I had booked a Jetstar Asia flight to Singapore ($95) to connect to Air China. This was necessary to maximize the next day. The flight was to arrive in SIN at 12:15am and the Air China flight was scheduled for 2am. Although they don’t have an interline agreement, I figured that would be enough time to clear immigration, pickup my luggage and recheck it, especially at Changi.
However, for some undisclosed reason, the departure out of SGN was delayed. As the seconds ticked, my heart was palpitating at a faster rate. After about an hour delay, we finally took off. At SIN, I raced through only to find a long line at passport control. I saw a woman sitting on the right side that looked like she worked at the airport. I told her my story and that I needed to get through immediately. She said no problem, and she brought me to a desk where she just stamped my passport and I ran right through. I grabbed my bags and thankfully Air China still accepted them.
Welcome to SIN
After a 4.5 hour flight I arrived in…
Chengdu, ChinaI had been to China before, in 2010, when I spent a few weeks (with the fam) touring Shanghai, Xi’an and Beijing. We hadn’t visited Chengdu, and it was on my short list of places to visit. Once this trip to Beijing materialized, I knew I’d have to hit up Chengdu.
I had to be in Beijing Sunday evening, so with arrival in CTU at 6:30am, I booked my flight to PEK for 3pm.
The main thing to do, and the only thing I was interested in doing, was to see Giant Pandas and hold one. The Sichuan province is the home to the Giant Pandas, and the most accessible place for tourists to see them is at the “Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.”
I had read that there are limited spots available per day to hold a panda and works on a first come first served basis, so as soon as I arrived at CTU, I immediately took a taxi to the CRBOGPB. As soon as I got there, I made a beeline to the Sunshine Nursery House to sign up. I was the first one on the list and was then able to walk around and explore the park.