I made it through security and now I’m waiting for my flight to Seoul. It looks like our flying machine is an Airbus A330-300. It’s 11 hrs to Incheon airport and then 4 hrs to Hong Kong for a late Wednesday night arrival. So the rest of my Tuesday is about to disappear in thin air and I will have to catch the outcome of the Michigan Republican primary election on the other side!
Monday/ packing up
I’m packing my bags for one more trip on Asiana Airlines to Hong Kong via South Korea’s Incheon airport (outside Seoul). Incheon airport was constructed over water about 1-3 meters (3 to 10 feet) deep. These types of airports are inevitably subject to some subsistence. Incheon’s is expected to be about 2.5 cm (1 inch) over the next 20 years. Hong Kong’s airport appears to be the best-engineered marine platform in the world and had hardly budged since 1998. Then there is Japan’s Kansai airport built over the sea 5 km off Osaka at a depth of 17-18 meters (56 to 59 feet). The world’s longest 2-tiered bridge connects it to the city nearby. It sinks 2 to 4 cm 
in any given year, so in 20 years’ time, it may sink 40 to 80 cm (16 to 33 inches). Yikes! .. however, the soil engineers from Osaka University are confident it will not sink completely into the ocean.
Sunday/ the trip’s little acquisitions
And here they are : this past trip’s purchases that I brought back.
Saturday/ in Seattle
It’s still Saturday but I’m in Seattle and thrilled to be home. Check out the pictures and their captions from the trip out of Hong Kong with a stop-over in Seoul.
Friday/ at the Sky City
The week went by in a flash, and I am on the way home to Seattle. I sent a last urgent e-mail when everyone was boarding the bus for Dameisha. From there we had a van take us through the border. Right now I am in the Marriott Sky City hotel by Hong Kong airport for my flight out in the morning. The first three pictures are from Shenzhen and the two bridge pictures from Hong Kong on the way to Lantau island where the airport is.
Wednesday/ winter cheer
On Wednesday night we had a beer and a burger/ a British fish-and-chips at the Sheraton Dameisha to bid a colleague good-bye that is leaving the project. (The project is nearing its completion for all of us anyway). The LED decorations are still in place outside the hotel, and add some cheer to the winter nights. The Water Sky Hotel across the street has a new white sign. Very nice, but I miss the old yellow neon tube one that it used to have. At least the warm red one for the Meisha hotel close by, is still in place!
Friday/ gringos at the Tequila Coyote Cantina
Friday night found nine gringos (foreigners) upstairs at the Tequila Coyote Cantina., a Mexican restaurant in the Futian district in Shenzhen. There was even a page with Tex-Mex items on the menu. After some translation difficulty for our request for a pitcher* of margarita cocktail mix, the restaurant improvised and brought the good stuff out in a Carlsberg beer pitcher.
*the Chinese word for pitcher is ping 瓶
Monday/ Shenzhen shopping
These pictures are all from Shenzhen’s Futian district, from the Central Walk mall and the mix-C mall. There is still evidence of the start of the 2012 Year of the Dragon everywhere.
Saturday/ more fireworks
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.
Friday/ the Korean mind
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.
Thursday/ United-Continental ‘marriage’ update
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.
Monday/ Incheon airport
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.
Sunday night/ arrived
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 !
Saturday/ carry on those Fragiles!
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’.
Friday/ packing up
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.
Tuesday/ unpacking all my souvenirs
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’.
Sunday afternoon/ across the Pacific
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).
Sunday morning/ Kung Hei Fat Choi
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.
Saturday/ Tintin displays in Hong Kong
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.
Friday/ to Hong Kong
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).
