flights organized

Well, it took a while of to-ing and fro-ing, but I finally have all of my next few weekends planned out. the last two weekends i haven't really gone anywhere or done anything (apart from wearing a suit and getting drunk in a posh hotel for Paddys day), but I'm mkaing up for that now! This is my schedule for the next few weekends:

• This weekend - Shanghai for 3 days


• Next weekend - Xi'an for 2 days


• The weekend after - Tokyo for 5 days


• the weekned after - Back to Dublin

Booking flights over here ins't as easy as it is back home anyway - I found a website (elong.net) which I could get the flights off, but for the domestic flights I had to pay cash on delivery. So, I'd get them to send it to work, and then pick it up there and hand over a wodge of RMB notes - all very dodgy looking, but all above board!

Today's booking has to take the cake tho. I've talked about my problems with booking the Tokyo tickets before (expedia not wanting to take my credit card etc), so I finally got it through elong. To pay by credit card I had to call them up as the flights were coming up as e-tickets on the web but were still asking for a delivery address. There was a lot of back and forth and in the end to pay by credit card I eventually had to fax them my passport and the front and back of my card.

The kicker came tho when the tickets were delivered - I was expecting normal paper tickets like I got with the rest, but when I opened the envelope the courier had given me, I found a printout of an e-booking form from NorthWest Airlines (who incodentally had refused to take my card last week)! So, instead of emailing me the e-booking confirmation like anyone back home would do, they printed it out and sent it to me by cycle courier! You couldn't make this stuff up!

So anway, it's all sorted, I have the flights all in my posession (or at least the tickets), and all that's left is the acomodation. I'm still wating on booking confirmation, but it looks like I'll be getting a room in the 5-star allegedly very famous Peace Hotel in Shanghai for about €88 a night. Not too bad, altho probably ruinously expensive by local standards. What the hell, I'm on holiday! :-)