Hello from the other side of the world

We got up a 4 am to dress and final preparations. My dad showed up at 5:45 and drove us to Dulles. Two and a half hours to Chicago, and now we are on the longest leg of the flight. I cannot say that I am any more of a fan of flying than I was before, but the larger the plane the smoother the ride. United Airlines food is of course airplane food (I'm pretty sure that Virgin Atlantic or Korean Air has better food), but thus far the staff has been very polite and helpful. I took a short walk around the plane and stretched to avoid problems later. The gentleman to the left of me is a very nice guy from Vietnam, who is goi g home tom see his parents. our conversation reminded me as to why people come to the US from all over the world (including my family) to live and work. The old motto, if you work hard you can have a good life.

Warning Whine Time: I just made another lap around the cabin and It's now almost 7 pm est.....boy this flight takes forever. I keep asking Phil "are we there yet?". To my horror, Phil figured that we have about 11 hours left. It got dark....and now its morning again. Ok...Phil figured out there are still about 7 hours left (10:24pm est) Good morning Russia, I still hate flying....and I've been unable to sleep.......because I'm on a plane.

On the bright side, I read The Night Circus. Good book, husband suggested he may be insane... I agree.

Think I might have slept for 90 min total out of our 15 plus hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong. I don't know how Phil can sleep for at least half the trip.

Ok, we made it to the hotel finally (ok we've been here a couple of hours now). We must have had Hong Kong's most psycho cab driver. He was passing all of the other cabs at at least 15 kph over the speed limit in the rain particularly when he spotted the 'slow down - slippery when wet'. As a positive counterpoint Phil notes that we saved about $HKD by getting to the hotel quicker. One helpful tip for travelers to the Holiday Inn Golden Mile in Hong Kong -- you have to leave your room key in the slot by the door to keep the lights on. Just trying to save you from groping in the dark for the flashlight app on your iPhone. Speaking of which Phil had to jury-rig two adaptor sets and his netbook to charge my Precious....I mean my iPhone. The iPad is next.

Good night all! (well, good morning for you all)