What a treat, in Beijing I am staying at the Ritz Carlton. They arranged for my transportation from the airport to the hotel, I was expecting to look for a sign greeting me after I cleared customs, instead a greeter was right at the gate. I did however have to convince them that I was who they were looking for as the reservation was for a Mr Parzych. It didn't take too much to convince them and they were very apologetic for getting it wrong. I was escorted through the airport to the baggage carousel where my bag was taken from me and carried to the car. Once we got outside they apologized that the car was not there and I had to wait 2 minutes for it to pull up (this is nothing compared to waiting 30-45 minutes for a taxi at some airports).
A bottle of water was sitting in the car for me and I whisked off to the Ritz. Upon arrival my bag was again taken from me and I was greeted at the front desk. Check-in however did not occur at the front desk, I was personally escorted to my room and checked in privately. I should travel like this more often.
This morning as I was getting ready I noticed a couple of other amenities in the bathroom. A small television above the bathtub so you can have a soak, relax and watch TV. The outlet in the bathroom has the ability to take plugs from the US, UK, and China. This is a place that seems to cater to every need.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hong Kong
Today we shall start off with a quiz, yes the teacher in me is trying to escape.
True/False
1) Hong Kong was a dependent territory of the UK until 1997 when it became a Special Administrative Region of China.
2) Hong Kong is a single island located off mainland China.
Hong Kong is home to
1) The world's longest escalator.
2) The tallest building in the world.
I've spent a couple of whirlwind days in Hong Kong, arrived Sunday evening and am now on my way to Beijing. It's unfortunate that I wasn't able to spend more time here, there is still so much that I haven't seen. I guess that means I'll have to come back some day. I did manage to make it to the peak and take the photo on the left. I was very lucky that a rain storm hit on Saturday causing a lot of the haze to clear up resulting in a pretty clear view.
Also took a ride on the world's longest escalator on my way to lunch today. It goes down in the
morning to bring people to work and from 10:30 AM til midnight it runs uphill. After lunch I had an opportunity to stroll through the markets. Fascinating to see the fresh fish and butcher shops lining the roads. Unfortunately you can't quite see the fish flapping in the picture.
I have found it amusing driving around town and all the street names sound British - Waterloo Road, Queen Victoria Way. Beneath each street sign is also the name in Cantonese. The street names are obviously a result of it being a dependent territory of the UK since the 1800's. In 1997 sovereignty was transferred from the UK to China. (Look I've already given you answers to 2 of the questions.)
One thing I learned quickly is that business cards are exchanged and received with 2 hands. Not sure the origin of this, I'll look into that. I'm off to wander around the city for a little while longer before my flight.
True/False
1) Hong Kong was a dependent territory of the UK until 1997 when it became a Special Administrative Region of China.
2) Hong Kong is a single island located off mainland China.
Hong Kong is home to
1) The world's longest escalator.
2) The tallest building in the world.
I've spent a couple of whirlwind days in Hong Kong, arrived Sunday evening and am now on my way to Beijing. It's unfortunate that I wasn't able to spend more time here, there is still so much that I haven't seen. I guess that means I'll have to come back some day. I did manage to make it to the peak and take the photo on the left. I was very lucky that a rain storm hit on Saturday causing a lot of the haze to clear up resulting in a pretty clear view.Also took a ride on the world's longest escalator on my way to lunch today. It goes down in the
morning to bring people to work and from 10:30 AM til midnight it runs uphill. After lunch I had an opportunity to stroll through the markets. Fascinating to see the fresh fish and butcher shops lining the roads. Unfortunately you can't quite see the fish flapping in the picture.I have found it amusing driving around town and all the street names sound British - Waterloo Road, Queen Victoria Way. Beneath each street sign is also the name in Cantonese. The street names are obviously a result of it being a dependent territory of the UK since the 1800's. In 1997 sovereignty was transferred from the UK to China. (Look I've already given you answers to 2 of the questions.)
One thing I learned quickly is that business cards are exchanged and received with 2 hands. Not sure the origin of this, I'll look into that. I'm off to wander around the city for a little while longer before my flight.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
What a Week
Craziness ensued this week as I attempted to get a visa for a last minute trip to China. Given the upcoming Olympics and all the protests surrounding Tibet the Chinese embassy has added more items to what is required for a visa. After running around trying to get everything together the visa was finally approved on Thursday and I'm off tonight for a week.
The one humorous thing that happened during this whole process was on Monday I put all the paperwork together and handed it off to the office admin to arrange for a courier to take it off. At lunch all of a sudden I started wondering whether or not I had signed everything, kind of like thinking you left the iron on when you leave the house. I was sure that I was just being paranoid but to put myself at ease I went downstairs and opened the envelope. Sure enough I hadn't signed the visa application!
