Penang

Here are two pictures from the first time I was in Penang, Malaysia (October 2007). The first one is from the window at the Equatorial hotel and the second one is the beach on the north side of the island.

This trip, I am staying at the E&O hotel. It’s a historic hotel that was opened in the late 1800s. They have remodeled it recently, so it’s quite comfortable. The room is huge with a separate sitting area, sleeping area, and bathroom. I also have a balcony that looks right onto the water. I would leave the windows open at night to listen to the ocean, but there are mosquitoes and it’s best if I don’t go home with malaria.

Speaking of home, I start on my journey home tomorrow!

Day at the pool

Well, there is a slight delay in my project, so as I wait for everything else to catch up, I have some free time on my hands. I spent the day at the pool yesterday. I feel a bit guilty, but there aren't a lot of options at this point.

Travel safety

This is an excerpt from WikiTravel.org on safety in Penang:

Local men like to yell things to women walking alone, and sometimes they can get "too friendly". It is not rare to get suggestions to see the sizes of local men's "organs" for example. If you are a woman you should travel in a group. Local men think that westerners are much more "open" to such suggestions, because they have been taught in schools and newspapers that the westerners are infidels with no moral, and that they can have lots of promiscuous sex with multiple partners. Men walking alone will have to deal with a similar amount of harrassment too, especially aroung the Love Lane/Lebuh Shulia areas. There are large amounts of prostitutes and/or ladyboys prowling the streets here and they can be very aggressive. Exercise great caution walking around at night.

At the airport again

I’m at the Singapore Changi Airport waiting for my flight to Penang. This is the 10th day of my trip and is usually when it gets hard to be away from home. Most people don’t realize, but business traveling is a very lonely existence. You spend the working day around people, but most evenings and nights are spent alone. And moving from city to city means never settling into any sort of real routine.

By day 10, I want to go home. That’s where I am now. Ready to go home, even though I have at least 5 days to go. Maybe exploring a little in Penang will get me through the next week.

Time to go to the gate for my flight!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

The Singapore Zoo was a ton of fun. I spent 2 hours there and think I saw almost all of the exhibits. I saw too many animals to list here, but my favorites were the tigers and the elephants. Being at the zoo made me wish I had a better camera than the one on my iPhone. The giraffes were standing so perfectly posed that some zoo guests asked me if they were real!

I would have stayed longer, but I saw something that made me rush through the rest of the zoo... the famous mosquito. Plus, it was hot (86F and humid) and I wasn't prepared for it.

When I got back to the hotel, I headed to the mall near here to have lunch. Then, after lunch, I was exhausted so I showered and took a nap. Tomorrow, I spend one more working day in Singapore, then head to Penang, Malaysia.

Nice day in Singapore

I spent today wandering around Singapore. There was no goal other than to see some sights. This is my 5th trip to Singapore, but first time I've had time to explore. I hope to get the pictures downloaded when I get home so you guys can see some of the sights of Singapore too.

I started by walking along the coast to the mouth of the Singapore river. I followed the river for a while and didn't see a whole lot, so I decided to divert onto a side street. After wandering for a while, I found myself in Chinatown. The area is all decked out for Chinese New year (Feb 7th) and everyone was out buying stuff to prepare for the holiday. I decided to eat lunch at one of the food stalls and also had some fun having random foods and drinks from the street vendors.

When it got way too crowded, I climbed in a taxi and headed to Orchard Road. Orchard is the famous shopping street in Singapore. I looked around a bit and was amazed that you never had to go outside to get around. Most of the shops are inside of malls and all the malls seem to be connected underground. I guess when it's really hot and humid, it's good to stay indoors.

I didn't spend much time there since I wasn't looking to shop today. I moved on to Little India. I stopped for some Chai Tea and Indian bread then decided I was ready to head back towards the hotel. At this point, I tried to wave down a taxi, but all of them were hired. I finally found the Singapore mass transit system and took the underground back towards the hotel.

As I was walking through the underground mall to get to my hotel, I saw a movie theater. "27 Dresses" was playing and I was craving popcorn, so I bought my ticket. This is when I learned they assign seats at the movies here. Of course, I asked for an aisle seat. The movie was good and I was able to get off my feet for a couple of hours.

Now, I am back at the hotel and am going to take a bath before going to sleep. Tomorrow, I'm headed to the zoo.

Singapore Airlines A380

Singapore Airlines is very proud of their new plane, the A380. There are advertisements for it everywhere here in Singapore. The airport authority even built a new terminal (T3) for this jumbo jet and all the ones coming. I was lucky enough to see the A380 on one of my earlier trips to Singapore. I was also one of the first people to fly out of the new terminal on my last trip. The terminal opened at 1PM and I flew out at 5PM. They had a big party, tour groups were coming through to see the airport, and they were giving out free hats.

Here is a picture of the A380. This is the first one to fly commercially. It was parked at one of the gates at the Singapore airport. On it’s own, it doesn’t seem that big, but when you look at the little plane in the back (that’s a 737 I think), you see just how big it is. This plane is configured to seat you and 470 of your closest friends… Yes, 471 passengers (plus crew and cargo and fuel) on one flying machine.

A different world

Something to keep you guys occupied today. I’m too tired to write much (working long hours here – this is being posted around 2 AM). I wrote this a couple of days ago, but didn't have time to post it. I’m in Singapore for the next 4 days.

Things are just different in China. I need to learn to accept that. Every time I go, I expect to get used to the differences, but it never happens. This time, it was little things like Jasmine Tea scented Kleenex (which only make me sneeze more, maybe I’m allergic?) and Italian red meat flavored potato chips (Lay’s brand – I didn’t eat them, I just saw them).

