Day 1: Finally boarded the train and I have been riding in luxury for about 4 hours already. I've successfully read 68 pages of my book, dined on fine Asian cuisine (Ramen noodles), and taken a 40 minute nap. Travelling without kids is a tad different than this. I woke up just now to beautiful country-side, a far cry from the urban jungle I am used to. However, the white haze lingers and follows wherever I go, like a shadow. This is not my first time on a train in this country but it was the first time I got to experience the euphoria of the wonderful train station we traveled out of today. Wowsa. That place make the craziest airport feel like Sesame Street. The train station is, I've decided, the Mecca for pushing, for shoving and frantic looks, not to mention sweat-stained clothing: backs with a finger lake reaching south-ward to belt lines, necks with deep end pools which lazily bottom out to rotund bowls and armpits with crater lakes beneath them. Hey, it's hot. ...