It's been days since I last posted... This city is busy! Each and every night I walk around for hours, seeing only minimal parts, and still, there's the same amount to discover!
On Sunday, day of the last post, I walked around the Bund area, which is something like the old city center, like mid-1930s. It's got all the "European" architecture one would expect for that age, and of course an amazing view of the new business center of Pudong. Also, the crowds are huge... I bet about a hundred thousand of that 1.6 billion joined me for sightseeing :P For them, the Danish Girl Scouts were the biggest attraction, with their blue eyes and blonde hair :) I managed to dodge them all, one skill that was worth practicing in the busy metro hours at home! Also, I managed to catch a choir singing in Chinese, video hidden among the pictures (also well hidden :) )
Monday was just work - once I got past the amazing(ly expensive) buffet breakfast and the taxi drive who seemed to want to kill everyone on foot, but did not know the way! It's a good thing I got a walkabout on Sunday, I was able to point out the target as soon as it was in sight (i.e. behind us...) But even this way, the ride was cheap, the office was easy to find in the building, and the colleagues were as welcoming as it gets! I got a seat quite close to all the others, but far enough to make them IM me instead of just talk to me :) There's free ice tea and orange juice and Coke as well (if the fridge is stacked), one thing that's not happening at home. We went out for lunch to a nearby plaza, to some Cantonese restaurant, very close to where I had my Sunday dinner. (Which was in a mock-European place, with some very Chinese pasta-with-fish and beans-with-apricots-with-slimeballs as dessert). The lunch was pretty good, within my bearing of exciting taste, and sharing some interesting things like lotus roots and eggplants in strange sauce :) In the evening, I got afraid of a possible thunderstorm coming, so I just walked around the park that's near the hotel. This was only ~75% meant for - as it was impossible to cross the road which was around the park any other way! :) In the end, it was fine, and I managed to take pics of stray cats near a restaurant as well, which is probably unusual in China ;)
Tuesday took me to work on a different route after a different kind of breakfast ("American style", basically some fat added to continental breakfast). Work was as work is, lunch was in the ground floor cantine (edible but why???) as people had to get back to various meetings. I also held some work-related presentation sessions, since that's why I'm here :) People were somewhat interested, but not as much as the meeting room was smelly :$ Afternoon passed almost-quickly-enough, then I went for a stroll on Huihai road - to check out all the brand shops that are too expensive even at home! Louis Vuitton, Cartier, whatever, you name it... And one corner from this road, you can buy beer for .5 EUR to take home, and buy 100 days eggs from a metal bucket... The metro was close enough to get me home, luckily :) No money spent on luxury and no age-old chickens harmed! :)
Wednesday was a taxi trip in a different direction and another presentation session by yours truly. At least there were more people on this one so I must be getting better! :) Lunch was in a pretty good restaurant on Sechuan road, got their card as well. Not that I would go back any soon... The evening was spent in the Super Brands Mall, to buy a webcam :) Unluckily, my MasterCard was not properly processed at the store, so I may have payed triple price eventually, but the "Oh my God this is huge" experience was almost worth it. I also ate the (hopefully) most expensive ice cream of my life, ever, by accident, but it was pretty good :) On the way home, I realized that on ever corner they sell something related to the Expo and/or something that blinks, possibly with laser lights :)
Thursday was just another day... Big Boss from UK flew in, so we had a pizza lunch with him (Chinese make better pizza than the store on the corner at home, but probably more expensive, as well). He's nice, brought us out for dinner and drinks in the evening, and hes an amicable guy as well, so I'd say he was nice even if he did not pay for all the drinks ;) We got some Chinese "wine", which was more like some spirits, 52%, very fruity, very sweet... I guess tomorrow's headache will remind me of the name :) The dinner was fine, but things get more and more hot an spicy, we should take a break...
And now, I'm "home", the drain for the bathtub fixed, and I'm typing this for you lot :) I guess I should sleep instead, shouldn't I? :)
See you all soon!
M.
(PS. I may add the proper links to the photos "soon", until then, you have to do some guesswork :) )
csütörtök, július 22, 2010
vasárnap, július 18, 2010
Chinese Torture
Yay, I finally arrived! Well, I've arrived 12 hours before, but only now do I have time and the strength to write a bit. More time than strength, mind you, the time zone shift on the plane robbed me of precious hours of sleep...
The food was pretty good on the the Finnair flight, I tasted some French red wine with the main course and some port with the dessert. The port was not as good as I would have expected, but it was fine in any case. The entertainment system was also OK, I watched some newish comedy flick with Steve Carell and various episodes of The Big Bang Theory, all of which were quite good for relaxing. Sleeping was not that fine, even though it was possible to recline the seat almost perfectly horizontally, you still had some feeling of slipping down. The first rays of the sun woke me somewhere above the Mongolian plains, which ain't a lovely site, but it's nice. Flying forwards there were sooo many seemingly untouched forests to be seen, that was pretty. Then, approaching Shanghai, we got a glimpse of all the skyscrapers, and the light brownish sea... yuck!
Landing and passing immigration was easy, passing the people trying to sell their own airport transfer services less so. I was heading straight to the MagLev train, to see how those 430kmhs feel in reality. It was an amazing speed, although I would have expected a bit less racketing. Then, after the obligatory photos (shared later), I got to an official taxi, shown the destination printed in Mandarin, an my 15 minute car ride through hell started :) It seems like Chinese drivers obey two rules of the road: head where you want to, and honk! Luckily the drivers are more or less tied to the tarmac...