Not sure whether or not I'll be able to access Blogger during this trip, but will try. If not will post all when I return to London.
The one humorous thing that happened during this whole process was on Monday I put all the paperwork together and handed it off to the office admin to arrange for a courier to take it off. At lunch all of a sudden I started wondering whether or not I had signed everything, kind of like thinking you left the iron on when you leave the house. I was sure that I was just being paranoid but to put myself at ease I went downstairs and opened the envelope. Sure enough I hadn't signed the visa application!
Not sure whether or not I'll be able to access Blogger during this trip, but will try. If not will post all when I return to London.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Wide World of Sports
This weekend was spent doing a number of athletic activities from signing up for a 5K to playing a game of touch football to watching the London marathon. In an effort to keep my motivation up and get back in shape I had signed up for The Race for a Life a 5K event just for women that takes place at various places throughout England this summer. I will be walking with a number of women from my office to raise money for cancer research. Watch out shameless plug follows.PAID ADVERTISEMENT:
If you would like to sponsor me in this event you can donate on-line. Please be advised that all donations are in pounds not dollars.
End of paid advertisement now back to the blog.
I woke up a little sore this morning after playing football yesterday, surprisingly I was the only girl that showed up to play but I think I held my own. I caught a pass and almost had an interception. All in all I had a good time and that is what really matters. Since I was sore this morning I decided to watch the marathon instead of run it this year.
After years of watching the Boston marathon I wasn't sure if this would have the same atmosphere, it did. As you walk down the street the crowds are deafening as they cheer on the various runners. It is great to hear everybody being supported and encouraged to go that one last mile. The route through London zig-zags around town . I watched the race at various points from Embankment up to St Paul's and Tower Bridge. As with the Boston marathon among the masses there are those making a statement, those that inspire you and those that keep on plugging.
The Masses
The Crazy
This guy had a political message on his back side "Free Tibet" I also captured that but thought that would make my blog R rated.The Inspirational
The End
OK I don't know for sure that this was the last guy to cross tower bridge but they were starting to clean up the bridge at around 2:30 as this guy came walking across.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Musical Interlude
Inspiration
It's funny how urban legends, myths, rumors, stories whatever you want to call them get started. Last weekend I was down in Devon for a wedding, stayed at a lovely little B&B by the river. In the taxi back to the train station the driver decided to impart a little bit of local "history" on me. He went on to say that the bridge and the river at the Inn were the inspiration for Simon & Garfunkle's song Bridge Over Troubled Water. Unfortunately this isn't the case, as the news article from 5 years ago says, funny how the locals all still are keeping the legend alive. He also said that some of the photos for the album covers and jackets were shot up the road, who know if that is the case or not.
British Music
While on my recent vacation to Florida my sister and I got to discussing music and what was on the radio in London. It has become apparent to me as I read news stories and listen to the radio that British music is very different than US music. It seems much easier for a US singer/band to break into the international music scene than a British performer to break into the US scene. There has been a lot of press lately about Leona Lewis having a hit in the US. For those of you that aren't up on who she is, she won X Factor recently (that's the British version of American Idol complete with Simon Cowell).
Looking for a taste of some British music check out some of these songs and artists:
Scouting for Girls
Scissor Sisters
Amy MacDonald
Kaiser Chiefs
The Feeling
It's funny how urban legends, myths, rumors, stories whatever you want to call them get started. Last weekend I was down in Devon for a wedding, stayed at a lovely little B&B by the river. In the taxi back to the train station the driver decided to impart a little bit of local "history" on me. He went on to say that the bridge and the river at the Inn were the inspiration for Simon & Garfunkle's song Bridge Over Troubled Water. Unfortunately this isn't the case, as the news article from 5 years ago says, funny how the locals all still are keeping the legend alive. He also said that some of the photos for the album covers and jackets were shot up the road, who know if that is the case or not.
British Music
While on my recent vacation to Florida my sister and I got to discussing music and what was on the radio in London. It has become apparent to me as I read news stories and listen to the radio that British music is very different than US music. It seems much easier for a US singer/band to break into the international music scene than a British performer to break into the US scene. There has been a lot of press lately about Leona Lewis having a hit in the US. For those of you that aren't up on who she is, she won X Factor recently (that's the British version of American Idol complete with Simon Cowell).
Looking for a taste of some British music check out some of these songs and artists:
Scouting for Girls
Scissor Sisters
Amy MacDonald
Kaiser Chiefs
The Feeling
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Turmoil at Terminal 5
Yesterday was my first venture to the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow. I was a bit wary as it has been plagued by all sorts of issues since opening the end of March. I have since heard that during all the run-throughs they did prior to opening many problems were uncovered and none of the trials went smoothly, however this didn't stop them from opening on schedule.
