Ireland/China 2025, continuing (69)

[aadler]

Fifty-ninth day in China – August 18 Monday

Because of expected activities, I got up early today, 7:00AM, and woke Susan according to her previous request. Kevin had said he would come by early, but eventually texted to say he’d be over about 10:00, so I made my breakfast on the lamb left over from Mei‑li’s contribution to last night’s dinner.

I met Kevin downstairs just after 10:00 (forgot to mention, he’s taking the last of his paternity leave, which is why he wasn’t at work today), and we cabbed to the bank. He’d thought if I could open an account at the bank that had a partnership with my own bank, it would facilitate cash transfers and withdrawals on future visits; we learned, however, that since I don’t live or work in China — and don’t currently have a local phone that can be used for two-factor authentication — any such account would require me to come directly to that same bank, which would be no improvement over what we’ve been doing. Further study needed.

Back at the apartment with plans for what would come next. That was to meet Kevin and Amber at the Thai restaurant across the street at 11:30. We did, and shared a meal, and Kevin left to take Amber home a bit after 12:30PM, pushing Susan’s old wheelchair in front of them. Upstairs again, Susan and I finished the final bits of packing for departure, the items that go in last because they’re still in use till the last moment.

Shortly before 2:00PM, we met Kevin downstairs again, and he had a car arranged to take us to the Hong Kong airport. Since Susan has been using the wheelchair, the driver made a request at border entry that she be allowed to remain in the car while Kevin and I went in and checked through on her behalf; such requests aren’t always granted, but were this time, which made things a lot easier for her. (She’s getting around better without the chair just the last few days, though, so she might have done okay.)

On to the airport hotel, and Susan and I checked in. Because our flight doesn’t leave till so late tomorrow, I paid extra to allow us a later check-out, which also came with a room upgrade. Kevin came up with us, and hung around to visit and talk for around an hour before starting off again for home.

I walked down to the KLM counter to see if I could get Susan a better seat for tomorrow’s flights (maybe two of the three). KLM counter didn’t open till 6:30PM, so back up to the room. The extra I’d paid for a later check-out for our room had automatically upgraded it, which included meal service in the lounge; Susan and I went there — which turned out to be almost literally across the hall from us — and had a light meal and a glass of wine each.

I headed back to the KLM counter, but after some delays because of people actually leaving this evening, I found out that seat upgrades couldn’t be done more than 24 hours in advance. Okay.

Evening television and reading, settled in for a (relatively) early bedtime.