Flight Log of Qatar Airways Flight 891 / 149 from Hangzhou to Madrid via Doha on January 31st, 2017

With a luxurious 5-week winter holiday that could probably be my last, and with round-trip flights to Europe as low as 39XX CNY (It seemed that Qatar Airway’s year-round sale had never ended, and I was quite amazed to find such fares departing only three days from the Chinese New Year, and from my hometown Hangzhou), I planned another trip to Europe, with some good friend back to ninth grade.

Previously, I had 16 flights in and out of my home town’s airport, all of which were domestic. Now, I could add its “international departure” to my achievements list.

Shops at Hangzhou Airport International Departure Hall

Shops at Hangzhou Airport International Departure Hall

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Flight Log of Xiamen Air Flight 878 from Kuala Lumpur to Hangzhou (via Fuzhou)

Chinese New Year Day morning.
After a not-so-merry new year “celebration” under the KLCC Towers, followed by a two-hour nap, I was walking past benches filled by homeless people at Pudu Bus Station, and boarded a early-morning airport bus to Kuala Lumpur Airport.

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Flight Log of Malaysia Airlines Flight 765 and 1450 from Siem Reap to Langkawi with Transfer at Kuala Lumpur

Time to leave Cambodia as I picked up my luggage from the hostel and was immediately greeted by the waiting Tuk-Tuk driver on the street, who gave me a mystical smile (as God knows how many times in the previous days I had turned him down), who agreed to take me to the airport at a price of 4USD.
So 15 minutes after my first and last dusty Tuk-Tuk ride at Siem Reap, I was by the entrance of Siem Reap International Airport. No, I did walked like 50 meters from the main road, as there was sort of 1 USD Tuk-Tuk entrance fee imposed by the airport.

Siem Reap Airport Internatioanl Terminal Exterior

Siem Reap Airport Internatioanl Terminal Exterior

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Flight Log of Xiamen Air Flight 877 from Hangzhou to Kuala Lumpur (via Fuzhou), and Connection of Airaisa Flight 536 from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh

Winter of 2016.

As an escape to the grueling task of grad school application, I searched online for destinations (and air tickets) that could be my winter getaway. It’s a luxurious 5-week holiday that could possibly be my last.
And I bumped into Xiamen Airline’s offer of round trip to Kuala Lumpur from Hangzhou at a little bit more than CNY1300, with a stop at Fuzhou(福州). The only restriction was that I needed make the return trip on the morning of Chinese New Year’s Day, which wasn’t that much problem for me since I’m reluctant to identify myself as Chinese.

Then, since my last and only exam of the semester was on Jan 12th, and 2 weeks of Malaysia seemed too much for me, I decided to arrange the visit of another country in Southeast Asia during that time. The decision was easy, as Kuala Lumpur is the headquarter of Asia’s budget airlines, and Cambodia, the bureaucracy and corruption in which resulted in unusually high air fares and fees compared with its neighboring countries, is just a short strait away from Malaysia. So my plan of the day was to take Xiamen Airlines flight MF877 to Kuala Lumpur on January 14th, spend the night in Kuala Lumpur Airport trying to get some sleep, and take Air Asia Flight AK536 on the next morning to Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.

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Day Trip of Town of Songjiang on February 20th, 2016

Sorry, this entry is only available in 中文.

Day 9 of Turkey Vacation: Hot Air Balloon and Green Tour of Göreme on August 27th, 2016

The second day in the beautiful Cappadocia region.
The plan of the day was to take the signature hot air balloon ride for an aerial view of the spectacular landscapes of Cappadocia, and then take part in the Cappadocia Green tour.

So at 5am we were picked up by the balloon company, that ferried us from our cave hotel to their headquarter just outside the town center of Göreme, where we were given a buffet breakfast, typed our names (for insurances purposes, and for it to appear in the certificate after landing)

Maccan Balloons Breakfast Lounge

Maccan Balloons Breakfast Lounge


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Day 8 of Turkey Vacation: Red Tour of Göreme on August 26th, 2016

This morning, much to our displeasure, we found Metro company dropped us off at the Nevşehir Bus Station (which was on the outskirts of the city of Nevşehir), rather than in the center of Göreme Town. And to our greater displeasure, we were reminded to get off the bus not by the bus conductor, but by some travel agent guy at the bus station. (One possible explanation other than the bus company’s blatant unprofessionalism was that the bus conductor didn’t speak English very well, which we took it.)

Then we were informed (by this travel agent guy) that Metro company would provide us free shuttle to Göreme Bus Station, but we were supposed to wait at Nevşehir for the Istanbul bus to come, and/or that the shuttle vans of Metro company wasn’t currently available. Well, since he’s basically the only one at the station that spoke English, we sort of had to trust him.

That was quarter past 6 in the morning, and the whole bus station was literally a ghost town. The Istanbul bus and our shuttle van came at quarter past 7, and during that hour some magic happened (yes, I was summarizing it this way) and the travel agent guy somehow managed to persuade us to book tours with him, since he was offering better quotes than our hotel (80TL or 90TL for red tour, I forgot the details) and we hadn’t finalized all the tours with our hotel yet.

Conclusion, tours around Cappadocia should be better booked in person than through emails, and to do that it’s better to arrive in the afternoon (or evening) than in the morning.

Cave Hotel Cellar

Cave Hotel CellarThe first time my hotel put two beds on separate floors.

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Day 7 of Turkey Vacation: Side on August 25th, 2016

Last day in Antalya.
The plan of the day was to visit Side, an ancient Greek city on the Mediterranean coast East of Antalya. On the way back there were two other major attractions, the amphitheater of Aspendos and the ancient city of Perge. But these two sites were all off the major D400 Route, that plus some difficulties in finding the right bus in Manavgat meant we only managed to visit one of them.

Pedestrian Street of Antalya

Pedestrian Street of Antalya


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Flight Log of Tianjin Airlines Flight 7860 from Wuhan to Tianjin on December 8th, 2016

I only stayed in Wuhan(武汉) for one night before rushing back to Beijing.

Wuhan Railway Station Exterior

Wuhan Railway Station Exterior


My trip back begins at Wuhan(武汉) Railway Station, where I took the subway to Hankou(汉口) Railway Station, then Hankou-Xiaogan(孝感) Intercity Railway to Wuhan Tianhe Airport.
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Flight Log of China Southern Airlines Flight 3138 from Beijing Capital to Wuhan on December 7th, 2016

I was suddenly informed by my parents that I needed to go to the city of Wuhan(武汉) to sort out some family matters, and that was one day before my trip. Immediately I went online searching for tickets, and found tickets for overnight sleeper trains were sold out (apart from the ones that arrive at 4 in the morning), yet airlines were still quoting around 300+CNY for morning flights to Wuhan. So with little hesitation I booked China Southern’s morning flight to Wuhan.

Check-in Counters at Beijing Airport Terminal 2

Check-in Counters at Beijing Airport Terminal 2

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