---
title: UESTC To Momenta
date: 2024-12-22
excerpt: "December 21, 2024: a travel day from Chengdu to Shanghai and Suzhou before reporting to Momenta."
tags:
- Essay
- 苏州
updated: 2026-07-08 08:29:00
lang: en
i18n:
cn: /24-12-21
translation: 2
---
## Intro
I planned to report to Momenta in Suzhou next Monday. I wanted to arrive a little earlier so things would not be too rushed, so I bought a high-speed rail ticket for 7:45 this morning, Saturday.
I usually get up at noon. Today I woke up after five and felt quite stable, even a bit too early, so I went back to sleep. I do not know whether I set the alarm to the wrong date or simply did not hear it, but when I woke up it was already 7:33. I quietly said, "It's over!" Two roommates heard my movement and asked, "Are you leaving?" I said, "I overslept 🥴"
The train departed at 7:45, so there was no way I could make it to Chengdu East Station. Other trains to Suzhou Station or Zhangjiagang Station also mostly left around 8:15. Honestly, that was still too tight. The high-speed rail options with more reasonable times cost over 1000 yuan, which was hard for me to accept. I still had to return to school for exams in January, and after the exams I would have to go back to Suzhou again. My wallet could not handle that. So I gave up on changing the ticket. I thought about dragging it to tomorrow, but then Sunday and Monday would become nonstop, and if I overslept again on Monday and missed company onboarding, that would be too much of a show 🤭
I hurriedly refunded the ticket at 7:43. The fee was 132 yuan 🫠 But if I did not refund before departure, I might lose control over the situation, so I painfully donated 132 yuan. In the end, I bought a China Eastern flight on 12306. There was a first-purchase discount within the year, so I paid 522 yuan for a flight to Pudong at 2 p.m.
I rested in the dorm for a while in the morning. I also ate some snacks I had bought, packed my luggage, and temporarily left liquid items in the dorm to avoid trouble. That was the most satisfying moment of the day. Later I took the metro for an hour to Shuangliu International Airport, which is still quite far from school.
During security check, the umbrella, laptop, and power bank had to be checked separately, and I also had to take off my jacket. It was indeed more troublesome than taking the train. I had not flown for a long time. At first I forgot that the airport has an entry security check plus another security check before the gate. I thought it ended after the entry check and was shocked: is Shuangliu Airport security this loose? More than two hours in economy class was genuinely painful. In the second half, my hips hurt, and during descent my eardrums hurt.
## Shanghai
I got off the plane around 16:46. As usual, I took detours inside the airport and wandered for more than 40 minutes before finding the metro. I had a cold these days, and while finding my way my mouth and tongue felt dry. But an unknown milk tea brand in Shanghai wanted 19 Shanghai coins, so suddenly I was no longer thirsty or hungry. I took Line 2 from Pudong International Airport to People's Square, then looped around to Shanghai Railway Station. On the metro, I was trying to handle housing, dinner, and navigation at the same time. But I am not a qualified three-clawed creature. Amap's cross-city navigation was not very usable. At one point I thought I had gone past my stop and got off once. Having to transfer three lines really made my head spin `๑_๑`
## Suzhou
I arrived at Shanghai Station at 7:37 and urgently bought a 7:55 train to Suzhou North. I rushed through card check and security, ran to the gate, and boarded. Fortunately I was not late. I arrived at Suzhou North at 8:34.
At the station, my appetite went out of control. The pig addiction could not be suppressed `^(*￣(oo)￣)^`. I ordered a 15-yuan coffee and 40-yuan KFC without thinking.
After walking a few steps, the housing agent I had booked took me to see the room. The agent was three years older than me. The room was 600 meters from the company, and the living environment was acceptable. I paid a 900-yuan deposit and settled there for now. The monthly rent was a little over 1000, which was fine. After living in an absurd dorm where four rooms were converted into six, I can accept almost any accommodation now.
