Category: Travel

I’m leaving Saturday morning for Hong Kong, this time via Tokyo.   A United flight gets me into Tokyo’s Narita airport, and then All Nippon Airways will get me to Hong Kong.   (Picture of ANA’s iPhone app).    The flight track from today’s United flight is from Flightstats.com, showing the routing right over Alaska and across the Bering Sea.   I will arrive very late Sunday night into Hong Kong.  It’s still weird for me, the 24 hrs that disappear out of my local date and time reference, with these westward flights across the International Date Line in the ‘wrong’ direction.

The short connection in Seoul went well and the gate security was the usual hand search of our carry-ons, no more.  The pictures are from Saturday morning.  From the top: crossing the suspension bridges from Hong Kong mainland to Lantau Island (the airport’s location);  walking to Gate 24 to board; looking out the window at the Korean Airlines Airbus A380 getting pushed out to the runway;  I wondered for a moment how the dinner appetizer should be eaten (mushroom, mozzarella and cherry tomato with mint leaf garnish); then stuffed it all in my mouth :0).

These artifacts are from a display in Hong Kong airport.  Monday is Moon Cake Festival Day in China (those are moon cakes in the picture).   Carambola, or starfruit, is really native to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – but I have seen trees here with the fruit.  Now I have to run for the gate!    I have a short connection in Seoul, then on to Seattle.

It is finally cooling down somewhat from the August highs here in South East Asia, and in Japan.   The TV screen shot is from the Japanese channel NHK World.  It says ‘Forecast Lowest Temperature’ 予想最低気温 at the top* and the 22 ºC (72 ºF) is for Tokyo.   It still goes up to 30 ºC (86 ºF) some days there, but the Japanese government’s campaign to urge businesses to consume less electricity this summer was a resounding success.    Average electricity use in peak hours on weekdays in Tepco’s service area fell 20.4 percent in July and 21.9 percent in August from 2010, exceeding the targeted 15 percent cut.    Check out the manga character with the sad eyes.   And I like the pointer with the black blob that the meteorologist is using.   Somewhat different from the way our TV stations present the weather, no?

*the successful outcome of a guessing game I played in Google Translate,  plugging English phrases into its English-Japanese translator

Two colleagues new to the project and I took a taxi to Shenzhen’s electronics market on Huaqiang North Road.   The beautiful gazebo is close by and so is a large watch store that sells any watch one can imagine.    The ‘Rolexes’, ‘Omegas’ and ‘Cartiers’ are fake (prices are negotiable, between US$50 and US$200), but there is a very large selection of cheap and colorful quartz watches with Mickey Mouse, Batman, Astroboy and Snow White.    Then we hopped onto the one of the Shenzhen Metro’s brand spanking new lines, the She Kou line.  No Scottish Terriers/pets  :  ), no begging, no vendors, no littering and NO balloons!*.    The trains are very clean with animated displays that show the whole line and connecting stations.   At this moment we had arrived at Grand Theater station and are directed to use the open doors on the other side to exit.

*Because they pop and scare people?  More likely because the trains are typically crowded and the balloon or string gets stuck in the doorway on the way out!

A big coach bus takes us to work and back every day from Da Mei Sha.   This a snap shot of a road side scene in Da Peng, which is some 40 minutes to the east by road.   Da Peng is the community just outside the Daya Bay nuclear power plant.   The street vendors are selling a type of lychee native to South China, as well as a kind of flat bread.   In the background, a building has been demolished to make way for a new one.  (Yes, there is not a lot of space between the bus and the pedestrians !  We are definitely used to much wider vehicle-vehicle and vehicle-people berths in the USA! ) 

These pictures are from Saturday night.   The first picture is at dusk; I’m sitting upstairs in a street car (tram) from the hotel to the Sheung Wan station.    The nearest metro station is too far to walk to from the hotel.   All the other pictures were taken around the Sogo department store at Causeway Bay metro station, four stops east from Sheung Wan.

I took a bus from bus operator China Transportation Services to Hong Kong.   We changed from a 16 seater minibus into a full-size coach bus at the newly renovated (for the Universiade Games) Huanggang border crossing.   I was a little annoyed by this sticker – stuck on my shirt when we left by the ticket lady without my permission – but believe me, it certainly saved me from being stranded at the border crossing (there are no trains, and no taxis).   I was waiting for the minibus for 30 mins+ outside in sweltering heat when a little guy ran up to me and shooed me onto the big bus.     And here I am in the Marriott Courtyard, my comfy and customary hotel on Hong Kong island (view from the room I have on the 25th floor on Sat morning).

The 2011 University Games is over (website http://www.sz2011.org/Universiade/), so soon, it seems.   Tuesday night saw the closing ceremony, fittingly held at the Windows of the World theme park in Shenzhen, where just about every country in the world is represented with an iconic building or scene.    The first picture is from the website, the other two are screen shots from the TV broadcast.  The flowery floor is a giant LED screen.   Must be something to get used to, to dance on one!

China hauled in the most medals (145), followed by Russia (132) and Korea(79).  The USA got 50.  But of course the event was great for public relations and for athletes to meet their peers from other countries.

The 2011 Summer Universiade (World University Games) here in Shenzhen is in full swing.  Congratulations to the South African Mens Team that won the gold in the 4x100m relay! Go team!   My mission for Sunday was to go check out the brand new athletics stadium.     Alas, I made it there on the Longgang Line but it was just too far from the Universiade station to walk out there.    It was sweltering outside with the sun just beating down!

