Internet here at the Shanghai Pudong airport is spotty and the “great firewall” is blocking VPN to my company network, sigh. “Offline” tools that need no network are essential when traveling in China. I am using Windows Live Writer on Windows and blogger on Android. The new “offline” speech to text feature in Android is not nearly as good as the online version but it is better than keyboarding on a phone.
This morning I had breakfast at the larger first floor restaurant at the Kerry hotel with my manager outside in the sunshine. The humidity has let up and it is perfect weather. The Kerry provides a free shuttle bus service to the magnetic levitation (maglev) train. I was the only passenger on the big bus
The shuttle is timed perfectly, so that the train pulls boards a few minutes after you are dropped off at the station.
The maglev train was going 436 Km/hour (about 271 miles per hour) and took
about 10 minutes. Door to door from the hotel to check-in at the airport was less than 30 minutes. The lines for customs, emigration, security, and walking between areas was another 15 minutes. From the hotel to the airplane gate was less than an hour.
[ Update: on the way to Frankfurt ]
In-flight Movies:
- “The Guillotines” (China, 2012): steam punk; Qing Dynasty ninjas with hooked swords, spiked, sword-launched Frisbees, take on the Han revolutionaries and the emperor’s new fire-arms ** (2 out of 5).
- “The Neighbor” (Germany, 2011): suspense drama; Cub journalist David moves to a new town, with a nosy, invasive neighbor; very good Krimi, recommended! (***)
- “Combustion” (Spain, 2012): Jewel thieves seduce young, wealthy recently-engaged pretty-boy sports-car fan with a beautiful temptress. “Fast & Furious” with over-the-top Spanish machismo, yuck (*)
- “Elementary” (TV Show, 2012): Sherlock Holmes in New York, (**)
- “Mega Structures” (TV Documentary, 2012): Constructing biggest buildings in the world, (***)
- I also watched the first 5 minutes of many films and TV shows that were really puke awful. I am very thrilled we have no TV at home.
I spent some time coding, trying to snap in to the CES time zone. That was fun. Now I am burning down the email backlog. So far the flight has been less bumpy than the others but the food is not as good.
[update Sunday 10/14/2013 1300 CET]
Frankfurt is cold; the airport is huge, busy, but not as efficient as Dusseldorf. Went through three separate security checks, walking 1.5 miles, waited for buses on the Tarmac. The Lufthansa business class lounge was quite awesome with good Internet (skyped home), very good beer (of course!), and decent food.
Transferred to my flight to Zurich with no problems. Arrived Zurich on-time but the little puddle jumper had no room for my bigger carry-on so I had to check it, causing a 20-minute delay at baggage claim, sigh.
The 4-story shopping complex is a little daunting but I know my way around so I bought a train ticket and arrived at my hotel quickly, safely, efficiently. I don’t like the neighborhood where my Hotel (and eBay) are located in Zurich, especially on Saturday night late. I was accosted by one person and had to navigate past drunk, rowdy, young people standing around drinking outside the dance clubs. My in-laws wanted to get together but it was very late; I was tired, so I crashed.
