Beijing's Monday dawned wtih bright blue skies, temperate climes and a gentle breeze. All in all, a beautiful day. And that was that ( Read more... )

Hainan Airlines flight 0496 took off ten minutes late and landed 45 minutes later than planned. Not sure how they managed that ( Read more... )

I was awoken in the dark morning by the sound of a rolling boom that jarred me from my sleep and chased away the last remnants of a dark and wistful dream. I staggered from the bed (the right bed, as my single room came, inexplicably, with two queen sized beds). Old Shanghai was foregoing the traditional breezes in favor of a semi-tropical ( Read more... )

Friday dawned bright and hazy with Old Shanghai breezes softly moving the leaves and smelling faintly of sandalwood from some unseen shop. I stayed behind in my room and completed Serious Business Conference Calls before hopping onto the nearby shuttle bus and hying myself hither to the Zhuzhu Business Park ( Read more... )

The clients had Other Things To Do, so after a full day of fun and frolic in south Shanghai, I dropped into the back seat of the company car ( Read more... )

The Bund in Shanghai is extraordinarily beautiful at night; a fine blend of architecture from the 1920s, 1930s and beyond; two to three miles of classic and neo classic architecture all lit up like a Christmas tree behind a large, black river dotted with brightly lit up ships and boats sliding back and forth ( Read more... )

I caught a 2:20pm flight out of SeaTac, headed to the airport in Seoul. After the Travel Disaster That Is Delta, I chose to try Asiana Air this time. Asiana Air gets pretty good marks: the seats, even in steerage, aren’t too horribly close and narrow (a la United /Delta) and the food is adequate for that species of food labeled ‘airline ( Read more... )

I spent my last free day wandering around greater Dublin and taking in the sites. Somewhere around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I managed to sneak into a few museums ( Ireland is still a Most Catholic country; museums and such open well after noon on Sundays; gotta give folks time to go to church, after all ( Read more... )

Saturday morning dawned clear and cool with bright blue skies. Or, at least, it would an hour so after I got up; I woke up at six and couldn’t get back to sleep ( Read more... )

Whatever lingering jet lag disturbing my sleep has long since been replaced by the disturbances caused by the wretched mattress and the heat turning on at 11:45pm jacked to ‘full’ and heating the room to a balmy temperature before demurely turning off and allowing the room to cool to a friendly 50 degrees or so in time for my morning shower. Or ( Read more... )