One nice thing … our hotel here in Hong Kong (the Mira) is by far the nicest hotel Sandy or I have ever stayed in.  We’re now not sure we’re coming back!  Just send the kids over please:)

We’ll take some pictures and post them.  The location is also ideal as it is in the heart of TST (the shopping district) which is fairly central to all the places we’d like to go.  We also feel like we’re back to full civilization … I love Hong Kong.  No really … I do.  And yes, if I weren’t already committed … I would marry it:)

Anyway, breakfast at the hotel was AMAZING!  They had a buffet that was loaded up with Chinese and American favorites.  It was huge, of excellent quality and the service was completely on point … very nice.  Next time you’re jumping through Beijing … try the Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel … awesome.

So quickly after breakfast it was time to jump on the airport shuttle and make our way to the next flight … a two hour hop from Beijing to Nanjing.  The hotel staff recommended we be there at least two hours early to make sure we didn’t miss the flight.   It took us about 30 minutes to get through ticketing and security … so we read and talked for the next 1 1/2 hours before the flight left.  Below is a video of Terminal 3 at the Beijing Airport … it’s huge!  I don’t know if it will come through in the video, but seriously, it’s massive.

This flight was probably the best of the bunch in terms of turbulence, moderate in terms of food … but honestly, it was just so nice to be that close to settling down for a few days.

Upon arrival in Nanjing we met with Denise, our Nanjing guide who will help us through this first phase of the adoption.  She is a 33 year old mother of a 3 year old daughter and is great.  Excellent English and just a very nice person.  Below are 2 short videos of some of our trip from the airport to the hotel. By the way, this apparently is not the same airport Sandy and I experienced 15 & 16 years ago. This “new” one was built in 1997, but looks like it was built in 1887.

After arriving at the hotel (Mandarin Garden), Denise helped us go to the bank to exchange some money and then took us over to a VERY western style mall (there’s an H&M!).  We went to a grocery store and grabbed some water, fruit and other supplies.

Side Note: Sandy and I are both shocked at how much more modern and westernized Nanjing has become since we were last here.  The sea of bicycles we remember has been replaced by a sea of motor scooters.  It really is remarkable, it feels a ton like I remember Hong Kong.  I think most Americans would be pretty darn comfortable here as there are plenty of familiar services.  Immediately adjacent to our hotel is a 24 hour Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Haagen Daas, just down the road is a second KFC and a McDonalds.  The mall I mentioned has a Starbucks where Sandy has already purchased some much needed and appreciated hot chocolate (it’s a bit cold and rainy here).

Denise left us to ourselves after our grocery store trip and so we rested for about an hour.  We then headed back out in the drizzle to find a post office and explore a little bit.  We discovered a very cool shopping area and a neat little river front (Yangtze River outlet) area.  We then went in search of a place to eat and stumbled into a place that looked fancy on the outside, but was pretty unimpressive on the inside.  We shared a plate of sweet and sour chicken at a cost of about $3.25 US dollars (which was excellent … it’s amazing how different and how much better authentic Chinese food really is) and then headed back to the hotel.  Sandy lasted until about 7:30pm before she could no longer keep her eyes open.  I lasted until about 8:30pm before my time was up.  We are still pretty exhausted and trying to recover from the time difference (we are 14 hours ahead of Utah time).

It is now early Monday morning and we are about to go try find the gym and then off to breakfast.  We’ll skype with Seth, Kate, Zane, Grant, Mom and Dad Weeks in a little while.  Then at 2:00pm our time we head over to the adoption offices and receive Claire!  Unbelievable and what a blessing!

Here is a gallery of all of the relevant photos we’ve taken so far …

Quick note: Vimeo (the site we use for video) is blocked by the China firewall … so I need to find a different solution for that.  Right now we pay by the minute for internet … so I’ll wait till we have free access before I figure that out.

So here’s how the day went …

Got to the airport early and with plenty of time (which turned out to be even more “plenty of time”).  Met Ty Burrell of Modern Family fame … seriously nice guy and very cool about me getting a picture with him (seen below).

Shortly after we boarded our plane.  Shortly after that we pulled back into the gate to make a “5 minute fix” to the on board A/C unit.  Shortly after that they told us the fix was going to be more like 25 minutes so go ahead and unbuckle and stretch the legs.  Shortly after that they deplaned us all and said it would be a bit longer than they anticipated.  So, 2 hours after we were supposed to leave … we did.

Due to that delay, our LAX experience became a mad dash make it to our first international leg.  Made it with about 10 minutes to spare and got in our seats just in time.

OK, so the LA to Seoul flight started out really fun.  We were surrounded by Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Japanese speakers and it was awesome to hear it all.  The fun started to become not so much fun when Sandy said, “We’re about half way through this flight … right?”  Sadly, no.  We were about 3 hours into the 13 hours we would eventually spend on that crummy food, crazy screaming Korean guy (ask me about this one later … it was truly weird … essentially an air rage incident), everlasting flight!  The flight was made much better, though, by a pretty incredible on flight entertainment system.  Sandy and I watched Blind Side together and I watched Sherlock Holmes … both of which were 1st time views.

Anyway, we made it Seoul (Incheon, actually) and had to go through security again to make it to our Seoul-Beijing flight.  By the time that was all done we, again, had about 10 minutes before we had to board.  It was a very tight day making all of our connections … but we were blessed to be able to make them all.

The Beijing flight was also a bit difficult.  It was pretty bumpy and Sandy got quite sick when the turbulence was combined with bad food, lack of sleep and another pretty terrible dinner offering on this flight.  I didn’t eat either on this flight as the meal really didn’t look very appetizing.

We arrived in Beijing at about 8:30pm and made it to our hotel at about 9:30pm.

I started this post last night before bed … but now it’s Sunday morning and we are preparing for our final leg to Nanjing.  It will be a 2 hour flight and then a relaxing Sunday in Nanjing.  We will be united with Claire sometime tomorrow around noon.  CAN’T WAIT!!!

On another very positive note … Seth’s soccer Team Hydras won their game today which puts them at 3-0 for the season so far … WAY TO GO!!!

Well … I need to finish getting ready … so I’ll check in later today or tomorrow!  And I’ll try to get the video thing fixed up.

Love and miss you all … Tom and Sandy.

Some videos …

Not exactly looking forward to the next 24 hours (that’s about when we arrive in Beijing) … but really looking forward to what comes after that!

Here’s a video of Sandy and me waiting …

Below are some videos from the fun …

Mesa Falls … Mesa Falls #2 … Mesa Falls #3

And after a little bit of golf …

After Round of Golf … All Tied Up!