Saturday, November 12, 2005 Saturday, November 12, 2005 The flight from Vancouver to Shanghai was relatively uneventful -- which is always a great thing to say about any flight. It was long, but I expected that. What was strange, though, is that we flew in daylight all the time, so I was able to watch the ground below. And I can tell you one thing -- Siberia is exactly the way you would picture Siberia to be. Talk about desolate -- it looks like one big glacier with some huge white mountains. And why is it that you can take a one-hour flight, and be rocking and rolling in turbulence the whole way, and yet can fly 12 hours, and never feel a bump? The captain turned off the seatbelt sign when we left Vancouver, and didn't turn it on again until we approached Shanghai. It was weird flying over Japan and Korea. I never thought I'd ever come to Asia at all -- tennis has really changed my life in terms of travel. It was a surreal to be looking at these countries. Japan seems so small -- I always thought of it as a bigger country. China, of course, is huge. A Japanese man sat next to me on the flight. He lives in Shanghai, and his English is pretty good (I now realize just how good it was!), and he gave me a few hints about Shanghai. He also gave me his cell phone number in case I had any problems here. He told me the taxis that are particularly good, but told me to avoid the dark red cabs, as they rip you off. We finally arrived, and unfortunately, I could barely get my shoes on. My ankles had swollen up during the flight, and it was very uncomfortable. But I got through Immigration, and when I went to get my bags, there was a desk there with folks to greet the Masters Cup media. I checked in there, and they said someone would help me get a taxi to the hotel. And sure enough, when I walked out I met a sea of people with signs for various people. And there was the Masters Cup media sign. A woman, who spoke terrific English, said she would get me a cab and direct them to the hotel. And of course, what do you think she did? Directed me to a dark red taxi!!! But it worked out just fine. And I had a lovely view of Shanghai at night, where it really shines (so to speak). The buildings are very modern, but the Chinese are very fond of putting lights on their buildings -- sort of like a toned-down Vegas. So I enjoyed looking at the various designs on the buildings -- and the Tower of Oriental Pearl is gorgeous! The traffic is bad, however. In fact, it reminds me a lot of New York City. The taxi driver in the red cab did not disappoint me, as he beeped his horn at every car that happened to cross his path. And they all beeped back at him. I can see why there are so many people going around on bicycles. When I arrived at the hotel, I got my credential. They have a "help" desk for the media, and that's when I discovered that the Chinese idea of English fluency varies from my own. Let's put it this way, Rafa's English is excellent compared to many of the "English speakers" here. Of course, my Chinese is non-existent, but the language barrier does make things interesting. My hotel room is huge, and has a nice view. I can even see the McDonald's, which is where I may go shortly. I ordered room service, and the food is inedible. I don't think I'll be gaining any weight on this trip! There are a lot of nice shops around here, and I look forward to exploring them. Also, the Masters Cup has arranged a number of sightseeing tours for the media, and I will be able to enjoy those, too. Before I went to bed, I heard from our intrepid Oriental Sports Daily reporter. She called to set up my interview for Sunday. Little did I know how interesting our meeting would prove! More later!! Thoroughly exhausted, I literally fell into bed. Which was not particularly pleasant, because the mattress, if it can be called that, is basically a cloth-covered board. Sorry, had to get the doorbell. I've never been in a hotel room with a doorbell. *lol* Well, I would forgo the door bell in exchange for a soft mattress. But the comforter on the bed is really thick, so I wrapped myself up in that, and slept on top of the comforter. So that was Saturday. On to Sunday!!! And my first glimpse of Rafa. posted by Susan @ 5:42 PM