Shanghai has a massive airport with about 3 stores in it total. Seriously. Okay, maybe there are 5 stores and only one of them was open at 8PM. Rah.
But here's the real kicker: We had our 13 bags and a stroller with us, right? We arrived on the second floor. Departure was on the first floor. No elevator. Enough said.
The good news about flying business is that you get to go to the lounge. Apparently everybody flies business because there are a half dozen lounges, maybe more. You can get free food and drink and watch TV, albeit Chinese TV, but TV just the same. Luckily, I brought my computer loaded with a movie.
The sad truth is that I brought 35 pounds worth of toys in their carry-ons - mostly activity books like coloring, puzzles, magnet boards and the like. They each used ONE toy. The rest of the time they were entertained by our iPads, LeapPads and iPhones. Guess who is leaving those toys behind on the way home? They'll use them in Singapore though, but geez!
The second flight to Singapore from Shanghai was another adventure. I sat with Hudson and Tom sat with Maisie. My little, shoe-loving man adored the slippers the flight attendants gave us. He soon fell asleep while Maisie was very busy asking Tom for help with dinner. She actually braved some of the unusual food on this flight whereas on the first flight she snubbed everything. In truth, the food was very different, even for me. It was absolutely gorgeous - a far cry from the crap US airlines serve, but it was definitely stuff I'd never seen before. It tasted great, once you got past the thought of it all.
When we first boarded, I sat there thinking smugly, "Ha! Tom has to deal with our very active daughter and I can just coast on this flight. Of course, that lasted a whole :10. Suddenly, Hudson was awake and then Maisie wanted to sit with me, too. Tom? He got five hours to himself while I was buried in busy kids. Naturally.
When we first got on board, the flight attendant gave us these "toys" for the kids which were the hardest damn 3-D puzzles you've ever seen. No wonder Chinese kids are so smart! Tom and I each put one together which took a good half hour or more. The kids busted them apart in :15 flat.
