OK…so China Eastern Airlines might be cheap but…man…you pay for it elsewhere! So far the best thing about the airline was that the check-in line moved quickly. It went rapidly downhill after that! I won’t even start on the food (because, well..it’s an airline after all so I should know what to expect) but what other airline doesn’t have seatback tvs on a 13 hour flight? I was looking forward to kicking back and watching a couple of movies before snoozing. Instead, I had to use my (not great) eyesight to peer at a small screen about 15 feet away which played Chinese movies with English subtitles. Did anyone think that reading subtitles displayed on a 20 inch screen from 15 feet might be impossible? Sheesh! Enough ranting!

I’m in Shanghai airport – with not a bingo machine in sight! Actually, it’s a little weird here as they make you go through immigration even though you’re just connecting to another flight out of the country. It must be my lederhosen but these immigration guys always pull me aside to do a separate check on my passport. I really wish other people would wear lederhosen when travelling – they’re crazy comfortable and, best of all, I’d have company!

I have a 4 hour stop-over before catching my flight to Kuala Lumpur so I’ve had a chance to check things out. This is such a big and busy city (almost 17 million people) that you’d think that the airport would have all sorts of cool shops. But…no! A few coffee shops and some very expensive boutiques is about it. BUT…the weirdest thing of all is the awesome brain-controlling electrodes they have hanging from the ceiling. Look:

It’s certainly a bit nerve-wracking but the dude in front of me seems to be completely oblivious to the dangers! Ahh well…only 5 more hours of China Eastern Airlines and I’ll be in Malaysia…hooray! Hope the food’s better on the next leg…