Nepal Trip Day 0.5 - Los Angeles to Guangzhao (Saturday December 22/Sunday December 23, 2018)
As soon as we entered the business class cabin of the China Southern A380, we felt like we have entered a different world.
The business cabin was quiet and had soothing lighting. We were warmly greeted by the crew member with hot towels and drinks. The kids were super excited that we each got our own lay flat seat with no one next them since there is only one seat by the window. We took four seats on the aisle.
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| Electronic for the next 15 hours! |
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| GG with a hot towel on her head |
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| Yeah, we are finally on our way! |
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| Enjoying a cup of apple juice in a glass |
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| leg room |
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| Flying the A380 for the first time! |
The flight attendant at our section was a young lady. She was very patient with us and proceeded to assist us in ordering our meals for the flight. She was very attentive. When Jo decided to switch seat with me due to Jo feeling cold, she immediately asked Jo if she was cold. We would later run into her on our way back from Guangzhou. It was great to have her as our flight attendant.
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| Ordering our meals before take off! |
We were finally taking off sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 pm. It was one of the smoothest take off I have even experienced. It felt like we were on a large ship gradually moving away from the surface of the earth.
Probably around midnight, we were served our dinner. We ordered the beef and the fish. The meals were well prepared and we stuffed our face well into the night. This meal along with the eating at the LAX lounge has officially kicked off the eating phase of our trip.
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| mixed nuts |
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| appetizer - seafood salad with bread and chicken soup |
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| Soup and salad |
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| Entree - fish and white rice |
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| Entree - beef |
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| Enjoying the steak |
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| dessert - fruit and chocolate mousse |
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| Chocolate Mousse dessert |
It was well past midnight after the dinner was served. We were casually catching up on movies and other forms of electronic entertainment before we really could not keep our eyes open. Three of us watched the Crazy Rich Asian (GG has seen it before) during dinner and MM watched a PG-rated movie. The blanket provided was thick and comfortable. We all subsequently passed out well after 1:00 am our time.
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| Going to sleep, laying flat! |
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| Past 1:00 am, we were just over the Northwest US |
After about 7 hours, we woke up somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. It is around 8:00 am Pacific Time. Jo and I decided to take a tour of the plane. We walked from business class forward, down the stairs to the first class. The first class flight attendant politely guided us through the tour. We walked pass the lower deck economy and back through the stairs in the rear of the airplane to the business class. It was good to stretch our legs a bit after laying flat for almost 7 hours.
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| Forward staircase to the first class cabin |
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| Business class bar |
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| At the forward stairs to first class |
We helped ourselves with some snack after the airplane tour. The coffee was brewed via the on-board espresso machine. It was a nice treat. We were not buckled in. We moved about our seats and talked about how China Southern gave us a nice start to our trip.
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| Snacks and espresso coffee |
At this point, all of us were up and were vigorously consuming the on-board electric entertainment system. I took another airplane tour with the kids.
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| airplane tour with the kids |
I watched two Russian films - Gagarin: First in Space and Salyut 7. The Gagarin: First in Space was about the first man in space - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The Salyut 7 was a space drama about the Russians trying to repair a defunct space habitat - The Salyut 7. It was like the Russian version of the Apollo 13. It was great to see films that we normally do not get to see in the US.
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| Russian films - Gagarin: First in Space and Salyut 7 |
Sometime after nearly fourteen hours of flying, the breakfast was served. we ordered congee with Dim-Sum and wonton noodle soup, all signature dishes of Southern China and were served tea. I continued to consume the in-flight electronic content and subsequently watched a few episodes of the documentaries on Tibet produced by the Chinese. I did learn about a few things on other side of the Himalayan - Tibet from this documentary. It was not known to me that the Tibetan truck drivers would drive through the Tibetan highway in minus 20C environment to deliver supplies to outpost villages. The fuel would freeze in the truck and the drivers would have to it a fire under the fuel tank to start the engine after a rest stop. I also did not know that the Tibetan also has a mountaineering school for young Tibetan men who are inspired to be like the Nepali sherpas to work as mountain guides. As China-Tibet began to receive more tourist, there is more need to experienced mountain guides in Tibet to work on mountaineering expeditions. It looks like China is trying to get into the mountaineering market to compete with the Nepalis.
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| Tea - signature drink that we will consume more than ever on this trip |
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| Breakfast starter |
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| Wonton noodle soup |
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| Congee and dim-sum |
After breakfast was served, we were nearing our first destination - Guangzhao Baiyun International Airport (CAN). This flight has been so comfortable that we did not want it to end. If our vacation would have concluded at Guangzhao, I would have been satisfied.
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| Nearing our destination - Guangzhao |
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| Photo with our very nice and attentive flight attendant |
We saw the light of the Guangzhou for the first time. Shortly after, we landed in the newly built terminal 2 of the Baiyun Airport. Later on I learned that this terminal 2 was newly opened as of April 2018. It was one of the newest and the nicest terminals we have ever flown through. Throughout this trip, we would transit through this terminal two more times.
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| Seeing the light of Guangzhou for the first time |
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| Pulling into the gate of terminal 2 with another A380 in view |
We reluctantly disembarked our flight with our four carry suit cases in tote and our REI backpacks. We said goodbye and took one last photo with the friendly crew members who provided us with a great start to this first leg of our journey. It was our intent to experience the journey as well as our destination. The journey with China Southern gave us a different feel from other Asian airlines that we have flown before such as China Eastern. It was a friendly southern China feel. The food was different from other flights we took to Taipei or Shanghai before as well. We thoroughly enjoyed this new flight experience.
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| Disembarking the flight |
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| One last photo with the friendly crew |
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