Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/1100 sec, ISO200 “Bye California” Long Beach, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Well, I’m back home. It has been a great trip but unfortunately, vacation’s over. As my friend told me, “Even banquets have to end”. 😢
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/950 sec, ISO200 “My Plane” Long Beach, 2018
The trip from California to Texas was actually quite good. I made it through security quickly, and while waiting at the gate, the Jetblue gate attendant asked me if I’d like to switch my seat to an “Even More Space” type if I was willing to be in the exit row. I agreed, and the gate attendant assigned me his favorite seat, which is special because the seat in front does not recline! It was so nice. Even though I have short legs, the extra space is welcome. 😀
Photo info: Motorola Moto G (4), 3.64mm, f/2, 1/30 sec, ISO160 “Even More Room” Long Beach, 2018
To add to the “luxury”, I got to feast on a pastrami sandwich that my mom made for me. So good… 😋
Today our China tour comes to an end, with our scheduled departure from Shanghai at 2pm. But that gives us the morning in the city! So, we start with breakfast at the hotel, which has a wonderful buffet. I have been eating small breakfasts of coffee, juk (rice porridge) with pickles, and maybe a dumpling or two. But today I “splurged” and had some beef noodle soup. It was delicious! 😋
Oh, by the way, the hotel has this display which shows the current air pollution level in the city, and the air quality inside the hotel. Pretty cool, but also kind of sad that it is needed. 😒 Speaking of the notorious air-quality in China, I don’t think it has been that bad. Perhaps it’s been due to the time of year (winter is supposed to be the worst for air pollution), but even though it is relatively good, blue skies were rare.
I still needed to do some shopping, so my brother and I headed to the nearby grocery store to stock up on goodies, including Japanese Kewpie in Chinese containers, some hotpot mix, spicy fish mix, durian candy, chocolate, noodle snacks, and curry. A pretty decent haul. I can’t wait to try the hotpot later. 🌶🔥😀
After saying goodbye to most of our tour group who were on an earlier flight, we waited for our own motor coach to take us to the airport. By the way, I’ve been to eight different airports during this trip: Austin, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Beijing, Xi’an, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Shanghai. 😮
The long flight was without incident and we arrived at my parents’ house in Torrance at around 5 pm the same day we left. Pretty cool traveling across the international date line from west to east!
For dinner, we decided to get Mexican food at a nearby restaurant that we hadn’t been to in a few years: Alfredo’s. The deluxe carnitas burrito I had really hit the spot! I’ll indulge in a huge meal before returning to my smaller portions again. 😁
