The flight to Copenhagen went as well as could be expected, given the snowy conditions in Denmark. We arrived with a few hours to spare, and passed the time by playing games.

When the time came we made our way to the departure lounge, which was more of an expedition than a stroll. We sat and waited for a while, to then be shuffled back out into the check-in area we had previously passed on our way to the lounge. The lounge was then screened off, we lined up dutifully to check-in, then we walked through another screened off area which led back into the area we had just been ushered from. A truly fantastic bit of organising.

Our plane was delayed further due to what I thought to be technical problems with the “jet bridge”, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Whatever it was that was the cause of the problem was soon fixed, and we were allowed to board the plane. I then proceeded to the toilet to pop some morphine up my bum, to help the 9 hour flight pass by more pleasurably.

This is the first time we have flown SAS on a long haul; we’ve been suitably impressed by what’s on offer, especially the touch screen monitors placed by every seat. A variety of films, radio stations and games can be selected, and I was very chuffed to see (and play) Atari’s Centipede among the choices.

Neither the drugs, alcohol, books, films or games took my mind completely off the fact we were flying at 900km/h at a height of 10,000 metres above the comparative safety of the surface of the earth, but I became tired enough to doze through half of the journey (which was actually very smooth, with little turbulence). We arrived in Beijing at 7.30 am (14.30 local time) alive and well. Hoorah!