Shanghai Express

Well, according to the definition, express can mean direct, rapid and usually non stop. Our flight was rapid as in with traveling over 600 miles per hour, but boy was it very long and slow moving. We flew directly into Toyko for Detroit and it took 12.5 hours in the air to get there.
Emma did pretty well for the whole flight with some minor incidents. First, she didn't want to sit in the seat for take off. We bought a FAA approved addition for the plane seat belt which made the belt so it had shoulder straps and snapped across the chest as a car seat does. She refused to let us put it on her, but ater some struggle, she settled down. It was nothing like what happened to the toddler who got kicked off the Florida flight for misbehavior. After that, she was an angel and actually enjoyed herself the first 6 hours of the flight. The man in the middle row of the plane had the row o 4 seats to himself and he offered to let us that that row and he would take our three seats on the side of the plane and that gave us much more room. We took the portable DVD player with us and she sat and watched Polar Express and Curious George. We also read books, colored and played with a small tea set besides taking several laps around the aisles of the plane. One time, Emma and I looked out a window and we asked the stewardess where we were and she called up front. What we were looking at was the Bearing Straits. Boy, did it look COLD down there with the ice and snow. Made us shiver.
At 8 pm we decided to give her benedryl to aid in her getting some sleep. That was a BIG mistake! Instead of calming her down, she was so wound up. We put her jammies on at 9 pm and she threw a fit knowing what that meant, sleep. She wouldn't sit and just wanted to run all around. By 10, she was so exhausted, but fought sleep for two hours. Finally around midnight, we were able to get her to relax some by putting on another DVD and she laid out on the two seats between Tom and I and drifted off. Both of us were totally exhausted and got some shut eye. Then at 2 am we arrived in Tokyo and Emma slept through the landing.
At the Toyko airport we had a 2 hour layover which was a relaxing time of being able to move about and stretch. Emma was able to walk through the airport and explore. Even though it was 4pm Thursday afternoon Japan time, the airport was very empty which really surprised me. We had a 2.5 hour flight on to Shanghai after that which went extremely smooth. Emma was awake enough to play with the remote for the tvs in the seat in front of her and she enjoyed coloring and being treated like a little princess from the stewardess. The only bad part of that flight was the mystery food they served us for dinner. When I tried to break a fried round thing in half, the breading came off and the inside didn't pull apart. It was like a rubber ball! I couldn't fathom my teth trying to chew that up, so it ruined my whole meal.
We arrived at Shanghai at 9:30 pm (China time) Thursday night. Customs went well, and they welcomed us to their country. A driver was waiting for us and we had a long 40 minute ride into Shanghai. He dropped us off at the Holiday Inn in the Pudong section of Shanghai. By the time we had gotten checked in, it had been 25 hours since we left our house.
Emma finally feel asleep at midnight again and we weren't far behind her. She woke up once at 4 am and was very hungry. She ate dry Cheerios on our bed and finally went back to bed.
So, now you all have your question answered on how the flight was and how Emma faired. We are hoping our trip back will be just as smooth. Flight time is less since we will be traveling with the jet stream.