The first picture with the gigantic LED screen (can you name the artist and the title of the artwork?*) is at Mix-C mall in Shenzhen where I started out on the train.  All the other pictures were taken from the Longgang Line, elevated high above street level for most of the route, but sometimes going underground as well.    Check out the JAC motors dealership (Jianghuai Automobile Co Ltd was founded in 1964 and sold 460,000 vehicles with a sales revenue of  US$5.2 billion in 2010).

The second to last picture is of the athletic village, and the final picture shows the pointy panels of the outside of the stadium that I wanted to go check out.

*Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.   Japanese insurance magnate Yasuo Goto paid the equivalent of US $39,921,750 in 1987 for it – at the time a record-setting amount for a work of art.

I used Saturday to get over my jet lag.   The pictures were both taken from my hotel’s balcony (the hotel is A on the map).  The first view is toward Da Mei Sha beach, and that’s the Sheraton Hotel in the left of the second picture.   There is a marina hidden from view with a dozen or so yachts, in the second picture as well.  Yan Tian shipping port is only a few miles down the coast, so there is always a few container ships to be seen out at sea from here.

My transpacific trek is over and I’m in the hotel  in Dameisha.   Our route to Seoul took us north of the Kamchatka peninsula and north of Japan, and then the pilot had to approach Incheon airport from the west because of strong winds. The mascot picture is from the Korean newspaper, for the 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) championships that starts at the end of the month in Daegu, Korea.     It was 7 pm local time as we arrived into Seoul.

 

 

I’m at Seatac airport for my flight out to Hong Kong with a stop in Seoul.   The Asiana Airlines sign offers good guidance as far as what NOT to pack in one’s checked luggage.   Stuff in there get broken (and stolen!).  And airlines are still leery of lithium ion batteries ever since Dell and Apple Computer announced large recalls of laptop batteries in the summer of 2006, followed by Toshiba and Lenovo.   They are a fire hazard !

Local news of yesterday’s voting is that the Alaska Way Viaduct’s tunnel replacement is to proceed.  (I voted for it.  Yes, it will cost money but the viaduct replacement has been debated for 10 years! Move on!).

I was scheduled to travel to Hong Kong on Monday, but it has been pushed out to Wednesday.   I will work on a follow-on project to the one that we completed at Daya Bay.   I will make several trips to Hong Kong again, and stay in the area for about three weeks at a time.    This first itinerary to Hong Kong is one I have done a few times before : on Asiana Airlines with a stop at Incheon airport in Seoul.    Looking at it on a globe, one can see that Seattle, Seoul and Hong Kong lie almost in a ‘straight line’ (a straight line in terms of great circle navigation on the surface of the earth).

I’m home!  The long journey from Cape Town to Seattle had me cross three continents and one ocean.   But before too much sympathy is heaped on me : I got upgraded to first class from Frankfurt to Chicago.   Life is a charm in first class at 38,000 ft, complete with caviar served with crumbed cheese, onion and a lime and German Riesling to wash it down with. 

The tarmac picture is of O’Hare airport with the Airport Hilton behind the old control tower, and the new control tower on the right.   And finally a picture of somewhere over south Washington State.  I think that’s Mt Adams on the horizon.

This is Wednesday morning and I am in the lounge at Frankfurt airport.    The pictures show the highlights of my day, all done with the U-bahn.   I stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Nordwestzentrum (pink line at top of map).    The center of Frankfurt is at Hauptwache station (second stop to the right from the main station Haupt Bahnhof).    The Hauptwache is one of the most famous plazas in the city.   That’s where I found the church (I forgot its name!).  Check out the red velotaxi in front of it – a pedal bike with a seat for a passenger to be pedaled somewhere close by.    The spectacular glass and steel building with curved surfaces inside and out is there as well, next to the Kaufhof (department store).    Look for me in the red shirt !  on the overhead picture as well as taking a picture of the curry wurst with thick pommes* smiley face.  *Very popular/ most popular fast food snack in Germany.     Then I went to check out the main station.   Atlas on the roof is carrying the world on his shoulders.    The final few pictures are all from around Römerberg the plaza with the Rathaus (city hall) .. there is some very beautiful detail on some of the doors and walls and windows to be seen.

We arrived on time at 5.20 am in Frankfurt.   I sat on the upper deck of the ‘big bird’ Airbus A-380 that brought us here.   These pictures are wall panels at the baggage claim at Terminal A.    The 1970 aircraft tug with 600 hp will NOT do and instead a 1,400 hp tug pushes back the A-380.  (The Germans did not translate PS in the pictures.  It stands for Pferdestärke!  Horse power!)    And fuel is now pumped into the belly (and wings?) of the plane at 7,000 liters/ min compared to a typical 300 liters per minute.

I’m catching a few winks at a hotel and then I will go see the city before I ship out to the USA and Seattle in the morning.

 

 

 

Marlien and I went to the Victoria &Alfred Waterfront today.   It was not cold, but a little blustery as the pennants and the South African flag in the picture shows.   That is Table Mountain in the backgroud, of course : Cape Town’s signature landmark.   By the time we left an hour later, a thick blanket of cloud was rolling over the mountain.

I picked up a friend at Cape Town International Airport today, which is where I found this life-size bronze elephant.  The beast was created under the direction of Jean Doyle and the Doyle Art Foundry, with the help of a fellow sculptor.   The project took a full 2 years to complete.      Donations from the public can be put in the tree stump collections box for the Out of Africa Children’s fund.    The elephant is not a permanent fixture :  it will be auctioned at the end of the year and the funds raised will also go to charity.

That’s me, hitting a few balls against the wall on the tennis court at my brother’s house.    Tessa the Jack Russell terrier is trying to nab the ball.     The oak trees lining Victoria Avenue at the University of Stellenbosch campus (it’s my alma mater) have no leaves this time of year.    And the sidewalks will fill up with students on Monday when they return for class after their winter break.