After getting a few last minute things done, we finally boarded for Tokyo.




The nine and a half hour leg to Tokyo actually kinda breezed by. There was plenty to do on the flight and the flight was exceptionally smooth.




Papa John is always the last through security. At Narita we had to go through again for the international connections.


Hanging out waiting for the Guangzhou leg


This is how you know you're in Japan


Guangzhou is very unique in that it’s probably the only airport in the world that accommodates headless women. It was here that the family had its first introduction to “squatty potties”.


We somehow breezed through customs.
All that attention to detail on the paperwork paid off because it was a snap. I have to admit to having some visions of being hauled off to the Gulag because I didn’t dot an I or something… My dreams almost came true when I got busted by the cops for snapping the picture of baggage claim below. Ooooooh, that baggage handling equipment is top secret! Notice Soren looking a little green BTW? We weren’t prepared for the hefty inspection and quarantine line that awaited us after getting our bags.


Then it was off to the White Swan.
Upon walking outside the airport we hit a barrier of heat and humidity that sucked the life out of you. Thankfully, that only lasted about 100 yards to the air conditioned bus. Right now it’s 2:10am local time and the temp is 86 degrees with 70% humidity. On our bus ride we had a very energetic transfer guide from Lotus with the English name of Michelle. She explained that any Mandarin we’ve learned will be useless in Guangzhou, or “Canton” as it’s commonly called in Western countries, because the people here speak Cantonese. Great, now I’ll be accidently calling everybody “Mr. Stinky Fish Face”.


The city just flat-out amazed us driving in.
You really can’t believe how many people are crammed into one place. I also couldn’t believe how many people were on the streets after midnight too. Whole families with kids just roaming around. Everybody hangs their laundry on their apartment porches too. I can’t imagine that it ever gets dry – must be a perpetual state of damp that they’re accustomed to.


Hurry up and wait!
We get to the White Swan along with everybody else in the travel group that came in on the same plane. Naturally, we’re all waiting in line. The people at the White Swan are professionals and zip us right through check-in and baggage handling. This is after all a 5-star resort. We then made our way to the rooms in which we managed to get a block of three all in a row right by the elevators. We got our wake-up calls and power converters all arranged and now it’s time to crash. It is true what they say about the beds at White Swan being a little like plywood. The truth is, they’re a lot like plywood. One of the most challenging things will be to avoid using the tap to brush our teeth. Making that mistake would ruin your whole day. So goes the adventure.