Usually a topic of little note, our first day proved to be a little different.
For a start, it was our second day that proved in the end to be our first. As Roger and I were driving down to Melbourne to meet our group at the appointed time of 7pm sharp, ready for a 10:10pm take-off, I received a message that the flight was delayed a massive 11 hours and would not leave until 8:45 the next morning. This turned into being a 9:30am take-off and so now here we are, not yet having crossed the Asian coastline and we are meant to be in the midst of exploring our surroundings. We are all rather cross about this but of course there is nothing to be done about it.
Our flight on Sichuan Airlines is worthy of description as it is a foretaste of how differently things are done in China. The first hour or so was quite the usual, except for the safety instructions which proved to give quite some amusement. They included footage of people mounting the emergency chute head first and then how one should lie in a life raft. Then there was the footage of all liferaft occupants hand paddling to safety in unison. The fact that this was all shot in a large swimming pool just added to the amusement.
I need to also pen my amazement at how, immediately after the seatbelt sign was turned off, the flight attendants went around the cabin pulling down the window shades with a silent air of ‘we will not have light in this aeroplane!’. Apart from the occasional peep outside to see if it is still daylight, no one has yet defied this tyranny. Discussion amongst my colleagues concluded that its purpose is to herd us all into an ‘eat then sleep in order to keep control’ mentality.
The flight attendants – all females dressed in magnificent silk outfits- busied themselves first with distribution of peanuts (an interesting choice in this day of all pervasive anaphalactic reactions, especially to peanuts) and then of a very palatable meal. That was basically the last we have seen of them. They are certainly not plying us with never-ending offers of drinks etc. However, a walk down the back of the plane was to educate me that people are helping themselves to drinks and more peanuts as they want them. My mention of coffee had a young man who had been sitting in the back of the galley jump up and pour me a ready sugared cup of milky coffee. Needless to say after a few sips, the coffee found its way to the bin. Meanwhile, the beautiful flight attendants are just sitting chatting amongst themselves. Obviously things are done differently in China and I am keen to find out more.
At Chengdu we were met by a display of cute pandas, for this is the province of the panda research base.
For a start, it was our second day that proved in the end to be our first. As Roger and I were driving down to Melbourne to meet our group at the appointed time of 7pm sharp, ready for a 10:10pm take-off, I received a message that the flight was delayed a massive 11 hours and would not leave until 8:45 the next morning. This turned into being a 9:30am take-off and so now here we are, not yet having crossed the Asian coastline and we are meant to be in the midst of exploring our surroundings. We are all rather cross about this but of course there is nothing to be done about it.
Our flight on Sichuan Airlines is worthy of description as it is a foretaste of how differently things are done in China. The first hour or so was quite the usual, except for the safety instructions which proved to give quite some amusement. They included footage of people mounting the emergency chute head first and then how one should lie in a life raft. Then there was the footage of all liferaft occupants hand paddling to safety in unison. The fact that this was all shot in a large swimming pool just added to the amusement.
I need to also pen my amazement at how, immediately after the seatbelt sign was turned off, the flight attendants went around the cabin pulling down the window shades with a silent air of ‘we will not have light in this aeroplane!’. Apart from the occasional peep outside to see if it is still daylight, no one has yet defied this tyranny. Discussion amongst my colleagues concluded that its purpose is to herd us all into an ‘eat then sleep in order to keep control’ mentality.
The flight attendants – all females dressed in magnificent silk outfits- busied themselves first with distribution of peanuts (an interesting choice in this day of all pervasive anaphalactic reactions, especially to peanuts) and then of a very palatable meal. That was basically the last we have seen of them. They are certainly not plying us with never-ending offers of drinks etc. However, a walk down the back of the plane was to educate me that people are helping themselves to drinks and more peanuts as they want them. My mention of coffee had a young man who had been sitting in the back of the galley jump up and pour me a ready sugared cup of milky coffee. Needless to say after a few sips, the coffee found its way to the bin. Meanwhile, the beautiful flight attendants are just sitting chatting amongst themselves. Obviously things are done differently in China and I am keen to find out more.
At Chengdu we were met by a display of cute pandas, for this is the province of the panda research base.
Cute toy pandas at the airport.
A lovely surprise on our arrival was to find that Chengdu Airlines have given all passengers 500 Yuan (around $100) as compensation for the late departure.
SCAT (our college) had arranged a bus to take us to Deyang. It was a surprising ninety minute trip, with the distance between Chengdu and Deyang being around Melbourne-Ballarat equivalent. Driving through Chengdu, we were amazed at the size of one particular building which is apparently the biggest in the world. It is said to contain ski slopes, a beach, a wave pool etc as well as hotels and shopping malls. We will be visiting it on our weekend visit to Chengdu.
A lovely surprise on our arrival was to find that Chengdu Airlines have given all passengers 500 Yuan (around $100) as compensation for the late departure.
SCAT (our college) had arranged a bus to take us to Deyang. It was a surprising ninety minute trip, with the distance between Chengdu and Deyang being around Melbourne-Ballarat equivalent. Driving through Chengdu, we were amazed at the size of one particular building which is apparently the biggest in the world. It is said to contain ski slopes, a beach, a wave pool etc as well as hotels and shopping malls. We will be visiting it on our weekend visit to Chengdu.
Chengdu’s Global Centre – the
world’s largest building
After checking in to our hotel, Greg, the NMIT offshore coordinator who spends a great deal of time in Deyang introduced us to O2, a coffee shop that has western
After checking in to our hotel, Greg, the NMIT offshore coordinator who spends a great deal of time in Deyang introduced us to O2, a coffee shop that has western
food. I get the feeling that I be spending quite a lot of time at O2. At night the
street is lit up with these beautiful Chinese lanterns.
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