a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
Those of us ‘left behind’ by our colleagues – they go home to Shanghai and Beijing – did our usual beer-and-a-bite at the Sheraton hotel on Friday night. On Saturday night another fireworks ruckus erupted here in Dameisha, this time from behind the Sheraton. I noticed that the right section of the hotel is dark .. it is winter after all, and the weather not nice enough to go to the beach.
I am still looking for an opportunity to stop over long enough in Seoul to stay in the city for a day or two. This picture book I bought at Incheon airport provides very interesting insights into the Korean history and the Korean mind (a map of the Korean consciousness, says the cover of the book by Won-bok Rhie).
Formatting note : iPads may not display all the pictures in the correct orientation .. not sure why.
Bloomberg Businessweek gives a very interesting update about the merger between United and Continental Airlines in their latest issue. The picture is from my iPad .. I’m still getting used to reading my magazines this way!
The new merged airline sent enough coffee into the sky last year to brew 62 million cups. (And Starbucks that was served on the old United has lost the contract for the new merged airline). Continental people in Houston have had to move to Chicago where the new headquarters is. But one of the biggest and most frightening challenges so far has been merging the flight information systems. If data were corrupted in the switch-over from two systems into one, the airline could find itself without vital information about its flights : destination and arrival times, flight numbers, or locations. For the final test last October, they flew an empty 737 Continental jet from Houston to El Paso, made believe it ran into a mechanical problem and made it turn around. At Houston they changed the flight number and sent it to Austin. Everything worked and the information was updated in the United system. Then on Nov 2 just after midnight, they took the United system off-line. For the next hour the United flights were tracked manually while the Continental system information was flowed into the United system. Plans were in place for mass cancellations of flights the next morning if there were problems with the cut-over. At 1.23 am the entire Ops Center was looking at the the tracking screens as the United system came back on-line, and burst into applause. The Continental flights showed up. The only small glitch was that flights that had crossed the international dateline during the outage had 24 hours added to their arrival time.
Here are more pictures from Saturday and Sunday’s trip and stop-over at Incheon airport in Seoul. I looked for a cool new Hermès scarf on display in one of the windows – like the ones I posted before – but couldn’t find any.
I’m in the hotel in Dameisha. It is very late here so I will upload more pictures from the flights out here tomorrow. This one shows us approaching Seoul for the stop-over before continuing to Hong Kong. Looks like the pilot is giving Pyeongyang in North Korea a wide berth !
Carry on your ‘Valuables and Fragiles’, says this instruction at Asisan Airlines’ check-in counter. Yes, and I have a lot of 
those, all stuffed into my computer backpack. And hey, I made it through airport security without pulling a Rand Paul* and without dropping my iPad. Careful, don’t drop it, I always tell myself.
It’s a12 hr flight to Seoul, and then another 4 to Hong Kong .. and it will be 11 pm Sunday night when I arrive at the other side of the world.
*Staunchly libertarian senator from Kentucky that had a run-in with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at Nashville International airport on Monday. Paul was directed to a cubicle after refusing a full-body pat down and says he was ‘barked at’ by TSA officials. Says his father and presidential candidate Ron Paul : ‘The police state in this country is growing out of control’.
I’m heading out to Hong Kong via Seoul on Saturday morning. Our project is in the final stretch. The business card holder is from a previous stop at Incheon airport in Seoul. Not much has been in the news about North Korea, but with reports that those caught using a cell phone* during the 100-day mourning period for Kim Jong Il will be treated as ‘war criminals’, I’m sure it’s even quieter than usual.
*of course one has to have one to get caught with using one.
Alright, here are most of the little souvenirs I collected along the way in the last trip. It’s always fun to open one’s suitcase and go Yes! Now, where to put it? (Or maybe it is ‘Why the heck did I buy it?’)
I posted the 2012 Year of the Dragon bear previously; here are the three I now have posing for a group picture.
.. and this Tintin book was still missing for my collection so I got it from a Hong Kong book store (could have just ordered it on Amazon, I know).
The paper craft items are from Narita airport in Tokyo. This cute cut-out-and-fold kit is called ‘Maternal Dilemma’. Check out the worm – item 37!
And this mini paper model of Matsumoto Castle one boggles the mind. From Wikipedia : Matsumoto Castle, also known as the ‘Crow Castle’ because of its black exterior, is one of Japan’s premier historic castles. It is located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture and is within easy reach of Tokyo by road or rail. Got to love the ‘For Your Friend Abroad For a Present’. Yes, but will I still have a friend after this present drove him or her bananas?
One more card bought in Shenzhen .. I cannot have enough dragons, especially not if they are cut out like this.
This little guy with his dragon was not cheap (about US$50), but it’s real porcelain and hand-made and hand painted.