So, we got to the hotels, mine is now only the second highest - still, the view from the 75th floor room is not too shabby :) (Well I will have to switch to a different or get this fixed up as the bathtub leaks all over the bathroom, but that at least does not obstruct the view ;)
After settling down, I started a time run for the office to see how I would fare on Monday. So adding up all distractions, and the crowd, and the difficulties of getting a proper pass, not only a single ticket didn't do well on this run. Actually I did not even get that bloody pass, as noone spoke English to me when they should have. Probably would have been better with a younger clerk.
The city is amazing, and it's amazing hot as well. I wouldn't be able to tell from the architecture, that we are on the Far East, but all important buildings look like new. Of course if you take the wrong turn, you'll find yourselves in the shadiest of alleys, with strange things being cooked on the street, but sticking to the main routes should be a great experience :)
(I'll wrap up now and continue tomorrow - I'm falling asleep while typing. See you soon!)
M.
The food was pretty good on the the Finnair flight, I tasted some French red wine with the main course and some port with the dessert. The port was not as good as I would have expected, but it was fine in any case. The entertainment system was also OK, I watched some newish comedy flick with Steve Carell and various episodes of The Big Bang Theory, all of which were quite good for relaxing. Sleeping was not that fine, even though it was possible to recline the seat almost perfectly horizontally, you still had some feeling of slipping down. The first rays of the sun woke me somewhere above the Mongolian plains, which ain't a lovely site, but it's nice. Flying forwards there were sooo many seemingly untouched forests to be seen, that was pretty. Then, approaching Shanghai, we got a glimpse of all the skyscrapers, and the light brownish sea... yuck!
Landing and passing immigration was easy, passing the people trying to sell their own airport transfer services less so. I was heading straight to the MagLev train, to see how those 430kmhs feel in reality. It was an amazing speed, although I would have expected a bit less racketing. Then, after the obligatory photos (shared later), I got to an official taxi, shown the destination printed in Mandarin, an my 15 minute car ride through hell started :) It seems like Chinese drivers obey two rules of the road: head where you want to, and honk! Luckily the drivers are more or less tied to the tarmac...
So, we got to the hotels, mine is now only the second highest - still, the view from the 75th floor room is not too shabby :) (Well I will have to switch to a different or get this fixed up as the bathtub leaks all over the bathroom, but that at least does not obstruct the view ;)
After settling down, I started a time run for the office to see how I would fare on Monday. So adding up all distractions, and the crowd, and the difficulties of getting a proper pass, not only a single ticket didn't do well on this run. Actually I did not even get that bloody pass, as noone spoke English to me when they should have. Probably would have been better with a younger clerk.
The city is amazing, and it's amazing hot as well. I wouldn't be able to tell from the architecture, that we are on the Far East, but all important buildings look like new. Of course if you take the wrong turn, you'll find yourselves in the shadiest of alleys, with strange things being cooked on the street, but sticking to the main routes should be a great experience :)
(I'll wrap up now and continue tomorrow - I'm falling asleep while typing. See you soon!)
M.
szombat, július 17, 2010
Welcome back my friends!
To the show that never ends :)
I'm waiting for my connection to Shanghai, chilling out in the Via Lounge in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport - how cool is that? :) Definitely not as cool as the complimentary welcome scotch ;)
The Lounge is pretty good (as if I had a comparison), nice minimalistic Nordic design, comfy reclining chairs, and a fine selection of food and drinks. And the view - an A340, docked to gate 36 I think :D Pretty fine that's for sure. The Finnair fleet is 6 years old at an average, with a 3 years average on the long haulers, so I guess the shiny white exterior of the plane is not just a cheap paint job to hide the rust.
The weather is supposed to be not particularly chilly - about the same 32C we have in Hungary. But I won't get outside the airport here in any case.
Also, I just checked and the Chinese electrical outlet standard is just the same - as the converter I have in a box, at home :P I hope the hotel is prepared for fools like me :) I might check the duty free though, maybe they have something for me as well, for a price.
I'll just cut this short now, chilling out should be about doing nothing at all, not even typing :)
Here's to hoping I'll have the time and willpower to update this regularly!
M.
(PS: Title shamelessly stolen from ELP)
I'm waiting for my connection to Shanghai, chilling out in the Via Lounge in Helsinki-Vantaa Airport - how cool is that? :) Definitely not as cool as the complimentary welcome scotch ;)
The Lounge is pretty good (as if I had a comparison), nice minimalistic Nordic design, comfy reclining chairs, and a fine selection of food and drinks. And the view - an A340, docked to gate 36 I think :D Pretty fine that's for sure. The Finnair fleet is 6 years old at an average, with a 3 years average on the long haulers, so I guess the shiny white exterior of the plane is not just a cheap paint job to hide the rust.
The weather is supposed to be not particularly chilly - about the same 32C we have in Hungary. But I won't get outside the airport here in any case.
Also, I just checked and the Chinese electrical outlet standard is just the same - as the converter I have in a box, at home :P I hope the hotel is prepared for fools like me :) I might check the duty free though, maybe they have something for me as well, for a price.
I'll just cut this short now, chilling out should be about doing nothing at all, not even typing :)
Here's to hoping I'll have the time and willpower to update this regularly!
M.
(PS: Title shamelessly stolen from ELP)
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