told us that they had waited up for us late the night before! Since we took off on Wednesday the 12th, they had waited up the night of Wednesday the 12th in Shanghai, but because of the time change, we actually landed on Thursday night in Shanghai! So silly. After chatting about what we might do the next day for a while, I decided I was exhausted, and I took a shower and quickly passed out!
After I got over my initial shock of biking at dawn, I started to enjoy the ride. We pedaled our way down into the valley, and up the other side. When we got to the top, we stopped for a little breather, and then I headed down the other side. I turned around partway down the descent and looked for Tim, and didn't see him. I stopped and waited for a while, and he still didn't come. After waiting for 10 minutes or so, I started pedaling up to the top again looking for him. I came over a hill and I saw him off his bike, trying to fix it. He hadn't fallen, but his derailleur hangar had snapped and the entire derailleur had come off. It twisted the chain badly, so it was pretty gnarly. We tried to turn the bike into a single speed so we could get home, but we couldn't get enough length of chain to complete the build. At this point we weren't sure if we could fix the bike, so I said that I would bike home to get the car and park near where we were. He could walk up the hills, and then cruise down them to the road. Tim thought it was a good plan, so I pedaled home, and he walked and cruised to the road. Once he got to the road he tried to fix his bike while waiting.
Jon and Jill were at the apartment, so I had left my keys on the kitchen sink so that they could get out if they needed. Of course, I forgot to ask for Tim's keys, so when I got home, I had to knock on lots of windows to wake Jon and Jill up so that I could get in! I felt so terrible. I got in, grabbed my keys, and headed over to pick Tim up, only to find him happily cruising down a hill. We ended up putting his bike on top the car anyway and headed home. I was super nervous about whether we had enough time, but Tim told me we had more than enough time. We finished packing, showered, sadly said goodbye to Navi, and then Jon drove us to the bart station. We were off!
The airport posed no problems, and we had a good amount of time to wait at the gate. We boarded on time, and we were seated next to a woman with a six month old baby. He was pretty cute, and I don't really think babies are cute, so that's saying something. The only times he cried during the entire flight were while we were taking off and landing, and I'm pretty sure it was because of the pressure in his ears. He cried one other time, actually. The mother had him sleeping in a little basket, and I think she needed to use the bathroom, so she asked Tim to keep an eye on her baby. I was asleep, and Tim woke me up to tell me to look at how cute the baby was sleeping. Of course, as soon as the mother left, he woke up and started screaming! We didn't know what to do. I didn't want to pick the baby up, so I just tried rubbing his stomach, but eventually the mother came back and dealt with it. Everyone in the plane was giving us murderous looks.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. We sat around, tried to sleep, read a little, tried to sleep some more. Eventually we landed in Seoul, and we got some frappachinos at Starbucks, and wandered around the entire airport because we didn't want to sit down! The next flight took off on time, and we arrived in Shanghai!
The first thing we needed to do was get some money from an ATM, and it took us two or three passes through the airport to find the ATM! It was hidden away in a corner! Then we needed to find a taxi to take us to Dan's place. These travel agencies had people following all the big white folks around saying that they could take us wherever we needed to go. They told us it would be 500 kuai, which was far too expensive. We went outside instead and got our own taxi, which had a fixed starting rate and a meter, because we knew that the ride would be less than 300 kuai. The driver drove us through Shanghai and we stared in wonder at all the buildings because they were all lit up with these bright blinking lights that changed colors or darted around. The lu-pu bridge was even covered in lights! The bridge would go rainbow colored, then change to blue and yellow, and the colors would all move...it also would change colors from purple to blue to yellow, etc...and sometimes it would be red and yellow stripes that moved all over the place. It was kind of crazy. I guess it's special because of the expo!
We finally arrived at Dan's place, and the ride was only 200 kuai! Yay for not paying 500 kuai! Dan was still out to dinner, but his mom let us in, and showed us around the house. We had a really nice bedroom with our own bathroom! The house was gorgeous. Dan got home pretty soon after we arrived, and he told us that they had waited up for us late the night before! Since we took off on Wednesday the 12th, they had waited up the night of Wednesday the 12th in Shanghai, but because of the time change, we actually landed on Thursday night in Shanghai! So silly. After chatting about what we might do the next day for a while, I decided I was exhausted, and I took a shower and quickly passed out!
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