Things did not bode well for me as we approached the terminal and were redirected away due to an accident. Not sure if there was another way to the terminal but my taxi driver certainly didn't know of any so I was taken to Terminal 5 to get the train to the terminal. There are no direct trains from T4 to T5 which means taking the train to Heathrow Central then getting a connection to T5, luckily this didn't take that long.
No major issues at security, maybe it was because many people couldn't get to the terminal. The only issue I had was while standing there I was absolutely blinded by the sun. The terminal is completely glass while that is pretty it is not practical as the sun is rising.
The next minor glitch was in the elevator to the train to the departure gate. There is a sign next to the buttons that says -2 for trains, -4 for something else. The buttons however are labelled -3
and -5. For future reference button -3 takes you to the train for the gates.
Surprisingly after all the delays I still had a few minutes to spare before my flight so I decided to grab a bite to eat. As a responsible citizen after I was done I looked around for a garbage can to dispose of my trash but none could be found anyway near the gate. I guess having rubbish bins around would take away from the new sleek look of the terminal, much better to have empty coffee cups, and food wrappers lying around on the tables and chairs.
And on a parting note I was a little surprised when the driver told me the fare would be 25.50, the fare to Heathrow has always been 18.50. Unfortunately I only had a 20 on me so he had to deal with that. I called the company to find out why I wasn't told the fare to T5 was more than all the other terminals and the response I was given.
"T5 is 5 miles further away from T1. All other car services from Richmond are charging 30 we're the cheapest" That didn't really answer the question as to why when I booked the dispatcher did not tell me the fares would be more than I normally pay. I was finally told that the dispatcher made a mistake and I should have been told that it would cost more. Personally I think they are a bunch of shysters to charge more for one terminal than any of the other 4. Why they use T1 as the marker for distance between terminals is beyond me, probably because T1 and T5 are the furthest apart from each other so they feel justified charging more.
Things did not bode well for me as we approached the terminal and were redirected away due to an accident. Not sure if there was another way to the terminal but my taxi driver certainly didn't know of any so I was taken to Terminal 5 to get the train to the terminal. There are no direct trains from T4 to T5 which means taking the train to Heathrow Central then getting a connection to T5, luckily this didn't take that long.
No major issues at security, maybe it was because many people couldn't get to the terminal. The only issue I had was while standing there I was absolutely blinded by the sun. The terminal is completely glass while that is pretty it is not practical as the sun is rising.
The next minor glitch was in the elevator to the train to the departure gate. There is a sign next to the buttons that says -2 for trains, -4 for something else. The buttons however are labelled -3
and -5. For future reference button -3 takes you to the train for the gates.
Surprisingly after all the delays I still had a few minutes to spare before my flight so I decided to grab a bite to eat. As a responsible citizen after I was done I looked around for a garbage can to dispose of my trash but none could be found anyway near the gate. I guess having rubbish bins around would take away from the new sleek look of the terminal, much better to have empty coffee cups, and food wrappers lying around on the tables and chairs.
And on a parting note I was a little surprised when the driver told me the fare would be 25.50, the fare to Heathrow has always been 18.50. Unfortunately I only had a 20 on me so he had to deal with that. I called the company to find out why I wasn't told the fare to T5 was more than all the other terminals and the response I was given.
"T5 is 5 miles further away from T1. All other car services from Richmond are charging 30 we're the cheapest" That didn't really answer the question as to why when I booked the dispatcher did not tell me the fares would be more than I normally pay. I was finally told that the dispatcher made a mistake and I should have been told that it would cost more. Personally I think they are a bunch of shysters to charge more for one terminal than any of the other 4. Why they use T1 as the marker for distance between terminals is beyond me, probably because T1 and T5 are the furthest apart from each other so they feel justified charging more.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
On the Road Again
After having almost 2 months at work with no travel, I am on the road again today heading to Barcelona. Luckily the flights to and from Barcelona have not moved to the new and improved Terminal 5. Of course the term new and improved may not really apply here. Terminal 5 has been plagued by issues since it opened on Thursday. Many flights have been cancelled, luggage has been separated from its rightful owner for days. Even though I'm not leaving from Terminal 5 I'm not taking any chances and only have hand baggage for my flight today.
This post has been brought to you by free wi-fi access at the British Airways departure lounge in Terminal 1. (The perks of the frequent traveller).
This post has been brought to you by free wi-fi access at the British Airways departure lounge in Terminal 1. (The perks of the frequent traveller).
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