Last time, it was the mascot “Haibao” and the new hotel tower at Grand Lisboa hotel and casino (I'm not sure you can tell in the picture, but this thing is 40 stories tall)...

I’m going to leave this one at “no comment”.

Off balance Chi

Yesterday, I went to lunch with our program manager here in China. Since I’m sick, she ordered a special drink to help my cold symptoms. I guess the theory is that my life forces must be off balance and that’s why I’m sick (or maybe being sick is causing my life forces to be off balance? Not sure which comes first). I don’t often focus on stuff like that, so I just accepted the drink. I was pretty doubtful that it would help me, but who is to argue with the belief of others?

Then, the strangest thing happened. After lunch, I started feeling better. And today, I’m much better and well on my way to recovery. I’m not sure if it was the magic drink that helped or the fact that I have been drinking tons of water and taking vitamin C like crazy, but I’ll take it.

For those that are interested, the drink was made as follows:
Boil Coca-Cola with fresh ginger and lemon. Not sure how long it was boiled for, but you drink it while it’s hot.

I guess my Chi needed some Coca-Cola to help re balance it. =)

In search of...

I went in search of cough and/or cold medicine tonight after work. I went to 7-Eleven where they had nothing like medicine. I went to a Chinese Pharmacy where I couldn't read anything and didn't see anything familiar. I came close to buying something, but decided not to risk putting some random medicine into my body. Then, I went to WalMart. After spending 20 minutes in WalMart looking for the medicine section (and yes, I asked multiple people where it was), I got frustrated and decided I would wait until I arrive in Singapore(civilization) tomorrow night to buy something.

It wasn't all for nothing though. I found my favorite rice crackers. And it is making me very happy to sit here and eat them. After eating, I'm going to let myself go to sleep. I'm sure it means I'll be awake again at 2 AM, but I'm in no condition to force myself to stay awake today.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! Happy birthday mom!

Cough due to cold

I'm sick. There is no question about it. When I got on the plane, I had a slight cough and no sniffles. By the time we landed, my ears were plugged and my head felt like it was going to explode. Worst of all, I was "that" person on the plane... you know, the one who is sick and you want to avoid so you don't get sick... but you can't because you are stuck on a plane with them for 14 hours. Yup, that was me today.

In any case, I have arrived at the Crowne Plaza in Shenzhen where I will stay for 2 nights before moving on. Hopefully I'll be better before I have to fly again. I'm not sure if my ears can take the pressure again.

I think it's time to go to bed. I'm taking the box of Kleenex with me though. Good night.

pro-cras-ti-nate

Merriam Webster's online dictionary defines procrastinate as:
"To put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done"

What is it that I am intentionally putting off? Packing for my trip mostly. I travel so much that I can pack in less than an hour for most business trips. My record is 28 minutes. I found this out by procrastinating of course. I suppose I should start packing, but not until I finish this blog entry. =)

Tomorrow, I make the first leg of this trip from San Francisco to Hong Kong. Then, by car, ferry, and/or taxi, I'll head into Shenzhen China. I'm sure I'll be greeted by the doorman at the Crowne Plaza personally... "Welcome back Miss Amy" or "Back again Miss Chang?". That's when I knew I traveled too much... when the hotel staff in China knew me by name.

I'll be spending two days in China. That should reduce my exposure to "Chinese Food" such as pig knuckles (I had no idea pigs had knuckles), pigeon, and chicken feet. I think I'll pretend to be a vegetarian again.

Oh, it's time to eat dinner. And then I'll pack.

Shanghai Maglev

Speaking of Shanghai (the location of the world expo in 2010). On January 3rd, I finally managed to take the Maglev train to the airport. The taxi drivers in Shanghai always try to convince me to ride in the taxi all the way to the airport instead of taking the train. The cost is about the same, but I really wanted to ride the maglev. So, when the driver was talking to me, I pretended that I did not speak or understand Chinese...

Here is a picture of the speedometer when we were at max speed.

431 km/h is about 268 mph! It definitely felt faster than flying since we were so close to the ground. It's a pretty short trip since the train goes so fast, but if you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend you try this once.

Chinese Mascots

On the flight back from Hong Kong last Thursday, I read an advertisement for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. I can't find the exact ad, but this is pretty close.

It's (He's?) called Haibao (ocean baby?). What is it with these odd mascots? First the dolls for the Olympics... (very symbolic)And now, Haibao... I think something was lost in the translation.

Next scheduled trip

My next business trip begins this Saturday, January 19th. Out of 31 days in January, I will be spending 23 days away from home. This upcoming trip will take me to Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China), Singapore, and Penang (Malaysia). I should be back on either February 2nd or February 6th depending on how work goes. Luckily for me, February 7th is Chinese New Year, so I'll definitely be home before then.

I'm not sure I'm ready to leave again since I just returned last Thursday from a 2 week trip to Asia, but my projects demand the attention. And, since my condo is on the market, I don't mind the travel so much. The rooms have been staged, so I can't do much here anyway. At least while I'm traveling, I won't have to worry about keeping everything so perfectly staged.

Below are a couple of pictures of the staging. If you know anyone interested, let me know! =)

To blog or not to blog?

Most of you remember my first blog. I decided to delete it after a while because I wasn't traveling as much and just didn't feel like writing for the whole world to read. Sometimes I miss having a blog and other times I'm glad that I don't have the pressure of writing in a blog.

Thus, the question - To blog or not to blog?

On my last business trip, I started thinking about blogging again... so, here it is.

When I have something to say, I'll blog about it. When I don't, I won't. I have lots of travel scheduled for the first part of this year, so hopefully there will be lots for you to read.

Have a great day.