Dreams Unleashed Read Online Free PDF

slouched my tall frame in the seat, trying to find a sleeping position that accommodated the fact that the passenger in front of me had his seat fully reclined in my lap.
    When my forward companion began to snore so loudly that he nearly drowned out the sound of the jet engine, I admitted defeat, escaping into Dan Brown's latest thriller. After a few pages, I realized that his plot was more intense than my flight.
    Leaving the plane behind, I made it through customs along with my luggage without any serious problems, which was a surprising relief. I always expected to be held up at length when entering a foreign country and loathed the concentration and necessary seriousness of being interviewed for entry. Clearing through the other side of customs, I entered a crush of people from every nationality, and a collage of smells fermenting in the compact space pounced. With a nose as capable as a coonhound's, I suffered in the human holding tank, while anxiously looking for the sign that would bear my name. Thank goodness I could see over the throng of bodies.
    "There he is," I blurted out loudly to no one when recognizing the sign meant for me.
    As I pushed through the crowd, I waved at him.
    Making eye contact with me, the man holding the sign quickly nodded. He took my two bags and guided me to the side of the crowd. I was in awe at his skilled maneuvering.
    "Good afternoon. Miss Torgeson, I presume?"
    "Yes," I exhaled.
    "I am Chow Lai," he said, presenting me with his business card while bowing slightly.
    He spoke perfect English. He must have gone to school in America .
    "Good afternoon, Mr. Lai. Thank you for meeting me," I replied with my practiced bow, feeling rescued by my young Chinese crowd-warrior.
    He was taller than I expected, and bulkier too. Chow had kind eyes, black hair, and stood eye-to-eye with me.
    "I hope that your journey was pleasant, Miss Torgeson."
    "Let's just say I'm happy to be here," I replied with a forced smile, unable to lie about my distressing flight, fatigue, and wrinkled clothes.
    "It is never an easy journey from America," he replied directly. "If you are ready, would you like to go to the car, Miss Torgeson?"
    "Yes please. I can follow you, Mr. Lai."
    When we reached the car in the airport's loading zone, the man who had been sitting in the driver's seat exited upon seeing Chow and obediently waited on the curb as a companion to my luggage. Chow held the car door for me, closed it when I was settled, then carefully loaded my luggage into the trunk. He then handed the man some money, and the nameless placeholder walked away.
    I've gotta thank Edwin for helping me find this guide , I reminded myself.
    Chow took his position in the driver's seat. "Miss Torgeson, we will be driving for approximately one hour to arrive at your hotel. Please tell me if there is anything I can do to make your ride more comfortable."
    "Thank you, Mr. Lai."
    I asked Chow to explain the sights of Shanghai's futuristic concrete jungle. As I relaxed in the back seat brushing through my hair, I passively took in this new, foreign world. First we drove through a section of the city that was modern China, where skyscrapers and other buildings resembled the Western world in so many ways. We entered the Bund area, which ran along the bank of the Huangpu River, north of the old walled city of Shanghai. Along the golden mile of The Bund were historic buildings built in the Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Neoclassical, and Art Deco architectural styles.
    Before I knew it, we had arrived at the Bund Garden Hotel with a gentle stop at 200 Hankou Road. I took a deep breath as I looked out my open window. It looked as though we'd turned the clock back a century. Before me, I beheld well-manicured, beautiful gardens with sweet, spicy smells surrounding the front of the vintage hotel.
    I chose this Shanghai hotel because I liked its history and symbolism.
    It was built eighty-five years before, during China's communist-free Republican