Some Yubari melon Kit Kat for you? Kit Kat is Japan’s most popular candy bar. The name sounds similar to the Japanese phrase ‘Kitto Katsu’ or ‘Sure to win!’ Children bring them into exams for good luck.
I have no idea what the characters on this New Year’s tassle says but I will try to find out. I just liked the colors.
Finally, this little book that is really intended for Japanese visitors to Germany but hey, it had English in as well, and I couldn’t resist it after taking a look inside. Check out the kleine Dampflokomitive at the bottom right of the second picture. The literal translation is ‘little vapor locomotive’ which of course is really ‘little steam locomotive’.
My fellow trans-Pacific voyagers and I made it into Seattle late this morning. We started out in Hong Kong and arrived at a wet Narita airport (Tokyo).
The Asian airlines all serve terrific meals – these red pimentos stuffed with cream cheese were delicious.
At Narita airport I checked out the offerings at the airport stores as usual – a Newsweek in Japanese for you? (Pages are from back to front). Dried baby octopus? No? Then surely the hand-rolled Hermès silk scarf with the animal playing-card motifs will do. (Be prepared to pony up about US$385, though).
From Tokyo we were on a Boeing 777 to Seattle where it also rained, and there is still snow on the ground. I jumped in and cleared the walkway to my front door, and some snow and ice off the sidewalk. Cannot have the mail-man break a leg! (even though all he brings me is junk mail).
Alright, it’s the last day of the old Lunar Year, and the first day of three holidays in many Asian countries, to usher in the new Lunar New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choi (May Prosperity Be With You) says the South China Morning Post. I am at Hong Kong airport and about to depart for Narita airport in Tokyo and then on to Seattle.
It was gray and rainy today in Hong Kong, so I went to the International Commerce Center at Kowloon station. The ICC is the tallest skyscaper in Hong Kong at 108 floors, and the 4th tallest in the world. The mall in its basement had two Tintin displays going : one based on ‘The Blue Lotus’ and the other on ‘Destination Moon’. (These are titles in a series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé with Tintin, his dog snowy and captain Haddock). Check out the golden dragon’s detail .. very nicely done ! The tree circled by the dragon is in the lobby entrance to the offices of ICC.
The lamp posts with red lanterns are from Shenzhen. My colleagues and I made our way to Hong Kong to take a few days out from the project over the Lunar New Year holiday. In the next picture we are on the Tsing Ma suspension bridge on the way to Lantau Island. The dragon on the magazine is from my Marriott Sky City hotel room. I canceled my plans to go to Korea for a few days. I really need a little dose of home, even though it’s only for 5 days or so. Besides, Seattle will have temperatures of 4 to 8°C (40 to 47°F), a whole lot warmer than the – 10 to -3°C (14 to 27°F ) forecast for Seoul ! (picture from KBS TV).
The Yantian Sports Center is from my walk around 8.00pm last night, so it is here in Dameisha. The big exploding firecracker is one of two or three dozen, viewed from my hotel balcony at 10.00 pm last night. It makes a <<<REALLY BIG BANG>>> ! Take coverrr! LOL. That’s the Dameisha Beach ‘Evil Eye’ Tower in the background. (The tower is not evil – it just reminds me of that tower with the eye in the Lord of the Rings movies).
Our hotel lobby has gotten this striking Lunar New Year tree with the little hong bao envelopes. These are handed out at family and social gatherings such as those for the Lunar New Year (the ones on the tree are just for decoration and as symbols of prosperity). Some pointers : the amount of money in an envelope should end in an even digit but not a 4, and it is best to put a single crisp note in (so that the envelope is not bulky). I bought the little envelope with the happy guy on just for fun – there are many many different designs available but the color is always red. The classic red lantern is from the entrance lobby of our offices at work.
Shenzhen’s first government-funded bicycle rental system has started trial operations here in the Yantian District. The bikes in the picture are from right across the street from my hotel. A total of 3,000 bicycles would be put into use in the early stage of the operation and will eventually reach 5,000. We – the lǎowàis (foreigners) – are not sure we will qualify for the rental cards that are issued for using the bikes. Residents are to pay 200 yuan (US$32) of deposit for the card while others need to pay 500 yuan (US$80) for each card. Then it is free to rent a bike for up to one hour, after which each additional hour will cost 2 yuan each.
Will the program be a success? That is not at all assured .. here’s a report from Paris, France in Wikipedia’s entry (search for ‘Bicycle Sharing Systems’) :
A resurgence in bike sharing programs is attributed by many to the launching in 2007 of Paris’s Vélib’, a network of 20,000 specially designed bicycles distributed among 1450 stations throughout Paris. Vélib’, inspired by Lyon’s seminal Vélo’v project, is now considered the second largest bike sharing system of its kind in the world. While the Vélib’ program may be considered a success in terms of rider usage (daily use averages between 50,000 to 150,000 trips), a staggering 80 percent of the original 20,600 bicycles have been destroyed or stolen. Some Vélib’ cycles have been found in Eastern Europe and North Africa, while others have been dumped in the Seine River, hung from lampposts, or abandoned on the roadside in various states of disrepair, forcing the City of Paris to reimburse the program operator an estimated $2 million per year for excess costs under its contractual agreement.
