Leaving Xian and Ketchup on French Toast
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008. We had sort of a bad morning leaving Xian.
First, we had to get a ride to the airport. A little bit of laziness on my part (I didn’t want to walk around on the street trying to hail a cab with my bags) and a mis-understanding with the concierge led to us over-paying about 40 yuan for the cab ride to the airport. While it was convenient, I didn’t start off my morning as well as I would have liked to.
Next, we got to the airport, and after checking in and making our way through security, we found a nice comfortable looking coffee shop. Coffee is considered a luxury in China (very often purchased by visiting westerners), and it is therefore very expensive. We’ve never found a cup of coffee for less than $2 (even just a simple cup), and it’s not uncommon to pay $6 – $8 here for a latte. Obviously, we’ve tried not to drink coffee very much, but Sara and I were craving coffee today. We sat down and ordered a latte, an espresso (same price for both, go figure), a ham and egg sandwich, and french toast. Total cost – $22. Granted, this is the airport, and when you compare it to the U.S. it’s OK, but in China it’s ridiculous.
French toast, cinnamon toast, and ketchup?!
My ham and egg sandwich was nothing special. It was a fried egg and a small piece of ham on four slices of bread with some cucumber slices. The addition of cucumber was unusual to me, but acceptable. Sara’s french toast was completely screwed up. Two small pieces with a big dab of ketchup right in the center! Ketchup on french toast isn’t *bad*, but it isn’t good either – I tried it. Sara was very perturbed (understandably). We left feeling ripped off and a little hungry.
Fortunately, our luck changed. For some mysterious reason we again flew first class (twice in one trip)! I hope that this continues, but there’s a good chance this will be my last first-class flight for a long time. Once the novelty wears off, it’s still an airplane ride. I certainly wouldn’t pay twice as much to enjoy it (at least not until I’m filthy rich). There was also some incredible turbulence during the flight. My laptop almost flew out of my hands a couple of times.
When we arrived in Shanghai, all we wanted to do was crash. Neither one of us was feeling very well, and our hotel, The Crowne Plaza Fudan Shanghai, was simply too comfortable not to enjoy. We upgraded our room to include access to the Club level – free drinks during happy hour, a “free flow of juice, tea, coffee, and water” all day long, snacks, free wireless internet (HUGE), and free breakfast for 200 yuan a day. It was a steal. As expensive as this hotel is, it’s still inexpensive compared to the hotels in Shanghai’s city center (we’re about a 40 minute cab ride away from the Bund, essentially the center of the city).
Because we’re feeling poorly, and because we’ve been touring at what has seemed to be a non-stop pace, we made a pact to take tomorrow off and enjoy our evening.