I caught a glimpse of these buildings in the Shenzhen central business district before and had time Saturday to go check them out up close. They belong to the largest non-government developer of commercial properties in Shenzhen, the Excellence Group. These buildings are called the Excellence Century Center. The first picture was taken late afternoon .. those HAPPY NEW YEAR letters are enormous!, each two storeys tall. The next two pictures are drawings, showing their location close to the Shenzhen Exhibition Center (flat building with the curved roof in the foreground). The red blow-up arch, the kitty kat KFC billboard, and the street vendor selling pink and white mice-with-wheels-on-a-string were by the Exhibition Center. Next stop was a department store Jusco close by where I found the plush dragons (2012 is the Year of the Dragon) and the anime-eyed little guy with the rosy cheeks in a red star uniform. And then it was dark and I knew I had to go back to the Excellence Center buildings to catch them showing off in the dark.
I have said it before : it’s a long haul from stepping into the taxi cab in Seattle for the airport until I step into my hotel room in Shenzhen, China! Here’s how it broke down this time.
Mon 10.00 am leave for the airport from home.
Mon 1.30 pm Tokyo-bound Boeing 777 departs.
Mon 11.00 pm Arrive at Narita airport in Tokyo (picture of plane at gate).
> Switch to Tokyo time which is Tue 4 pm !
Tue 4.00 pm 2 hr lay-over at Narita airport. The Choken Bako bank (picture) from the Akhihabara electronics toy store has a hungry friendly pooch sitting on top. Drop some coins into his dish and he immediately goes for it, gobbling it up. (The coins are stored inside the box).
Tue 7.00 pm Late departure for Hong Kong, skirting by Mount Fuji’s south side (see map, but too dark to see the mountain). Eat Japanese dinner (picture – rice, veggies, fish : delicious).
Tue Midnight Arrive Hong Kong.
> Switch to Hong Kong time which is Tue 11.00 pm.
Tue 11.00 pm Stand in customs line for 40 mins, even then my one checked bag had not arrived. Bag finally arrives (whew), and driver is still there.
Wed 1.00 am Go through Hong Kong – Mainland border crossings (even at that time, a long line of vehicles).
Wed 2.00 am Arrive at hotel in Dameisha in the outskirts of Shenzhen.
I’m waiting for my flight to Narita airport in Tokyo on United Airlines. From there Japan’s All Nippon Airlines will take me to Hong Kong. Seattle-Tacoma airport is busy .. many people are going home after visiting friends and family, of course.
I was grumpy this morning and endured the strip-and-body scan at security the best I could. One’s belt and shoes have to come off, as well as everything in pockets, even plastic items. So the number of items coming out in trays through the carry-on scanner is ever-growing. The other thing is that Europe has now banned X-ray body scanners, which use back-scatter ionized radiation, due to health and safety concerns. Instead of X-ray scanners, European airports will use millimeter-wave scanners that utilize low-energy radio waves. The article in Forbes magazine reports that in the USA, the TSA uses both types of scanners: some 250 X-ray scanners and 264 millimeter wave scanners. Sea-Tac airport uses the ‘bad’ one, the back-scatter X-ray machine.
I will start out on my next trip to China on Monday, and needed a new Chinese visa. I picked up my passport on Thu night at the Fedex ‘World Service Center’ here in Seattle. ‘You should see our collection (of souvenirs from around the world)’ says the poster from there. The list of countries Fedex ships to includes just about every single country and island on the globe, but since Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria are countries non grata, they are not on the list. I was surprised to see Afghanistan and Iraq both listed as Fedex destinations, though.
I am in Seattle ! The first picture is a night time satellite photo of North and South Korea I got from Yahoo News a day or two ago, showing the striking difference in economic activity between the two Koreas. We made our stop at Incheon airport, as always a bare 35 miles from the North Korean border (see my Google Latitude picture). The South Korean newspapers are full of speculation about the consequences for the region in the wake of ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jung-Il’s unexpected death. The question is whether his son the 29 year old ‘Great Successor’ (these titles bestowed by the state media machinery) will have the support of his father’s peers. It probably does NOT help that he was promoted some years ago to a 4 star general without a day’s military service! Anyway. After a quick check of the Samsung monitors (a rice-based dessert shown), we took off and our flight path took us over Tokyo and nine hours of flying over the Pacific.
